Ride: Big Bear Lake, CA
Date: October, 2002
Submitted by: Gregzilla
Website: na

Post a comment about this ride!

PART 1 of 1:  Big Bear Lake, CA (and vicinity)

Dina (my lovely wife and travel companion for the weekend) and I concocted a plan (well, actually, I did most of the concocting, she just agreed or disagreed.) to leave Friday morning, ride two up on the Yamaha up to L.A. Cycle Sports, swap the Seca for the Bandit, then ride on to Big Bear via the Angeles Crest Highway and Rim of the World Highway. We'd spend the night in Big Bear, then ride home on Saturday via Idyllwild. We'd be back for Moto GP on Speed Channel and the Chargers-Raiders game.

Well, the trip up to Los Angeles was quite unspectacular. Freeway all the way there. We got to L.A. Cycle Sports at around 1:00pm. For those of you who live anywhere near Southern California, I highly suggest checking out L.A. Cycle Sports if you're in the market for a new motorcycle. No, I don't work for them and I'm not getting a discount on my bike for mentioning them. They just have the absolute lowest prices I've ever seen. I don't know how they can make money selling bikes as low as they do! My 2002 Bandit 1200S was $7100 out the door! The MSRP is $7400. The lowest a local dealer here in San Diego could do was $8000 out the door, and that was a 2001 model. They even deliver (if you don't have a trade).

So, we finally got on the road again by 2:30, and I have one thing to say: L.A. traffic SUCKS! It was unreal! Only 2:30 and already it was bumper to bumper stop and go. Let the Lane Splitting commence! Up the 405 and then east on the 101 to get to the 2. One thing did surprise me however, the thoughtfulness of L.A. drivers that are stuck in traffic. Not once, not twice, but about a hundred times, cars moved out of my way as soon as the drivers saw me coming. This almost never happens to me in San Diego. Maybe people are just more used to bikes lane splitting in L.A.

Well, I guess nothing gets you used to a new bike as fast as lane splitting the L.A. freeways with a passenger and saddle bags. But I must say, the Bandit was so sweet… those 1200 cubic centimeters of bore and stroke were amazing compared to the little Seca.

So, we made it to the 2 and proceeded north to the Angeles Crest Highway. This was the first time I had been on this road. Although it is a very nice motorcycling road, I didn't think it lived up to all the hype. Not that it isn't a nice motorcycling road, but I've ridden other roads that are just as good. If you ride this road in the future, be sure to keep an eye out for the many rocks in the road. I wasn't going hell for leather so they didn't catch me out, but I could just see someone on a sport bike coming around a blind corner at 100+ mph and hitting a baseball size rock.

The time spent at the dealership and the heavy traffic in L.A. meant that by the time we hit the end of the Angeles Crest Highway and got onto 138, it was starting to get dark and a bit chilly. We stopped for gas where the 138 crosses the 15 and put on another layer of clothes under our jackets.

Right after the 138 crosses the 15, the road turns red (yep… the road was paved with some kind of red pavement) and the terrain becomes very surreal. There are many small (10-20 foot tall) but steep hills and valleys and the road is switchback after switchback making it's way through this labyrinth. And it looked like there was a recent fire, so the whole area was full of small blackened twigs sticking out of the ground, the remains of bushes and small trees.

We proceeded up the 138, past Silverwood Lake and Lake Arrowhead. We didn't really have time to enjoy the views as it was getting darker and colder every minute. We hit 18 where it's known as the "Rim of the World Highway". If it were brighter and/or clearer (there was a lot of haze in the valley) the view would have been spectacular (I had ridden this road once before), but with about 30 miles left to go to Big Bear, it was finally night. All I could do to stay on the road was to concentrate on the lights of the cars in front of me. I was so cold that my hands hurt whenever I had to use the front brake or clutch. We had on long underwear, overpants, long sleeve shirts and motorcycle jackets with two liners, but we were still very cold. I think it must have been around 35-40 degrees.

But we made it into Big Bear none-the-less (at around 7:30pm) and after getting a room with a hot tub, we walked across the street for some yummy Mexican food. Did I neglect to mention that we were also starving! After dinner and a nice soak in the hot tub (My shoulders were VERY sore! As was my wife's butt. Those massage jets were just what the doctor ordered.), we were off to sleep.

