My A-Tempt(er) On The Sierras

On the way down, one of the bikes encounter an electrical issue and it runs the battery down.



Good thing this time we have a sag wagon and it's loaded into the truck and safely gets down the mountain.

I get home and calculate that my bike gets about 20-25mpg:eek1.



I put in 6 gallons of gas into this bike, wow! Maybe I should go to a four stroke.

Great pictures there vtwin, looks like a great time on the "Tidlers" ! I remember those "Stingers", and Yamaha had something like that but was a 100cc twin, don't remember what they were called though. Fantastic little speed demon's.... Ha-Ha !

Thanks, lot's of fun on not a lot of cc's.

Guess I should mention that on my commute home from work last friday, I saw the Scud Missile from the collection being transported.

Time to put the Mighty Tempter to work. We're headed to Lake Oroville and Mapmess says it's 135 miles and just over 3 hours to the 9:30 start. Let's just say, leaving at 5:30am wasn't early enough.



Darn bugs on the screen! At least this camera isn't like the old one where the bug guts actually jammed the lens from opening.





The camera can hardly compensate for all the horses the Tempter is putting out.



This looks like Nebraska.



Casinos are everywhere now a days.



Finally made it to the start and missed everyone by 20 minutes. Good thing I have the route map and go it alone.








No one I know in sight, but enjoying the road as it seems that the original engineers rode motorcycles!



They mentioned stopping at Buck's Lake, but I don't see them, so I continue onto the lunch stop in Quincy.



Nope, no bikes I know.








Well, the host is expecting them in about 20 minutes, so I have a cup and relax.

Here they come!







Lunch!

Some views around Quincy.











Getting gas we have an unfortunate accident.



The pickup bumped one of the bikes.



He has to ride the rest of the way on the passenger peg, ouch!

Incident behind us, we continue with the second leg of the trip, sans bug on lens.













The scenery is just beautiful and the road is perfect.



A little rest stop.













If I didn't know....



I thought it was for beating dogs chasing you. Onward!




Stop for refreshments and refreshing!



Forgot to take a photo of the wall with all the campy posters and signs. One saying, "People tell me I have a bad attitude, I say screw'em!"




We take a left for Cherokee.





I apologize to the folks in "Shiny Things" under the "Small Trailer" thread, but one property must have had at least 30 or so small trailers and not so small. One guy mentioned he counted at least 4 Airstreams. I thought I saw a couple of Scottys(?) and all manner of small vintage trailers. I just wasn't quick enough to think of taking pictures of them. Found it. Mods, let me know if this is against the rules posting the sat image of the place.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/C...2!3m1!1s0x809ccc20fa8b65b3:0x238098ca6981ac51









We're back in Oroville and part ways for my return home.

This place had a bunch of M35's and other military vehicles. Again, no pictures.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.472...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s8GTxOw5ba7Rvz4mgVDat1g!2e0



Getting back onto the freeway for on ramp, I'm surprised by a set of lights I recognize as one of our club members.



The Connie and I return to the bay area together and he peels off at his exit and I make it safely back.



That Pledge is going to get a workout.

Last club meeting of the year with intentions of riding the Stinger to the meet. Well, it made it down the killer hill (that claimed my Willys!) then proceeded to stop firing on the left cylinder. Well, it died at the bottom of the hill and would not restart. Well, shortest distance home is the hill, so I started pushing it. Can't really leave it behind, as my aforementioned truck is a bit laid up. Amazing how even a 200+lb. bike becomes the Queen Mary on a hill. Luckily, a neighbor stopped and offered to tow it home in his bike trailer, cool! The trusty, Mighty Tempter is put to the task now. I made it!



Horrible weather we are having today, in the 70's! Look at all the winter clothes we have on.














New calender gone through, plans for next year fitting in place, time to ride! ie; Lunch!:dg

Fall colors just starting to make a showing.









Our usual spot, the Alpine Inn.





Clean little BSA.



Just b-b-q sauce and onions, not Bob-b-q sauce.








With lunch done, a few of us decide to go to Alice's. Such a nice day and still early, why not?




The Mighty Tempter is so fast, it's actually bending the time continuum!



The warm dappled sunshine, beautiful road and smell of pine trees in the air, what could be better?

Never heard either of these run, would have been cool.





A bit of milling around, b.esing and checking out bikes, we all head out. While on the main road, I spotted this at a distance and had to stop to talk to the owner/builder. Interesting take.



He recommended the Zero as far as motorcycle bikes were concerned and did not like the Brammo. Cool anyway. I kind of liked this one I saw at the San Luis Obispo Show back in Oct.

After replacing the spring on the IKON mono shock with a lighter one. I was anxious to see if I've cured my evil handling. This bike has been a good and reliable bike with pretty much ideal size. The only thing was the wallowy handling in fast sweeping turns with undulations. Almost like it was hinged in the middle. If you've seen my build thread of this bike, you can see it has a pretty stout frame and I had considered running a hack with it. I've been looking forward to our "Wildflower Ride" that takes place around the Fort Hunter Liggett area and testing out the shock.

Leaving early in the morning.



Boring interstate.



In all the years I've driven/ridden this way, I've never seen a train on these tracks.



Two hours later, I'm on Jolon Rd, the exit.



Finally warming up, it was in the upper 40's.









It's kind of amazing, that as many people in California, there is plenty of desolation in the state. You have to wonder what people's lives are like out here.



Finally on base.

This is where the rest of the group is, "The Hacienda".



My meeting point is the Mission San Antonio.




Under reconstruction.









Doesn't look that large to me.







Never found the bell.







Time for some breakfast! Foccacia bread from Liguria Bros, the best.





There's a cross up there...

I meet up with the group and it's time to ride!



There's a bike race going on at the same time. Good thing it's going the other way.



We enter a valley and a bald eagle takes off and is pacing me. By the time I get the camera out, it's gaining elevation. We are both going about 30-35mph and he's pacing me.











Such a majestic bird, so glad Ben Franklin didn't get his way and use a turkey to represent the US.

Our first stop. An Olive Farm





We meet up with the other group, Dangerous Curves. They are on much newer bikes.



They are on a different ride from us and we only meet up here.

We get a quick lesson on olive oil.





We can even buy some.



Purchases made, time to ride. Ooops.



Good thing it was just a loose battery connection!

Back underway.







Mission San Miguel.





Father Junipero Serra.













At least remove the sticker!







A chain adjustment with the factory tools. Try this with a new bike.





Adjustment done, let's ride.



San Miguel is a really small town.



Cool truck.



Indian Valley Rd.





This is where 198 intersects 25, my turn off.



More California gold.









Small town of Tres Pinos.





The rest of the trip went through Hollister and then US 101.



The Mighty Tempter was flawless today and I am a lot happier with the way it was handling. It was a good day to ride. Hope the trip meter doesn't mean anything.

Glad to hear about the new spring working well for you.

Thanks Rich! If anyone comes across a rear rack for the Tempter, let me know as it would make traveling a lot better.

Great report, VTwin. I'm also glad about the new shock spring.

Many years ago, when we moved to snow country, I sold my CB550. Now I am ready to ride again and wish I still had it.

With so many great rides in the area, I had to find something. After a lot of reading and looking I settled on a Ninja 650. Not a classic but a great ride. Maybe I will add a Bonneville to the stable since I also had one of those for a while.

Great stuff! I had a Tempter a loooong time ago (1992, when the bike was only 10 years old). Seven bikes later, I've come around to another Suzuki 650 twin.