Mutley goes 'Wild Hog'!

[Mutley]

I'm not really sure it's the done thing to make a thread out of your annual holiday, especially as it was hardly 'hard core', however lots of people have asked me about my recent trip to the U.S. so I thought I'd share:

We booked the holiday through www.eaglerider.com and we really liked a few of their suggested itineraries. I emailed them to ask if they could make a bespoke tour up that satisfied all of our interests and lovely lady called Katina Dalton made up a special tour just for us. We wanted to tour Northern California, I wanted to see 'wine country' and ride Highway 1, Mrs. Mutley wanted to see Yosemite and San Francisco. Mrs. Mutley had never been on a bike touring holiday before so she was very concerned that she wouldn't fit enough clothes and makeup on a bike for 2 weeks, so we hired a full on Electra Glide Classic!

The whole process was entirely painless and Katina couldn't have been more helpful. She booked all of our accomadation in advance and sent us a great route book with at least a page per day setting out where to go and what to look for (including directions to each night's stop). It also contained all the maps we needed and a book of vouchers for each hotel all in a sensible A5 file. At the beginning were tips on riding in the U.S. and a clear outline of the whole hiring process. All we bought in addition to the file was a Rough Guide to California.

Finally we booked our flights with Virgin and we were off. Heathrow was a breeze, rather surprisingly. We checked in on line and, after using a decent parking service, just rocked up to the fast bag drop. All that was left was security, but even that wasn't as bad as previous years. The flight was 10 hours but I watched 'Wild Hogs' to get myself in the mood

 

[Mutley]

Day 1 San Francisco - Arrival

We arrived at San Francisco airport and were swiftly reunited with our kit. We'd decided to take our own helmets and had checked them as fragile luggage so I was pleased to see them in one piece.

We then encountered U.S. immigration who were less than impressed by my radical change in appearance since the passport photo was taken.

After that it was out into the Wild West and our first encounter with a U.S. citizen, who of course couldn't speak English! This was to become a theme of the holiday We jumped in a cab and went to our hotel which had a brass plaque on it to announce it was a historic building. It seemed nice enough but wouldn't have qualified for a listing over here!

We then went to China Town and had some spectacular chilli crab before getting an early night

 

[Sir James]

Come on then , hurry up or i'll start posting pictures of my caravan break

...................

 

[Mutley]

Day 2 San Francisco to Santa Rosa - 70 miles

5.30 a.m. local time and I'm wide awake, jetlag is an evil thing. I get dressed and head for the gym. Mrs. Mutley suggests I have a mental health problem before rolling over and going back to sleep!

We walk across the road to the diner for an authentic breakfast. The shot is a bit blurry, as Mrs. Mutley isn't too clever with an autimatic camera , but it shows an SFPD Harley outside the diner. That's authentic in my book!

Breakfast was an experience. We had promissed ourselves that I wasn't going to ruin all the hard work of the last few months with bad eating this holiday. This is easier said than done in the U.S., even in California. They have no idea of portion control and it's really hard to find healthy options. Below is what we got when we tried to order a 'light healthy breakfast'

After breakfast we are picked up in a Lincoln Town Car and taken to Eaglerider where we pick up the bike, a brand new 2007 Electra Glide Classic.

After packing up the bike we store what won't fit at Eaglerider (they don't have a secure lock up, just a room where everyone leaves extra stuff. This is the only criticism I'd have of the process as you have no idea how much you can fit on the bike unless you already own one.

Anyway we are quickly on our way, a bit wobbly though. I've never ridden a HD before and this was a very big bike. The most difficult thing was balancing a full dress hog, fully laden with a pillion, and doing hill starts when the rear brake pedal is miles in front of you.

Eventually we navigated central SF and found our way to the Golden Gate bridge:

This has always been a dream of mine and the whole experience was just fantastic. To top it all we had a bit of Fleetwood Mac on the radio as well.

Just after the bridge we stop in Sausalito for lunch at a deli with a view across the bay to Alcatraz and SF. There are yachts everywhere and plenty of locals on bikes, bicycles, roller blades etc. Leaving Sausalito we had a bit of an issue picking up the route again. We encountered another theme of the holiday - never ask for directions in the U.S.A. People just have no idea where anywhere is. We never decided whether they just couldn't be bothered to help, were genuinely w*nkers or were just really thick and parochial. We asked for directions a number of times whilst we were there and never got any help even when we were within spitting distance of the location we were asking about

By late afternoon we have arrived in Santa Rosa in the Sonoma Valley. Now I'd heard of the Sonoma Valley whilst working in the wine industry but I didn't realise just how lovely it was. Highway 121 winds through it and through Sonoma town which is also lovely.

