2024 Pashnit Touring on a Hayabusa

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You ever get tired of taking pics of your bike? That never happens.

 

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I was actually disappointed. I could keep going. This road though is all gravel and the Nevada border is just up ahead.

Cattle country

I'm gonna head up into those mountains

 

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Monitor Pass - Highway 89

Mountains & fast curves - that's Monitor Pass

 

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A few years ago, some moto-journalists developed a rating system for motorcycle roads to rank them from best to not so best. They added in all the pertinent mathematical formulas, twistyness, pavement, engineering, scenery, remoteness and finally, character. In the end, they compared them all, added up the mathematical score and came out with a clear winner.

The authors named Highway 89-Monitor Pass as the best motorcycle road in the state of California. Local riders were either pleased or surprised. What about Road X, or Road Y? Those are better. I have to admit that as a connoisseur of roads for motorcyclists, I never wanted to create a rating system for roads. Which is why the California Motorcycle Roads www.Pashnit.com site has never had anything like that in the last 20+ years. Read the description, absorb the photos, glue the legs together for your journey. You decide.
Who am I to say what type of road you’ll like? I have no idea.

But… combine Monitor Pass – Highway 89 to Ebbetts Pass – Highway 4 and you have twisty perfection. We had just ridden it the day before. But it’s a luxury to ride it solo, not be concerned with the group behind me and just relax and take in the fall season change- the glowing yellow of the aspen trees, the endless curves, mountain vistas and 8000 ft elevations before the snow arrives in a few weeks.

There’s nobody on the road this early in the morning, just the lone biker.

 

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Topaz Lake - the south end of the lake is in California. The north end of the lake is in Nevada. The state line goes right through the center of the lake. That's all Nevada over there.

 

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One year ago, I was on Monitor Pass and had the crazy idea to ride up to the top of Leviathan Peak.

Leviathan Lookout Rd, Forest Road 31057, leads up to the fire lookout at 8942 feet, built in 1958.

 

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The road up is pretty hairy.

There's a locked gate, but I'm pretty sure that's just a suggestion.

The road up is 1.4 miles of super slow going for the big Busa, but this view is so worth it.

 

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This fire lookout has been been abandoned for many years.

View from 9000 ft of the Sierra Range - Slinkards Valley in the distance

 

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Highway 89 - Monitor Pass over the summit

Just me atop this mountain - not a soul around. Just the sound of the wind.

 

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I rode up, now I got to ride down

 

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First time I rode up to the top of 8942 ft Leviathan Peak was on my Z1000 after years of riding past it and wondering what's up there.

That was March 2014 during one of our drought years. No snow even at 9000 ft.

 

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<time warp back from our ride down Memory Lane>

The aspens on the summit are bright yellow

 

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Looking back at Leviathan Peak. That's the abandoned fire lookout that I rode up (you can see the road) to last year.

Favorite photo spot atop the summit of Monitor Pass for obvious reasons. Same spot, but 20 years ago.

 

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Descending off the top of the range

Highway 89 | Monitor Pass | California Motorcycle Roads | Pashnit

Alpine County Motorcycle Rides - Montor Pass

www.pashnit.com

 

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Hmm, Sounds like a good idea.

 

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We just rode Highway 4-Ebbetts Pass yesterday, but you can't ride this road enough times - and the fall colors.

 

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But riding it solo, I can slow down and enough the ride, the time of year, and the deserted mountain road all to myself.

Doesn't take long to get to the single lane portion that stays single lane for nearly 25 miles

 

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There's two lane traffic on Highway 4 - Ebbetts Pass so you always have to be at the ready.

Does it look like a two-lane road. Plus, see all the guard rails?

 

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So fun!

 

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Hard to tell, but no guard rails, zero shoulders, and a long way down.