Hi there folks
just joined your forum so thought i would tell you guys why.
My daughter and i will be in San Francisco 21st of June for a few days on our way home from the Isle of Man TT and a bit of sightseeing around the UK.We are thinking about hiring a Motorcycle for a day ride about the place and was wondering where would be the best places to go for a ride from a bikers perspective and if/or anyone would like to be our guide for the day maybe or put us in touch with a guide perhaps.
I know i would feel a lot more comfortable following another bike as this will be my first experience of riding on the right hand side of the road and with my girl on the back would defenitly not want to f@&k it up
Thanks in advance
Gobbie1

welcome from oregon

Thanks for the welcome Rex and ST
Looking forward to having a ride across the bridge and some back roads around the bay.

umm......don't wish to appear rude but...........where is everyone?

For a day ride from San Francisco I would recommend heading north into Napa & Sonoma wine countries and then over to the coast. Real nice roads up there that I love riding.

Head north out of San Fran on Hwy 101 over the Golden Gate bridge to Hwy 37 and into the Napa / Sonoma Wine Country. This part of the ride will be a little boring (except for the Golden Gate bridge) at first and maybe some traffic, but it is only about an hour of it until you are in wine country.

Spend some time just taking the small winery roads running all through there. When you are ready to head out of the area just ask anyone how to get to Hwy 29/128 North. They are the only major highways in the area and anyone can tell you how to get back to them.

Leave the wine country to the north on CA Hwy 29/128 to Calistoga and head west to Hwy 116 (this is a very twistie road) and continue to the coast. Follow Hwy 1 back down to Hwy 101 and back into San Francisco. Hwy 1 will take you through a cool little town called Bodega Bay which is a coll little town where Alfred Hitchcok's "The Birds" was filmed.

The ride will be about 200 miles and CAN be done in around 5 hours but should take around 8 hours to really enjoy it and not rush.

Hey Lucky and thanks for the info mate.Sounds like a grouse ride,the more twisties the better.i will google earth it and see if it's doable.Sadly though I'm thinkin the daughter ain't gonna be as excited at the prospect of 5 hours on the back of a bike
Now a bit of wine tasting and some retail therapy and she will be fine.............shame about my wallet though
Cheers for your reply
Col

oh and Howdy Rev.........would love to see the Great Lakes one day......from a bike of course.

Gobbie, If you want to do just the wine country and cut the ride time you can take the first part of the ride I gave you. When you leave Calistoga you will hit Hwy101 long before you get to the coast. You can just take that south back to San Francisco and that will cut a couple hours off the ride and give you more time to take some time off the bike in the wine country.

Or if you want to do the coast... when you get over the Golden Gate Bridge, take Hwy 1 north up the coast. Just go up as far as you want and take any major road back over to Hwy 101 and then back south to San Fran.

I totally forgot about a ride I really like in the San Fran area if you want to do coast and twisties that is only a couple hours, leaving lots of time to get off the bike and check things out.  Head straight over to Hwy 1 in San Francisco and go south.  Once you get down past half moon bay there are lots of great twistie back roads heading east that will take you back to US Hwy 280 that you can take north back to San Francisco.  Myself I like Hwy 84 that runs from the coast back to US 280.

I know you will enjoy any of those rides.

Thats lookin a bit of me.
Thanks Lucky.....i will investigate those options further.
Much appreciated

Hello from SFrancisco Bay & welcome to the best motorcycle board on the web!!!

Lucky gave you some great ideas for rides. You should google map the area.

I would recommend doing a ride from SF south to Half Moon Bay Hwy 1, then on down to Hwy 84 head back east and stop at Alices Restaurant for some good eats,at the crossroads of Hwy 35 & 84. You can take a nice ride back north on 35 till you hit Hwy 92,then go left back to Half Moon Bay or right back down to Hwy 280 North to the city.

There are really twisty roads in there and a novice riding them, I would not recommend it two up.

One of my favorite rides is all the way down Hwy 1 to Monterey/Carmel and back, I like to catch Hwy 1 right near Half Moon Bay or San Gregorio at Hwy84.Traffic can be a bear at times due to any number of variable road conditions.Yet it is legal for you to ride in the bicycle lane or bus lane or shoulder of the road when delays are encountered. I once followed a CHP for about 10 miles on the shoulder of the highway 1, it was a nice escort)

Hope this helps.

Stay Safe & Enjoy The Ride

Howdy Blurple and thanks for your input mate.
I will do the google map thing and get a bit of research in before arriving in SF
Have been riding for 40 years and daughter has done plenty of miles as pillion although not for a while now as she grew too big for her to be a comfortable pillion on behind me.The pitfalls of a sports bike i suppose.
Very helpful info re the riding in bus lanes etc but not sure if i want the company of Jon and Ponch for too long though.
Thanks again

Welcome from Tennessee near Nashville Glade to have you here with us hope you get to ride allot while here in the states by the way great looking ride in you album

Post more pics of New Zealand here its a beautiful place

Hi Speedyre.
Almost got over your way a year or so back.A bunch of us were going to do the Trans America trail but sadly i had to pull out at the last minute.They had an absolute blast so it's on my to do list one day.
We will probably only do a day hire ride on the bike as i am a bit nervous about being on the wrong/right side of the road with daughter in tow.
Not sure which of my rides caught your eye but cheers.
Sadly i don't have many photos of New Zealand scenery without a bike in it but thats probably ok with you guys i'm picking.Will see what i can find.

Buller Gorge,West Coast South Island

Plateau Carpark halfway up Mount Egmont,North Island, looking North overTaranaki Plains

Kaikora Coastline.East side of South Island looking North.November The township is behind me.

Jacksons pub on the Arthurs Pass road to the West Coast,South Island and the view across the road from the pub

Welcome to a great Biker Family. Used to live in California and have been on the rides suggested by Lucky and Blurpleuzz, and they are great rides. I use to love that area. Originally from Texas I moved 2 years ago to East Tennessee home of the Tail of the Dragon ride. If ya ever get this way would love to lead you to the Dragon.
Be safe and enjoy the states
Night Dragon

Hi ND
I have seen a few videos of the Dragon........my sorta road.but sadly we won't have enough time this trip.
I google earthed street view of Alices restaurant last night,as per Blurplebuzzs ride idea,to be greeted with the vision of 2 triumph speed triples and a daytona parked up outside.......my current ride and an ex ride as in the above photos......i think someones tryin to tell me something
Cheers for the greeting