4 day ride to N. California

[betoney]

I had a 4 day window of opportunity and decided to take a quick trip to California.  Planning a route in California has always been 'opening a can of worms' for me, once I start planning a route, I always want to add another section and then another great road and before I know it I'm adding multiple days trying to fit it all in.  In this region the essential roads are 3/96/299/36, I wasn't able to fit everything in but still had some phenomenal riding.

Route through California and Oregon https://maps.app.goo.gl/yWMc4DH5ahv2k1Jz7

Just under 1700 miles and fuel average was 47mpg -actual calculation at the pump.  Bike ran flawlessly but front tire is done.

I have never ridden in California and not encountered road construction.  Props to Cal Trans, most of their roads are in phenomenal condition -at least ones that I have encountered.  Waiting in construction traffic is a small price to pay.

Gotta love California gas prices... by comparison in Oregon I paid $4.20 for premium

[dazzler24]

8 hours ago, betoney said:

I had a 4 day window of opportunity and decided to take a quick trip to California.  Planning a route in California has always been 'opening a can of worms' for me, once I start planning a route, I always want to add another section and then another great road and before I know it I'm adding multiple days trying to fit it all in.  In this region the essential roads are 3/96/299/36, I wasn't able to fit everything in but still had some phenomenal riding.

Route through California and Oregon https://maps.app.goo.gl/yWMc4DH5ahv2k1Jz7

Just under 1700 miles and fuel average was 47mpg -actual calculation at the pump.  Bike ran flawlessly but front tire is done.

I have never ridden in California and not encountered road construction.  Props to Cal Trans, most of their roads are in phenomenal condition -at least ones that I have encountered.  Waiting in construction traffic is a small price to pay.

Gotta love California gas prices... by comparison in Oregon I paid $4.20 for premium

Stooop!  Your killing us with all these great photos of your trips!

As always, looks fantastic.  Thanks.

[2and3cylinders]

We have near identical 15 Fastest Reds. I'm sure I may have a few mods that make mine bit heavier, plus I likely outway you.

But HTH do you get 47 mpg?!

If I get 42 mpg I'm thrilled.

What's the secret?

[betoney]

8 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

We have near identical 15 Fastest Reds. I'm sure I may have a few mods that make mine bit heavier, plus I likely outway you.

But HTH do you get 47 mpg?!

If I get 42 mpg I'm thrilled.

What's the secret?

Over the years you have mentioned getting lower fuel economy, I'm not sure what the secret is besides maybe riding style? 

I try to be very smooth with rolling on and rolling off the throttle, no cranking it open really hard and then chopping it closed, think rheostat or a stereo volume knob.  Maybe it is habit from decades of 2 stroke dirtbike riding in the mountains, a lot of the terrain is wet roots and slippery red clay covered rocks, -like riding on ice, precise throttle input is critical.

My trip computer has always been optimistic  by 2-3mpg when compared to real world calculations with each fill up.

[2and3cylinders]

Well rolling it on and off I understand in the twisties just maintaining torque and a connection between your wrist and the rear wheel but when you're on the open road on freeways and you're dodging half brain dead mouth breathing cagers busy texting talking and watching videos it's more fun to slam in and out and just leave them in your dust because if you aren't there they can't kill you 

motorcyclists in traffic are like sharks, if a shark stops moving they drown, they suffocate because they don't have operable gills

motorcyclists also have to live that way or they won't

also we have some boring roads and one of the things that makes them a little less boring is hopping on it when you can but even when I ride like a zombie catatonic and smelling the roses I still can barely hit 42 MPG

 

I still have my 76 rd400 setup for the track but I'm going to convert it back to the street ring ding ding ding ding

I love the smell of burning caster oil in the morning it smells like victory

[betoney]

1 hour ago, 2and3cylinders said:

even when I ride like a zombie catatonic and smelling the roses I still can barely hit 42 MPG

I'm not sure what else could factor in to fuel efficiency?  The intake/exhaust/fueling mods are 2WDW flash for Scorpion slip-on and K&N air filter.  The only difference is I also have Activetune installed and activated in the ECU.

[2and3cylinders]

Could the Active Tune be the answer???

[betoney]

2 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

Could the Active Tune be the answer???

That's the only thing I can think of for the difference.

Whats interesting is how 2 identical bikes can be so different.  I have mentioned this before but my buddy also has a '15 FJ09 and whenever we have switched bikes on a road trip they feel like 2 completely different bikes, beyond just ergonomics. 