Dawn came early on Saturday, right around sun-up to be specific. But we didn't get up until 9:00. We walked to a near-by restaurant for breakfast and returned to our room to pack. But before checking out, we went for a quick ride around the lake. The air was cool and crisp, and the views were very nice. By the time we got back and checked out, the sun was already starting to warm the air and it looked like it would be a beautiful day for riding.

We caught the 38 going south out of Big Bear and headed down the mountain. The ride down was incredible - long smooth, sweeping turns and awesome views of the surrounding mountains. Upon hitting the bottom of the mountain, we took surface streets (Yuck!) to the 10 east (Yuck!) and hopped on the 243 south to Idyllwild (Yay!).

Climbing out of the valley up into the San Jacinto mountains starts out very rugged and arid, but quickly turns to forest as the road hugs the mountains and the curves and switchbacks get trickier. The rest of the ride into the little tourist town of Idyllwild was as fun as it was beautiful. The Bandit, even two up, handled so much better than the Seca did with just me. The power, the handling, the brakes, everything was a few notches above the Yamaha.

We pulled into Idyllwild to eat lunch and walk around a bit. I ended up buying an Idyllwild hat because I had forgotten to bring a hat with me, and no one should have to gaze upon my hair after I've been wearing a helmet for that long. About the town: Idyllwild is a cute little mountain town that pretty much wouldn't exist if there was no such thing as tourists. The views from almost any spot in the town are of the surrounding mountains and forest. It seems to be a favorite stop for motorcyclists, as there are always bikes coming and going.

With our batteries charged and our muscles stretched, we continued south on 243 until it merges with 74 and heads down to 371. Route 371 is pretty much a straight shot through the semi-arid foot-hills and ends where it hits 79. Now, we were faced with two options. We could head east on 79 and continue with the curvy roads most of the way home. We'd be home in about 3 to 4 more hours. Or we could head west and pick up the 15 and freeway it home in about 1 and a half hours. Dina made the choice… 15 it was. Her back seat wasn't all the comfy because of the strips of the luggage laying across the seat and she was getting tired of hanging on through curve after curve after curve. I didn't argue as my shoulders weren't used to doing what they were doing and they were complaining.

So the freeway it was. An indicated 90mph (which I think was more like 80… I'll have to confirm with my GPS.) for about an hour and we were back in San Diego in time for a shower and dinner by the beach.

The Ride: Overall, the trip was very good. The traffic in L.A. and the cold night-time ride were the only negatives, and are easily overlooked (though lessons not forgotten) compared to the rest of the ride.

The Bandit: I am very happy with my new motorcycle. 400 miles in two days (not counting the 200 miles from San Diego to L.A. on the Seca) was enough to really let me get to know the bike. I think the only thing bad I can say is that only one (of the two) headlights is a lowbeam. The other light is the highbeam. I think it makes it look like one of the bulbs is out. I'll have to see what I can do to "fix" that. Oh yeah… and the stock seat needs to be replaced ASAP.

The passenger: Over the years, Dina has become quite a good passenger (when she hasn't had a bike of her own… we plan on getting her a new one soon). She never (almost) hits the back of my helmet with hers, she never (almost) pushes me into the gas-tank when breaking, and she always knows how and when to lean into the corners. Sometime I don't even have to lean… as I approach a corner, the bike starts to lean in by itself (because she's anticipating and leaning herself, making the bike lean.) I feel bad because the passenger accommodations on the Bandit are not really meant for long distance rides. That and the fact that the luggage straps were across the back seat (they're wide and stiff and provide no grip for a passenger's butt) made her ride a bit less pleasant. She doesn't want to go on another long trip until she gets her own bike, and I guess I can't blame her.

What does Dina have to say?

The ride to LA on the Seca was not too bad. The passenger sitting position was comfortable enough and I was used to it. I didn't think the motorcycle could handle the load since it was only a 600cc bike. But it did what it needed to do and got us to LA.

