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Motomachines came to us and graciously offered to help out with our project bike! They are the nation's main distributor for Hepco & Becker products, as well as Ermax molded plastic parts (among many other products). Brown Santa recently delivered us: Engine guards Headlight guard

The weekend of April 24th, 2015, eight riders from various parts of southern California set out to explore a few places off the beaten track. Seven of us started out in Irvine, California at the appropriate Starbucks and headed up Interstate 15 towards Hesperia, Ca, where we stopped at the intersection of I-15 and I-395 for breakfast and met up with our 8th rider from Los Angeles, Roger. After breakfast we rode north along I-395 and then east on HWY 178 to Trona Pinnacles, which is about 20 miles due east of Ridgecrest, California. Trona Pinnacles is an amazing geologic formation of spires, cones, and towers from a long dead inland sea rising straight out of the desert, formed by calcium carbonate in springs billowing out of the ancient lake, perhaps as deep as 400 ft during certain ice ages. More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trona_Pinnacles Day 1 Our route, more or less... The approach to Trona Roger, Jon, Mark B, Gregory, Josh, Ron, Carter, Mark S. Me with Trona's ancient spires in the background Carter, exploring some of shallow Trona caves Resting and rehydration time After Trona Pinnacles we rode north along Highway 178 through the town of Trona and arrived at Ballarat, in Death Valley. Ballarat is a small collection of trailers, old wood buildings, and rusted out trucks, one of which is rumored to have been used by Charles Manson. More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballarat,_California Supposedly a truck used by Charles Manson... The Ballarat Trading Post. Cold soft drinks and nothing else. Pee around the back. There are a few trucks, pieces of mining equipment, and unknown objects to explore around Ballarat. Mind the snakes! The awesome approach to Ballarat across a well paved road bisecting salted flats. Make sure to take time to rest and re-hydrate. There's no need to rush things in Death Valley. After Ballarat we headed up 178 towards Panamint Springs, which due to its location has about the most expensive gasoline within a few hundred miles (regular unleaded only). We fueled up the bikes and our stomachs and rode west on Highway 190 over Father Crowley Pass, where you really should stop and enjoy the vistas, which are not to be missed. This is also a great spot for cell phone coverage so you can check in, as the Searles Valley to the west and Death Valley to the east are almost without coverage anywhere. A word about wind - We experienced a lot of wind going up and down this pass to the west and it is worth noting that between the peaks of this road the wind can shift radically. Committing to a lean angle in the twisties can be downright dangerous. Take it conservatively and be safe. We stopped at Father Crowley not for the view, but from fatigue fighting the wind up that hill. Continuing on Highway 190 west we turned right onto Highway 136 towards Owens Lake and the cutoff up to Cerro Gordo. The well maintained dirt road is a 9 mile switchback ascent up to 8,000 ft. The views are awesome, of course. Now Cerro Gordo is privately owned and you have to call ahead for permission to stay in the bunkhouse there. The caretaker, Robert, lives there with his wife about 9 months of the year and double rooms in the haunted bunkhouse cost about $50 a night. Bring your sleeping bag as no linens are provided. There is no running water for showers, but jugs are available to fill your camelbaks and for washing faces and hands. Outhouse facilities are glorious one-holers with a door and a great view of Owens Valley. The town has an old unoccupied hotel with a saloon with period photos, furniture, and even a card table next to a wall with bullet holes. The best thing about Cerro Gordo was the firepit (wood included with the nightly fee). We enjoyed it both that night and again the next morning. Arrived at Cerro Gordo. Every building you see is abandoned. The bunkhouse. Bring your own sleeping bag and don't listen to the ghost stories. Night falls on this amazing place. Great for a drink and a cigar, but be careful, the temperature drops quickly. Carter was the master firestarter. On the way down - 8 miles and 8,000 ft to Owens Lake. Spectacular views and drops. Mark S., and the Carro Gordo caretaker, Robert, who was a gracious and entertaining host! Day 2 Our route for the first part of Day 2 After coffee and passing the hat around for a tip for Robert and his hospitality, we rode back down to Owens Lake and headed up Hwy 136 towards Hwy 395 and into Big Pine, where we fueled up again, before heading west on Hwy 168 up to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Visitor Center, where it started to snow on us. These roads are paved but can be crumbly on the shoulders, with some gravel and small rocks in the turns, so again, ride conservatively and enjoy the views. http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/home/?cid=stelprdb5138621 The oldest single tree in the world is somewhere up in this area but the National Park Service wisely does not identify its location. After a few trail bars and hydration we debated the weather. In April the weather was sketchy and it was already snowing on us. We could go back the way we came and spend the night in Lone Pine or slug it out with the cold front to the east, for our ride through Titus Canyon, on the east side of Death Valley, starting on the Nevada side of the border. Let’s just say we made the wrong decision. We fought wind and rain for the rest of the day heading east to Beatty, Nevada, only to decide that Titus could be dangerous in placed with the heavy rains. We were all exhausted and this was the right decision for us at that time. I’ve been through Titus canyon a few times before, twice on my R1200GS. Based on the weather and the fatigue we were all feeling we collectively voted no and feel good about the call. Other riders might have made a different decision, but this was ours. Heading back to Lone Pine with 60 knot gusts of exhausting riding west across Death Valley again. So after fueling up the bikes and warming our hands in Beatty, we looped back across Death Valley again all the way to Lone Pine and the warm showers of the Dow Villa Motel. A half dozen of the guys jumped into the hot tub to relax and I’m told that a couple ladies came buy and yelled “Man Stew!” But I don’t believe that for a second. So Sunday morning we pack it up for Kelso Valley, riding up above the wind farm north Hwy 14, and exiting onto Hwy 14 at Jawbone Canyon. Then a straight shot home. No injuries, no breakdowns, and great memories. Home down through Kelso Valley for some scenic rides above the wind turbine farm. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRy4GjR8HPk

