I was recently informed by a friend about a nearby Kawasaki event. I make an effort to use my time off sparingly and I am grateful it was granted on short notice. I had plans to visit the Bay Area this weekend and with Reno only being (4) four hours away I decided to make a weekend of it. My friend left a couple hours before I woke up to avoid traffic and heat. I planned to leave early too, but I snoozed my alarms. I preloaded my gear the night before so I was on the road by 0700 PT.
The route to Reno would be up US 395, a familiar route. Traffic was light the direction I was heading. I did pull over at some point to check on my luggage and all was good. Just outside of Lone Pine I felt a presence over my head, a fighter jet flyover.
I only made stops in Boron, Lone Pine, and Bishop. I was able to average 45-50 miles per gallon since it was mostly cruising. Aside from the heat it was a very similar ride when I took 395 southbound on my return trip in May.
I made it to the hotel around 1500 PT around check-in time. I unloaded the bags and cooled down in the room. I was concerned with the kickstand though because when I went back out to the bike, the ground did not seem solid due to the heat. I have been warned about this in the past with the ground material and heat. However, I was without a puck or crushed can so I moved it to a cooler area to avoid it tipping over. Apparently there was an earthquake I missed?
My friend and I grabbed dinner at a local restaurant, BJ'S Nevada Barbecue Company. It was delicious after a long day of riding and after dinner we went back to our room to prepare for the next day. Sleep. Well I did, but my friend was not so lucky with some last minute responsibilities.
We woke up early and waited for the event. We had plenty of time since the location we stayed at was only a few minutes away. We made to the event a few minutes before the start and just in time to get in on the first ride at 1000 PT.
Let The Good Times Roll
I wanted to ride the Versys 1000 as my first ride as it could be a future bike. I checked in, selected the bike, got breathalyzed, and briefed on rules/safety. Follow all traffic laws, no passing, ride staggered, no stunting, use/cancel turn signals, etc. etc. etc. Before walking out to our bikes we were hyped up with: After I say, let the good times, you say roll! Let the good times ROLL!
I rode (6) six of (14) fourteen motorcycles available for demo riding. It was a pleasure to ride the various motorcycles; however, I am still extremely pleased with my Kawasaki Ninja 1000. No buyer's remorse here. I did not ride the current year of my motorcycle, but the few people I spoke with seemed to enjoy it. As far as I know it has heated grips, cruise control, lcd display dash, Bluetooth app (not well reviewed) and a quick shifter on it compared to my year.
My personal rating of favorite to ride for the day:
I could do a breakdown of pros/cons of the above but I am too lazy. tl;dr I <3 Kawasaki Ninja 1000.
Each ride is about (30) thirty minutes led by a leader and tailed by a backup in the even we are separated. Since it was a small consistent group we were able to keep getting on after each ride with the exception of one run. There was a lunch break for the staff and then it was back to riding. At one point one of the rider's removed the liner from their jacket...although I was wearing my leather jacket so I cannot say much. I did say it is perforated so as long as we are moving it is not too bad. However, we were all drenched in sweat and cooling off dumping water on our heads along with hydrating. We chatted with a few of the riders some local and some from Tahoe. The only crazy people from Southern California included myself, my friend, and the two instructors.
The Kawasaki staff hosting the event were impressive and it was a great time. The staff checking the riders out for bikes eventually remembered our names, even with our helmets on. I would highly recommend attending a Kawasaki Demo Day if you have the opportunity. There was some confusion at the end between a rider and what they expected to ride. I had no issue giving up my time for the Z900RS CAFE since I was just there to ride and have fun. I just grabbed another available motorcycle and we were on our way.
I participated in a memory game with a couple other people. None of us actually won the game, but they still gave us prizes and we posed for pictures. The game was name the motorcycles at the event, without starting with "uh" or anything since it is not "uh Ninja 1000", naming a motorcycle previously named, and the last person standing still naming one after the other person is out. We got a Team Green hat and Kawasaki hand towel. Everyone that attended was able to get the following from the sign-in tent: draw string bag, kickstand puck, cellular telephone rear holder thing, and also sunglasses if they went into the dealer. Since I loitered around before leaving for the day I was also given a Kawasaki key chain. If it was not clear...I am all about Kawasaki.
I left the event around 1540 and my friend asked me if I was still good to ride to San Francisco (SF). I thought it was a little weird because I did not feel like we did much riding today. We dunked a little bit more water on me and I was on my way. I was happy to ride towards SF for cooler weather and riding through I-80 again through Tahoe. I enjoy some mountain roads and it was a pleasant ride again. Would ride through it again and when I have more time I will need to explore the area. It was cool through the mountains until I descended to about 4000 feet of elevation and it was hot again.
Riding through Sacramento and Davis was awful due to triple digit weather. Just imagine sitting in front of an open oven blowing hot air at you or sitting in front of a blow dryer. Sure you could do it, but why would you? Some people are just a little off. It did not cool down until Napa and then it was cold in San Francisco. It was the coldest on Golden Gate Bridge at about ~52 degrees. I may have also made it to my family's faster than they anticipated. I saw a text while I was fueling up in Sacramento: "$name is off at $time. So go medium. You should be arriving at the same time." I replied with: "I only know fast." I arrived at 1917 PT and slightly earlier than expected. Oh well, I am used to loitering. It was great though because I did not have to wait around too long. I cleaned up from all the lovely sun I got, we ate dinner, and I passed out.
I did absolutely nothing today. It was the laziest day. I was awake, I napped, I ate, and I slept. Best days. I was informed by friend who stayed an extra day, that I missed out on a great ride of Kawasaki's Z900 RS CAFE. I will definitely plan to ride it at the next demo day which I would miss since it is the following weekend in Sonoma. Stupid availability and distance.
I headed out later than planned around 1130 PT at 49 degrees Fahrenheit. I knew the cool weather would not last long so I did not bother with a liner. What I did not anticipate was the heat I would ride into...not like there is a way to forecast weather, that would be crazy. Once I hit I-5 South it was about 100+ degrees and windy at the beginning as always. Remember to lean and hope you do not fall over. It was the usual ride I have done for years, but this has been the hottest temperature I have done for an extended period. I should have taken the junction towards Monterey to take 1/101 down but like a fool I decided against it. Eventually I started to pan around on the GPS looking for the next junction towards the ocean and quite possibly into the ocean.
I rode in 100+ degree for about (4) hours and I stopped at my usual station for gasoline. I checked the weather in San Luis Obispo (SLO) and it was significantly cooler so I took the junction towards Paso Robles. It was a two line highway and just as hot as being on the 5. Finally once I hit SLO it dropped into the seventies and slightly below once I hit Pismo Beach. It was a much more pleasant ride now heading home even if it was a longer route. If I was younger I would pushed my body through the heat and maybe even towards Death Valley for more records. Sadly that is a young person's game and I also did not want to risk the motorcycle retaliating. For the record I have been there at ~125 degrees F (with the friend's I camped with earlier during my road trip) years ago when we frequented the park biannually. I rode through some good windy roads with the exception of being hindered with other vehicles. I finally made it home around 2016 PT and put on ~1200 miles this weekend. It is time for the 15000 mile service for my motorcycle.