Larger Than Life - California Motorcycle Road Trip

motorcycle coast road california

I'm just finished one of the bucket lists ticks - touring a bike around America - and I'm a happy man.

Let me start this by stating a clear fact: there nothing cooler feeling that tearing out of Huntington Beach, blonde on the pillion, sea to your left and the sun to your right, on an America road trip!

What route did you take?

I had a few days work to do in Anaheim (in another life I also wear a geeky hat in a higher education tech company).

And as soon as it was finished the missus flew in to spend a few days near Disney (yes..I went to Disney!), the road trip up along the coast and then spent 4 days in San Fran. We also went a bit north of San Fran up to Napa Valley.

motorcycle roadtrip route california Google maps, ever the optimist. We took 5 days to do this.

We picked up the bike in Newport Beach and headed along the coast road (Highway 1) all the way up to San Francisco.

Where did you rent the bike?

I used Eagle Eider.

They're dotted across the states and seem to be the only option out there…at least if you want to drop the bike back in a different location to where you collected it.

As they have multiple locations, I collected the bike in Newport Beach and dropped it back in San Francisco. The drop off was a bit steep ($250 from memory) but it suited our flights as there's a direct flight from San Fran back to Dublin (Aer LIngus, roughly (€700 return).

IMG_3201 It kind of reminded me of the Sons Of Anarchy garage with all the matt black Harleys but there are a few other options available.

IMG_3202 It might be a boring bike but they're hard to fault for long distance. 1200GS, 2013, 8k miles, 3 boxes - what more do you need?

What bike did you rent? and why?

Being in America I did initially consider the Harley options. Eagle Rider seem to have loads of the bigger touring Harleys. In fact I sat on one for a while but had a last minute change of heart and went for a GS1200 - boring I know.

It was a tough decision - I had the missus with me - if I picked a bike that was uncomfortable, I would pay the price!

The missus was a deciding factor for the Beemer. The missus was a deciding factor for the Beemer.

I'd ridden the GS many times in the past and knew what I was getting.

The shop provided a mint 2013 with 7000 miles on the clock, 3 expandable hard boxes - perfect tool for the job.

The guy at the shop was dead-on (Josh I think), gave us the low down on the bikes, routes, traffic and all the usual.

How much did the bike rental cost?

Let's be clear, this isn't a cheap bit of road hiking but it's so unique that it's worth it.

The bike was $180 per day. Insurance was about $30-40 (I think), GPS another $15 a day and the drop off charge (to bring the bike back in San Francisco) was $250!

Depending on what insurance you buy you need to leave between $1000 and $3000 as a deposit! I bought the top insurance and left the with $1000 deposit hold on the credit card.

In total I paid $980 or about €760.

Parking, hotels, cost?

Personally, I never felt the bike wasn't at risk at night. That might be naivety but I knew no better. Besides, it had a disc lock on and was insured.

IMG_3211 IMG_3212

One funny story

To pre-cursor this story; I always lived by the motto that, if bikes were parked outside a restaurant that there was always decent nosh inside! Bikers are a hungry bunch by nature and generally sniff out good local cuisine.

So, with this in mind, when we were collecting the bike in Eagle Rider Newport, I asked the guy: "so, where's good for food when we head north of LA?" . To which he replies "Neptunes Net , near Malibu, you'll spot bikes parked up outside it on the right". He even shows me in google maps.

Chuffed with myself I head out to tackle the LA rush hour(s) traffic in search of Neptunes Net.

Photo credit: californiathroughmylens.com Photo credit: californiathroughmylens.com

IMG_3207 nice burnout left by the last person looking for a bathroom and the obligatory 'crazy guy' that seem to be all over California

Hours later I spot it as we fly past, pull a quick u-turn, and roll up. Just in time as the missus has punching me for a toilet stop for the last 30 minutes.

True to his word there's a bunch of bikes scattered on the roadside, Harley's mostly.

When we walk in the missus spots that's it's a bit dinge: "it's certainly a biker spot" she jeers.

At this point I'm still smug as I'm waiting on some top nosh that I can rub her nose in!

"2 fish and chips please, a small bottle of house white and a water"  were on the coast, it'd be rude not to.

So the missus tots off to the ladies and I wait go look for a seat. At this point I realise that all the seats are rotten dirty, I mean ketchup pasted into them. Suddenly I notice a pigeon fly's in eating something off the counter, nobody notices.

Not to worry, the food will be my great recovery. With the missus still in the jacks I clean up a 'stall'.

She returns "we still need to find a toilet" - weird.

"42, fish chips" they announce through the PA.

So I smuggle grab the food with its plastic tray. Although, getting slightly less confident.

I drop the tray and head for the toilet myself.

As I walk past the back of the kitchen I get the whiff, the place stinks , I mean really stinks, crusty ketchup on the floor as I stick past.

"Excuse me, do you know where the toilet is?"

"yeeeea, head past the cars and you'll spot the shed"!

I walk in. There's 3 on the left, 3 in the right. Porto-loos dropped
inside a galvanized shed. I open the first trap, a man gives me the nod as he squats. I open the second and close it as quickly. When I open the third, firstly my fingers stick to the door, and as I get the door ajar the fog enters my throat. I almost hit the floor, the stench. Death I presume.

I run, back to the missus.

"We still need to find a toilet".

In fairness to them the food was alright. And it turns out that it's an iconic stop that featured in a bunch of movies - check it here.

needless to say she wasn't that impressed! needless to say she wasn't that impressed!

Where did we stop and stay?

We spent a few days in Anaheim initially. Once we hit the road we stayed in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Carmel, finishing in San Francisco.

Some observations:

Travelling by bike is the best way to see America - but we all knew that already. Even the missus agreed!

There's hardly any bikes on road. What is wrong with the yanks?  The locals claim it because the locals find the coastal breeze chilly - meh.

There's crazy poverty, and I mean crazy. The homeless in Ireland generally have a clear source to their situation (often drugs and/or drink). The homeless in the states seem different, they seem like regular people that have missed a turn. America is a harsh harsh place.

You forget just how many wealthy people there are in the states. I'm sure it's probably a bit more exaggerated along the coast but the amount of money around is huge.

You'll see unbelievable traffic in LA - a road with 10 lanes across and at standstill for as far as the eye can see.

Speed limits? To be honest I'm not sure but the locals seemed to be motoring along nicely so I never felt that I was breaking it much. We cruised between 65 to 80 mph and it never felt like we were pushing. I didn’t see one speed check while on the bike.

Eating healthy - it's difficult , or at least a lot more difficult than in Ireland. Dinner is fairly straightforward as you just simply book a decent restaurant. But breakfast and lunch are a challenge if you're travelling.

 

 

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