Yosemite on a motorcycle.

[TomDac]

My friend Ryan has been urging me to get back on a motorcycle so we could take a weekend trip somewhere... It's been 15 years since I had my own bike. He has a BMW R1200C Phoenix, and he let me take it for a couple hours after work last week and I rode it around and got used to being on a bike again..

I found a local motorcycle rental place and rented a BMW R1200GS (the red one in the photo). Much easier to ride than Ryan's bike.

So we hit the road last Saturday and rode to Yosemite. My co-worker has a cabin in Groveland which is about 25 minutes from the south entrance, so we stayed there and rode all around the park all weekend. WOW.

This is the 2nd time I've been there and it's just breathtaking and very fun on a motorcycle!

I'm pretty sure I remember a couple of you guys who ride, so I thought I would share.

 

[twich54]

Tom, has this trip 'rekindled' the desire to get back into bikes ?? I too had bikes from the time I was kid with a mini till I sold my FLHC ten years ago.

 

[TomDac]

I would love to get my hands on a minty V65 Magna, which is the bike I always wanted. I had a V45 Magna for years and always wanted the bigger one....

Renting was pretty expensive. My bootlace hook tore a small hole in the rear seat when I went to get on it and they charged me 180 dollars to replace it, so the grand total for 3 days with the bike was close to 800 dollars.

I could buy a minty V65 for $3K.... I may do that, but will have to coax Kerry into it.. He's not keen on me being on a bike again and to be quite honest, I'm not sure how much I'd ride it.

It sure was fun just cruising around Yosemite, though. Twisty roads and that BMW was so easy to ride.

 

[Pcar928fan]

I have missed my Hurricane 600 SOOOO bad over the years! Just sucks being in a wheelchair and not being able to ride! There is a guy in So. Cal that has built a bike w/ air shifter and retractable training wheels (for lack of a better description) and I would LOVE to get hold of his sytem and adapt it for a Hyabusa!! Love crotch rockets! Broke my back racing Moto-X and while that was fun too and I cut my teeth on trail and off road riding it was the Hurricane that always got the blood flowing!

Glad you had fun! I would LOVE to experience that some day!

 

[Joey_V]

Mr. Prez....

Looks like a fun time!! Glad you enjoyed it! That's one thing we dont have in Chicago - mountains and their fantastic views!

Joey :bowdown:

 

[jk319]

That's awesome.

I was hoping to be able to stop there on my drive back from Chicago, but it looks my brother has not the time. We will see some other things though, Yellowstone, Badlands, Tetons, Zion...

I absolutely cannot wait.

 

[Tj Bassi]

I havent had much time to keep up with the latest forum threads, but couldnt resist the motorcycle thing....

Heres a few pics of my '94 Softtail.

Tj

 

[theWB]

I havent had much time to keep up with the latest forum threads, but couldnt resist the motorcycle thing....

Heres a few pics of my '94 Softtail.

Tj

TJ,
:bowdown: SAAAWEEEEEEEEET:bowdown:

Great lookin bike. Did you do all the mods yourself?
What's the size on those Ape-hangers 24"?

 

[Tj Bassi]

TJ,
:bowdown: SAAAWEEEEEEEEET:bowdown:

Great lookin bike. Did you do all the mods yourself?
What's the size on those Ape-hangers 24"?

The bike was built at a local shop; they do all of the maintenence including cleaning and detailing for area shows and ride-ins. Nice for jetting around town but I doubt it would afford much comfort on a trip to Yosemite....the K&N 18" apes put you in an awkward stance but it makes for a wild ride. In eight years I've only put 3k miles on it (we trailer it to most events because of the incredible time it takes to clean it).

 

[Tj Bassi]

Heres a shot of the bike sitting at the builders shop.....from this point you get a better idea of the height of the apes. Forgot to mention that the only HD part on the bike is the front rim (!), which was relaced with custom spokes and an aftermarket hub. The frame is from Sundance, which is why it is titled as a 1994 model....I saw a bike at a show that was built around that particular chassis and wanted the project to start there, but it took a few years to find the frame since the mfr went under.

Tj

 

[Yang1815]

only 2 pics?!

 

[MotorToad]

I haven't been to Yosemite (yet!), but I do love riding in the mountains.

 

[jimbo]

Nice bike TJ. It reminds me of some of the softails I have built. I did ride mine though. I used to get a lot of comments from people on the road about riding full custom bikes for long distances. Brings back good memories. The last softail I built, I put 120,000 miles on in 5 years. When I did take the bike apart virtually every part was worn out. I am now old and lazy, so now I ride an 06 Street Bob that has had slight changes made to it. Enjoy your bike, its a beauty.

Jimbo

 

[ScottG]

My *best* vacation was 2 weeks in the alps on bikes... Good for you tom!!!

 

[slowGEEZR]

Tom, I ride a BMW GS1200. I've been riding nearly 40 years and I think it is just about the perfect bike. A buddy and I rode our GS's roundtrip from VA to CA back in '05. Both bikes performed flawlessly. Here's a picture I took at Yosemite, in May '05. We were lucky in that the park had been closed due to flooding the week prior. - Steve

 

[slowGEEZR]

Here's a picture of the bike on the CA coast. A very enjoyable part of my 5 week trip was the day ride from San Luis Obispo (sp?) to Monterrey via the coastal hiway. It was on a Thursday and there was absolutely no traffic! I couldn't believe it; the most populated state in the U.S., one of the most scenic roads in the U.S. and no traffic! I had a blast.

 

[slowGEEZR]

Last one, I promise. If you ever get the chance to ride the Million Dollar Highway in Colorado, do it! Spectacular ride!

 

[TomDac]

Hi Steve,

nice photos.. I really liked the GS also.. easy to ride, comfortable and you gotta love the 5.2 gallon tank!

Tom.

 

[Pcar928fan]

The HUGE Republic of Texas (RoT) rally is in Austin this weekend! LOVE seeing all the bikes! There are usually an extra 60,000 bikers in town for this event! It is not Daytona or Sturgis, but pretty dang good! Hot chicks EVERYWHERE too! Gotta love that! :devil:

 

[slowGEEZR]

The HUGE Republic of Texas (RoT) rally is in Austin this weekend! LOVE seeing all the bikes! There are usually an extra 60,000 bikers in town for this event! It is not Daytona or Sturgis, but pretty dang good! Hot chicks EVERYWHERE too! Gotta love that! :devil:

That's a lot of bikes! I took the wife and the oldest grand daughter to Corpus to play in the water today rather than to Austin and all those bikes!
- Steve