San Franciso to Mendocino on Highway 1

If you think you are going to get a look at the Golden Gate Bridge on this post, think again! We trundled over there in deep fog, and unable (or unwanting) to make a stop to give you an idea of what one just cannot see in such circumstances. It was even totally impractical to get off just after the bridge and go and gaze on that amazing view, which I have seen once, back over the bay or out to the ocean. It all looked grey, and in all directions.

So on to Sausalito, known as cool and all that, and perhaps a tad snob, but we hit the place just the same and apparently so early that nobody seemed awake there, so laid-back that they were all still horizontal at 8 am on a weekday. Luckily with the exception of a good deli that served us some nice stuff for breakfast.

This vision of a kind of modern, rich hippy version of Venise in its well-preserved and ramshackle but fashionable clothing, also gave me proof that the ocean-bred fog that can rule so many parts of this north-western US coastline is as elusive as it can be tenacious. It gets blocked by ridges of hills, is dissolved by sun and heat, plays hide-and-seek with the trees and flows in and out of creeks. Here, a couple of miles north and inland from the bridge, everything was clear and bright.

From Sausalito, Highway 1, despite is prime number, can at times be hard to find and follow and I strayed occasionally from the twisted but narrow, discovering in the process some of the well-to-do northern reaches of those who probably work in and around San Francisco, as well as their capacity to give remarkably precise instructions to lost foreigners. Once found, this Highway 1 requires full attention so much does it rise and fall whilst twisting and turning for very long periods. It is a very beautiful road (one of the best I have ever driven), at least for those like myself not in any hurry in a car, or for those lucky ones on light motorcycles that hold the road (where the f**k is my Duke?).

The Dance Hall in Point Reyes

First stop at Point Reyes Station, a really nice small town that feels in some ways like it has stopped in time: that is apart from the price of its food and the (very good) expresso coffee that I bought from the organic shop for the sort of prices you pay for the stuff (less good, admittedly) on the Champs Elysées in Paris! 2,25 dollars an expresso? And this garage above, which has been operating since 1923, and boasts not only this collection of heads (presumably road kill?) hung on the office wall, but also a collection of Model A Fords outside in just impeccable condition. The bikes I saw coming through were mostly Harleys, plus an occasional BMW and a nice pair of KTM 990's.

 

The selection of wines in the Point Reyes supermarket (more organic food than otherwise, and prices to match!) would shame most so-called wine shops in France, and with wines, equally well-chosen, from all over the world.

 

So I picked, for the coming picnic, the (surprisingly) only bottle of red wine closed with a screwcap (you can't travel with corkscrews these days). Luckily it was the Big House Red from Randall Grahm. Very good stuff, practical to get into, and very reasonably priced at under 9 dollars a bottle. AND this place also sold tasting glasses in decent quality plastic, properly shaped and sized. What the hell are we thinking of in France?

On the banks of Bodega Bay, somewhere near where Hitchcock shot The Birds, we watched other less agressive birds hunting and playing on the mud flats while listening to the sea-lions barking in the distance and drinking half of this Big House Red together with olives, bread, salami and other good stuff. Thank you Mister Grahm. Further up the road north I needed some coffee to keep going so I pulled into a roadhouse (can't quite remember where exactly). Quite a few bikes there, all of them Harleys... 

And this sign on the way in...

 

There was another one saying "Hippies use the service door", and this one, on the wall beside me...

Nice view, atmosphere ans music, but not too sophisticated and, as you might guess, the coffee was just "regular" (no expresso), so I had some tea and we moved on.

Got into Mendocino late afternoon after about 9 hours on the road from San Francisco, including those stops. And more about Mendocino, this former log-shipping town turned quietly sophisticated lady, tomorrow....

Biscuits and Blues in San Francisco

No, this will not be an article moaning about bad food in San Francisco! Most of what I tried there was decent to good, even if I will probably be complaining in the near future about the price of wines here in California.  Biscuits and Blues happens to be the (unusual and interesting) name of a blues club that I strongly recommend in SF. Went there recently to hear a couple of sets by the very experienced and good guitarist/singer who goes by the name of Guitar Shorty, and of whom I had never heard the day before. I just happened to go past this club conveniently sited right by where I was staying, very close, on the western side, to Union Square. Now San Francisco is a city whose decors and neigbourhoods can change within the space of just one block, and maybe less. For instance Chinatown and the mainly Italian influenced North Beach border on one another and intermingle along that quite flexible border. And nowhere does this shifting of the economic and social sands show more than along that hard-to-define but instantly tangible frontier between the very chic (I call it the Vuitton ghetto zone) part just around and to the east and south of Union Square, and the rapidly crumbly and dodgy bit that runs up to it from the west, and from the somewhat ill-famed area known as Tenderloin.

