It had to happen sometime. Stuck in Lodi...well actually Ojai. My trusty Versys turned into a Ford this week. Found On Road Dead.
Monday I launched from Fresno on a 3 day ride. The plan was to stay with my buddy Dave in Goleta for a couple of days of riding in the area. Day one was to head to Santa Barbara via 41 south to interstate 5 south and connect with state route 33 and up over the coast range into Ojai, then on to Santa Barbara and Goleta. All was good on day one. Snapped a few pics starting at the Ozena Fire Station at the base of the 33. Snagged a few more pics at the top of the 33 looking North. Then going down the south side looking south towards the ocean.
The pics of the little creek was the major area of the terrible flood/mudslide in Montecito of a few years ago. Prior to the mudslide that entire area was full of trees and vegetation so you could not even see the creek. Now it is about a 50 yard wide area that was scoured out down to bed rock. Many houses and lives were lost. Really sad.
Tuesday day 2 was a fun run south on the 101 to ride all the cool canyon roads in the Malibu area, including the world famous "Snake." We stopped at the old Paramount Ranch to see if it had been rebuilt after the 2018 Woolsey fire. Unfortunately it had not been rebuilt yet. The little white church was the only structure that survived...hum perhaps God really was looking down on one of his houses?
After lunch in the Bu we headed north on the 1 to Latigo Canyon. One of my favorite roads in the area. So many turns it will make you dizzy. Dave and I both got passed by a hot rod Camero that was really putting down some lap times. We headed north winding our way thru the Simi Valley thru Santa Paula and then took the back way into Ojai via the 150. This is where the trouble began. The BIG RED light on the dash suddenly came on for an oh crap moment. Stopped for a quick assessment. Oil and water levels were ok. Nothing was overly hot or noisey so off we go into Ojai where she totally quit running. See pic of my F O R D in front of the Home Kitchen.
Shot down by the....wait for it... drum roll please... the good o'l STATOR failure. She ran till the battery went flat. Discovered that you are good for about 10 miles on battery power only when the charging system goes off line. Thank God it happened in Ojai cuz my buddy Chris (the guy working on my bike in the pic. I told him to smile but instead he grabbed his torch and puts on his attitude face) owns the local motorcycle shop in Goleta and lives in Ojai. I call Chris and he comes to my rescue with his truck. He has his commuter bike in the back, so we unload his bike and load up mine. He goes home and I take the truck and my bike to Dave's for the night. The next morning at Chris's shop we determine that the stator had failed. So instead of ordering the parts and waiting a couple of days, Chris steals the stator off a bike on the show room floor and I am up and running is a couple of hours. Boy howdy let me tell you it's not what you know but who you know. I told him he is very lucky he is not a girl cuz I would give you a big kiss!
After taking him to lunch, on my dime of course, me and Dave did a short shake down ride up on East Camino where we shot some pics of the views and of us sitting on couch rock. I discovered the rock back when I lived in the area. It's just like a big couch with a foot stool rock in front. It looks down on Santa Barbara and the Channel islands to the south and north you see the Santa Ynez mountains and valley. On a super clear off shore wind day you can see south almost all the way to Catalina Island. It's super quiet up there with views to die for. I used to go up there to think and pray and chill.
Thursday was the ride home. Total miles for 4 days was 720. And I am happy to report my old tired decrepit broken down back did just fine the entire time.
Monday I launched from Fresno on a 3 day ride. The plan was to stay with my buddy Dave in Goleta for a couple of days of riding in the area. Day one was to head to Santa Barbara via 41 south to interstate 5 south and connect with state route 33 and up over the coast range into Ojai, then on to Santa Barbara and Goleta. All was good on day one. Snapped a few pics starting at the Ozena Fire Station at the base of the 33. Snagged a few more pics at the top of the 33 looking North. Then going down the south side looking south towards the ocean.
The pics of the little creek was the major area of the terrible flood/mudslide in Montecito of a few years ago. Prior to the mudslide that entire area was full of trees and vegetation so you could not even see the creek. Now it is about a 50 yard wide area that was scoured out down to bed rock. Many houses and lives were lost. Really sad.
Tuesday day 2 was a fun run south on the 101 to ride all the cool canyon roads in the Malibu area, including the world famous "Snake." We stopped at the old Paramount Ranch to see if it had been rebuilt after the 2018 Woolsey fire. Unfortunately it had not been rebuilt yet. The little white church was the only structure that survived...hum perhaps God really was looking down on one of his houses?
After lunch in the Bu we headed north on the 1 to Latigo Canyon. One of my favorite roads in the area. So many turns it will make you dizzy. Dave and I both got passed by a hot rod Camero that was really putting down some lap times. We headed north winding our way thru the Simi Valley thru Santa Paula and then took the back way into Ojai via the 150. This is where the trouble began. The BIG RED light on the dash suddenly came on for an oh crap moment. Stopped for a quick assessment. Oil and water levels were ok. Nothing was overly hot or noisey so off we go into Ojai where she totally quit running. See pic of my F O R D in front of the Home Kitchen.
Shot down by the....wait for it... drum roll please... the good o'l STATOR failure. She ran till the battery went flat. Discovered that you are good for about 10 miles on battery power only when the charging system goes off line. Thank God it happened in Ojai cuz my buddy Chris (the guy working on my bike in the pic. I told him to smile but instead he grabbed his torch and puts on his attitude face) owns the local motorcycle shop in Goleta and lives in Ojai. I call Chris and he comes to my rescue with his truck. He has his commuter bike in the back, so we unload his bike and load up mine. He goes home and I take the truck and my bike to Dave's for the night. The next morning at Chris's shop we determine that the stator had failed. So instead of ordering the parts and waiting a couple of days, Chris steals the stator off a bike on the show room floor and I am up and running is a couple of hours. Boy howdy let me tell you it's not what you know but who you know. I told him he is very lucky he is not a girl cuz I would give you a big kiss!
After taking him to lunch, on my dime of course, me and Dave did a short shake down ride up on East Camino where we shot some pics of the views and of us sitting on couch rock. I discovered the rock back when I lived in the area. It's just like a big couch with a foot stool rock in front. It looks down on Santa Barbara and the Channel islands to the south and north you see the Santa Ynez mountains and valley. On a super clear off shore wind day you can see south almost all the way to Catalina Island. It's super quiet up there with views to die for. I used to go up there to think and pray and chill.
Thursday was the ride home. Total miles for 4 days was 720. And I am happy to report my old tired decrepit broken down back did just fine the entire time.