We arrived in Santa Rosa but, not understanding the directions, took an hour to find the damn hotel! Eventually we checked in though and decided to go to a random Italian restaurant for dinner. Here we encountered theme number 3 of the holiday: California closes at 9.00 p.m. We booked a table for 8.30 p.m. but by the time we finished our main course we were the only people in the restaurant. We felt so uncomfortable that we left despite feeling we wanted a final drink. The taxi driver took us to a couple of places but they were either closed or dodgy so we went to bed early again. The meal however was superb and we had a delightfull Chardonnay from a vineyard called White Oak

 

[Mutley]

Day 3 Wine Country

We awoke refreshed after the stresses of yesterday (learning US road signs, navigation, finding the hotel) and went for breakfast. Here again we encountered the difficulty of eating healthily, although we did encounter our first and only grapefruit of the holiday.

We also encountered theme number 4 of the tour: coffee with a straw. One day I firmly believe that Americans will evolve to the point where they use a tea spoon. Until then they will provide us with a motley collection of straws, even in quite reasonable quality outlets

Anyway we are staying in the same place again tonight so we plan a loop through wine country. We saddle up and head North on the interstate.

A few junctions up we exit into the Alexander Valley, somewhere I hadn't heard of before. It was spectacular, rolling hillsides and boutique wineries everywhere. In contrast to European wine producing areas, here they appear to grow almost exclusively wine. They adapt to the changing terrior by growing different types of grapes and in different ways. The variety of types of vine training was astounding.

We saw a sign for the White Oak vineyard and decided to visit the production facility of our wine from yesterday's evening meal.

We were treated to a varied wine tasting, all delicious. We met some Americans who came every year to the area and toured around in their convertable Lexus tasting wine and having it shipped back to their home in the East - how the other half live

Much as I'd love to have stayed in the Alexander Valley I was impatient to see the much famed Nappa Valley. We rode South with the temperatures rising all the time. The variety of temperatures you can experience in California over such a short distance is incredible - a microclimate for everyone

We eventually dropped down into Napa and visited the Robert Mondavi winery. This is one of the largest and most famous houses in the U.S., Bob Red and Bob White are the standard house wines in the West. We toured the facility and had a VERY patronising wine tasting at the end

It was, though, harvest time for the Cabernet Sauvignon. I've never seen vines this close to harvest before. Canopies have been cut back to allow the grapes to ripen in full sun. The bunches of grapes are full and taste very sweet at this point in the year.

I was astounded, though, by the sheer scale of the operations in Napa. When I learned about wine I was told that this was where the boutique wineries of the State were. By our standards they are truly vast. Again the area is a monoculture with vines spreading out across the flat valley floor as far as the eye could see. Not the prettiest area any more but impressive.

There is clearly a lot of money to be made in this as well. All the wineries seem to have sculptures spread throughout:

A huge cock!

Mrs Mutley and some kind of bear.

Hungry now we looked for some lunch. We stopped at the first place we found by the roadside. It seemed to be an outdoor cafe for Mexicans working in the fields. The food was superb, cheap, and predictably - enormous

Suitably replenished we set off to the bottom of Napa and then round into Sonoma again on the route we rode yesterday. This time we had more time to relax and enjoy the scenery, stopping in the old town square for a coffee (with straw) and some window shopping.

Later that evening we went out for a steak and a huge Zinfandel. We were recommended to go to a chain restaurant called 'The Cattleman's' which was predictably dire but the steaks were huge and the wine was decent and cheap (even if the waitress did go into shock when we ordered the most expensive bottle on the list!)

 

[Mutley]

I'm doing my best

Come on then , hurry up or i'll start posting pictures of my caravan break

...................

Loom I'm a busy man these days. This thread may take a while

 

[Mutley]

Day 4 Santa Rosa - Fort Bragg 137 miles

We rose early (well you might as well if you can't get a drink late at night!) and headed for the coast. We stopped in Bogega Bay for breakfast.

Hitchcock filmed three films here, the most famous was 'The Birds', and whilst we had a fantastic (but fattening) breakfast (no dtraws in the coffee) there was definately still an atmosphere around the place of spookiness. We enjoyed watching the seals and cormorants while we ate though.

We picked up Highway 1 and rode North. The road was fantastic, mile after mile of winding curves with the most amazing scenery. Everything I'd ever wanted really. As we rode North the coast became more remote and rocky.