The Bandit is better looking than the Seca but it is also much taller. Getting onto the passenger seat was a task specially with the luggage. Since I am only 5'4" tall it was difficult to get onto. I had to swing my leg over and then use Greg for leverage. It did not help wearing long underwear underneath tight jeans then wearing motorcycle pants over that. I don't know how those cowboys get onto their horse with those tight jeans.

The ride to Big Bear on the Bandit was no fun for me. The view was gorgeous but sitting on the passenger seat of the Bandit with the luggage on top was hell. The passenger pegs were in a higher position than the Seca's and that meant I had to bend my legs more. Also the luggage restricted my legs from moving around to get into a comfortable position. The boots I was wearing (Harley boots) hurts my feet. I need to get a better pair of boots that give me height.

By the time we got to Big Bear I was cold and hungry and my back, butt and knees hurt. I was glad the ride was over and was not looking forward to getting back on the motorcycle. I was looking forward to getting my own Katana 750!!

The second day was not too bad because the weather was warmer and we stoped more often to stretch. The Idylwild stop was great. I had a delicious crab cake lunch at this cool restaurant "The Gnomes". The ride back to San Diego was fast and we ended our day with dinner at The Green Flash in Pacific Beach and a movie.

Do you have a ride you'd like to submit to ST.N?  Just send some pictures, a writeup, and a route description (or map image) to rides@sport-touring.net.

---

Reader Comments

- Whiplash 7:56 AM PST - 5/08/2003 Good way to spend your first two days on a new bike! IP:134.134.136.4  - Boxjoint 4:47 PM PST - 5/08/2003 A great way to get quickly aquainted with a new ride. Actually it's a smart idea all togeather. Nice combo of a ride report/bike review. IP:68.44.169.196  - ksann 6:18 PM PST - 5/08/2003 I was taking a variation of that ride very often. I live at the base of 'The Crest', and a good Sunday morning ride was up 'The crest', out through Palmdale, across the desert to Lucerne Valley, up the 'Back Way' to Big Bear, breakfast in Big Bear, then rim of the World to the I10, then Home. I agree about the Crest being full of gravel, most areas. Unfortunately I went down up there a year and a half ago, got a Helicopter ride out. I made a stupid error, wasn't paying enough attention. Sounds like you had a great ride. Great writeup. ken IP:66.215.19.78  - vtex 7:19 PM PST - 5/08/2003 I lived in Riverside for about 8 years back in the late 90s. Next time you take that route, stop for a bit in Wrightwood. It's probably not quite as quaint as Idylwild, but Ms. Vtex found some of the shops and galleries nice. There is also a back way out of Wrightwood that sort of parallels 138 (but is right at the base of the mountains) and drops you on 138 right at Mormon Rocks. A nicer ride than 138 and zero traffic. Have fun, ride safe, be well. jim IP:24.175.216.76  - Biker enthusiast 1:44 PM PST - 5/19/2003 Should have asked the wife to ride her own bike. Poor girl! IP:216.113.128.195  - 2001Concours 8:29 PM PST - 5/27/2003 I was out riding with my wife on pillion with two other couples, all on Concours this weekend. Went up to Idlewylde then over to Palomar Mountain off of the 76. Then back over and up to Orange County. If you want to ride sometime, email me a paulusaemail@yahoo.com IP:68.4.152.213  - gatling 6:28 PM PST - 6/01/2003 I've done that ride a few times, too. It's a great one. Like you, I love my Suzuki (it's a 97 TL-S). Ride safe. Joe Berk www.joeberkphotography.com IP:64.12.96.135  - vfr man 8:03 PM PST - 6/01/2003 don't know how old this post is but don't try it now.Crest highway has been closed for some time now.You can go up the west side but only to Hwy. 39 (san gabriel hwy). There the road ends, you have to backtrack to glendale IP:68.164.130.125  - vfr man 10:07 PM PST - 8/04/2003 IT"S OPEN !! IP:198.81.26.14  - Bigb1200 4:03 PM PST - 12/17/2003 Awesome piece, new to the site... Loved the ride idea, maybe if you are going again...Can i come? Ajsmail4u@lycos.com IP:192.156.5.35 Your Handle: Your Mood:                                                       Your Comments: Post it:   Top