Baja Blitz Yard Sale

[SenorPeligro]

I'm leaving today for Baja via a SoCal mini-tour taking in Santa Barbara, LA, Joshua Tree and Salton Sea. Riding my adventurized XR650L and going to meet up with my partner in crime for this escapade, xymotic who's riding an F650GS Dakar.

Wish me luck...

[kta]

Originally Posted by SenorPeligro

I'm leaving today for Baja via a SoCal mini-tour taking in Santa Barbara, LA, Joshua Tree and Salton Sea. Riding my adventurized XR650L and going to meet up with my partner in crime for this escapade, xymotic who's riding an F650GS Dakar.

Wish me luck...

Maybe we'll cross paths - I'm on my way north!

Have fun, it'll be hard not to.

[NSFW]

Originally Posted by SenorPeligro

I'm leaving today for Baja via a SoCal mini-tour taking in Santa Barbara, LA, Joshua Tree and Salton Sea. Riding my adventurized XR650L and going to meet up with my partner in crime for this escapade, xymotic who's riding an F650GS Dakar.

Wish me luck...

good luck sp and xymotic.....take your time, enjoy, and come home safely.....

and don't forget to post those damn pics.....

[jetdocX]

Have fun guys. So sorry I'm not going this time.

[SenorPeligro]

Some drama. 71 miles travelled.

(or Plans A, B and C already?)

I left Fremont this morning, aimed for work at Redwood City to finish some work for a next release, before heading down to Monterey so I could get a head-start on tomorrow's long day, destination Santa Barbara.

I was really happy with how the bike was loaded and was handling. I've learned a little about packing by now.

Gassed up in RWC (clue: this bit is important) then took the plunge on 101 South to escape the grinding traffic of the Bay Area rush hour(s). 5 miles later my XR started to loose power a few times before stalling. I pulled over onto the "shoulder" just at an on-ramp before pushing the bike across the ramp in between speeding commuters. After some messing around, it started up as if nothing happened... less than a thousand miles... too early for the CDI to give up right?

In denial, I took-off for 85 hoping that maybe it would just get better by itself...

Then at Stevens Creek it died on me again and I pulled up the exit ramp, toggling the starter button to keep it rolling. Deciding not to mess with it too much in the precarious position I found myself, instead I rolled the bike between the mass of cars to get to the safety of the sidewalk. A friendly biker spotted my predicament and asked I needed any help. I explained my mess and he escorted me along the street with hazards blinking while I got out on the sea of hungry cars. I took refuge in a nearby gas station while I pondered my next move.

Plan B: Fortunately my Crackberry was able to supply a list of nearby Honda Dealerships and I wasn't far from Los Gatos. Once again, after a pause the bike started up again. Off we go!

Somehow nothing bad happened on the way to Los Gatos. I pulled off at the first exit and pulled into a Starbucks lot to get more detailed directions. At this point I noticed that my Shangri-La was in fact a car dealership



Plan C. Call some dealers. The service guy at Mountain View was a total tool (him: what do you expect me to do about it?.... me: uh thanks ) so I called my local shop in Fremont who where totally amenable. I decided to make my way back, at least I'd be close to home at this point. On the way, it died three more times. The third time, some dude pulled up in a pick-up just behind me and stopped to see if I was okay. Nice guy. This was getting old.

After firing it back up I was rolling again and had the forethought to check underneath my handy dandy Cycoactive barpack (best invention ever) and noticed that the line from my vented fuel tank to the California evap junk was all twisted up and kinked. I did a little emergency repair at 65mph (ish :wink) and everything was good in the hood.

I stopped by my local honda place in Fremont and smooth talked my way into talking a tech for a couple minutes just as they were shutting up. I explained my problem and what I thought I had done to fix it and the wise-man nodded sagely. He suggested a few other things to check as well but I think I fixed the problem "on-the-road". They'll be getting more of my business in the future.

I contemplated making a dash for Monterey though the waning rush hour traffic but decided against it simply because it's less fun being stopped at the side of the road in the dark.

Sorry, no photos. Use your imagination.

Tomorrow is a seven hour sprint to Santa Barbara.

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[bluepoof]

Yeeks! Glad it was an easy fix, though! Ah well, what's an adventure without adventure, right?

[SenorPeligro]

Originally Posted by bluepoof

Yeeks! Glad it was an easy fix, though! Ah well, what's an adventure without adventure, right?

At least it wasn't dark, cold or raining.

I'll try again tomorrow.

[kaia]

With tons of preparation, something silly is bound to happen at the start. Don't let it deter you from your plans; soldier on like a good little ADVenturer.

Don't forget lots of pictures so we can live vicariously through you!

[Haywood]

Have a safe ride.

[SenorPeligro]

Originally Posted by Haywood

Have a safe ride.

I think I owe you a PM (sorry). The plan got pared down and we lost of couple of good guys. Now it's only the dregs on humanity that are going on this trip

I think our course is headed eastward to rather than through San Diego at this point. But if I'm in the neighborhood, I'll lower your property prices and drop you a line.

OK. I need to go. there's *something* I should be do doing today.

[Moto-Yeti]

Good luck, Shackleton. Write often. If you get stranded and have to go "Donner Party", make sure you braise Xymo first before making him into a stew. Mmmmm...Long Carnitas!

[jetdocX]

You just forgot about us, right? I know you're back Mr. Dangler! Post some pics pronto!

[SenorPeligro]

OK kids, sorry for the delay. Normal post-whoring will resume imminently...

[SenorPeligro]

This was it, the big day. The XR was already packed after yesterday's adventure fail so I got an early start. Opting for the more direct route down 101 then across to Monterey via 156 I started out into the cool blue morning.

I was hauling ass for the first couple of hours and I noticed when I got to the gas station at Carmel Mission that I was using oil. This just hadn't happened before and I was surprised. I knew the bike was supposed to do that on highway runs, just never seen it. So I backtracked up to the Honda shop in Seaside to get some oil and a huge plastic funnel.

The Big Sur was as spectacular as ever... my fun only being interrupted by the bike cutting out on a nice-tight corner but sure enough, the evap line from the tank was twisted. Totally relieved that I had correlated cause and effect, I untwisted the line and thumped off down the road in XR style.

I stopped at Cambria to fill-up and check my oil. It had held out fairly well on the ride from Seaside. Just the high-speed stuff burning it up. I called Chain Gang inmate patobravo, who I was supposed to be staying with in Santa Barbara, to let him know I was still on my way but running a little late after my problems on Tuesday. He gave me a tip on taking 154 into Santa Barbara over the mountains so I pounded out some more grueling miles on 101 before taking the scenic route into town.

Sure was pretty up there.





I caught up with patabravo, who is working on tricking out his F650's with some serious suspension and mods. Patobravo had kindly offered me a place to stay. When I arrived he said I be staying in the garage... I had a sleeping bag and tarp with me so I could make a fort out of my bike and stay nice and warm... turned out his garage was nicely converted into a bedroom. Luxury!

We went out for dinner with his son and spook, another Chain Gang rider who I met at Altitude Sickness (our first dual sport rally in California) last year. Some beer and a Martini helped smooth me out after a long day on the road. There's nothing like sharing stories with people who have travelled, whether on a motorcycle or off. Travel tends to round out a person... just like the man, Mark Twain said:

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."

Smart guy. I hit the sack hard.

This was really happening. The Baja Blitz Yard Sale was on.



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[YetiGS]