For our Coast run my Southern family chose to take the scenic route through Bend before heading to Albany, instead of slabbing it up.Thursday night Dad and Erik arrived in good ol' Albany. Burgers were grilled, ice cream was eaten, and the stories of their first days adventure were told. Apparently they discovered the maximum range on a Sportster's tiny tank, and learned that riding up 14 miles of gravel road sucks.
Friday morning I grilled up some breakfast egg/bacon/muffins and brewed some strong coffee. Then we pulled the bikes out and pre-flighted them. Erik's Sportster had taken to marking its territory after a recent service at the Hardley dealer (oil leak). We gassed up and took off. The ride up past McMinville was uneventful. We were delayed by farm equipment several times, and road construction on Hwy 26. The ride got really interesting on HWY 47 though, which is nice and curvy.
We had lunch at the Black Iron Grill in Vernonia, surrounded by bicyclists and other motorcyclists. We talked with a group of women who were touring the US. One had a Goldwing with a trailer, obviously a well prepared bunch. HWY 47 from Vernonia to Clatskanie would be a hella cool road if it wasn't in shit shape. Seriously the road surface is falling apart and the patch jobs make it worse. If the pavement was in better shape though it would be somewhere I'd love to bring my CBR.
HWY 30 from Clatskanie to Astoria is crowded and somewhat slow. Its one of those highways where once you get to a passing lane you can't make any progress because a truck is passing another truck, or a Prius is passing a truck at truck speed +1mph. We did make some progress and I found out that my Bolt will do a very respectable speed up a hill in 4th gear with the throttle pinned, and make a hella cool V-Twin sound doing it!
We got to Astoria and took a picture near the trolley route of that famous bridge.
Then we visited the Astoria Phallus. Erik and I humped to the top to take pics.
In order to say that they'd done the whole of HWY 101 in Oregon we had to cross the bridge into Washington first. They're doing road work on the bridge, so we waited. Then we got across, turned around and went down into Seaside.
On the way into Seaside I followed a Squidette on a Ninja 250r who was texting on her phone in traffic. Seriously. I'm a skilled rider, but I can't do that.
That night we went down into the Tourist area and ate at the worlds worst seafood restaurant, the Crabby Oyster. The speakers were blasting some horrible music, the service was slow, and the food was bad.
The next day we went somewhere for breakfast we knew would be bad, but since we knew it is bad it was OK. McDonalds. A man in a Lobos MC supporter T-Shirt complimented my Bolt. I wonder if he knew it was a Jap bike. Near the end of breakfast an old woman who was probably one of the original Hells Angels "mammas" regaled us with tales of run ins between bikers and truckers. When she asked if we were a club I blurted out that we are a very exclusive club.
Once again on the HWY we got our first real taste of HWY 101. By that I mean we were stuck behind slow as fuck cars between Seaside and Tillamook. One state owned car was going 30mph (in a 55 zone) for almost 20 miles. When they finally pulled over to ask for directions I yelled "find your gas pedal" at them as I passed and pinned the throttle (more v-twin noise!).
At Tillamook we visited the air museum.
Mini-guppy.
F-14 cockpit. This one is flyable supposedly, not gutted like the one at Evergreen.
A-7 Corsair
Kill Markers from the first Gulf War
Mig 17
A-4 cockpit trainer. I barely fit.
Our next stop was McMinnamins in Lincoln City, then The bridge in Newport Oregon.
The Bolt about to roll over to 1000miles.
The next morning we went to a restaurant that The Internet said was good. Unfortunately everyone else in Coos County had read the same review and was there. It delayed my departure somewhat. Finally I loaded up and headed back north, while Erik and Dad continued South to complete the rest of 101.
At Reedsport I caught HWY 38 and blasted back towards the valley. With the exception of some trailers traffic allowed for some spirited riding. I ran across a rider on a Daytona 675 who had a similar appreciation for spirited riding, which made it more interesting. I would have stopped at the tourist view points to take pictures of the domestic Elk, except that I've seen domestic Elk before and just didn't care that much.
I hopped I-5 for a little while until I got bored and cut onto side highways home.
All in all a good weekend. The Bolt is a great bike, but would use a better seat. I'll have to see what the long term reviews on the Mustang seat are and maybe I'll get one.