A real chill can be felt every time you get close to the freezing water. How they surf in it I'll never know

By late lunch time we reached Mendocino. This is a small artist community in Northern California. It's amazing how quickly the area become remote as you ride away from SF.

The architecture here was really quite unusual

The Imelda Marcos of Birmingham goes shopping Luckily we had no space on the bike for even more shoes!

Good road signs around here as well

Yes I know it's an ice cream but it was only one and it's not as fattening as you'd think

You can see why artists would stay here though:

So further North we ride to Fort Bragg. Our hotel for the night was a little dodgy, being a series of log cabins out of town. Warm enough though and we rode into Fort Bragg to eat at a micro brewery. We had a lovely bowl of seafood pasta and I tried the award winning Russian Stout

 

[Trippy]

More entertaining than the LWD so far

 

[Mutley]

Day 5 Fort Bragg - Fortuna 120 miles

Today we head inland and East for a bit as we climb up into the mountains. this is some of the most unspoilt country in California.

In fact there is a whole triangle called the 'lost coast' that is bordered on two sides by the roads we'll ride and the third by the coast. Allegedly this area supplies a large proportion of the cannabis smoked on the eastern seaboard (and that's a lot!)

We reach a 'town' called Legget and stop for a coffee. In this picture Mrs. Mutley is saying to me 'put that camera away before you get us into trouble!' because I've been whistling dueling banjos

Legget is the gateway to Redwood country and we see a sign for 'Drive Through Tree'. We've seen the pictures in the guide books so we turn off to find it.

Having paid our $5 and driven through we get back on route, satisfied that we have seen the famous tree, only to see another sign for another drive through tree, and then another

We stop at Garberville for lunch. It's a one street town where everyone drives a pick up and there seem to be quite a lot of freaks about :cool I had a Gourmet Burger, but when it turned up it was just a burger

After lunch we continue North on Hwy 101 and pick up the Redwoods Trail through Humboldt / Redwoods National Park

These awesome trees are not the Giant Redwoods (more of them later) but are a close cousin (isn't everyone around here? ) the Coastal Redwood 'Sequioa Sempivirens'. These are the tallest living things on the planet

We both agreed that walking between them felt like being on the set of Lord of the Rings and was almost a mystical experience. Certainly a high point of the holiday for Mrs. Mutley.

Finally we arrive in Fortuna for the night. The hotel was really nice but a little out of town with only chain restaurants about so we ride to Eureka (the big town up the coast) to find a restaurant. We stumble upon an absolute gem of a place with fantastic food and a superb wine list. Unfortunately we can't indulge as we are riding, and we discover how far North we are as it is dark on the way home and boy has the temperature dropped. Never the less I manage a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc and a delightful plate of scallops

 

[Mutley]

Day 6 Fortuna - Redding - 160 miles

Our route should have taken us directly East today but I decided that the map showed us a more entertaining route if we rode North past Eureka again and Arcata Bay before picking up the 299 to Weaverville. It was a lovely ride but the air coming off the sea was freezing and we were glad to turn inland.

We climb the Shasta-Cascade Mountains and the scenery and roads are spectacular, every curve brings scenes straight out of a John Wayne movie.

How they decide which bit is a National Forest and which can be logged is beyond me. It all looks fabulous. Sadly logging is a big issue here and the roads are full of enormous lorries dragging massive trees to lumbermills

The area also contains some man made lakes which supply the drinking and irrigation water for the state as well as hydro electric power. They also look spectacular.

In making one of these lakes a small town was flooded, leaving only the general store which has now closed. I think I need to record a Country & Western Album just so I can have this as the cover shot

Those who know me will understand why I couldn't pass up a photo opportunity like that

We arrive at our hotel in Redding early and find it has a decent restaurant which serves late and a bar So we take the opportunity to ride up Interstate 5 to Mount Shasta. This is a dormant volcanoe rising to 14,162 feet with 5 glaciers on it

There is a bunch of old hippies living around here that believe some dippy story about ghosts of ancient spacemen haunting the peak or something. We met one freak who told us it was a sacred place, she was living in a car and collecting rocks and fir cones :cool

Still, it was worth it just for the road

Riding back down the interstate to the hotel I realised the entire journey was downhill. That's 60 miles downhill That's a bloody big hill

We had a very pleasant meal in the hotel and were able to have a decent bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon with our steaks followed by a batch produced bourbon at the bar

 

[Mutley]

Day 7 Redding - Sacramento 272 miles

We took breakfast in the hotel dining room wher I encoubtered the usual unhelpful Yank and some interesting food. There was a large buffet laid out which was being replenished by two ladies on a regular basis.