[2and3cylinders]

But is your buddy's 15 also the fastest red? 😎

[2and3cylinders]

Now I wonder if given my ECU was flashed by Dave, not using a Data-Link ECU Flahing Kit, the custom mapping Dave does is not as fuel efficient and cannot incorporate a FTECU Active Tune.

[betoney]

40 minutes ago, 2and3cylinders said:

But is your buddy's 15 also the fastest red? 😎

😄 - No, his is the matte charcoal grey. 

[2and3cylinders]

41 minutes ago, betoney said:

😄 - No, his is the matte charcoal grey. 

Ya see, Red does make a difference 😜 

By the way you're within 16.7% of the 100K club 

I'm not sure your scorpion makes a difference if you left the cat, I can't remember, but if so, the k&n will have a tendency to lean things out, and the decat will make it easier to read, so both of which the Auto-Tune may use to its advantage. Also what elevation did you average riding at I'm sure above the 620 I live in

Back to your 4 day, if you have links to it I'll try to go there but how did you handle choosing or finding accommodations or did you primarily camp out and then select accommodations based on who had the best swimming pool?

Also, your efficiency limiting use of scarce hydrocarbon resources, I'm not saying my low fuel mileage also makes it slow on the contrary under the right conditions it loves to be left between 5 and nine.

Just like my Rd LOL 

In my Ute I didn't do no dirt like you did

say that fast five times 

But the tires we road raced two smokes on we're like hockey pucks and I still ran drum brakes.  The tracks also were full of tar snakes cuz they primarily ran cars so it was like riding on ice, and on a hot day almost impossible and we had a lot of them in SoCal

Just like in the dirt can you say hockey knee and shin guards and elbow pads on your leathers?

[betoney]

1 hour ago, 2and3cylinders said:

I'm not sure your scorpion makes a difference if you left the cat, I can't remember, but if so, the k&n will have a tendency to lean things out, and the decat will make it easier to read, so both of which the Auto-Tune may use to its advantage.

Yes, the Scorpion is a cat-delete system with a mid-pipe.  The entire bulbous chamber and cat are gone.

Also what elevation did you average riding at I'm sure above the 620 I live in

While on the trip, I spent a lot of time above 4,000', there is nothing better than twisty mountain highways AND elevation changes, like riding a roller coaster.

Back to your 4 day, if you have links to it I'll try to go there but how did you handle choosing or finding accommodations

Its always a process with me, (and I LOVE using Google Maps) I try to keep the riding distance around 400 miles per day but sometimes that doesn't always work and I try to find an end of day stop in a decent sized town. 

Once I chose a town I will look for a motel first www.booking.com and then check the surrounding area (again, I LOVE Google Maps) for a restaurant/pub within walking distance. (once the ride is over for the day the bike is parked at the motel and anything I do is on foot.)  If I can't find a town with a motel and restaurant close to each other then I might try another nearby town that does.  MOST of the routes I create end up getting revised, re-routed or changed in some way to get everything to 'fit'.

 

 

[2and3cylinders]

I'll have to work on learning Google Maps.And then how do you transfer it possibly to a GP?S like the garmin XT that's always been a problem for me with Google Maps.

Of course garmins "app" Is a mystery to me why it's so difficult?

[betoney]

1 hour ago, 2and3cylinders said:

I'll have to work on learning Google Maps.And then how do you transfer it possibly to a GP?S like the garmin XT that's always been a problem for me with Google Maps.

Of course garmins "app" Is a mystery to me why it's so difficult?

I DO NOT use Base Camp on my PC, I have never heard any good reviews.

I have the Garmin Drivesmart 55 GPS, same basic interface as the XT except designed for automotive use, 'technically' not waterproof and about $150 during Black Friday sale.

I build my route with the Garmin "DRIVE" app which communicates to the GPS via bluetooth.  The app is simple as its only function is to feed addresses, cities, landmarks or attractions to the GPS. 

I could type Portland and my GPS will start calculating the directions and ETA, then I could type Carson City Nevada > -send to device- and the GPS will want to know if it is the new destination (first) or the last destination (second)  then I could type Death Valley > -send to device- and again the GPS will ask what order the newest entry should be listed in.  Making a route is that simple, very, VERY simple. 

Of course you can always just type in the street address (either on the GPS or in the DRIVE app) and as a last resort you can always zoom in the map and just touch a road or city name and then > press GO.