Heading to the Laguna Seca US Moto GP race this weekend....with my R1
A friend and I are loading up our bikes in the back of a pick up truck and driving down to San Louis Obispo in California. Then riding our bikes from there on along the Pacific Coast Hwy. Driving the boring part, riding the fun part.
Will post loads of pictures, from loading the bikes, the bikes themselves and pictures of the ride and race.
Here is one to start it off. Gave the bike a wash and detailed it for the upcoming ride.

What a sweeeet looking machine Best of luck with the race track. Burn'em boy, burn'em. Racing R1 on a racetrack is a dream for many of us. Live the dream on behalf of us, bro.

What a plan Carlitos. Just fab. Will be eagerly waiting for all the pics and vids.
Just a request :- Please try to capture a video of you guys on the Pacific Coast Hwy. That will be a treat to watch. I know it must be difficult but still requesting for it . All the best mate ... Ride safe !

Looking forward to the pictures!!

Oh man, thats one circuit I really really really wanna visit The famed corkscrew is one of the most awesome places to check out.
Please do post loads of pics man and have a lovely ride.

Thanks. BTW, we wont be racing our bikes on the track man. We are going to watch the motogp race. But we will be riding a good 500 miles round trip along the coast to the track.

Will try to do that man. We will actually have 2 other friends in the pickup truck following us all the time. So we just might be able to get some video.
Pictures for sure.

Thanks guys. Will do. Cant control my excitement. Will keep you all posted.

Hmmmmm..... still waiting !!!

LOL...my apologies man, got slammed at work.
Will try to post up something soon. Have to gather pictures from multiple cameras. Wont disappoint

Teaser.
The truck was a 2012 Dodge Ram 1500....V8 engined.
And boy did it Haul.....

Ufffff.....the agony of waiting and drooling over the tease.

The wait is killing Carlitos !

Superb write up mate..!!! Splendid..!!
The moto-gp experince was just too good.

But, i could see only one pic. The one with bikes loaded on the truck, nothing else.
Is it just me or anyone else too ?
Cheers
ride safe
Krishna

Planning

When you have been planning to do something for many years (3 in our case), and it hasn't happened yet, the pressure to finally make it happen is immense. That was the case with our Moto GP road trip. For multiple reasons, we could never make it work. Until now that is. Once it was confirmed that we were going to finally make it happen, we got down to business. We decided to haul the bikes in a truck on the boring roads, and ride them on the good ones. We spoke to folks up at our favorite motorcycle dealership Extreme Yamaha Suzuki, folks on the r1-forum and many motorcycle parts retailers to figure out what we needed to make it happen. We were advised to rent a v8 truck, buy motorcycle harnesses and tie downs to secure the bikes. We also had to figure out what kind of ramp to get. We ended up renting a 2012 Dodge Ram 1500 V8 truck with a 5' 7" bed, bought Canyon Dancer Bike Harness and 8 sets of tie downs. We also bought a set of two fold-able loading ramps which were about a foot wide and 6 feet long. A canyon dancer is basically a handle bar harness with two polycarbonate cups on either end that go onto the bikes handle bars. Each cup has a hook, where a tie down hook can latch on. The tie downs are hooked to the truck bed on one end and the canyon dancer on the other and fastened to hold the bike in an upright position.

