EPIC ride to San Diego County and tire test

[barenekd]

Jack and I decided to go South this week as it was looking cold in the mountains around here.
Thursday as I was setting out to meet him in Corona, the first decision as what to wear. The forecast called for cloudy weather with highs in the 70s, so I opted to put the liner in my 70 degree Triumph jacket at it was about 50 outside and forgo the sweatshirt and long johns, since the 70s would be quite nice. As I grabbed the liner that was laying in the garage and shook it , I looked down and saw a big spider at my feet. I don't know if he was in the liner, but it did cause me to shake it some more. The poor spider didn't survive the day.
Jack must've been thinking along the same lines as he showed up in Corona dressed about the same, but with a heavier jacket and no liner.
We fuelled up in Corona, and and I was starting down the road, it dawned on me that I had actually gassed the bike up on the side stand, so I didn't have a full tank of gas! Oh, well, get some on the road. Just think about it before I hit the 200 mark, since my low fuel level light took a dump several thousand miles ago.
I had the Pirelli MT66s that I had installed a few days ago to try out and see if they were doing to be any better than my beloved K-70s. I had about 170 miles on them as I had ridden out to the shop and been through Carbon Canyon a couple of times on them and they felt very good there. Those rides and the one over to Ontario were spent about 75% on freeways. So I got a bit of a checkout there. They seem to ride a bit smoother on the freeways than the K-70s, but they tend to have a bit more weave in the striations of the freeways. Nothing alarming, but it's there. They are much smaller in diameter than the K70s. I've seen some advantages and disadvantages from them. One advantage is that the bike is lower making it easier to get on and off for us height impaired folk, and the bike sits up a bit straighter on the sidestand. I got more gas into it than at the old lean angle! Oh, yeah, the smaller gives me a lot of the punch back that I lost with the 18T sprocket! The bike is much quicker out of the hole!
Anyway, a trip starting down Temescal Cyn, and weaving down to Carancho Rd and Deluz, one of our all time favorites. Over the freeway from Fallbrook to Rice Cyn. Now the farther inland we get, the colder it's getting and we are beginning to rue some of our early morning decisions! It was fine while we were riding, but when we stopped we got rather chilled. Who says riding a motorcycle through the twisties doesn't give you exercise?
We were going to go up Palomar mountain, but decided that in the name of freezing our butts off and just continue down the 76 would be a wiser choice. the 76 was lightly travelled that day was a lot of fun. There's usually a lot of traffic there and and you're stuck behind them worried more about getting around them than enjoying the road. We didn't run into any traffic until we were down to Lake Henshaw which was about 3 miles from were we were turning off to go up Mesa Grande. The 76 is pretty straight there anyway so we weren't really missing any fun!
Now Mesa Grande is a different critter, pretty steep, very twistie road going to the top of the mesa, then opening out to some nice fast stuff, sith a great view on the climb of a Lake Henshaw with very little water in it. We do need a lot of rain around here. It's been a very dry couple of years and isn't looking any better so far this year. If like last year, it only rained on days when the local clubs had a ride scheduled, this year, those have even been dry!
After we got off the mesa and on the 79 we went down to the 78 again foregoing going up the mountain to Julian. We did see a lot of smoke up on the mountain west of Julian, and as it turns out they have a big fire up there. It probably would've been on our proposed route, too, although a lot of that was burned out a few years ago. They may already have their fire break!
But we were looking for some of the other roads off the 78 that I hadn't been on in probably 15 years and Jack hadn't seen at all. Going down the 78 was a fairly decent ride but we did get stuck behind some clown from Nevada who was driving like he'd never seen a curve before. Or a couple of Bullets in his rear view mirror! We finally had to double yellow him and continued on out way. We turned off on Old Julian Road that goes west to Ramona. WE stopped at Jack-in-the-Box for a quick lunch. I don't think the place had any heat on, as I was freezing my butt off in there! It still seemed to be getting colder the further we road, and now we were headed
back toward the coast. We left there and got back on the bike to warm up! We got on Highland Valley Road and took it over to the 15. Ighland Valley is another one that I hadn't been on a in a long time, but I got to see why it was always in the back of my mine to hit again. it is a great road with several deceptively tight turns in it, I mean genuine 10-15 mph stuff!
When we got tothe 15 Jack said, "Man, we're way down here". Meaning we were a long way south. We were south of Escondido. He said he wanted to look for a gas station and took off in front off me. I followed and once we got past Escondido I tried to wave him of the freeway to get gas, so a few more miles up at an exit I wanted to go on with some great roads going back to Temecula, I thought he saw me waving him off, but we were behind a truck and he missed the exit. I turned off there hoping he's cut the gore, but he didn't and I was on the exit ramp and went on down to enjoy Old Castle, Lilac, Couser Cyn, and back up Rice into Temecula.
I had 199 miles at that point from Corona and took 2.888 gallons of gas which included the shortage from the Corona.
I jumped back on the 15 there and as I was riding home, the traffic was moderately heavy but moving good. I was kinda running between splitting traffic and the the traffic blowing by me like I was parked. My speedo seemed to be reading fast now as it should be with the smaller wheels. An open spot in the slow lane caught my attention as there was no one in front of me for about a half mile, so I nailed it, then very soon I was going by all the traffic! I got up to an indicated 91 before the speedo stopped climbing! It was in a well grooved lane and the faster I went the more the weave increased intensity as I passed 90 I had to put a bit of pressure on the bars to hold it steady.
The tires performed remarkably well through the twisties and such, and the minor weaving usually wasn't an issue. The grip was very confidence inspiring, probably more so than the K-70s.
The odometer didn't seem to be much different than the K-70s. The ride to the shop and back, 100 miles) showed within 1 mile between the two tires. The run to Corona was very close, too. And back from Temecula (60 miles).
Now a couple caveats on the tires. They have very quick turn-in, almost oversteering. the K70s demonstrated a bit of this, but not quite as much. The steering itself is still a bit heavy, not bad, just a characteristic of the bike geometry. However, with the mild twitchiness shown on my bike, I don't think I could recommend these tires to a C5 rider with the leading axle forks. B5s should be fine with them as are G5s, and possible the new C5s with the straight legs.
They cost about $20 more than the K70s,and are supposed to give a much superior life span, but I'll only know that when I wear them out. So far they're great!
After I got home I had covered 284 miles and and gotten 72.3 mpg. that's combining the fuel stop at Ontario with Temecula to even out the less than full tank at Ontario. I was still a little chilly getting home, I don't think the temps ever got up to 60, maybe the last few miles home.
Yeah, I know, poor bastards crying about weather in the 50s, when some of you are really freezing your butts off, wishing it would get up to 50!
But I do have the thank the little flyscreen for keeping me much warmer than I would've been with the wind just beating on my chest.
That is a highly recommended option!
I love this bike!
Bare

