ancosta
Thu 7/12/07, 2:56PM
Hello,
I am planning a trip to California this coming 7/26, where I am arriving in SF, taking a car to LA, and renting up a Goldwing on Saturday 7/28. My wife and I will have the bike for a few days, before we drop it off in SF and head home.
We need help planning our trip because we don't know much about the roads out there. Having looked at an AAA map, we figured on the following:
Thursday – Land in SF, pick up our shiny Aveo sedan and tour Napa valley. Spend evening in Napa Valley
Friday – Take the car from Napa to LA via car. Could go PCH or could hightail it on the 5 to make better time and hang out in LA longer.
Saturday – Pick up the Goldwing at 9AM from Eagle Rider PCH; head up PCH with stops in Santa Barbara, Carmel and Monterey. Stop for evening in San Francisco (or maybe closer to Monterey?).
Sunday – Not sure...ideas include touring the whole PCH, taking some day trips inland, but we're not quite sure yet. Thought of going to Tahoe, but not sure if that involves major desert heat.
Monday – Head back towards SF, and maybe see some local roads/sights.
Tuesday – We drop off bike at 9AM.
A few notes:
We probably want to ride about 8h max a day, and that would be with the pit stops to check out the sights. I don't know the roads thus don't know what the pace will be, but I can say I want to keep the wife happy. 6-8h a day riding time per day would be ideal. If we arrive and we want to ride more that's fine, I just don't want to have a tired passenger and 3 hours to go in the dark before we arrive at our hotel.
For roads – I am looking for good scenery, less traffic, and some nice twisties. However, this trip I care more about the sights and less on the twisties. I want to avoid 'fabled' roads that are likely to have other idiot tourists like myself racing about crossing over the double yellow. If we have fun and come home without incident that is the goal.
I have no idea what to expect for weather and how much rain is likely. I will check the historical weather to see what to expect. This will affect what we pack, but I try to cover everything from 50F and rainy to 100F and windy.
From a rider's standpoint – this is my first time on a 'big' bike, I am pretty much a novice with 20k miles on my SV and 8 track days. This is also my first multi-day tour on a motorcycle, and my wife has not ridden as a passenger much longer than a few hours - albeit on the teeny SV pillon.
Any ideas on the route or general suggestions are greatly appreciated....thanks!
I am planning a trip to California this coming 7/26, where I am arriving in SF, taking a car to LA, and renting up a Goldwing on Saturday 7/28. My wife and I will have the bike for a few days, before we drop it off in SF and head home.
We need help planning our trip because we don't know much about the roads out there. Having looked at an AAA map, we figured on the following:
Thursday – Land in SF, pick up our shiny Aveo sedan and tour Napa valley. Spend evening in Napa Valley
Friday – Take the car from Napa to LA via car. Could go PCH or could hightail it on the 5 to make better time and hang out in LA longer.
Saturday – Pick up the Goldwing at 9AM from Eagle Rider PCH; head up PCH with stops in Santa Barbara, Carmel and Monterey. Stop for evening in San Francisco (or maybe closer to Monterey?).
Sunday – Not sure...ideas include touring the whole PCH, taking some day trips inland, but we're not quite sure yet. Thought of going to Tahoe, but not sure if that involves major desert heat.
Monday – Head back towards SF, and maybe see some local roads/sights.
Tuesday – We drop off bike at 9AM.
A few notes:
We probably want to ride about 8h max a day, and that would be with the pit stops to check out the sights. I don't know the roads thus don't know what the pace will be, but I can say I want to keep the wife happy. 6-8h a day riding time per day would be ideal. If we arrive and we want to ride more that's fine, I just don't want to have a tired passenger and 3 hours to go in the dark before we arrive at our hotel.
For roads – I am looking for good scenery, less traffic, and some nice twisties. However, this trip I care more about the sights and less on the twisties. I want to avoid 'fabled' roads that are likely to have other idiot tourists like myself racing about crossing over the double yellow. If we have fun and come home without incident that is the goal.
I have no idea what to expect for weather and how much rain is likely. I will check the historical weather to see what to expect. This will affect what we pack, but I try to cover everything from 50F and rainy to 100F and windy.
From a rider's standpoint – this is my first time on a 'big' bike, I am pretty much a novice with 20k miles on my SV and 8 track days. This is also my first multi-day tour on a motorcycle, and my wife has not ridden as a passenger much longer than a few hours - albeit on the teeny SV pillon.
Any ideas on the route or general suggestions are greatly appreciated....thanks!