Road Trip to Oregon

Hello everyone,

I'm taking my first road trip this weekend up to Oregon from SF Bay Area. I'll go as far north/east as Bend, Or and plan on spending some time on the coast. I have 5 days of riding, but 2 of them will be used getting to the top of CA and back. I'd appreciate any suggestions on rides, tips, places to eat, etc.

Cheers,

2whls4d

 

I rode down that way from Canada for SLo 2010 but the weather was the shits and I was kinda sick at the time so I can't help. They say the Redwood Forrest is great

 

I'm up here...in Orygun.

But I just did a drive down the coast back at the end of July to attend the the AMA National 1/2 Mile races at Calistoga.

I'd never gone all the way down the coast (the S.W. Oregon/N.W. Cali portion) so that was my route.

Due to the fairly warm weather inland, much of the coast was shrouded in clouds on our trip. But we did have periods of glorious sunshine in some locations.

A trip to Bend will be entirely DIFFERENT from a trip up the coast. Bend's in high desert mountains, which are pretty dry at this time of the year, while the coast was gloriously green and scenic. Both trips have their advantages, and I like both routes, but at this time I think I'd tip my hand towards the coastal route.

Typically Oregon has its predictably best weather during the months of Sept. and the beginning of Oct. And right now the coast should have the fewest number of cloudy/foggy days, so grab 'em while you can.

On my trip I snapped some photos (still have some to put up). I'm not sure if you'll be able to view them if you're not a Facebook member, but here goes you can give it a try?

Calistoga Race trip-California | Facebook

P.S. I'd also never tried traveling the very northern tip of Cal Hwy 1. Now, after experiencing this, I'd advise AGAINST it (It's NOT along the coast, but rather 22 miles of 10 & 15 mph tight turns through dense forest). Take the direct Hwy 1/U.S. 101 route.

 

Let me know if you're going through Klamath.

-Jake

 

you kidding me? the road up over Liggit Pass is a GAS!
tight turns through dense forest.
it ends about where that giant tree that you can drive through is located.
what else do you need?

I'd ride that all day every day if i could.......highlight of the trip!

or are you talking about something else?

 

Yeah, but if you're behind 4 SLOW cars in front of you (and in my case driving a little, fully loaded, Taco) it's a pain!

 

Well I've lived in Oregon for a bit and would say that if going towards Bend make sure you stop by Diamond and or Crater Lake on the way up. There is also a place called Natural Bridge that's not a bad stop. If you make it Bend the Deschutes Brewery has great food and excellent beer.

I would also recommend riding down the coast rather than up it if it can be avoided as we are having nice weather right now but the wind is no good and has been blowing South (much nicer at your back then in your face).

Also up to you where you want to cut over but there are some great rides over to the coast.

From Eugene I would take Hwy 126 to Green Hill RD (stay strait to get onto Crow). When Crow dead ends turn left onto Territorial Rd. Then the take the first available right onto Wolf Creek. Continue strait on an amazing ride that is twisty. You will come out just north of Reedsport on Upper Smith River Road.

If you cut over elsewhere I know Hwy 42 S from Coquille to Bandon is a lot of fun (but the 60 miles on 42 with all of it's construction right now is not fun).

Best of luck on other portions of route planning and have a good time.

 

Depending on how much time you want to spend getting from point “A” to point “B”, there is a really nice road that runs from Redding to Highway 101 called 299. It follows a river gorge out to the coast. There is a road further south called 36 that runs from Red Bluff to 101 that has about 100 miles of corners, but it isn’t as pretty and the sun will bake you on a hot day.

There is a highway that runs from 101 to Grant Pass called 199 which is also a pretty ride. So essentially, if you are going up Highway 5, you divert about 100 miles west, follow 101, then head back east to 5.

The biggest problem this time of year is slow tourists and the speed enforcement personnel waiting for you to pass them...

 

Do yourself a favor and stay off Hwy 97 between 62 and 138. Straight as an arrow pretty much the whole way.

-Jake

 

Nice! My buddy and I visited SF a few yrs back and rented BMW bikes for 5 days and did a similar 5-day tour. Our goal was a round trip to Crater Lake. I rented a 1200GS, my friend a 1150R. These bikes were perfect for such a ride. My 1200 was practically brand new, and I have never sat so high up on a bike before. The nice rental guy had highlighted his favorite routes on our maps.

We started by riding out of downtown SF and across the Golden Gate. Being East coast guys, we were excited to see the PCH, so hugged the coast upward as far as possible. The coast and redwoods were something we had dreamed about all our lives. All the way to Eureka (night #1), and we cut NE from there up 299 & 96 I believe. It was so incredible we finally had to stop parking every 10 min for pictures, as we weren't putting down enough miles. Pristine curvy roads laced with rivers rushing by and cool dense forest for most of the way.
I-5 to Medford (night#2), I can't remember exactly how we got to Crater Lake after that, must have been on 62.
NOTE: On the way to Crater Lake, we happened to wonder if there was fuel available at the top, and found out there may or may not be, as it was still early in the season. Hmm, weren't sure we'd have enough to get back down the mountain before filling up, so we backtracked 12 miles just to fill our tanks, and then headed up! You should be good this time of year.

Crater Lake is a must-see destination. We went in June and unfortunately the rim road that runs all the way around was not open - most of it still covered with snow. But it will forever be one of those prized memories, standing there in the snowy area next to the parking lot, with all our gear on, me and my buddy. The water in the crater is SO BLUE! It is all from rain and snow melt.

