jweisberger Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Here is a report of a ride I took today, the photos are hosting on my blog - here... Sunday Ride in west Marin County So I wanted to pile a few more miles on before I take the R12RT in to BMW Thursday for its 600 mi check up. I tried to get some miles in yesterday, but Carolyn and I were pretty lazy and just wanted to do some shopping and go home. This morning, however, I did I ride I always meant to try on the HD… Sausalito -> Mill Valley -> Muir Beach -> Stinson Beach -> Bolinas -> Olema -> Pt. Reyes Station -> San Rafael -> 101 -> Sausalito It was great. As I left Sausalito and entered Mill Valley, around 10:30 am, I noticed a lot of fog coming over the hills and a bit of a breeze building. This sort of set off some alarm bells in my head - but I figured I could tough through whatever was on the other side of the hill. I make the drive into Bolinas to surf pretty often and I thought I was familiar with the road. Generally, I am familiar with the road - but I always forget that Car != Motorcycle and the road may have a lot uneven grades or pot holes I never notice in an SUV. Boy was I right… As soon as we passed the Zen Center in the valley there a big sign saying “ROUGH ROAD NEXT 5mi” pops up. Rough road was a misnomer. Sometimes there would be patches of work that were smooth enough to play pool on. Other times it was like earthquake damage. I know what the curves were going to be like, but I had no idea if I was going to come around a blind turn and sink my front tire into loose gravel or what… Interestingly, there was a HD Softail right behind me the entire trip to Bolinas. I’m a pretty timid rider in curves and I expected him to pass me, but he didn’t. He fell around 3min behind and when I was at the lagoon (below) taking pictures, he passed me… So it was around 5mi of really twisty roads with crappy macadam screwing me over, but then I got to Bolinas Lagoon. The sun came out, there were seals playing and the road because just a motorcyclists dream. I really liked that road from Bolinas to Olema. I kept thinking Carolyn and I should take our bicycles out there, ride from Bolinas to Olema, get lunch and then ride back. Its really a dream - pretty flat, gentle curves - very few where you have to slow down below 35 and SO PRETTY. I took the first sign I saw that pointed me back to San Rafael - it turned out to be Sir Francis Drake and just rode about 15-20 mi in through Fairfax, San Anselmo and then into San Rafael. I stopped at one point to equalize my ears - the Shoei helmet seems to be screwing with my left ear a lot. If I ride with the face mask up at all, I get pressure pain - if I ride with it down for around 90 min, it gets bad as well. Taking the helmet off and equalizing, like I’m diving helps. Here is the R12RT on the side of the road. Anyways, fantastic ride. Also - I’ve been checking my oil window and I do not seem to have burnt or lost any oil. I was pretty sure I was supposed to during break in. I’ve been pretty kind to the bike, but 500+ miles out of 600 and I expect to see some burn or something… All the stories on Advrider and Kbike about people buring oil… Link to comment
ian408 Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Very nice! Glad you are enjoying your new ride. As for the saddle, you might want to check out Bill Mayer. He's in Ojai and on the way to LA Try (800)243-7625. I plan on having them make me a seat for the GS. Link to comment
jweisberger Posted July 10, 2006 Author Share Posted July 10, 2006 Hey thanks for the tip. I'm hoping they can see me on Friday, Ojai isn't too far off the 101... Jason http://bmw.bother.com <--bmw bike blog Link to comment
skinny_tom (aka boney) Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Jason, Nice write up and welcome to the asylum. I haven't been along that stretch in a while, maybe I'm due. Link to comment
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