Guitar Shorty played two quite varied and suitably loud sets of heavily electrified blues and blues/funk. Sitting in the front, the sound was more than audible. He was not entirely helped by a lot of unwanted feedback from the very poor audio system of the place, but, in a way, his gritty and occasionally Hendrix-like style was able to take that kind of thing in its stride, given the amount of feedback and wawa peddle he was using a lot of the time. His style is powerful and firm, with variable speed and plenty of earthy intensity and long solos. Classic 1970's in a way, which I suppose recalls something of Haight Ashbury, a little further west in the city, and about 40 funky years back in time.

Biscuits and Blues, which has the apparently racially mixed management that goes so well with San Francisco and its chequered history and cultural balance, has programmes that seem to change every night. A lot of very good players have been there, like the excellent Eric Bibb whom I had  heard the week before in Marciac. The food is ok and will feed you, the beer is fine, the wines are drinkable and the service is good. And the atmosphere, on a good night, is what it should be. Oh yes, and the sound lady is a stickler for keeping the musicians to their set tlmes, imposing extra half-hours all the time! Definitely recommended.

Magnificent Triumph custom seen in San Francisco

I was walking around the city centre here in San Francisco, where I am spending a couple of days on a touring (and unhappily bikeless) holiday along the North-West coast of the USA, when I spotted a pretty sharp looking bike parked just outside the Wells Fargo agency by Union Square. It was chained up to a post and parked in a line of bikes with a rather beat-up Suzuki V-twin just behind it, so it was hard to take any decent pictures, but I just had to take a closer look, and here is what I saw...

Although I love bikes and write a bit about them, I freely confess to not being a specialist in the terminology for various forms of customised bikes. This particular machine may well be what is known as a "bobber". Pretty stupid name for a bike in my opinion anyway, but there it goes. Why a "bobber"? Why not a "fobber" or a "lobber"? In any event, the basis would seem to be a Triumph Bonneville, maybe of the 1970's, but then I am not a Triumph specialist. On taking a closer look, I found myself in considerable admiration of the quality of craftsmanship that has gone ito this bike, bar perhaps a couple of details that jarred a bit esthetically. Let's have a closer look...

So the rear view tells us that the bike is low and narrow, that the bars look quite flat and uncluttered, that there is a funny thing sticking out on the right-hand side of the engine, that there is a side-mounted rear light and that the frame has no suspension, with the neat little leather seat just lightly sprung (I wouldn't like to ride this thing fast through the San Francisco streets with all them hills and bumps!).

A peek around the starboard side of the bike shows that this funny thing sticking out on the right of the engine must be some form of electronic ignition, since the ignition wires run from it to the plugs. But why the hell is it so bulky and sited out there? Also that the exhaust pipes seem to be straight through with no silencers! Maybe this guy owns Wells Fargo and therefore can get away with the racket the bike must make? Maybe he has some other secret?  And what is that can under the neat but hard seat? Looks like an oil tank of some kind. Open Amals with just wire mesh on the bellmouths and no front mudguard. Ok, a bike for fine weather only. But well cleaned up and with some special pieces, it would seem. Let's get in even closer....

Well, that big ignition thingie is definitely a pity, but whoever has worked on the engine has otherwise done some nice work, at least on the outside. Everything looks clean and polished and there are nice details. Perhaps the exhaust exit sticks out a bit far before it takes a curve, but that is a matter of taste.

Now to the back end. Hard-tail frame, which must have come from a much older bike or have been specially made. Neat rear mudguard and black wheel rims and the seat looks good and fits in well, even if I would not want to ride the thing too far. The oil can under the seat is ingenious, all in aluminium and finned for cooling. Not sure that I would want to be sitting precisely above the exhausts exits though, especially in a town.

