45 Days on a Gen3 Hayabusa - 2023 Pashnit Touring

[pashnit]

Boss, I’m coming in late.

See ya when you get here.

My normal 45-mile commute spontaneously expanded to a 100-mile ride to work. I took the long way.

17 years later, almost to the day, I found myself rolling up the same exact mountain valley burbling along the edges of Sutter Creek and bathed in a sense of Déjà vu. I have been here before.

A photo I took that day in 2006 of Hayabusa #1 had been a favorite for many years.

I would try and find that exact spot and recreate the photo with Hayabusa #4.

I tried, but 17 years later, it all looked so different. The trees had expanded and grown, there were more homes along the creek than I remember from that day nearly two decades ago. Finally, I stopped and shot the photo, but it didn’t feel quite the same.

 

[pashnit]

 

[pashnit]

Just up the road was another stop I had made on that same ride, 17 years earlier. An artist, named Jason Watt, contacted me and asked if he could paint that photo of Hayabusa #1 on Charleston Rd near Volcano.

I bought the framed finished product, and it's been up on the wall of my office for many years. All because I decided to take the long, 100-mile, way to work.

Same spot 17 years later with Hayabusa #4. It wasn't the same.

 

[pashnit]

Taking a break during midday, the local dual-sport club rode by, they were all waves & smiles. 20-plus bikes rode by.
This day was like our little secret, I won't tell if you won't tell. Perfect weather, amazing roads, non-stop twisties. We get it.

Realizing this bike is so new, I need some beauty shots of it, desktop cover shots sort of thing. I'll have to work on that.

Every bike I've owned through the years, there's always a certain angle where it just looks amazing and all the tiny changes you've made, to make it yours, stick out to the trained eye. Get the lighting right, time of day (ie no shadows) the right angle, and you've got an amazing magazine cover photo.

 

[pashnit]

More one-lane road exploring, no, this is not someone's driveway.

 

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[pashnit]

How narrow? Some perspective.

 

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Water crossing on Hale Rd, no bridge was ever built.

 

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Surprise! New pavement. It's like Christmas.

Finally back on normal two-lane road

 

[pashnit]

Back through the sleepy foothill town of Fiddletown, population is about 200

 

[pashnit]

Fiddletown is either known for 'fiddling around' or the gold miners were thought to be originally from Missouri and brought their fiddles with them.

Surrounding the town is the Shenandoah Valley, a foothill region that rivals the Napa Valley for the amount of grapes and wineries are everywhere.

And olives. Wife and I just planted an olive tree in our front yard, we'll see how it does.

 

[pashnit]

Ostrom Rd

 

[pashnit]

First ride of the 2023 season completed, first 1000 miles put on this bike.
Lovin' the new bike, can't wait to put more miles on it.

 

[fallenarch]

So @pashnit is the Gen 3 a much better touring bike than the previous gen's? Seems like the perfect bike for what you do.

 

[pashnit]

So @pashnit is the Gen 3 a much better touring bike than the previous gen's? Seems like the perfect bike for what you do.

Yes. Simple answer.
It's the same bike as my Gen1 & my Gen2, only everything is improved. All the little stuff I wished for over the last 20 years, this bike has. The cruise control works perfectly, and I use it all day long. The heated grips are well-worth it to have those. The motor is very smooth along with the gearbox. The Quick Shifter is very new to me, and I'm still trying to get used to that. The range on the bike is 190 miles which is less than my Gen2 (220) so I'll swapping out sprockets at some point in search of better range and gas mileage. Also, while running auxiliary lights, heated vest and heated grips all at the same time, the voltage meter hasn't moved. That's very reassuring the new bike can handle the extra pull for your accessories.

 

[pashnit]

Southern Sierra Nevada Foothill Tour

Southern Foothills Motorcycle Tour | Pashnit Tours

Ride Tulare & Kern County motorcycle roads

www.pashnittours.com

The rain in California this winter has been crazy. The snow is setting records up in the mountains. Now over 700 inches of snow, nearly 60 feet of snow, has fallen around Mammoth Mountain. There are crews on top of buildings shoveling the snow off, trying to prevent them from collapsing from the weight of the snow.

And the rain in the Sierra Nevada Foothills this year has been called a '50 year event', essentially once a lifetime. Some reservoirs that were 6% capacity months ago, mere puddles, are now 100% full. Some are full for the first time in 25 years. So imagine planning a motorcycle tour in the midst of all this water, flooding, road closures, and hoping our scheduled date falls in between the waves of storms inbound off the ocean. (Another inch of rain is supposed to fall just today). But I have the best luck, and we are three for three so far, sneaking in a ride in between the waves of rain.

But the good news is all the massive amounts of rain creates a rare phenomenon known as a Super Bloom. Technically, that word refers to desert regions. Seeds stay dormant in the dryer regions until they experience large amounts of seasonal rain, and they explode into an explosion of color. We want to go see this color. Plus, a bonus for me, this brilliant colored landscape of treeless rolling hills looks orange to me.

I was intent on seeing some of this water, so that meant a ride down the Sacramento River Delta atop the levee roads, making my way south several hours to our meet up spot for the next motorcycle tour on the 2023 roster. This next tour would be running through the Southern Sierra Nevada Foothills, which incidentally had experienced some of the highest levels of rainfall this winter only days earlier.

So much rainfall, it re-created a drained lake known as Lake Tulare. Tulare Lake was the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River at the turn of the century, and the second-largest freshwater lake (entirely) in the United States. The lake spanned 75 miles from end to end. Lake Tulare was located in the southern part of the Central Valley and could seasonally grow as large as 1000-square miles. The shallow lake was drained to create farmland in the 1920s-1940s, but fills back up during heavy rainfall years.

But here's the kicker, this lake has no natural outlet. The water is expected to be around at least through September, as this water can only evaporate.

Lake Tulare on maps from 100 years ago - our ride region is going to be due east of Lake Tulare.

Headed onto the levee roads to see the fast flowing river. It was this or the freeway.

Sacramento River Delta | California Motorcycle Roads | Pashnit

Explore the Sacramento River Delta, Highway 160, California

www.pashnit.com

 

[pashnit]

 

[pashnit]

Originally built in 1934 as an operating beet sugar refinery, the Old Sugar Mill now hosts fourteen unique wineries offering varietals from all over Northern California.

Sacramento River Delta | California Motorcycle Roads | Pashnit

Explore the Sacramento River Delta, Highway 160, California

www.pashnit.com

 

[pashnit]