Napa Valley Vacation

[Scooter Dan]

In a couple of weeks Deb and I are headed out west to California, Oregon and Utah to visit grandkids and tour the wine country. I've never been north of San Francisco except for living in Sacramento once.

Thinking about hauling out the Kymco for some 2 up riding, particularly on the coast highway. This is not set in stone yet as I'd need to take the truck which is a Duramax diesel which gets at best, 18mpg. Our Honda CR-V gets about 30 so almost double the mileage. The CRV doesn't have a hitch and is a small 4 cylinder so not the best for towing.

And then there's the method of tow, do I tow my tilt bed motorcycle trailer like I have in the past or load in the back of the truck with ramps or....get one of those hitch mounted scooter carriers? Not worried about the hit on gas mileage with the trailer as it probably wouldn't change much with such a powerful motor. However it's just the hassle of wagging a trailer, finding parking spots and navigating busy tourist areas. I've never loaded or hauled a bike before in my truck so kinda wary of the ease and safety of doing? Those hitch mounted scooter carriers look like an easy and safe way of loading/unloading. Has anyone used one or what is your experience using ramps and loading in truck? Oh, and California has a speed limit of 55mph on all trailers so that factors into this decision too.

[ole two wheels]

Dan, they make a loading rig for pick-ups. I've seen them load Gold Wings and full dressed HD's with them. You place the bike on the rail and tie it down on the ground and the part mounted in the truck bed, pulls the front end up and then slides it all into the receiver in the truck bed.  I didn't look at it closely but I'm sure it requires some drilling in the truck bed. However, when not loaded it is very low profile and could be left in and would not take up much bed space. Not sure what they are called or what the cost, but don,t imagine they are cheap. Unless you were going to use it a lot, might not be worth the investment. A hitch mounted carrier might be the best idea???
Sounds like a wonderful trip Dan. I know you and Deb will be thrilled to see your kids. A word of warning concerning your tour of wine country. You know they do offer wine samples at some wineries so if you partake, have a designated driver.....hee hee


Mac

[Redk]

IMO

Best to avoid the additional liability of towing a trailer if at all possible.
redk

[Scooter Dan]

Thanks guys for the advice. Still trying to decide if I take the scooter as I'm not sure how much riding time we're going to get? This will be a 5 thousand mile loop from Texas to Napa Valley, Portland and Salt Lake City. Most of our vacation will be driving and 2/3 of our free time will be visiting grandkids. About the only free time we'll have to ourselves besides driving will be spent in the wine country and driving up the coast to Oregon. On a previous trip to San Diego we trailered our B400 and got in 2 rides; one to Julian in the mountains and a day ride up the coast highway to Huntington Beach. For all the trouble of trailering the scooter it hardly seemed worth it for such little riding we got in. Perhaps a hitch carrier or carrying in the back of the truck would eliminate the hassle factor of dealing with a trailer. It will also add about 500.00 in fuel costs to drive the truck vs our Honda CR-V. And lastly we have our little Toby to think about, our little Yorkie who's making the trip too. I'd need to get a pet carrier and remove the top box and strap the little guy down. It would be a hoot to ride our scooter up the coast highway with the wife and puppy.....just allot of hassle for some very limited riding. Kinda in a qyandry about taking the scooter?

[Redk]

Sounds like a wonderful vacation Dan.
Best to keep focus on the family fun.
Plan a scooter loop, next time around ?
redk

[CROSSBOLT]

Tell ya what, Dan. I'll scoot to your place in Texas and ride your scoot to California and back. You, the missus and the yorkie can ride all over the left coast and I will guard the Honda. How 'bout that?

Karl

[MJR]

Years ago I bought one of these large 3 piece arched ramps which bolts together easily and works very well. My Nissan has the nice factory adjustable tie down cleats which make securing it easy also.

[TroutBum]

Scooter Dan,

FYI

While 55 mph is the posted limit for pulling trailers in CA, trust me when I say most don't follow the posted limit with 65mph+ being common. Even the CHP looks the other way.

