KLR, 5 Days, CA Coast

Well the man said to simplify, so I went from these


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

To this


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

Thr trip started out here in the Monterey area with a little coffee. Bike all packed up with the new Wolfman bags. These performed extremely well in some very drizzly wet weather. I have been happy with the Dirtbagz in the past, but the Wolfman are a little heavier duty.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

Lots of scenery like this headed north on Hwy 1


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

From Willits I headed to Sherwood Road to begin the jaunt west toward Fort Brag. Along the way I saw this. Shortly after the end of paved road sign. I was happy! Then the road closed due to slide sign. But I decided to press on because as Big Dog said in his last ride reort, "I can go anywhere."


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11



20 something miles of road like this


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

And you end up here in Fort Brag. The road was quite nice, just a few mud wallows in which caution was practiced.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

Heading further north to Usal road, back onto dirt.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

This looks like it might be promising...


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

It is late enough in the afternoon, been a long day in the saddle...


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

Home for the night. The surf pounding about 600 feet below me was a great aid to sleeping. And sleep well I did without any sound of another human all night long. I didn't even read in the evening just sat and watched the ocean. And this is from someone who lives a mile from the ocean.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

Tomorrow will be another day, I am already anxious to get riding...

Very cool.

anxious to see how this trip comes along

A note about the mighty KLR. I got it from Ed~ here on ADV. I bought it on Weds night and left on my trip Thursday morning. It is a 2000 model with 2006 plastic/bodywork. Ed~ had done some mods/farkles to it, I have a few more planned. I am probably crazy for taking an untested bike on a trip. But I figured it was a safer bet than when I flew into Phoneix and picked up the DL 650 then riding it home through the desert in August of last year... The KLR had only about 4,500 miles on it when I got it.

Day two

Rolling down the hill KLR burbling happily along. Cross the little bridge and head down to the beach.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

What do we have here? The Elk are starting to lock up horns and push each other around a little. Not afraid of the mighty KLR at all.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

Another sign saying Usal road is closed, well they said the same thing about Sherwood road... So onward on roads like this.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

And some scenes like this


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

And once again no real problem getting through. Also some mud bogs left but no real problem. At the end of Usal


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

A mixture of paved and gravel leads to Shelter Cove, I happen to like lighthouses.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

This guy is a real adventurer. Anyone who flys into an airport as foggy as Shelter Cove deserves a merit badge. Golf course is wrapped around the airport. Fly in park your plane and play golf. Might take a week for the fog to clear before you can fly home again though.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

Maybe you can come here and ask the big guy to clear the fog so you can fly home.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

From Shelter Cove keep heading north on gravel roads with some very tight switchbacks and a few little creek crossings until you hit the pave at Honeydew. Mattole road


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

Ferndale and the wind is howling. Whenever you are on the coast just ahead of the fog bank comes the wind. Today was no exception. But it was a very pretty day to be in Ferndale. Need an aspirin?


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

Heading east on 36 through the redwoods past Bridgeville, saw a little path off the road and viola, home for the night. Watched the fog battle the sun as it set, read for about 30 minutes then light out. Hope the morning comes so I can ride some more


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

great stuff
very much enjoying this
thanks for sharing

Not many pictures from today; It was the only day I was sheduled to be anywhere, wanted to surprise my mom and dad in Redding at lunch time. Both of my brothers were there for the day, hard to get us in one place. Woke up and got ready to ride, flat rear tire. Pull things apart, patch it, go to fill it up and epic pump fail. Take apart and manage to get pump repaired. Fill up tire, leak won't stop. 2nd epic pump failure this time with smoke. Lots of zip ties later to hold tire to wheel I ride at 5mph back down the hill to Hwy 36 and into Bridgeville.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11
.
Get into Bridgeville and my phone has no service, luckily people at the post office are very nice and let me use one of their cells. Normally I would have a spare tube, but since I started this trip with a bike I had got less than 12 hours before I started, no spare tube.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

Very cool AAA driver takes me and the bike to Eureka Powersports and they bend over backwards to help and have me out the door in very short time. I may still see my family after all.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

Three ears of just picked corn, fresh squash and good home cooking.... Hard to beat. And yeah I slept great.