And so up to the sharp end. Very nice work here. Headlamp, bars, levers, front fork and tees all seem simple and harmonious and yet show plenty of attention to detail. Especially the tees, which are quite beautiful. No rear-view mirror though. Does the guy have one on his helmet?

More of the same, only it shows the forks better. They don't look like they come from aTriumph. A Harley perhaps? Plenty of those about here.

And the front brake is a drum, maybe a late Triumph Meriden item, unless it is a UK afterfit from one of those special parts people like Rickman. Don't know but it looks nice.

And the area on the other side of the rear end, with that natty little rear light and plate. They seem to be able to get away with many things on this side of the pond! But the bike is not going to get away in a hurry, what with being tied up like this in front of Wells Fargo, not to mention...

Being hemmed in by Brinks. I had no idea that this bike was so valuable!

All-in-all a great looking bike. Would love to hear it and ride it, and then maybe change a few tings to make me want to ride it more often and for longer spells. But maybe that isn't the point of these things after all?

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Looking up to the main stairway from the lobby of the Museum

The San Francisco Musuem of Moderen Art is a "must go" place if you are in this fine city. In fact it is one of the most impressive and easy to visit museums that I know. Partly because of the quality and diversity of its collection. Also partly because of the building being perfectly designed for its function, with the use of zenithal and other light sources making viewing conditions both exhilarating and easy on the eyes, and the floors dividing the considerable collection into layers that one takes from top to bottom (somewhat like the modern art museum in Prague that I spoke of about 18 months ago here), thus giving oneself natural breaks in between viewing sessions, taking time to go to the roof garden or to walk down some stairs and weave into another section.

One of the most impressive sets of images that I saw there today were those by the Japanese photographer Naoya Hatakeyana. But I cannot show you any right now as I find it impossible to photograph photographs. I will try and obtain some images another time and talk of his quite remarkable work on landscape and the spirit of places.

Here are a few images of paintings, slotted in scrapbook-like and more-or-less the order in which I saw them, that are some of those that I really enjoyed looking at today. It was a very enjoyable and even intense two and a half hours. Today, the first Tuesday of the month, the entrance is free to this Museum. And, to cap it all, this museum let's you take photos too (naturally without flash, but they remind you dently rather than bark at you) which most stupid French museums refuse for some strange reason.

Derain, 1890's (I think)

Matisse (around 1900)

Richard Diebenkorn (slightly cropped version as the full painting is vertical, early 1960's)

Another one by Diebenkorn. I like his work a lot. He lived around here and was part of something known as the Bay Area Group, who moved back to figuration from Abstract Expressionisism in the early 1960's, preceding, I think, similar moves on the part of de Kooning and others.

can't remember who this was by, but I rather liked it

 a bright one from de Kooning, early 1980's

by another of the Bay Area painters, called David Park

and the painter of this one (from the same group) is called Elmer Bisschoff

and there was a good "Pop-Art" collection, like this one by Jasper Johns, whose stuff I have always liked

And a great deal more, such as a series from Paul Klee and Joseph Albers of which this short text is a useful summary.

A window on the world

Windows are an interesting and much used gambit in painting, playing on inside and outside at the same time and giving the opportunity to contrast light and shade, bright and cool colours and different perspectives.

This is one I did a few years ago down in Gascony, and managed to sell! I feel a little embarrased at putting it up here, having shown so many seriously good paintings. But I guess you have to assume your deeds. I saw it again recently in its owners house.

My Norton Commando goes to the market

I am about to leave for a 2-week holiday on the North-West coast of the USA. Travalling to San Francisco, and after a few days in that beautiful city, the plan is to  move up the coast northwards, exploring Northern California and then Oregon and Washington. I plan to post short, postcard-like articles during this journey, probably from my telephone. Pictures and not much texts therefore. We shall see if it works.

Meanwhile, here is a postcard from Paris, where I took my Norton Commando out for a short spin this weekend. She is running quite well, maybe a bit rich on the left cylinder. Have to look at that when I return. Will see what nice bikes, and other stuff, I notice over the other side...

KTM Duke: great little big bike (with a few modifications)

I am really pleased with this new KTM bike of mine. Time will of course tell, but it could be one of the best machines I have yet owned. At least it is probably the one best suited to the main use that I make of motorcycles: going quite fast on small roads, for variable distances. The roads around where I spend as much time as I can, in South-West France, are a bit like this....

