45 Days on a Gen3 Hayabusa - 2023 Pashnit Touring

[pashnit]

Quickly becomes every bikers favorite road

Wentworth Springs Rd | California Motorcycle Roads | Pashnit

Sierra Nevada Motorcycle Rides - Ride the Georgtown Divide to Crystal Basin, California

www.pashnit.com

 

[pashnit]

When I bought my first Hayabusa, I lived a couple of miles from here. This is where I came to ride & get used to the new Busa. The summit here is 6500 ft.

Wentworth Springs Rd | California Motorcycle Roads | Pashnit

Sierra Nevada Motorcycle Rides - Ride the Georgtown Divide to Crystal Basin, California

www.pashnit.com

 

[pashnit]

If you've been following this thread, we rode up to Loon Lake a few weeks (posts) ago with the last tour. And yes, those are bullet holes.

Luc wanted to show us how much storage space his ZRX has. My new Gen3 has virtually zero.

 

[pashnit]

Luc has 9 bikes. He rides all of them, and each one is showroom condition.

Reaching Big Hill Fire Lookout.

Perfect view of the Crystal Range in the distance. Lake Tahoe is on the other side of the range. That lake below is Union Valley Reservoir.

 

[pashnit]

 

[pashnit]

Absolutely beautiful day in the mountains. What a view up here. And the view up here is 360 degrees.

It's open, says Mark, come on up!

 

[pashnit]

The fire lookouts are always excited to talk to us and tell the group all about what they do up here.

All the trees you see here were replanted by hand after the 1992 Cleveland Fire.

 

[pashnit]

All the fire lookouts up here are always super friendly and excited to tell us about how they spot the fires and plot their position on that round thingy.

 

[pashnit]

That picnic table down there is where we had lunch at (a few pages back) a few weeks ago. Not a bad spot for lunch eh?

 

[pashnit]

Spinx Moth

Going down isn't quite the same as going up. It feels straight down. These aren't really stairs. More like a ladder.

 

[pashnit]

Big Hill Fire Lookout is along Ice House Rd in the Sierra Range & the only fire lookout I know of that has a paved road to the top & is always open to the public.

Ice House Rd | California Motorcycle Roads | Pashnit

Sierra Nevada Motorcycle Rides - Ride Ice House Rd, Crystal Basin, California

www.pashnit.com

 

[pashnit]

I'd like to think this is somebodies retirement plan

 

[WuzzaCBXRider]

Ha, it certainly is a fire hazard.

 

[pashnit]

What expensive gas looks like. Yup, that's 8 bucks. We're pretty deep into the mountains. No one needed fuel though.

The GS guys never worry about gas, Some of these tanks are 9 gallons.

 

[pashnit]

Ice House Rd has always been a favorite ride. Very fun mountain road.

Ice House Rd | California Motorcycle Roads | Pashnit

Sierra Nevada Motorcycle Rides - Ride Ice House Rd, Crystal Basin, California

www.pashnit.com

 

[pashnit]

All these trees you see here were replanted about 30 years ago along Ice House Rd after the 1992 Cleveland Fire. That wildfire wiped out the valley and they were all replanted by hand. Now, all the trees are about 20 ft tall.

Down in this mountain valley is Highway 50, the main road between Sacramento & South Lake Tahoe.

But we're weaving south through the range, onto Silver Fork Rd which recently burned in the 2021 Caldor Fire.

 

[pashnit]

I used to live a couple miles from here in Pollock Pines. Silver Fork Rd was another one of the closest roads to my house.

Gotta be 20 years ago. No plates yet!

 

[pashnit]

20 years ago before this valley burned in the Caldor Fire

Back in the olden days before GoPros were even invented, we mounted actual video cameras on the bike.

 

[pashnit]

20 years later, same valley, same road, same bike (sorta)

 

[pashnit]