45 Days on a Gen3 Hayabusa - 2023 Pashnit Touring
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A cold, chilly morning called for some hot chocolate, and I knew just the place.
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The view from our seats - Highway 120 at right is the bypass, Old Priest Rd at left is the original wagon rd with nearly a 20% grade. in the 1800s, Passengers in the stagecoach were made to exit and had to walk up the grade to give relief to the horses.
Highway 120 Tioga Pass | California Motorcycle Roads | Pashnit.com
Ride Tioga Pass through Yosemite National Park
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The view from our seats - Highway 120 at right is the bypass, Old Priest Rd at left is the original wagon rd with nearly a 20% grade. in the 1800s, Passengers in the stagecoach were made to exit and had to walk up the grade to give relief to the horses.
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No one had been to Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and it was just up the road. It wasn’t my plan as the road to reach it bumps over 4600 ft, but there’s a chance it would be clear, and it’s a cool thing to see.
Hetch Hetchy is the parallel twin to Yosemite Valley a few miles away, however Hetch Hetchy was flooded in the 1920s to create a reservoir and in present day is the drinking water for San Francisco. It’s collected here and then pumped across the width of the state.
We wanted to see this:
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And what I wanted to show the guys was this: Multiple waterfalls cascade into the reservoir, and it was the right time of year to see that.
But we reached the dead end road to the reservoir and my suspicions were correct, we were too high in elevation, Evergreen Rd bumps over 4600 feet, and I was getting too optimist the break in the storms we were having would enable the road to be clear. Nope.
But we reached the dead end road to the reservoir and my suspicions were correct, we were too high in elevation, Evergreen Rd bumps over 4600 feet, and I was getting too optimist the break in the storms we were having would enable the road to be clear. Nope.
Bit of Deja Vu seeing all that ice.
When I first bought my Gen2, the same exact thing happened. The very first tour I was leading very early in the season, a cold storm came in off the coast and I noticed the snow levels were down to 2000 feet (super rare) as we rode north through the Northern California redwood forest.
We headed out to the coast via Mattole Rd and it's only 2400 feet over the pass, you would think that would be low enough for no issues. Nope. Six inches of snow at the summit. We were lucky the snow plow had come through right before us, and it was all slush.
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Very first tour on the new bike, it only had 1000 miles on it.
The group made it over the pass, but I took no other pictures back then, cuz I didn't want anybody to know we were doing some sketchy sh!t.
I regret that now, there was even more snow at the summit.
Other side of the mountain, we reached the Pacific Coast. The weather was wet but zero snow, and it was like it never happened.
When I first bought my Gen2, the same exact thing happened. The very first tour I was leading very early in the season, a cold storm came in off the coast and I noticed the snow levels were down to 2000 feet (super rare) as we rode north through the Northern California redwood forest.
We headed out to the coast via Mattole Rd and it's only 2400 feet over the pass, you would think that would be low enough for no issues. Nope. Six inches of snow at the summit. We were lucky the snow plow had come through right before us, and it was all slush.
Mattole Road - The Lost Coast | California Motorcycle Roads | Pashnit
Best Northern California Motorcycle Rides - Ride The Lost Coast - Mattole Road
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Very first tour on the new bike, it only had 1000 miles on it.
The group made it over the pass, but I took no other pictures back then, cuz I didn't want anybody to know we were doing some sketchy sh!t.
I regret that now, there was even more snow at the summit.Other side of the mountain, we reached the Pacific Coast. The weather was wet but zero snow, and it was like it never happened.
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I have, whenever you can see pavement it's ok, and boots slide well on the ice when you need some stability, lol
I'd say bike wrecking yards and insurance companies would agree...
I rode home from work one time in 4 inches of fresh snow.....it was late April and 20'C when I went to work.....it felt like February when I went home...surprisingly the bike did good....of course I was at idle and lived on the base...
Snow is awful to ride in on street tires.
I'll take the patches of pavement with ice any day, lol
I prefer neither, but whatever it takes to get there...
So little story here. I used to way back when buy a motorcycle every spring and sell every fall and buy a car for winter. Long and short, one year I wrecked the bike. It wasn't bad, but it was bad enough no one would buy it for enough to buy a car. was a ninja 600rr 1993 or 4? Here in Iowa we get snow. I had to ride that bike all winter. My work was 10 to 15 blocks from my house. I rode it in snow, ice, and bitter bitter cold. I put dirt bike tires on it 
Dressed in a snow suit and winter gear. It was way fun and very cold I did however learn my lesson, I saved and bought a car I would never sell lol. At that time I was an engineer and ran blast freezers. So I showed up to work every day on the motorcycle dressed for work already. Great times. You would not believe the looks I would get!
Dressed in a snow suit and winter gear. It was way fun and very cold I did however learn my lesson, I saved and bought a car I would never sell lol. At that time I was an engineer and ran blast freezers. So I showed up to work every day on the motorcycle dressed for work already. Great times. You would not believe the looks I would get!
Wards Ferry is one of my favorite roads. It has everything. Single lane. Blind corners. Tight switchbacks. 1000 ft drop-offs into a canyon. Graffiti everywhere. And in spring, the canyon glows with green grass. But with the crazy winter California is having right now, we discovered it to be closed. A large chunk had fallen off into the canyon on the north side of the river. Bummer. Roads falling off into the canyon seems to be a theme this year.
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What we wanted to see: zero guard rails, single lane, huge drop-offs into the canyon
Wards Ferry Rd | Graffiti Bridge | California Motorcycle Roads | Pashnit
Tuolumne County Motorcycle Rides - Wards Ferry Rd
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What we wanted to see: zero guard rails, single lane, huge drop-offs into the canyon
Wards Ferry Rd | Graffiti Bridge | California Motorcycle Roads | Pashnit
Tuolumne County Motorcycle Rides - Wards Ferry Rd
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Instead we got this:
Wards Ferry Rd was originally a stagecoach road between Sonora and the north entrance to Yosemite NP. There was no way to get across the Tuolumne River, so a Joseph Ward constructed a ferry in 1850 & operated it to ferry travelers across the river. During the 1850s, the currency was gold dust and people paid in gold to cross the river. Knowing Joe Ward was in this remote canyon with gold in his pockets, he was eventually murdered in 1854 by bandits who stole all his gold & the canyon was renamed Murders Gulch.
Second time today, I was making everyone turn around and head back the way we came.
Second time today, I was making everyone turn around and head back the way we came.
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