[Jack Leis]

And we are going surfing tomorrow !

[GreenMachine]

Bare: Great write up on the comparisons between the Pirellis and the K-70's..Something to think about and can't wait to see your mileage analysis...You and Jack seem to be inseparable..Good to have a partner explore those epic rides...Yes its been the usual back east..Low to mid 50 in the middle of the day and starts to drop about 4 in the afternoon..I don't think u guys would care for it...Does seem to get a bit hotter out there and I seen it put a damper on a few of your ride days....I still think we get the bad end of the stick in the final analysis...Then again, u guys could be swallowed up one day riding out towards the fault line...Stay safe and good riding to ya..GM

[barenekd]

.Then again, u guys could be swallowed up one day riding out towards the fault line...Stay safe and good riding to ya..GM

On the other hand, we aren't getting washed out to sea, ducking tornadoes, or getting buried under 6' of snow! And the hot days here aren't nearly as miserable as the hot days back in humid land!
We can complain about the weather here, but having lived in a whole lot of other parts of the US, I'll put up with this any time. If it's hot here for a week or so we know we can go riding next week! And that's just me, plenty of people will go out into the heat, including Jack. I just don't see the necessity any more! But then that's why Jack has a couple of thousand miles more than me on his bike! I'm a wuss anymore!
Oh, I did forget to say, the Pirellis suck offroad! The k-70s win there! A short tale about that!
The Pirellis have a bit cushier ride than the K-70s.
Bare

[boggy]

Just when I think you've sold me on the Dunlop's, you go Pirelli.  I'm still thinking k70s are in order for me.

Love hearing about these SoCal rides.  I think the misses and I should be moving out that way within a year now. Very exciting.  Can't wait to ride more than half the year.  More than a 50% chance I'll take the AVL with me but I'm not sure.  Got to see about moving costs.  And I can hear the "ride it out there!" responses now.

[barenekd]

Probably cost less to ride it than ship it and be a lot more fun!
We've been looking at those houses out around Temecula that we talked about last year. Very nice places and inexpensive for around here, and right in the middle of the roads we were riding.
Bare

[boggy]

My goal is to land work in Carlsbad.  Not sure I could afford to buy in coastal North County, but we plan on renting for a while. I really dig Carlsbad.  I think I'd be happy renting anywhere from La Jolla to Oceanside, if I can afford it, but I like Carlsbad.

However, if we settle in I'd like some LAND so we would probably head inland around Temecula or Fallbrook.  Somewhere that I can pull some avocados from a tree in my yard and have a cup of coffee outside in my underwear.  I mean, I do that now, but no one would complain if I had a few acres.

It'll be great to finally have a proper garage for the AVL.  Think we'd turn some heads with 3 black Enfields touring around there?

[LarsBloodbeard]

I enjoy these ride reports.  Gives me something to fantasize about while my bike is out of commission.