July 27th Friday 4:40 PM

Since we had never done this before, it was going to be a learning experience for us. We were told it was a 2 person job and it would be easy. You basically walk the bike up the ramp while a friend pushes it. When you have 2 ramps, the bike goes on one, while the person walking the bike up goes on the other one. With us it turned out to be a 4 person job. The bikes each weighing about 450-470 pounds were not easy to walk up the ramp. We first loaded the CBR on to the left side of the truck bed, and were very tentative while doing so. Once it was half way up on the ramp, we used the brakes to keep it there, while one of us jumped into the truck bed and pulled the bike in holding on to the forks. Once it was in, we secured it with the canyon dancers and tie downs on one side. Now that we had a little idea of what to expect, loading the R1 was much easier. We decided to ride the R1 up the ramp partially and leave it in gear. Now we pushed it into the truck bed in a similar fashion and put it on the side stand. We hooked up the canyon dancers to both bikes and fastened them with a pair of tie downs each at the front. We used a pair of tie downs each for the rear of the bikes as well. For the rear, we used the passenger pegs as hooks for the tie downs. Once the bikes were loaded and fastened, we loaded up our luggage and gear etc. Due to the length of the bikes, we couldn't close the truck tail gate shut, so we used some rope to close it as much as we could and fastened it to the truck bed. That way our luggage wouldn't slide out during the journey.

The canyon dancers and tie downs


Locked and Loaded


We were supposed to start by 6 PM. We started at 8:30 PM, it took us much much longer than we expected. From Phoenix, Arizona we had a 9 hr, 540 mile drive ahead of us to reach Santa Maria, California. We drove through the night punctuated by a stop for gas/dinner once and made it to Santa Maria by 5:30 AM on Saturday morning. At about 3 Am in the morning somewhere near Los Angles we got pulled over by Cops. With the bumpy freeways in LA, I was driving tentatively because I could see the bikes moving in the truck bed, and as a result was not driving in my lane perfectly. The cops thought it was a drunk driver case. Anyway, the cops were cordial and were just making sure and wished us luck.

July 28th Saturday 11:30 AM

We woke up at 9 AM, got ready and had breakfast. Unloading the bikes was much easier and we were done in about 45 mins. We kept the bikes in gear while walking them down and it was a breeze. We suited up in our gear (jacket, helmet, gloves, Kevlar Jeans, Knee pads, boots) and went to the nearest gas station. Once all gassed up, we FINALLY HIT THE ROAD. The R1 and CBR followed by a Dodge Ram 1500. It was 43 C when we left Phoenix....it was 21 C in Santa Maria. Amazing weather to ride in. The Pacific Coast Hwy was still about 40 miles away. We drove to a town called Moro Bay, and topped our tanks again for the 130 mile ride along the coast to Monterey, California. At the gas station we met several bikers who were heading to Monterey for the Moto GP Race next day. It was a good time chatting up with them, checking out each other’s bikes etc.

Warming up the bikes before we started of from Santa Maria


Pacific Coast Hwy

The route we rode on our bikes


There are simply no words to describe this 130 mile stretch all the way up to Monterey. Single Lane road, 55 mph speed limit, ocean on one side and rolling hills on the other, clear blue sky, the sound of the ocean cracked by hauling exhausts of motorcycles. Just unbelievable.



















The views are so spectacular, that you feel like pulling over after every few minutes. The first 40 miles have awesome sweeping curves and gradients. Then the road begins to climb up and you are greeted with about 30 miles of twisties and beautiful views of the ocean from a height. The speed limit on the twisties ranged from 15 mph to 30 mph. The best way to enjoy these were to stay in 3rd/4th gear and let the engine breaking do the slowing down before corner entry, and then twisting the throttle to carve them up. The sound of the cross plane motor bouncing of the walls was an absolute treat and I had the widest smile inside my helmet. Superbikes really come into their elements on roads like these. My friend and I took turns following each other and it was a joy to watch each other carve those corners. We stopped many times to enjoy the views and would always exchange notes about how we were riding and get giddy talking about the awesome corners. We saw all kinds of bikes from the latest Ducati Panigale to Vintage Kawasakis. Lots of touring and cruiser bikes. It was like the whole brotherhood was in town.