Jealous for sure! Great ride report! Love Baja!

And of course, a video!

I think my friend in AZ recently had an experience with the police for standing on the pegs while riding. His recant of the situation is far better than mine. I recall back in the '80's when I got my MC license, there was a test question about riding over road debris. Specifically , a loose muffler in the road and it was unavoidable. It suggested to stand on the pegs, ride over the debris, then pull over to inspect your bike. -- but that was many moons and beers ago. I tend to ride on the street and stand when I need to stretch, see over traffic, show my ass to the vehicle I just passed for being to damned slow, or see that road sign on the right that is partially blocked by cars. As I was recently bored, I tried to find it on various DMV sites... I cant find anything on a motorcycle test booklet that states 'do not stand up while riding'. but I didn't look in depth for it. I did find it odd that some law enforcement officials can tell you that it is illegal to stand while riding, the booklet tells you to 'rise up slightly', and we all know you stand on the pegs for various reasons. So long as I am not standing on the fuel tank (stunting), whats the big deal? Foremost Motorcycle insurance has this on their site: Hold onto the hand grips tightly. Keep a straight course. Rise up slightly on the foot pegs to absorb the shock. NY DMV section: Watch for uneven surfaces such as bumps, broken pavement, potholes, or small pieces of highway trash. Try to avoid obstacles by slowing or going around them. If you must go over the obstacle, first, determine if it is possible. Approach it at as close to a 90º angle as possible. Look where you want to go to control your path of travel. If you have to ride over the obstacle, you should: Slow down as much as possible before contact. Make sure the motorcycle is straight. Rise slightly off the seat with your weight on the footpegs to absorb the shock with your knees and elbows, and avoid being thrown off the motorcycle. Just before contact, roll on the throttle slightly to lighten the front end. If you ride over an object on the street, pull off the road and check your tires and rims for damage before riding any farther.

Day 2's journey had us setting out south on dirt towards the highway. For some reason the track didn't get loaded so it was all on memory. You can see from the overview on Rever that we turned left too early and had to circle back to the coast. All part of the adventure! After we got over the coastal mountain range and down into the San Vicente area, I decided I wanted to go right this time and explore a different way out to the highway. I'd seen from the map there are a few ways back to the highway in that valley. We ended up at the end of the road south at an olive orchard so we headed back north and took the first road on the right. That turned out to be really cool! It wound its way back over a few hills and around some really great ranchos and sure enough, we found ourselves back at the highway just north of the military checkpoint. These roads are super big-bike friendly too. We got down to Colonet pretty quick and instead of eating lunch there first and then doing some beach riding to the sea cave, we decided to do lunch later. Getting out on the beach was a lot easier this time in 2nd gear than it was in first gear last time! We then rode north on the beach for a few miles until it ended at the sea cave and checked that out. We get back to Colonet to gas up and find some lunch and I find my rear tire is flat! I have all the stuff to fix it but we happened to be right next to a llantera or tire shop, so I just had them fix it. I thought it would make for some good video at least. They patched the tube (incredibly well) for 100 pesos, or about $6.50. We stopped at this little place for some tacos and met these guys, Marcelo and Fabian, who are riding from S. America all the way up to Alaska! They were very nice and we shared a drink before they had to get going. After that we headed south until we got to the road that leads east up into the mountains to Rancho El Coyote Meling. It got quite hot too, about 94. But that made a dip in the pool all that much better! El Coyote is actually quite close to Mike's Sky Rancho but the road in between them is definitely NOT big bike friendly! I did like the staff, pool, rooms and food much better than at Mike's. I was able to make reservations very easily on their Facebook page. Alfredo was our main host and he is a super nice guy and took really good care of us. The food there will knock your socks off! It was easily the best meal I've ever had in all of Mexico! Their chef is Paola and she is amazing. We had chicken Cordon Bleu and it still makes my mouth water. There was a LOT of food too. I ate like a field hand, which was easy since we were so hungry. The whole thing from soup to nuts (and beers) was $65, a bargain. I would like to plan a Baja trip w/camping and have at least one night be there. They have a large grassy area for tents with showers, etc... Here's that food. Breakfast the next morning was equally impressive. We also met this gringo named Michael. He's really cool. He does a lot of solar power work there at the ranch and elsewhere in Baja. Here he is getting ready to go single track riding on his 125. Note the lopping shears. He's a sprightly 70 years old!