Under one silver cover was what looked like some mushroom soup and some scones. I asked the ladies what it was:

'Biscuits and gravy' they replied.

'What's that then I asked?', but they just shrugged.

'Well,' I went on, 'is it savoury or sweet?' but it seemed even this was too much to ask for. So much for the fabled service economy It turns out to be exactly what it looks like, thin mushroomy type soup and a plain scone. Strange fare for breakfast and certainly not fit for a Brit!

Anyway, away we went to Lassen Volcanic National Park. I was looking forward to this and the route didn't disappoint:

Strange things were seen, such as this lake. Unsurprisingly it's called Saphire lake and it's very blue. What is strange is that just round the corner is a very similar lake called Emerald Lake, can you guess what colour it is?

We parked up and hiked up a trail to Bumpass Hell

This is an area of hot sprinks, vents and mud pools discovered by a guy who fell through the crust and lost his leg You can hear the steam escaping first like a giant kettle boiling, then you can smell the sulphur. Finally you see this:

The picture doesn't do it justice and you need to be there. I liked the bubbling mud pools best as they made a lot of farting noises

We then rode down from the mountains to Sacramento. This is the capital of California, but it's more administrative than touristy and so doesn't get many foreign visitors. Despite this downtown looks like a film set and deserves a return visit. We ate at The Fire House, a favourite with the current Governor (a bloke called Arnold something ). This was our poshest meal of the holiday. The wine list was epic but mostly out of my league, however we found a superb Zinfandel and feasted on fillet steak and salad.

 

[robbie c]

cool, keep it coming, shame about the harley

 

[Mutley]

Day 8 Sacramento - El Portal 174 miles

We had breakfast in the hotel and I tried out the make it yourself waffle iron (sadly a flavourless experience unless you cover the thing in butter, maple syrup and cream - not a good idea if you are a diabetic ). We also watched the ladies laying out breakfast for the next day as we left, no preservatives in those croissant then

What varied scenery we have ridden through. Most of the North was rugged and mountainous with superb twisty roads. Sacramento is in the Central Valley which is the fruit basket of the U.S. We amused ourselves as we rode doen the flat straight roads by playing 'guess the crop'

We also passed wineries the size of petrochemical plants. This is where modt 'Californian' wine comes from and you can see why it's cheap :drinkinpa

Unfortunately, shortly after picking up Highway 99 Southbound we hit rain This was Mrs. Mutley's worst fear of the holiday. We were soon suited up though and the waterproofs kept us dry. Riding a Harley in the rain on an Interstate is not fun and I was terrified to see the inside lane was awash with deisel We had to stay in the outside lane, which meant nailing it past all the big rigs and getting covered in the bow wave each time.

Luckily the rain stopped before we reached Manteca and we dried out in a mall where we had a warming coffee as well.

We rode on up towards Yosemite Valley on SR 120 heading for the Big Oak Flat Road. The road once again began to wind and rise into the hills, unfortunately the rain came back as well

By the time we had reached the park entrance the rain was now a hail storm. The highest pass on the road is at 9940 ft so it was pretty cold and wet. The Ranger told us it was only 14 miles to the hotel so we decided to press on. The descent into Yosemite should have benn one of the most spectacular roads of the holiday, instead it was terrifying. Two up and fully laden, the HD brakes are poor at the best of times but down steep hills into hairpins when the road is covered in hail stones the size of marbles they are SH1T!

We eventually arrived at the Yosemite View Lodge on H 140 just outside the park. we were dissapointed in the accomodation as it seemed very pricey, however we were later to learn that the hotels inside the park are prohibitively expensive and the alternative hotels are a good 40 minutes out of the park. We unpacked and got our clothes washed and dried in the on site launderette, then settled down in our spacious room with take away pizza and cheap plonk to watch a naff movie

 

[Mutley]

Day 9 Yosemite National Park

The next day dawned cloudy but dry and we decided to 'do' the valley floor.

The National Park itself is enormous but the wilderness is preserved by channeling visitors in to certain areas and then making others harder to reach. During the main season (spring into summer) it must be hell on earth with hoardes of RV's descending with their obese contents on the snack kiosks liberally dotted around. At this time of year (September) it was still busy in the main attractions but you could leave most people behind simply by walking more than 100 yds from the car park

Yosemite Valley itself is a huge glaciated valley the size of which I have never seen before, and that includes the Alps. The sheer scale cannot be captured by the use of a small digital snapper. It is also breathtakingly beautifull.