On the way south we stayed further east, dropping through Klamath Falls down to Weed, CA. We hit our only rain from around there down past the Mt Shasta area. At Redding we again dove into the twisty bits by taking 299 to 3 to 36. WoW! Great riding and saw maybe 5 cars all day! Oh, and a big bear once when we were pulled over drinking water. Got out of there in a hurry.

I believe we headed south at Bridgeport, on some small remote backroads. This got kinda hairy as we had been riding all day and were getting concerned with finding a gas station. A GPS would be valuable - I had a small very basic unit and it saved our asses here, as the backroads got a bit confusing. You could easily get lost out there. At one point we pulled over into some gravel to check the map. Getting ready to leave again, I heard my buddy light up the rear tire in the gravel with a burnout, turned my head just in time to see him roll onto the pavement where the rear tire caught hard and swung out right then all the way left and caught, slamming him and the bike down on the road! Just then, a car - the first we'd seen in an hour - came up on us, rolling to a stop where my friend was trying to lift the bike up in the middle of the road. The vision in my head still makes me laugh hard.

Once back on 101 we dropped down a ways then off south-east again toward Lake Berryessa, again on some very small back roads through the canyons. It was a bit warm and we didn't know where we would end up! There we encountered another first for us, there were streams that ran right across the road! It appeared that after rains they would be more like rivers, but we crossed approx 4-5 times, possibly the same stream, who knows. The first one we came to, we were very cautious, got off the bikes, checked them out, then I went first, very slowly in first gear, halfway across the slimy moss covered surface the bike shot sideways out from under me putting me on my back in the 3" deep water!! I laid there for a sec and watched the bike slide a few more feet, spinning on it's side as if on ice. It damaged the BMW-issue hard case on the 1200, enough that I had to pay for a new one when I returned the bike. At least the cold water cooled me down!

The run through Napa saw a steady increase in traffic and really the rest of the trip into SF was routine; the fun was over at this point. Our final stop was in Sausalito to check out the waterfront and have lunch before returning the bikes.
This was one of many epic bike trips I have enjoyed, ranking in the top 3, with another CA trip from LA to Laguna Seca GP races/SF/Yosemite/Sequoia Nat Forest riding a CBR600, and a week in Costa Rica on a Aprilia 650 enduro bike.

Enjoy it and take pics!!!

 

Back from Oregon

Thanks for your posts, I made it back safely and had a great time.

Day 1 I took 101 all the way up to Crescent City w/ a quick detour to Ave of the Giants. The grove of Sequoia Redwoods were needed as the temps were in the mid 90s. Met up with my bro after ~8 hours on the road. He came down from Seattle and took ~12 hours.

Day 2 Took off late, found a classic car show, then a town festival for some seafood. We headed up the coast towards Reedsport, but got whacked by 40+ MPH wind gusts. The coast was beautiful, but we decided to stop and stay in Coos Bay.

Day 3 Cruised on some nice twisties on 242 up to a lava flow and a quick break. Got back to the bike and heard the dreaded hissing sound. Found a nail in my rear tire. Rode 20mi to Sisters. 6PM on Sun night, 3 day weekend, I was SOL. Pumped up the tire and road another ~20 mi on 126 to Redmond where we were staying. I had just installed brand new Pilot Road 2s for this trip and only had ~800mi on them.

Day 4 All bike stores closed, it was Labor Day. Lucky for me a automotive tire shop was open and agreed to patch it if I could bring him the tire. Previous owner took off the center stand on my 5th gen, McGyver'd it with cinder blocks/wood strips/paint can/bungie cord to hold the bike up. Tire guy melted stuff into tire from inside put on a patch, melted more stuff into the tire, and mounted it. I put the tire back on my baby, checked to make sure it was holding air pressure, and we went for a test ride. Took 126 -> 20 -> 22 to Detroit, Or. Beautiful ride! Tree lined wide 2 lane roads w/ some twisties and some sweeping turns. I highly recommend that area for a nice ride w/ few cagers. We rode back to Redmond for a huge dinner at Black Bear.

Day 5 Headed home on 97 -> 5 -> 80 -> Bay Bridge. The lone highlight of the 10 hours on the bike home was a sweeping turn that opened up to see Mt Shasta. I got a big range of 44 to 53 MPG over the trip. It was a great trip. I brought too much stuff, but learned what was really needed. I'd head back up again, there are so many more places to ride! No issues outside of the rear tire.

Now the question, replace the tire or ride it? Tire pressure has held since the patch and ~700 mi. The nail was in the center of the tire inside the tread cavity. The patch job looked really good. I don't know why I'm asking, I know that there are two schools of thought... Good patches will hold, worst case will be a slow leak or Replace that tire now! It's been a week and the pressure is still the same. I'll try riding it for awhile and will check the pressure.

 

Another really good reason to leave the center stand on the bike!

I cannot understand why people take them off of a street bike.

If I were you I would buy and install one right away.

 

Center stand

I agree. Luckily I have it along with the springs and hardware. I need to drop the exhaust system to install the center stand. I wish I did it before the trip. Now that I've taken it apart once I know I can put it all back together. I'm going to give it a shot this weekend. No pressure to get it done before a big road-trip.

 

Congrats and glad you enjoyed the trip.
So close to Crater Lake and you didn't go??

 

I've been to Crater Lake before and yes it was beautiful, but I knew I had a long ride back to the Bay Area. I probably would've made the 1 hour detour turn into a 3 hour visit.