Oregon coast beach loop ride report... 210 miles [Archive] - Kawasaki Vulcan 750 Forum : Kawasaki VN750 Forums

: Oregon coast beach loop ride report... 210 miles


curtis97322
05-20-2007, 11:28 AM
First off - other than the seat - I LOVE this bike! I might be getting a mustang seat from a member of the Y! group - certainly hope to replace the too thin travelcade that's currently on the bike.

It's been nice all week, forecast for the weekend was rain in the evening. It rained Friday night and was looking kinda gloomy this (Saturday) morning. Did some stuff around the house, then realized how nice it'd gotten outside at 1pm. The rhododendron festival (known for drawing lots of bikes - usually 100+) is going on in philomath (a town on the way to the coast), so we figured we'd ride over there and check it out, then think about going out to the coast. Major road construction is going on in philomath, so we had a hard time finding the Rhody fest - decided to forget about it and just head out to the coast.

Last weekend I rode part way out highway 34, one of the roads to the coast, but had to turn around due to my wife's car troubles a couple hours (and a cage drive) away. This weekend she was with me, so there was no danger of needing to turn back ;-)). It was a very different experience doing the 25mph back to back turns with a passenger, more challenging - a little more unnerving - but still lots of fun! The whole road was full of tight turns and sweepers - as one road review said "it's as if it was built to every contour of the earth - as cheap as possible" the money saved on construction must have been spent on engineering - the roads are well built and well maintained.

We took a couple stops along the way, there was no hurry and my wife isn't used to being on the bike for too long. A couple hours later we got to the coast (70 miles). Walked down to the bay, my wife found a little crab (dead but intact) and he became our "guide" - pictures in different places with the crab and all... there's a reason she married me <g>. Then we walked around and looked at a couple antique shops (we're 22 and 26, yet love antique shops) - picked up a cool dog door knocker (dorky I know - but we're both dog people and had never seen something like that) then hopped back on the bike and rode to a favorite spot on the beach.

By the time we were done, we decided we'd take a more familiar and less twisty road back - plus we wanted to stop at the 2 casinos along a particular route (to spend $5 at each). Stopped at casino #1 - put in a buck, won $12. Lost another 3, kept one, considered myself $8 richer and went on our way. Had dinner at casino #2, wife convinced me to go play "one more slot" (I was going to only spend the $1 I had by that time on slots) and I won $30 - paid for almost the entire trip with the 2 casino stops <g>.

Saw a lot of bikes (both motorized and not) on the road today, my butt's sore from a long ride but a smile's on my face.
The general route we took: http://tinyurl.com/ypd5jt

Curtis

Some pictures taken by my darling wife in no particular order...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/th_May19Beachtrip030.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/May19Beachtrip030.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/th_MoonPlanet.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/MoonPlanet.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/th_May19Beachtrip186.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/May19Beachtrip186.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/th_May19Beachtrip148.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/May19Beachtrip148.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/th_May19Beachtrip141.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/May19Beachtrip141.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/th_May19Beachtrip114.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/May19Beachtrip114.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/th_May19Beachtrip105.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/May19Beachtrip105.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/th_May19Beachtrip091.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/May19Beachtrip091.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/th_May19Beachtrip085.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/May19Beachtrip085.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/th_May19Beachtrip074.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/May19Beachtrip074.jpg)

curtis97322
05-20-2007, 11:29 AM
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/th_May19Beachtrip045.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/May19Beachtrip045.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/th_May19Beachtrip042.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/May19Beachtrip042.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/th_May19Beachtrip041.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/May19Beachtrip041.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/th_May19Beachtrip052.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/eagleseye_rats/BeachbiketripMay19/May19Beachtrip052.jpg)

Eggnog
05-20-2007, 12:47 PM
Motorcycle,Romance,and money all in one day your a lucky guy hope you have many more.Nice pics by the way looks mighty quiet and peaceful there.

tankist
05-20-2007, 01:24 PM
nice!
that sounds like very relaxed, great day.
great ride.

curtis97322
05-20-2007, 01:41 PM
'twas a great trip. Came home cold and tired (it was 10 by the time we got home - got kinda chilly after dark) but relaxed and happy.

hyperbuzzin
05-20-2007, 04:10 PM
Sounds like an awesome ride! And some really nice pics too, especially the ones with your 'guide' LOL

norsseman
05-20-2007, 09:44 PM
The riders on the other coasts of these great United States should know that West Coast Ocean Water is usually very cold all the way from from Canada to Mexico. Rarely an almost warm current comes toward the beach but it is very seldom. Oregon is a scenic State and has some good rides, but be prepared for frigid Ocean temperatures if you venture to any of the West coast beaches.

curtis97322
05-20-2007, 11:11 PM
The riders on the other coasts of these great United States should know that West Coast Ocean Water is usually very cold all the way from from Canada to Mexico. Rarely an almost warm current comes toward the beach but it is very seldom. Oregon is a scenic State and has some good rides, but be prepared for frigid Ocean temperatures if you venture to any of the West coast beaches.
Ya mean some people actually go in the water? :BLAM:

Not as bad as ya go south, but yeah, the water is very *best michael jackson impression* frigid...

On the ride home the clutch lever was acting weird...

Discovered a clutch cable worn down to a few threads this afternoon when I went to check what was up... guess that means the bike's down till I can get a new cable (It broke when I went to remove it to see if there was anything that could be done) - BUT at least it didn't happen when I was 60 miles away...