This is 'El Capitan' the largest granite monolith on Earth

And here is one of the miriad of waterfalls

To give you some idea of the scale, there are people standing on the top of that! In the spring this must be amazing as a huge river of snow melt cascades over the lip, here it's just a trickle.

Even the streams are picturesque though

In Yosemite Village there is an Indian Cultural Museum and displays of photographs by the renowned environmentalist Ansel Adams. Unsurprisingly there were far more people at the burger stand and in the shop selling tat

As we rode out of the valley the sun was setting over El Capitan and deer were coming out to drink in the river. Astounding

We ate that night in the hotel restaurant but were again disappointed with the 'Gourmet Burger' I opted to have American Cheese on mine, only to discover that meant processed cheese slices All I can say is the gourmets around here must be easily pleased, decent Merlot though.

 

[Mutley]

Day 10 Yosemite National Park

Having visited the valley floor yesterday we rode up to the top of the valley sides for the view in the morning. The views were just beyond description, I repeatedly had to swerve to avoid riding off the edge as I stared slack jawed at yet another vista.

We arrived at Glacier Point and found out how it was that the last waterfall we had hiked up to had been so busy. the most athletic of the other visitors were parking in the valley and getting a bus to the top, then walking down hill for a day We thought they had all walked up just like us

Here's a shot from Glacier Point, sorry but our little Canon Ixus reached it's limits capturing the view

On the way back to the bike we passed these

They were from the Antique Motorcycle Club of America and we passed loads more on the way down.

We also took a hike for a couple of miles along another trail to look down on El Capitan

After lunch we went to Mariposa Grove to see the Giant Redwoods. These are generally about 300 ft shorter than the Coastal Redwoods but they are much larger around the trunk. We thought that they were less impressive overall though as they grow as individual trees where the Coastal Redwoods grow in groups.

On the way back from the redwood grove I had one of the most memroable rides of my life. The sun was setting a bathing the whole hillside in raspberry light. It seemed as if the tips of the trees were on fitre and the rocks turned pink. Bruce Springsteen was singing The River on the radio and my wife was sat behind me as the Harley purred away up a superb smooth and winding road. At one point I stopped as the song ended to look at a particularly superb view bathed in this extraordinary light, the only sound was the bike tinkling away beneath me as it cooled. Then a voice from the pillion seat said 'Can we go home now? I'm cold', and the moment was lost

Back to the hotel for a cheeky Zinfandel and another pizza

 

[Mutley]

Day 11 El Portal - Carmel 190 miles

Today was to be a 'linking' day. Just getting from one place we wanted to be to another. The route plan was a little uninspiring, crossing California from the East to the West. The roads were pretty straight and there was a lot of major highway to cover. I was checking the map over breakfast and I spotted Hollister at around the half way point so we made that our lunch destination. It was with an air of disappointment that we rode away from Yosemite, I'd love to return with hiking boots and some decent camping equipment.

Hollister is the location for an annual motorcycle rally held on or around the 4th July. It was also the location of a 'riot' in 1947 that pretty much sealed the fate of motorcyclists wearing black leather jackets the world over. I was keen to see where 'The Wild One' had been filmed. It turns out that the town is pretty unremarkable and doesn't appear to want to trade on it's historic rebel background. We managed to find 'Johnny's Bar though:

'What are you rebelling against?'
'What have you got?'

So we pressed on to Carmel, home of Clint Eastwood and Pebble Beach Golf Club. We dropped in at The Mission and then checked into the hotel before heading in to Monterey to see the famous Cannery Row.

Cannery Row, renamed after the book of the same name, is quite a heritage site out here and I was keen to see some real history. Unfortunately I was to be as disappointed with this as I was with the Gourmet Burgers

The whole area was the centre of the sardine fishing and packing industry which was fished almost to extinction. It has now been 'Disneyfied' and what sense of history there was is lost amongst the theme restaurants and tat shops. The bay aquarium is supposed to be world class, and contains the giant sea otters native to the area.

We hated the place so much we just left Instead we headed back to Carmel via downtown Monterey (very nice) and Pebble Beach (don't think my golf is up to playing there). Mrs. Mutley enjoyed looking at the multi million dollar houses as we trundled past.