50 miles to Monterey


We did the last 50 miles non-stop because it was getting chilly and it was about 4:30 PM. We were greeted by a mix of sweeping curves and some tight corners. Midway the fog moved in and it became windy while we completed the last 20 miles in a convoy of bikes and cars following each other like a train. We reached Monterey at about 6 PM and took a break at a Gas station. We had another 80 miles ride to San Jose to go. We were spending the night at our friends place in San Jose. So we gassed up and head out on the 101 Freeway to San Jose. We decided to take the freeway to avoid riding in the dark and basically wanted to reach San Jose by 8 to get some dinner and rest. The 101 turned out to be a fun ride as well. The sun only set at about 7:40 PM, so we had a good ride averaging about 80 mph. 80 mph is just effortless for a Superbike and we were probably at about 5000-6000 rpm on either bike. Overtaking cars was a breeze, just open the throttle a bit and it’s done. It was that simple. Apart from enjoying the ride, we were sort of getting to know our bikes even better.


San Jose
San Jose was all about meeting friends/relatives and getting rest. I wanted to meet fellow XBHPian AsimB but I just couldn't make time due to prior commitments. Apologies man, there was so much going on, it just slipped my mind to at least call you. Haywards 5000, Apollo Fish, Chicken 65 and Mutton Kebabs followed by chicken Biriyani was dinner BURP. In between the beer and starters I visited some relatives. Wonder how that went :P . Much needed rest came at 1 AM in the night, and I was knocked out. You don't realize how tired you are until you are flat on your back. The adrenalin came down a level and I knew I had to get some rest. The previous nights 3 hrs was not enough. Next morning, after a yummy breakfast of mini idilies, pongal and filter coffee at Madras Cafe, we were on our way to LAGUNA SECA

July 29th Sunday 9:45 AM
We started from San Jose and decided to take the CA-17 route to Santa Cruz, California and then go to the Laguna Seca Speedway which was about 5 miles from Monterey. CA-17 was one hell of a ride. The hwy carves through mountains and has an excellent mix of long sweepers and super fun switch backs. We were well rested and so the adrenalin took over to produce some fantastic riding. Cars would just move over and give us way. We loved every bit of it and waved at every driver kind enough to let us through. We reached Santa Cruz in no time and stopped at a Gas station to fill up. On the way to Monterey we rode with a bunch of bikers on touring bikes (BMW K1300 and Kawasaki Concourse). Since we bought our tickets late, the track organizers informed us to pick up our tickets from a booth setup at a popular Hotel near the track. The parking lot of this hotel was swarmed by bikers. We picked up our tickets and after a couple of fun detours reached the track.

Moto GP Laguna Seca

I have never seen so many bikes at one time. UNBELIEVABLE. Bikers of all ages, on all kinds of bikes...cruisers, sports, dual sports, super motos, touring etc. Every brand, every color, customs....just about any bike you could think of, it was there. The track itself is on the top of a hill. So you have to ride up the hill about 2 miles to get to it. The general motorcycle parking is basically a dirt parking lot on some rolling hills.

We had bought paved parking passes so we parked there and walked to the track. It took us about 20 minutes to get to our seats just cause it was jam packed and the crowds were moving slowly. Rossi, Hayden, Lorenzo, Stoner fans were in mighty presence. We had seats at the Turn 4 Grand Stand, a right hander leading up to a short straight. We settled down and soon the safety car, a BMW M3, was out and set 2 blistering laps. The giant screen in front of the Turn 4 Grand Stand showed a bunch of riders, and when Rossi showed up on the screen waving and blowing kisses and just being his goofy self, the fans just lost it. Then the Moto GP bikes came out for a warm up lap...boy o boy...are these bikes LOUD or what. The crowd went nuts as they passed by.....The biggest cheers were for the American riders, Ben Spies, Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards....and of course for The Doctor..Valentino Rossi. Lorenzo was on pole, followed by Stoner and Pedrosa. I couldn't believe I was seeing all these greats racing 40 feet away from me. It was just an incredible feeling. After the warm up lap, the American anthem played and two US Air Force Planes thundered over the track. What a beginning....and a couple minutes later, the race was on.





