Category Archives: Blog

10 Best Motorcycle Roads

bigsurLonely Planet has a nice article on what it considers the 10 best roads in America for cruising on your motorcycle.

Of course, the Pacific Coast Highway is on the list, and you only need to look at the stretch through Big Sur to know it belongs on the list. The other road I’ve been on is Route 66, or parts of it at least. There are a lot of other good looking roads on there as well that I need to take the time to ride to so I can take them in. There are some that are missing too that are a joy to ride. For example, I love route 190 through Death Valley. It is just amazing how long the road stretches in the beautiful desert.

What roads on this list have you been on? Which roads are missing that you think should be on the list? Leave your comments below.

Man Rides 83,459 Miles In 503 Days

Alejandro Chacon doesn’t ride a Harley, but his amazing ride that lasted over a year is still worth looking at. He started in El Paso, Texas, and rode south to Argentina, back up the Amazon, and headed north to Alaska, and then back home. Given some of the roads, some of which really cannot be called roads, a Harley probably wouldn’t be the right bike for this ride. He took his 2007 Kawasaki KLR650, which is a dual-sport bike.

You can read more about his adventure on his site, or watch this video, which is really entertaining.

If this is something you’d like to try, touch base with Tony, our Activities officer, and see if he is up for scheduling a 503 day ride!

The Passing Of Dave Dalesandro, Chapter Member

DaveDalesandroDave Dalesandro, a new member of our chapter, passed away Tuesday morning of complications from cancer. He rode with us to Palm Springs and was looking forward to his first overnighter with the chapter on the Utah trip.

Dave was a great guy who made friends with all.

Dave’s wife, Jill, asked that the chapter members be informed of his passing and of a memorial to be held this Saturday at Dana Point Harbor at the Marine Institute at 10:00 AM. All chapter members are invited.

CHP Guidelines For Lane Splitting

LaneSplittingAt the February 21, 2013 chapter meeting, our safety officer, Roger Allen, gave a quick overview of lane splitting and the safety issues surrounding it. As Roger said, it is best to say that lane splitting is allowed in California, as it isn’t explicit forbidden in the law.

The CHP has given its guidelines and Roger mentioned this in his talk. Here is the link so you can read the full article.

The video below is the KCRA broadcast on the issue after the CHP posted their guidelines.

Keep Up To Date On Site Changes

Rural Mail Carrier on a Harley Davidson, Courtesy State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory
Rural Mail Carrier on a Harley Davidson, Courtesy State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory

There is a lot going on at Orange Coast HOG. We are blessed to live in an area that allows riding year round with fantastic scenery. The desert, ocean and mountains are all literally minutes from each other. Just like we have a wonderful variety of locations to go on rides, we have a variety of ways for you to keep up with what the group is doing.

  • Email notifications – just put your email address in the “Get Site Updates By Email” box on the front page.
  • RSS Feeds – Just click on the Google or Yahoo link if you use their RSS reader services. That too is on the home page near the bottom.
  • Twitter – We’ve had our OCHOGRideAlerts twitter account for over a year, and that is absolutely the best way to keep up with last minute ride changes. But did you know we also have a Twitter feed that just updates you when there are new posts for ride maps, pictures, and more? Just click on the “Follow OCHOG” button either on the home page, or use the button below. For more info on follwing the Ride Alerts feed, see this page.
  • Facebook – Like our Orange Coast HOG Facebook page All site updates, and more, are posted there for you to see in your Facebook feed.
  • This Website – Do it old school by just checking the front page of the site regularly. You might be a day or two late, but you won’t miss anything. The 7 most recent posts are listed on the front page, and the rest are a search away using the search box.