Leaving Redding area the next morning and head weat and south toward Igo and Ono, crossed over this cool bridge.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

See anything lurking the mighty KLR should be afraid of?


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

Looking a bit closer. Some one took some time to put this together.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

Continuing on through the farmland.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

I have heard many words used to describe the KLR. Can you think of one?


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

Lots of this as I continued on toward Hwy 36.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

A number of these along the way.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

Now on Hwy 36 looking out to the north.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

Now back on Hwy 1 and a fellow soul enjoying the north portion of one of the more beautiful roads in the world.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

Home for the night at Manchester, the one organized campsite I stayed in.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

A Good nights sleep and ready again to ride the next morning.

Slightly less bland with that color.


That sculpture is awesome!!!

Love it!

larryboy,

The sculpture is on the A16 connecting Redding with Platina, Hwy 36. It is one of those things I had to do a u-turn and go back to see it and get pictures. Pretty remarkable life size metalwork.

Woke up to a very heavy drizzle and fog which limited visibility to about 100'. It was not quite 0600 but I was awake so I packed my wet gear and fired up the KLR and started south. I was going to do some photography of the lighthouse nearby but it was way to foggy, I just got rolling. Near Gualala the for lifted enough to see down the road a bit. I finally found someone on the road with less horsepower than the KLR.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

This stretch of the coast had hundreds of people out diving for abalone. The structures you pass can be very high dollar, or in need of a bit of repair, like this place.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

More scenery like this spread out in front of you as you head south. Just a note for anyone out of the area. The best way to see the coast here in CA is heading south as you are on the ocean side of the road. Much easier to pull over, or just see the ocean and beach.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

Headed iland toward 101 and stopped here for coffee. Neat little place with tables right on the street.


By pacificpt at 2011-08-11

No more pictures from that point on, just rode on home. Next time I hope to be able to have a few more days so I can explore a few more roads.

Just an update on what the bike looks like now. Put a bunch of suspension and farkles on...

By pacificpt at 2011-11-05

That is looking good pt, is that a Lynx fairing? I have an 08 Iam thinking of doing something like that to, but I will need to get rid of the stock instrument panel and use a Vapor for the speedo/tach- engine temp. Probably a few other thing also as I get deeper into it. Even thinking about a 8" Baja Designs HID headlamp, anything but that god awful I want to be a street bike cowl on it now.

The fairing is a generic Lynx, not the one specifically designed for the KLR. I got it from a fellow ADV after his KLR 600 project went bad. I like the light to turn with the handlebars, not stay pointing straight ahead as the stock one does. I fabbed up my own mounts and kept the stock instrument cluster. Side view.

By pacificpt at 2011-11-10

Great ride report. I just read it for the first time. Sounds like you had a blast.

The bike is looking good in white.

What a georgeous area.

Vinbowie,

If you make it to CA the Lost Coast area should be a priority...

Me, too! I missed it over the summer. Nice report!!

The bike looks sweet in white! Not as...larfy-looking as the green

I just came back from the Lost Coast area last night. Summers can be brutal, not as much fog in the fall/winter




WoodsChick

Woodschick,

If I remember correctly you have the SM610, which would be about the perfect bike for the area. I generally take my trip in Sept. but this year had to move it up a ways. I went to Humboldt State in the early 80's, had family living in the Arcata area since the early 1900's. It is a great area for dual sport riding. Next year I want to try to make the big loop from Mendocino County up into southern OR without much pave. Also if you haven't done the loop through Kneeland, it is a great ride...

Another shot from the lost coast, this one is a road which winds down to the ocean, from the beach you can hike over to the Punta Gorda Lighthouse, I will try and get a picture or two of the lighthouse posted.

By pacificpt at 2011-06-23