Long Beach to Bakersfield in 2 Days-190 Mi

GoldenMotor.com

Traveller

New Member
Nov 14, 2009
9
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Southern CA
The trip began in Long Beach on New Years day on my cruiser bike with a stock 80cc Skyhawk. Getting through LA was a pain because I got lost a few times. Once I hit San Fernando Road at around 2 in the evening I knew that I wouldn't make be able to make the 20 mile journey on Hwy 5 to North Valley Peace Rd. before sunset so I stayed the night in Castaic.

The next day I left at dawn, and made it to Gordon by 11 am fighting the huge head winds on Hwy 5.
Got something to eat and met another MB member who gave me a ride up a big hill on North Valley Peace Rd. in his truck. Strange enough he had his own MB in the truck, so I invited him to ride part of the way on Frazier Park Rd. but his carb was leaking.

I was wondering why so many cars were passing me on Frazier Park Rd which I thought was going to be deserted on New Years day. I later figured out that Curry Valley Road leads to a ski resort.

Picasa Web Albums - Traveller - Long Beach to...
The other road leading from the Y was MiPortero Hwy which curved around mountains, and it felt like I was going to the bottom of a snow filled canyon. Fortunately the road was not icy due to the lack of rain that we have had. Overall it took me from 5700 feet to an elevation of 1200 feet at CA 33. Then it was relatively flat on CA 33 with beautiful scenery.

Looking back I should have taken two different sized sprocket wheels, one to go through LA (36T) and one for the mountains (50T) which would have increased my average speed.
I credit bamaguy for providing inspiration through his http://motorbicycling.com/f16/12-000-miles-since-2005-a-1808.html posts about his travels. usflg
 

rockvoice

New Member
Apr 6, 2009
355
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glendale california
thats awesome , the next time you plan a trip like that let us know we have some guys that might be interested. would maybe like to plan a trip to san diego or something like that
 

Egor

New Member
Jan 30, 2008
714
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Hurricane Utah
A friend of mine and I were going to ride a portion of old 66 but we were going to start up around Apple Valley. I am not fond of riding with the cars jamming past at 60. I wonder if it would be better if it were a bunch of riders together. Myrons Mopeds does it once a month, but those guys are using hopped up Tomos with two gears and will make 30 + easy, all day. I admire anyone that makes challenging trips with these bikes. Reminds me of George Wyman and his trip across america in 1903. Have fun, Dave
 

GearNut

Active Member
Aug 19, 2009
5,104
11
38
San Diego, Kaliforgnia
Very cool! A long trip would be fun. Now all I need to do is get a higher paying job that I can take a few days vacation time off. I haven't had a vacation in 16 years, not counting holidays.
 

Traveller

New Member
Nov 14, 2009
9
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Southern CA
I figured out how to insert images so I attached them below.

How the **** did you get up and down the grapevine?
Yea, that was the hardest part of the trip. Getting up to the Frazier was a relatively flat trip compared to Curry Valley Road which was much steeper. Several times I had to pedal assist to keep the motor running.




Frazier Park Rd. The adjacent mountains are below.



While on Hwy 5 the winds were getting to strong so I thought HT needed a rest, which was a big mistake as I couldn't get her to start again, so I had to walk to the top of the hill. More to come...
 

Egor

New Member
Jan 30, 2008
714
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Hurricane Utah
Cool story, looking forward to the rest of the pics. One of the things these engines need is more cooling fins, I know you have heard me say this before but for a big ride like this it would be nice to find a large head at least to keep the engine from heat soaking. My bike heat soaks on a small hill I have. Anyone around me that wants to do a big ride like this I will do one of my full engine builds for free. I would like to hear how the extra performance would help for a long run. Have fun, Dave
 

Nashville Kat

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2009
1,501
55
48
Jacksonville, Florida
Best biking in Southern California is Rincon Parkway, right along the ocean north of Ventura . Why not go up to Santa Barbara? At the top of the climb after rincon, cut over and go along the mountains and through the orange groves behind Carpenteria, and into Montecito.

Climbed up to Gibralter peak above S.B. a few times in my younger days. 4000 feet or something, in a few miles from sea level. Awesome!

wish I was there.
 