The top 3 (Lorenzo, Stoner and Pedrosa)


My hero...The Doctor


Nicky Hayden


Colin Edwards


The Tech 3 Yamaha duo

Lap 1 was just a mish-mash of 20 odd GP bikes thundering away every corner. By the time they came to turn 4, you could already notice, the GP Prototype bikes were well ahead of the CRT bikes. It was so incredibly loud that it just left everyone in awe. The lean angles SO EXTREME, the proximity of each rider to the guy in front and behind SO DANGEROUSLY CLOSE, it just makes you appreciate even the guy running in last position. The amount of speed guys like Stoner, Lorenzo etc carry into corner entry is just unbelievable. It looks downright dangerous. You could almost notice the riders trying to transfer as much weight forward as possible on straights to prevent the bikes from wheeleeing. As the race progressed the distance between the top 3 (Lorenzo, Stoner, Pedrosa), the rest of the prototypes and the CRT bikes kept increasing. As the tires began to fade, Stone caught Lorenzo and passed him. Rossi was beginning to struggle and it seemed like he was running a lone race in 8th. Meanwhile Nicky Hayden was slowly and steadily catching the rookie Stefan Bradl on the Honda. Hayden eventually passed him, while both Rossi and Spies crashed at the legendary cork-screw section of the track. The crowd went "oooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..... $%^&". Spies had some mechanical failure with his swingarm, while Rossi locked up his front tire approaching the cork-screw. Apparently, his Ducati had no feeling at the front, and even after 20 odd laps, it looked like a brand new tire. You could clearly notice he was struggling for grip as he passed by. Lap after lap, all you can think of is....these guys are nuts doing what they are. Putting their bodies on the line and just riding on the edge for 25 odd laps. I have even more respect for professional riders now. Stoner eventually won, followed by Lorenzo and Pedrosa. All the riders came around the track for a lap to wave to the fans. The bike less Rossi, did half a lap riding pillion with Nicky Hayden, they however did not come to Turn 4. The race ended and there wasn't a single person without a mile wide smile on his face. My buddies and I were absolutely spell bound at what we had witnessed. I was a little sad Rossi dint finish, but at least I got to see him race up close. Better luck next year Rossi.

It was almost 4 PM by the time we got out of the track and hit the hwy. We wanted to ride back along the Pacific Coast Hwy, but dint think we would make it back to Santa Maria before it got dark. We decided to take the 101 freeway which would have been much faster. So we gassed up, ate some tacos and started hauling butt at around 5 PM. We had a 170 mile ride and boy did we ride. The speed limit was 70 mph, and we were constantly doing about 85 mph along with the rest of the traffic. The California country side is beautiful. Lots of rolling hills, golden grass etc. We stopped in between for about half an hour at a rest stop to take a break and stretch out. All the way to Santa Maria we rode with lots of other bikers. It was good fun and some good high speed riding. we were reached Santa Maria by 7:40 PM. Got off our bikes and looked at each other....the epic ride had finally come to an end. We were tired but enjoyed every second of it. We had the widest smiles and a sense of accomplishment. I checked my trip meter, it read 550 miles. Every mile was an absolutely memorable one. We finally had a big dinner at a Chinese restaurant and clocked out at 11 PM. Woke up the next day at 9 AM fully rested and wanting to ride more . We obviously had to head back home, so we showered, packed up and loaded the bikes back into the truck. This time loading them up took us just 45 minutes.


We hit the road at around 11:30 AM. All the way to Phoenix, every biker who passed by waved at us. What a wonderful brotherhood. We reached phoenix at about 10:30 PM and unloaded the bikes, this time in just 30 minutes.

We clocked 1600 miles on the truck and 550 miles on our bikes in total. Great trip. Would definitely like to do it again. Hope you guys enjoy the pictures and the report. Sorry for the delay in posting.
Enjoy

Thanks for the great writeup...

Amazing writeup and beautiful pictures.. makes me want to do the PCH... One day for sure... I did the Deals gap a few weeks back and was a absolute treat!!!

Wow...just wow..!!
The write was superb as i had already mentioned, the Pictures are even more splendid.!!!

Cheers
Ride Safe
Krishna