I got up to an indicated 91 before the speedo stopped climbing!

Wow!  I can't even imagine going that fast riding my iron barrel.

[Arizoni]

People wanting to  see what the current estimates of property is in a given area can use the link below.
I think I set it for Temecula, Ca before posting the link.
Use the + and - at the upper left to magnify the image.

Also, if you want to see another town, just change the address in the upper left to any town you choose.  Zillow has these aerial maps and prices for almost every city in the USA.

http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Temecula-CA/7386_rid/33.489692,-117.067223,33.431119,-117.162924_rect/13_zm/1_fr/

[barenekd]

I think I set it for Temecula, Ca before posting the link.

Try Menifee. That's where we were looking. Actually, if you scroll around on that map you can see the roads were were on in pretty good detail!
Bare

[LarsBloodbeard]

Bare, if you've got an Android phone I'd love to see a map of your rides.  The MyTracks app is is a great way to log your route.

[barenekd]

I  don't have an Android phone. I have a very basic cell phone that I am overcharged for if one wants to go by the miserable service these things "provide".
I remember the Eighties when PC's were always bitched about because of their lockups and crashes.
They didn't come anywhere near the lock ups and crashes these phones provide. Most of the places I try to use the idiotic thing usually results in "No Service" signals.  The rest of the places, including my house is pretty iffy. I have AT&T, by force only as they bought out my original service, and I guess we're too lazy to shift to someone else's equally bad service.
I hate  these things and only turn it on maybe once or twice a week. That's
usually just to see what time it is, because I'm probably out of their service area. I don't text and I don't respond to text messages.
I've never felt the desire to always be within reach of someone, if I want to be alone, I want to be alone. I had been handed a pager at some of my jobs, That thing usually ended up in my desk drawer.
Most of my flying in the old days was done without a radio. Even in  SoCal it was usually off. I sure wasn't in a habit of calling in to announce my position except very near an airport. That's what transponders are for.
I wouldn't mind posting the routes, but I don't know any particularly easy way to do it. 
That real estate map site that has the link here can be used to follow it. The important roads are listed in the text of my reports and there are very few big gaps in there. You have to zoom in to find some of the minor roads, but they are there!
The biggest gap is probably out of Fallbrook at the end of Deluz, you go east on S13 and cross over the 15 and back north on Rainbow Cyn, then loop back south on Rice Cyn. I think all the rest of it is linked pretty well.
Sorry, I can't help you more.
Bare

[LarsBloodbeard]

LOL, not a big deal.  Everyone has their own quirks, and it's great that we have the freedom to tailor things to fit our personality. 

Personally, I hate talking on the phone.  I don't have a house phone, and rarely answer my cell if it does ring (which is not often).  I'm on the other side of the spectrum where I prefer text.  I much prefer spending 2 seconds asking or answering someone (at my earliest convenience) than 5 minutes of colloquialisms and banter on the phone to get the same result.  Phone calls just interrupt the flow of my day.  And I only carry a cell phone at all for the internet and software -- it's really a tiny mobile PC, with a crappy phone tacked on.

If it does interest you to create a map of your routes, you can do it in google maps fairly easily.  Just punch in the start and destination, then drag the route to the streets you actually drove on.  There's a little button to share in the upper left area.

[boggy]

Also have a basic phone. Also do not like talking on the phone. I also don't get why some people feel the need to "chit-chat" while driving.  But I like the idea of tracking your route!

Arizoni, Zillow is great. Works well on iPad.  I like comparing an area's home prices that are active "for sale" vs what has actually "sold." Usually a big discrepancy.

SoCal rides sound great. Really surprised there aren't some nice dirt roads around the mountains but I suppose those have all been paved over since the '70's.  I like hearing that those Dunlops, while being great pavement tires, also work reasonably well on dirt roads.

[LarsBloodbeard]

SoCal rides sound great. Really surprised there aren't some nice dirt roads around the mountains but I suppose those have all been paved over since the '70's.  I like hearing that those Dunlops, while being great pavement tires, also work reasonably well on dirt roads.

There are.  And they haven't been paved over, they've been fenced off.  The Forestry department tries too hard to control everything, and as their budget shrinks they simply fence off areas they can't patrol.  Also OHV's are frowned upon in our liberal state, because they "destroy the environment" and such.  Instead they focus on keeping hiking trails open.

[barenekd]

There are still a lot of dirt roads open above Big Bear. My late son-in-law used to go jeeping up there. there are some Black Diamond trails to keep things interesting.
The pic is from one of those encounters.
But since I put the Pirellis on the bike, I'm passing on the dirt. The K70s would have been fine.

[LarsBloodbeard]

I went through one of those black diamond trails with a stock Isuzu Trooper.  My friends thought I was crazy.  It did take quite a bit of effort, but I made it!