Napa like all tourist areas of California gets swamped with cars and people on the weekends. Best to see those places during the middle of the week if you can. Last weekend it took my family and I 1.5 hours to drive from my house in San Jose, CA to see the mission at San Juan Batista, normally a 45 minute drive mid-week.

Since you are looking to head No. of SF, drive the coast highway. Lots of cool places to visit. Like Fort Ross, Bodega Bay, and Jenner to name a few.

[gregspeople250]

I scoot around Napa and the wineries all the time. It's great fun during the week. If you're planning to do the Napa and wine country part of your holiday during the week, the scoot could work. Personally, I don't like the responsibility of driving large vehicles, not to mention one with a trailer. Certainly, if you're going to do the Napa part of you holiday during a weekend just bring the small car and save yourself for fun.
YMMV

[Scooter Dan]

Thanks guys for the tips on arriving in Napa during the week. The electric loading ramp is way cool and probably practical for frequent bike hauling. Mine is occasional so such a nice and expensive loading ramp is not in my cards.

It's kind of a novel idea to take the Kymco as I think it's more than capable of 2 up riding even with little fur ball.The other thought though is I'd rather be in a cage if I've hit a couple of wineries and feel a little woozy. Since I don't mix alcohol and riding I'd have to bow out of wine tasting and being the designated scooter pilot. Geez, I hate talking myself out of taking the scooter but.......

Oh, Almost forget...nice loading ramp. How long is it and does it fold up? 

[Redk]

If you find yourself suffering from SaS withdrawals, you could always pick up a Super 8 50x for exploring.
Bungee cord it to the bumper for travelling !
:-)
redk

[Scooter Dan]

If you find yourself suffering from SaS withdrawals, you could always pick up a Super 8 50x for exploring.
Bungee cord it to the bumper for travelling !
:-)
redk

Thought about that too but with getting a tilting hitch mount motorcycle carrier like you see on motorhomes. The BW is light enough at #300 pounds to easily haul with my 3/4 ton PU. I'm intrigued to do this as it may be the best thing since sliced bread in scooterville. I suppose though I better load up the misses and the fur ball and head out for a ride and see how doable this is. The SW is easy peasy 2 up but the jury is still out on the BW.

[Redk]

I'm sry Dan, I goofed that up...

What I had meant, was if you are out on the road and feel the urge for Scooter Acquisition Syndrome, find a dealer in a big city and purchase a liteweight 50cc to bring home ??

Probably a dumb idea...

Does your small vehicle even Have a rear bumper?  some of these new ones don't...  just impact kinda thangs...

Can you post an image of these small lifts/ramps ?  I'll see what it would take to fabricate one...
I'll check difference in weight between a 50 and the B&W...
redk

[MJR]

Oh, Almost forget...nice loading ramp. How long is it and does it fold up?

It's like this one on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Rage-Powersports-BW-10840-HD-3-Piece-Motorcycle/dp/B002MUSR88/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496338840&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=9+arched+ramp&psc=1 and it folds in half or you can change out a couple of pivot bolts turning it into 3 ramps and is 9' long. It's come in handy over the years.

[Scooter Dan]

More musings on taking/not taking scooter.

1. Vacations like this don't come around very often for me. The chance to get my scooter on the coast highway again is luring me strongly. Even if it's only for some short rides. At my age (67), I'm not sure we're ever going to ever get back up to the northern CA. coast....probably never. I feel like this is a chance of a lifetime, to get my scooter back out on the west coast again.

2. It will cost me an extra 500 bucks in fuel to take the Pu instead of the CRV. Riding opportunities will be limited as we're going to be constantly on the go so not much riding time on this trip. And then there's the extra cost of a ramp or hitch mount carrier which now raises the extra cost of taking the scooter 800-1000 bucks. And further, we don't have a pet carrier yet for Toby and they run about 200. And lastly my wife will complain there's no room to haul stuff she's gonna buy on the scooter.

O Geez, why does this get more complicated. I'm just a simple guy that wants to take his scooter on a road trip. Really and truly though, the money is not an issue and can easily afford the extra costs. So, that's really not a good excuse. Perhaps before I get too carried away here I ought to get Deb on the back and take her for a spin. Hopefully she'll kinda like it......fingers crossed.....this weekend.....stay tuned.