We strolled into Carmel and spent a while window shopping the real estate agents ($$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ) and designer boutiques, before a delicious seafood meal and a rather superb Sauvignon Blanc

 

[Mutley]

Day 12 Carmel - San Francisco 140 miles

I decided to treat myself this morning as we were in a nice hotel so I ordered Blueberry Pankakes for breakfast. Phew there was a lot of food but they came with Blueberry sauce, Maple syrup, butter and whipped cream. Just as well there was a gym

We decided that the coastal highway was going to be less impressive than the one we had ridden North of SF so we took the most direct route straight back to the centre of the city. We headed for Fishermen's Wharf for lunch before going to see the sea lions that live there.

Fishermen's wharf is pretty similar to Cannery Row really and seems to be full of tat and theme restaurants. We also booked our trip to Alcatraz whilst we were there. Apparantly these can bebooked up 2 weeks in advance ifn the summer and we found it booked up for 48 hours. Lucky then that we weren't leaving until Saturday.

Our hotel was the York Hotel and the stair well appears in the film Vertigo. It was ideally located just off the central square so I parked up the bike in an underground car park and unfortunately that's where it stayed, we used the street cars and cable cars plus the taxis to get around

We decided we'd eat at one of the theme restaurants down on Fishermen's Wharf just for the craic and I had a bucket of steamed seafood and a couple of beers

 

[Mutley]

Day 13 + 14 San Francisco

The rest of the holiday was spent sight seeing and shopping (to please Mrs. Mutley) in San Francisco. We also made use of the many and varied restaurants in the city and watched the 'Love Parade'

I particularly wanted to go to Haight Ashbury where the whole hippy thing kicked off, and Janis Joplin, the Gratefull Dead and Jimi Hendrix all lived.

Head Shops :cool

The Gratefull Dead House

And, of course, we did the Alcatraz trip:

 

[Crapaud]

Fantastic report, well written and good pictures.

What is the cost of hiring the hog for 2 weeks?

Sid

 

[Mutley]

Impressions

The bike:

As a work of art the Electra Glide is wonderfull. I loved parking it up and looking at it, especially in the sun or under neon lights at night. It's a real piece of Americana and we had plenty of admiring comments from other people. I wouldn't have wanted to do this trip on any other make of bike. It was a fantastic trip enhanced by the bike

The engine is full of character (although no more so than my Ducati or my 1150 GSA) and the seat is very comfortable (although it does collect water like a paddling pool ). The best bit is the fairing mounted radio, still audible at 90 mph. It really added to the trip

Unfortunately as a touring bike it's a bit useless :

The panniers are a stupid shape and it's impossible to utilise all the space available. They are also very thin and getting even a pair of tariners into them was a struggle. The pannier lids have the wierdest opening pivot / hinge thing which I rarely got the hang of and the top box (Tour Pack according to HD) interferes with loading and opening / closing. The locks are next to useless but very hard to use and they aren't waterproof or even robust.

The Tour Pack is very large and a sensible shape. Unfortunately the lock again is useless and the workings intrude into the space and ripped my roll bag to pieces. The housing for the radio aerial wire also intrudes and takes up space.

The fairing is handle bar mounted and induces weave at higher speeds, especially in the rain and cross winds. The screen has a lip at eye level for me which distorts the view ahead. It also creates turbulance sucking the rider forward and giving me back ache whilst also getting rain on the inside as well as the outside. You also get turbulance between the rider and pillion.

The riding position in standard trim is also uncomfortable, the bars are too low and the footboards actually restrict your ability to move about as the gear change rocker locks your left leg in place. I've already mentioned hill starts

The handling is woefull and the foot boards go down at the slightest levels of lean. The brakes are marginal and dangerous and the finish is dodgy to say the least.

Would I buy one? Not an Electra Glide that's for certain. I still fancy a bar hopper, maybe a chop or a Springer Soft Tail but as a practical machine this is a waste of time. The GSA is safe I think

Eaglerider:

Very efficient organisation. From what I saw the bikes are in pretty good condition although not as you'd keep your own. The tour plan was exactly what we wanted and Katina Dalton was very helpfull indeed, sorting out all our plans and answering stupid questions. They could do with secure places to stow unwanted luggage at the base though.

Tips:

I'm glad we took our own waterproofs and helmets. The hire ones don't look too great to me.

The weather in California can change a lot with distance / height / time / proximity to the water. Take kit for every kind of weather.

There's so much to see here, you need to be well planned picking the route. Otherwise you'll spend a long time on the bike and not see a lot.