Or, looking in the other direction to the next bend and with the setting sun behind one, this...

In other words there are plenty of bends and very little traffic. One has to be on the look out for occasional gravel and the odd tractor, but late evening on weekdays is usually pretty good once harvest is over. Riding this landcape with the 690 Duke is a permanent buzz as the bike is so light and responsive (power/weight ratio is all), is a leech on these roads, and can suffer my occasional (frequent?) line errors and last minute adjustments willingly and without going crazy. It also has good brakes and (if you need it) ABS on them.

I am increasingly thinking that modern sports bikes, while great fun on a track and if you are stone crazy, have far too much power for the roads we ride. In addition, as Colin Chapman (of Lotus fame) said when asked what should be added to a car: "add lightness". 

I am getting used to the orange frame, and its somewhat angular looks, both of which I initially found rather garish. Black on the rest keeps things within reason, or maybe this is a case of love being blind. After all, I got used to the rather stange looks of my Ducati Multistrada.

I have changed the original and rather bulky silencer for an after-market thingie produced in Spain and sold to me be a very efficient company called Silverstone Motor here in France. You can just see it in this pic but I will get back to this topic in a while.

As I said in my first report on riding this machine for a full day up from Lyon to Paris on minor roads, the first thing to change was the seat. The orginal seat is fine for a short journey, but it has a kind of roll at the back end of the rider's part (the passenger number is a separate pad and I haven't seriously tested that bit yet) that pummels your coccyx over a distance, making it quite hard to walk the next day! So I had this thing fitted from the very comprehensive "Powerparts" catalogue of the manufacturer. Now why can't they just fit a proper seat in the first place?

As you can see, the roll blends in with the rear seat so one can slip back if needed. Anway, a full day's riding with this new seat caused me no pain and so it stays. What else? A couple of mods that I had done before the bike was delivered. Although this is hardly a high-speed cruiser, it will hold more than legal cruising speeds on the motorways without problems (not that I use such roads much on a bike), so I had a small screen/wind deflector fitted. Seems to work fine, but then I haven't tried riding the KTM without it!

Another couple of mods from tha start were handguards and heated grips. Haven't needed the latter much yet, but they might keep me on the road for longer into this winter. However the handguards have probably already saved me a broken finger (and brake lever) when some f**ckwit in a car pulled out to overtake when I was already overtaking him, failing to use his rearview mirror, which he probably lost in the proceeds. You can just about see the temperature control for the heated grips and the mounting for the GPS I occasionally use as well. These KTM handguards are well made, as I experienced. They have an alumiuim brace that joins to the handgrip, this protecting hands and levers.

Now for the (partially) esthethic mods. Well, for now, I just removed the garish stickers on the headlight fairing and the tank, leaving the more discreet one on the air filter casing. And the original silencer is too bulky and makes the bike sound like a sewing machine when at low speed. I am not in favour of hugely noisy bikes, but I do like my machines to sound like they are alive. I thought about the Akropovic number offered in the KTM Powerparts catalogue, but it seemed very expensive. So I looked around on this marvellous tool called the web and found this little twin-exit number, produced in Spain by a company called IXRace. Easy to fit and it sits in tighter than the original part, as well as being much smaller and shorter. I like the curves too. The sound is not a lot bigger, but perhaps a tad deeper and crisper. I see there are baffle plates on the end of the exits. Might just play around with them a bit later. Here is a picture and a video...

No other mods have been made for now. Getting to know the bike and enjoying it a lot. I was initially concerned about the lack of flexibility of the motor, which clanged and banged under 3000 rpm. But that is changing now that is has been run in properly (2000 kms on the clock). Noticed a couple of really nice details. It has a gear indicator, which I have not had on a bike before and find it quite useful on the small roads that turn a lot, even if I tend to play it by ear and the rev counter. Also, when the fuel tank goes onto reserve (I haven't yet worked ou how much is left in there), the computer tells you how many kilometres you have been running since you went onto reserve. It also has two trip meters, which I suppose could be useful one day. All of this is electronic of course and you have to push buttons on the speedo block, taking one hand off the bars to change from one set of information to another, but, hey, what's the problem? 


Ride safely, within reason...