motorcycles, technology, music, business

This week, my family and I went to Southern California for Christmas and one of my gifts was a day of riding a rented Triumph Daytona 675 motorcycle.

We rented the 2009 Triumph Daytona 675 (Red) from Racy Rentals and after a brief signing of documents and go over of the bike we were off. With my step-dad on his BMW F800GS and I on the Triumph Daytona 675 we headed east from Melrose Ave to Highway 2.

I took it easy on the first third of the Angeles Crest Highway (ACH) to get used to the bike and make sure the tires were warm. After that I started pushing (while staying within my and the bike’s limits). It was a lot of fun and man can that bike handle a corner. It has enough power high up in the rev range that caused me to really hold on because it slid me back in the seat.

I found these roads and this bike allowed me to focus on my weak points because the bike does what you expect it to 99% of the time. I discovered that I was much more comfortable turning right than left. Since I had just watched Twist of the Wrist II, I was armed with enough knowledge to make me dangerous. After paying attention to this I realized two things: I wasn’t locking in my lower body on left turns, like I do on right turns, and I was pulling with my right hand instead of pushing with my left to turn left.

Locking in my lower body made the greatest difference but focusing on both really improved my comfort and consistency on both left and right hand turns.

The ACH is a great mix of technical and fast paced turns. We went all the way to the closure of the road at the Highway 39 junction after 4 miles of snow and ice on the road. On the way down we took the Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road which was a very fast newly paved road which would be perfect for a liter bike.

We crossed over on the Angeles Forest Highway back to the ACH. We then made our way to Highway 39 which was the most technical of them all, especially at the top. An unfortunate miscommunication between me and my riding buddy caused us to miss out on some more roads but that would have sent me over the 200 mile limit anyway.

So back down the 39 we went and back to Racy Rentals with only 3 miles to spare on the 200 mile limit.

If any thing outside of my family makes me want to move back to California its California’s awesome motorcycle roads that are the best in the country.

Image Gallery:

YouTube Video from my iPhone:

Google Map Route:

View Triumph Daytona 675 Rental Ride in a larger map

YouTube Video PLAYLIST from my step-dad:

This past labor day weekend I spent Friday through Sunday on the back of a 2008 Yamaha FZ1 riding through some of the best motorcycle country in the nation. It was incredible. The trip was practically perfect. The weather was perfect, several of the roads were perfect (all of the roads were good or better), the bike was also nearly perfect.

My step-dad, Greg, and I rode three days, each day had roughly 170 miles of beautiful CalTrans maintained roads. Friday was filled with three shorter local rides. The first of which was 47 miles long. I just started getting used to the FZ1 toward the end of the ride. The brakes are great and the acceleration really kicks in at around 7500 rpm.

View Mooney Flat / Peterson’s Corner Loop in a larger map

The second ride was a longer 78 mile ride past Bullards Bar Reservoir. This was a nice high speed ride.

View Marysville Road Loop in a larger map

The third was a short 21 mile ride before dinner.

View Bridgeport Run in a larger map

For this ride we brought out Greg’s GoPro video camera which resulted in the following videos. This camera is fun though it straightens out all curves and it also makes it seem as though we are traveling very fast during the slow sections.

The next day we went on a 178 mile ride through Auburn to Eldorado National Forest. The most amazing part of this ride was the eastern 20 miles or so of Wellfleet Springs Rd. This road is motorcycle heaven. High speed, high visibility, high quality twisting asphalt. Early in the day’s ride, I switched to the 2009 BMW F800GS and enjoyed the extra leg room, but found that the seating position made my lower back stiffen up within minutes. It also handled a bit funny compared to the FZ1. After 20-30 minutes I switched back to the FZ1 and within about 10 minutes my back was restored.

View El Dorado Wentworth Springs Loop in a larger map

Videos from the day’s ride.

On Sunday, we took a leasurely 170 mile ride north of Highway 80. This was another beautiful ride with some great scenes, great pavement, and high speed sweepers (especially on Hwy 89).

View Sierraville, CA Loop in a larger map

Videos du jour

If you wanted to string all of these great roads into one Ultimate Marathon Road Loop, here it is: try it at your own peril.

View The Ultimate Marathon Ride in a larger map