Egor

New Member
Jan 30, 2008
714
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0
Hurricane Utah
You know you are right. I have made that run before. Not on a bike but in the PT cruiser. It would be a perfect run, all the way through Lompoc that is one of my favorite places. Have fun, Dave
Best biking in Southern California is Rincon Parkway, right along the ocean north of Ventura . Why not go up to Santa Barbara? At the top of the climb after rincon, cut over and go along the mountains and through the orange groves behind Carpenteria, and into Montecito.

Climbed up to Gibralter peak above S.B. a few times in my younger days. 4000 feet or something, in a few miles from sea level. Awesome!

wish I was there.
 

rgvkid

New Member
Sep 21, 2008
110
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Los Angeles,CA
Old thread, but i didn't know you could ride on the I5 through the vine. Can you only ride in certain areas. For instance, if you were going south to SD isn't there a section where PCH ends and the frwy is the only passage? I could be wrong. I can't imaging going 25-30mph with a huge Big Rig wind draft almost knocking you out.

I would love to do a Long Distance run once i get my HF Mb completed
 

Traveller

New Member
Nov 14, 2009
9
0
0
Southern CA
Traveller -Keep us posted I am interested in a ride. Have fun, Dave
It's been a while since my last update and have since made two trips.

Back in March I had intended to go to Indio from Long Beach however I got a flat near Beaumont, and ended up sleeping under the stars and returning to LB the next day. It was an extremely fridgid night, that I later figured out was the second coldest night in the past fifty years (according to Weather.com for that night) with temperatures dropping to one degree above freezing.

Picasa Web Albums - Traveller - Trip to Beaumont


For instance, if you were going south to SD isn't there a section where PCH ends and the frwy is the only passage? I could be wrong. I can't imaging going 25-30mph with a huge Big Rig wind draft almost knocking you out.

I would love to do a Long Distance run once i get my HF Mb completed
If you go to google maps and click the bicycle it shows that the Old PCH highway is an alternative to hwy 5 for bikes. I highly recommend Pirate Cycles sprocket adapter for long trips, along with slime tubes.
 

Traveller

New Member
Nov 14, 2009
9
0
0
Southern CA
Bay Area to Yosemite Bike Stolen

At the beginning of June my trip to Yosemite from the Bay Area where my relatives live was cut short. I started out taking hwy 12 through Rio Vista, but then my tire went flat before I reached Lodi. I had gotten the tire replaced, but then my pump broke down. I left my bike in a ditch after getting to Lodi to get a new pump, but when I came back my bike was gone :(. Fortunately I wasn't too far from my cousins house, so he came and gave me a ride back home.

If you have or have seen my bike I would appreciate it returned.
It has a unmistakable sprocket adapter and I was told it was spotted in Rohnert Park.


The only changes were the rag sprocket had been changed to a pirate cycles sprocket adapter, and a wire basket was on the back.
 

Egor

New Member
Jan 30, 2008
714
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0
Hurricane Utah
Traveller - I hope you are able to put together another bike, or find yours. Looking forward to hearing about your rides. Sounds like you live in LB, I do most of my riding around the new Pike area, & down the river path. Look me up I would like to meet up with you, not too many people around me interested in the MB. Have fun, Dave
 

red baron

New Member
Dec 3, 2010
15
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0
California
I did a trip w/ my buddy in 1978 from Huntington Beach to Grants pass. We had loads of trouble just getting out of LA. Went up PCH as far as we could it was all up hill, and we had to carry gas cans that didn't look like gas cans, not so much laws, but city ordnances prevented carrying gas in the open.So we used Olive oil cans. Anyway, we took 2 weeks to get up to Oregon because we found summer jobs at the amusement parks in Santa Cruz. And we made enough $ for the rest of the summer. We went to The san Fran City and saw Haight-Ashbury (big deal) and got into a fight w/ some punks in Sacramento who wanted to "try our whizzers".My buddy used his belt and I used a Bike chain on those wankers. We picked up some girls and they rode their bikes. as we walked. So I called up my old buddy and he says he still has his old 52 and his granddaughter rides it now.We were bored with surfing and we wanted some adventure.