On Labor Day a gathering of Southern California motorcycles got together to ride Angeles Crest. We had motorcycles from the USA, Japan, Germany and the LAPD. There were FOUR CVO Ultras, a Red Goldwing, Champagne BMW, and a Kawasaki Police bike (Yes, it was my full dress training bike).
Many of you remember the Red Goldwing from Solvang/Buellton ridden by my neighbor John S. Michael E. is a returning rider and in the market for a bike. He's a good friend of mine so I let him use the Kawasaki. He lives in Manhattan Beach, CA. Josh P. rides the Champagne BMW, he rode with us last month to Lake Elsinore, he lives in Northern San Diego. We also met Mike T. (MAT) and his friend Andy.
When Mike pulled into the Shell station I thought it was either Andy K, or Chris E. His Ruby Red Ultra with Street Glide rear end was stunning. Andy is the sales manager at Biggs HD in San Marcos and was on a gorgeous 2007 Rootbeer / Orange Jester. He just picked it up from the dealer auction and was putting some miles on it. Kudos to both of them. Mike was fighting a cold and they both punched their way out through a thunderstorm earlier that morning.
With thunderstorms in the mountains and passes we decided to follow the advice of Horance Greeley and "Go West". We rode through Simi Valley and stopped off at Marty’s house for a quart of oil. Andy’s Jester was “Singin’ the 110 Blues”. The bike had a leaking base gasket and was blowing oil everywhere. The engine it appears never had the “110 Fix” done to it. Back at home, Paula stay and decided to catch up on some things she needed to get done. With neither Donna or Karen to hang with, she decided to turn it into a “guys day out”.
From Simi we rode the back roads through Santa Paula, Oja,i and had lunch at the Deer Lodge. There we were greeted with a waitress who provided us full service via self-serve. If that sounds like a paradox it was. She took our order, brought us drinks and then we had to go pick it up at the BQ station. Don’t recall doing that last month, but then again we had a different waitress then.
From the Deer Lodge we broke up. Josh headed back to San Diego, and John and Michael both headed home to the South Bay for other Labor Day commitments. The four CVO Ultras pressed on!
In the more than capable hands of Marty we rode the back way to Solvang. Meandering the fields and country roads was a real pleasure. In Solvang we called Vanamal, but he must have been busy and never called back. We enjoyed a lazy afternoon in the quiet quaint faux Danish village sipping cold drinks and talking about everything else under the sun.
Andy is proving to be quite a find for the group. As sales manager at Biggs HD he is able to negotiate to make deals work in bike sales. He comes across a lot of CVOs and is willing to work with interested buyers, so keep him in mind if you are looking for any special bike.
Not wanting to fight the Labor Day traffic on the 101 through Santa Barbara we took back roads back to Simi Valley. We had dinner at The Hat. a local shop famous for its pastrami sandwiches. From there Marty took us to the 118 freeway before peeling off for home. I separated from Mike and Andy at the 405 and headed back home to the South Bay .
All in all it was a really fun day. If you are wondering why this ride report is verbose and seems to go on forever, it’s because there are no pictures. With no back seat riders, we lacked our usual bevy of lovely photographers so I had to fill this ride report with something.
Here is the lone photo I snapped with my cell phone.
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Topic: SoCal Labor Day Angelus Crest Ride.............NOT! (Read 1208 times)