Going to San Francisco!

Hi All! I've had a stroke of luck. My wife is going to San Fransico with work and we managed to blag a companion ticket! Even better, it's upper class with Virgin, good grief, the gods are smiling...

OK, so for three days I got the entire city and surrounding areas of San Fran to myself. I'd really like to hire a bike and travel up the coast road, I've got a 1150GS in the UK, but would like to hire a bike for a couple of days to explore, not really a proper off road adventure, just a road trip, perhaps to Napa? I would like something that I'd never ever ride in the UK, like a Harley or a chopper. I've done some searches and a HD seems to be about 100USDs a day. Can anyone recommend me a place to hire from, a route to enjoy the best of this area and equipment to take?

I am just really excited about it and getting some direction from someone from the area would be fantastic.

Thanks in advance....
Martyn

I'd rent from Dubbelju because when you decide you rented the wrong bike, they might have a GS that you can swop for it.....

I'd also ride Skyline Blvd from Saratoga up to Alice's Restaurant, then North, across the Golden Gate into Marin County and up Hwy 1 to somewhere around Inverness, stopping along the way at some of the small seaside towns.....make a detour out to Point Reyes to see the lighthouse that featured in the movie The Fog. Then back to SF and down Hwy 1 to Old Monterey....visit the Aquarium and then I'd do Seventeen Mile Drive past Pebble Beach, except the buggers won't let you in there on a bike.....

Then ride as far down 1 as you like. If you get down to Hearst Castle that makes an interesting break off the bike.

Whatever you do, avoid Santa Cruz.....the Blackpool of NorCal......

If you`re going





to San Francisco






be sure to wear





a flower in your hair.

tarka said:

If you`re going





to San Francisco






be sure to wear





a flower in your hair.

Click to expand...

It's "some flowers in your hair"......actually.

Good point though.....if you've got any hippy leanings in your soul, you should probably check out Haight Ashbury just to see where it all started.

I was well impressed by Hearst Castle, as Schtum mentioned, you have GOT to do HWY1 south of Monterey . The huge seal colony not far from Hearst was a big surprise and cool to . Cant remember the exact location , something like Cape Padres?

Best thing to do is buy a good map and get a Lonely Planet type guide . The guide will give you an idea of places to visit and the map will show you the best squiggly roads to get you there. NEVER go near an interstate.

Final tip ; Its touristy I know but take the evening tour to Alcatraz. MUCH better than the days trips because you get a guide. The stories about the rock are quite something.

Ian

Rushy said:

Best thing to do is buy a good map and get a Lonely Planet type guide . The guide will give you an idea of places to visit and the map will show you the best squiggly roads to get you there. NEVER go near an interstate.

Click to expand...

Or visit..... http://www.pashnit.com/

Sorry, I'll stop now, my Californiaphilia is showing......

tarka said:

If you`re going





to San Francisco






be sure to wear





some flour in your hair.

Click to expand...

As sung by Bakerman

It rains a lot in N/California this time year, be prepared for it.
ed, an x resident

Thanks a lot gents! I'll take my waterproofs, book a evening tour to the Rock and ride HWY 1 to see the seals and Hearst castle! Maybe not a flower in the hair... maybe...

If you're going to San Simion I would plan for at least a day each way, would give Santa Cruz a miss, even thou i spent a lot of time there in my younger days it gets crowded around easter time.

Depending how long you are there, take the PCH North. Go over the Golden Gate and follow the road through the GG park and hug the coast past Point Reyes Lighthouse (Point Reyes Staion Cafe for a great brekkie) and on up to Bodego Bay and toward Jenner. When you get to Stewarts point, take a right and follow the road through woodland until and you will eventually come to Skaggs Point Road which is unbelievable to ride. This brings you out at Healsburg and you can mooch back to SF through Napa. I think the North of SF is better riding than the South and there are a bezillion fab roads.
More ideas down South, take a left at Carmel and follow Carmel Valley Road, it`s slow and great bends scenery. The 126 from King City across to Coalinga is also a real treat but heads inland. Everywhere you go over there, the roads are fantastic!
Lucky on the 1st class seat. I`ve just got back from SF in cattle class and I`m still in pain!
If you rent from Dubblju, Wolfgang will give you some fantastic advive on roads and for some other ideas log onto Marin BMW website and they put some great rides on their site! Dubblju has GS1200`s, Electra Glides and even Bonneville America`s....!!
Have fun....

Hi Chris, thanks for your advice about San Fran. I will get a good map and sort out a route similar to you suggest. I have been in communication via email with Wolfgang and I am tempted by the GS but really, I'd love to have a go on a V-Rod...

For some reason it is unseasonally wet at the moment, so he said to arrive, then check out the weather first. As it is mid week and not yet high season, it will be easy to hire a bike there and then. He seems like a nice guy and it my first choice of hire company..

Can you recommend a good map? Thanks!

Upper class ... envy

I tend to go there once a year for a conference but as I have to cough up for the ticket it tends to be a lower class...

Anyway, Highway 1 down from SF to San Simeon is absolutely awesome. It's got a few dull stretches in it (mainly from Santa Cruz to just behind Carmel) and Carmel is roughly where the fun really starts. I've just done it again in mid-March this year but in a hire car - weather wasn't bike friendly, there was snow on Hwy 17 over to Santa Cruz .

Just be careful, there was a lot of damage to the road surface (a lot more than I saw in previous years) and it may not be repaired by the time you get there. But the view is spectacular, as is the road.

Depending on when you set off, stop for lunch in Big Sur - skip the first set of buildings (the ones that look like tourist traps) and you'll come to a slightly smaller restaurant on your right. Food there is good and plentiful and if I could find the receipt I could tell you what it's called.... You can easily do the roundtrip in a day from Santa Clara (which is where I tend to stay) so it should be possible from SF but it's another hour in each direction.

If you don't want to go all the way to San Simeon there's one point near Limekiln state park where you can cross over the coastal range back to 101 - it's a tarmac'd goat path that turns off about 30 minutes south of Big Sur. Basically, if you made it to the Ranger Station on 1 you've gone too far. Only downside of that road is that you'll have to go through some military installation - Fort something-or-other - and they occasionally close the road.

Depending on how much time you've got you can "do" Hwy 1 both directions but my recommendation would be to take 101 back unless you have the time to stay in San Simeon.

Oh, and Hwy 1 is not really Harley country unless you link scraping the running boards - but anything is better than a car!

Don't forget Muir Woods...

An absolute delight! It's a giant redwood forest just north of SF, easy to get to, never forgotten - it's a must-see on an SF trip. To get a good idea of the layout of SF and surrounding country, you can't beat Google maps. Just type in 'Muir Woods, California' and in the top right of the screen, switch between the 'Map' and 'Hybrid' buttons - excellent.

The sealions on the watefront in SF are always worth a half hour or so.

And as you'll be thirsty after pushing the V-Rod to the nearest dealer ( ), don't forget that Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is readily available (brewed in Chico, northern California). And when (not if) you acquire the taste for the stuff, you'll find that Sainsbury's have kindly agreed to stock it JUST FOR YOU...