Barley Therapy, Airheads and Sport Ridin' on XR1200R

[Rad 1200R]

Well, Saturday did some more local riding around town on the XR, and the Airheads BMW Club had a monthly "Barley Therapy" gathering at the infamous Toronado Bar in North Park, on 30th just south of El Cajon Blvd. Here, one can find at least 50 different, fine brews on tap, plus over 100 different bottled beers (many of them microbrews from the U.S.) plus around the world. It was a fine excuse to hook up with people I hadn't seen in awhile, as well as some new Airhead faces. I went with my buddy Ron "Spiceman" on his R1200GS, and my friend/neighbor "Skip" on his 2009 Harley Bagger.......









Needless to say, many of them I've known for awhile asked, "So what made you decide to get the Harley?" As they already knew, I've been known to do things that are a little non-mainstream.....



This was kinda like my new HD-XR, but not really :lol:





Left to Right....my good friends Ron "Spiceman", Jan #1 Airhead (he started the Airheads BMW club years ago in SD, now it's over 6000 members worldwide), and my neighbor "Skip"



Pix inside the Toronado......

[Rad 1200R]

Can you say "MMMMMMMMMMM" ??



They also have about 10 different types of sausages there, great sandwiches and english style cucumber salad....mmmmm.

After, we headed to Pacific Beach to see a couple more friends, then on to Ocean Beach to Newport, where Skip introduced me to a bunch of people he knows at Cheswick's.......we stopped by the Pier for a few sunset photos........







Stay Tuned for more riding on DAY 2 Sunday coming up................

[Rad 1200R]

Sunday Ride 8:30am, Brrrrrr......met up in Jamul with some of my Sunday Social Club friends I've been riding with for over 14 years.....



We had rwynant on his Kawi ZRX1200R, Uncle Dave on his DRZ400 Supermoto, Tony D on his Aprilia Tuono, Eric "Erckman" on his BMW RT1200, and your's truly on the new XR1200.



We headed out 94 east to breakfast at Potrero. One of the guys in another group of riders came out and his bike was missing......he had left his keys in it and it was gone. His buddies were standing around, and I said "you sure someone's not messin' with you"? He went back inside thinking his bike was stolen, while his buddies looked at me and laughed.......since he left his keys in the bike, they moved it around the backside of the place to hide it.....he came out and they said "these your keys" ?!! Don't leave your keys in the bike......

After a heart attack breakfast, we headed further east to Buckman Springs and Pine Valley. Then Japatul Valley to Lyons Valley store, where we ran into a bunch of other riders, including our friend "Fast Eddie" on his "Big Bird" R1200GS.





L to R....me, Ed and Uncle Dave



Ed, who's got an old XLCR1000 Harley - Cafe Racer / Dirt Tracker bike, had to get a quickie ride on my XR1200 to see how it compared to his old one that's been sitting in the garage for years.......





Ed came back grinning, but still said...."it's been 20 years and the tranny still shifts the same (clunk, clunk), your bike just has more power and better handling".......my feelings were hurt

Ed headed home, then the rest of us headed to Tony D's house since he had DVD's of their recent track day at Laguna Seca in Monterey a few weeks ago.....Tony now puts on track days a few times a year, and a few of the boyz went up for it and he had videos for them.

I realized now I am the brunt of the jokes with my new Harley Davidson.......it used to be the guys with the Beemers, but now I'm going to get it from all sides for years with the HD.....oh well, I should've got a Ducati instead

From Tony D's, I still wanted to go riding for the afternoon since it was only 1:00pm, so I headed to 8 east to 67 north to Wildcat Canyon, Old Julian Hwy. to 78 east to Santa Ysabel, to Mesa Grande to the Hideout to hang with my HD brethren.

[Rad 1200R]

Saw this funky contraption there.....couldn't figure out what it was until I saw the side cover said "Yamaha".......a V-Four Royal Car custom.......pretty funky.......asked him if it cornered well ?





I'm doing some mods to the HD-XR......one is going to be new handlebars.......so, I'm trying to decide which one of these will help it handle better.........





After a brief visit at the Hideout, I headed Mesa Grande and the same way back. I'm really starting to get the feel of the XR now, the tires are scrubbed in to the edges and I'm not even pushing her real hard yet. Each twisty road makes me like the bike more and more.........I'm pretty damn happy with it !!

On the way home through Ramona, I stopped to see Crawdaddy to show off the XR and say Hi, then on to Ed's house and Shane was there on his Aprilia Falco. Then I headed almost home, but had to turn around and go down to Ocean Beach for some Fish Tacos and watch the Charger's Game to see what they were up to........

Damn, never get tired of these....delicious Mahi Tacos at South Beach



Go Chargers !!



Phil the doorman who's been at South Beach on/off for years............



One more stop at an old hangout "Lucy's" in OB to celebrate the Chargers win.....



The XR now has 490 miles on her, 240 miles on the ride today.........only 10 more miles and she's fully broken in !!

What a great weekend of riding, especially since it's been on a new toy.

[EZE RIDER]

Great report. Sounds like a great bike and a good time.

[Dave63]

Great pics. Love that Frisco chopper. Now we just need to teach you how to lean in corners and get your ass off that seat......

[tude]

Looks like a great time.
Nice series

[sfarson]

Outstanding RAD. Except for the San Diego / Broncos image, great images and great bikes, including your new ride.