2025 Pashnit Touring on a Hayabusa

[pashnit]

2025 is here and we're back on the road. Winters are short in California. Rainy, but short. And no snow as long as I promise to stay under 4000 ft.

Two seasons of riding on this Gen3, prepping for another season of riding with 31k on the clock means spooning on a new set of Bridgestone T32s

30k on the clock means a few things. Swap out the chain & sprockets, toss the stock and go with a new SuperSprox. Yes, I cleaned off the gooey chain wax.

And yes, I did the front. It's a set.

 

[pashnit]

This bike came with a Sprint race filter. Probably not the best choice for a bike like this that's set up for touring.
See all that dust inside the airbox using the Sprint. Don't you think that's kinda odd? I tossed the Sprint and put in a brand new BMC filter.

 

[pashnit]

Is your stator cover supposed to look like this? This bike was brand new (two years ago) and I haven't had the need to take off the stator cover so that's not me messing with it.
All the bolts on the stator cover were loose or just plain not tight. Tightened 'em all up and cleaned up the oil. Just odd. Maybe the QA guy was on vacation that day or this bike was built at 4:30 on a Friday? Still odd.

 

[pashnit]

Another odd problem with aftermarket windscreens is they squeak or rattle.

Back in the olden days when we all had Gen1s, the Gen1 was known for squeaky windscreens, the backyard fix was some electricians tape on all the tabs. This actually works to provide a sort of gasket so the plastic on plastic isn't rubbing.

 

[pashnit]

Let's hope I never need these. Yep, this is a set of jumper cables designed to hardwire into the bike.

I've had these jumper cables for years. They fit in the tail section perfectly.

Let's hope the tour guide never needs them.

 

[pashnit]

Wouldn't be a new season of riding without new pads - every year, I toss the old ones and start fresh

 

[pashnit]

Mods complete. I think we're ready.

Why did you have Texas plates on your bike?
This Gen3 came from an org member in Virginia. I shipped it to Texas to a buddy of mine and we plated it there. Since it only had a 1000 miles on it when I bought it, can't register an out-of-state bike in California till it has at least 7500 miles on it.

We're a little past 7500 miles, and a $1000 later to the DMV for fees & taxes, it's plated in CA. I've had this plate for 25 years, since the late 1990s and it's been on all my four Hayabusas, my TL1000R, both my Z1000s my ZX11D, and my FJ1200. Old school.
Btw, out-of-state bikes have to be inspected at our local DMV, but only for vin verify. to make sure all the vins match.
I've bought four bikes out of state and shipped (3 of) them to California. My third Hayabusa was from Washington and we rode that one to CA.
And no, our DMV doesn't care the stock exhaust (and cat) have long since been pulled off the stock bike by the previous owner and it has the sexy 4-in-1 Akrapovic carbon fiber kit on there. As long as that vins match and it has at least 7500 miles, nobody seems to care. (This is a constant debate in internet la-la land).

First 2025 tour coming up, but that weather....

 

[pashnit]

Here's the plan: Doing this old school from memory. But these are mostly backroads so the mileage count has to go way down to account for slower pace on backroads.

I'm excited to finally have the Pashnit plate back on the Busa. Matches my helmet.

Same smiling faces, Gary & Xavier

 

[pashnit]

Scott is from eastern Canada and actually one of my most senior alumni, He first rode on a Pashnit Tour in 2007. His daughter moved to Los Angeles so he flies into LA, rents a GS and rides north to meet us the day before. He comes out here to ride California twisties every couple of years.

And Paul, he plans on doing 9 tours with me this year. He enjoys being retired.

And of course Mark, who plans on doing 14 of 17 tours this season with me. The tours he's missing b/c he'll be in Europe touring there.

He's got the new Triumph 800 on order and can't wait to get the all-new bike.

 

[pashnit]

Welcome to the Sierra Nevada Foothills

Yes, it's wet. Yes,it's starting to rain. And yes it's about 44 degrees out - all day. But we're riding.

Single lane back roads, how we missed you!

 

[pashnit]

Brandon Rd - Old Frenchtown Rd near Shingle Springs

Highway 49 into El Dorado

 

[pashnit]

Rivers are overflowing with massive amounts of rain. Nearby Sonora got nearly 3 inches in a matter of hours a few days ago.

But everything is super green everywhere. Further good news is we should only have a half day of rain for our weekend.
But temps in the low 40s will be the norm for this ride. Heated grips on the Gen3 are nice.

Single lane wooden bridge on Happy Camp Rd

Our mountain creeks are flowing, this one flows into the Consumnes River and then into the Sacramento River Delta.

 

[pashnit]

It's raining, but as long as you are dry and warm, it's manageable.

Weatherman says the rain should be done by mid-day.

 

[pashnit]

Only problem is Scott doesn't have waterproof boots like the rest of us

Twisty remote backroads

 

[pashnit]

Camera gets put away in the rain. We're headed south out of the rain to the tiny foothill town Volcano.

 

[pashnit]

Anybody hungry? Oldest store in California. In continuous operation since 1852. Perfect stop for lunch.

Everyone is cold, and wet, and Scott can't feel his feet.

I know just the thing.

 

[pashnit]

Scott waterproofed his shoes - with shopping bags.

This made me chuckle a bit as we used to do this as kids growing up in Wisconsin winters. If we didn't have boots, we put bread bags on over our socks, pulled on our shoes and went out to play in the snow for hours.
We were feral and our parents never cared that we had bread bags on our feet.

Hanging up gloves, shoes, balaclavas to dry by the heat of the warm wood stove... but we had ridden out of the rain.

Volcano made for a great stop, this is always a stop for our foothill rides, but we never eat here. Good food.

Just watch out for bears.

 

[pashnit]

44 degrees out, roads are wet, but it's not raining. Doable.

Highway 26

 

[pashnit]

Here's the plan - not big mileage, but endless twisty roads

 

[pashnit]

Highway 26 into West Point