Going to the USofA

[ekoja]

Im going to the States, mainly Las Vegas and Santa Barbara.
While in Santa Barbara I would like to visit the Motorbike Museum at Solvamg , but am having some bother organising a motorcycle rental from Santa Barbara.
Anyone on here know of any place in Santa Barbara where I can rent a motorcycle and any other tips and tricks, Insurance etc.?
Yes... I have surfed the net endlessly and have had no luck, so was hoping maybe someone on here has done something like this and could enlighten me.
I also intend to hire a bike in Las Vegas, but that side of it seems to be not so difficult.
Thanks.

[M.V.]

Nice! How long are you going for? We're heading over there in March, I'll be watching this thread!

I wanted to do CSS at Laguna Seca, but it sold out in seconds, despite emailing them & being on the waiting list

Anyway, I intend to hire a bike over there at some point, hopefully someone here has some pointers.

[jim280885]

I think it only took a couple of hours to drive to SB from LA (my entire memory of my time over there is hazy though ). It could be simpler to just hire it in LA. We considered it briefly while we were there and there seemed to be heaps of places in the city that rented them.

Other tips would be that its routine to do 5-10 mph over the limit, and steer clear of those ladies of the night in Vegas... that place is entirely bizarre. But fun.

[ekoja]

Noted. Check list.... ladies of the night... X
Im going with my wife, her sister, and the sisters daughter, so no doubt I will get to know bloody shoe shops.
We are staying in Santa Barbara so hiring a bike from LA probably will not work, but I do appreciate your reply.

[tzr89]

It might be a little off topic, but I went over to the states back in 2009 with my Trixie and spent three months riding around coast to coast. Used a company called "Get Routed" (www.getrouted.com.au).
Well worth it if you ever want to think about spending a decent amount of time there.
The TRX also wasn't sold in North America, or so I was told, so you do get a few looks.
And, the TRX would have to be a real contender for the most inappropriate touring bike ever.

[davamb]

G'day TZR and welcome.

And, the TRX would have to be a real contender for the most inappropriate touring bike ever.

Not sure what you mean, I regularly do a fair bit of long-distance runs on mine. Think nothing of 500ks a day - easy.

[alextrx850]

G'day TZR and welcome.

And, the TRX would have to be a real contender for the most inappropriate touring bike ever.

Not sure what you mean, I regularly do a fair bit of long-distance runs on mine. Think nothing of 500ks a day - easy.

I think height and weight will give some a problem with an extended spell on the REX Dave,..I'm with you tho, I'm light and fit for my age and would think nothing of a 5 hour stint on my bike.
Thinking of the beer gutted blokes sitting back on the arm chair bikes , wouldn't last on a sportie.

[ekoja]

Well, Im back, 2 weeks in the land of the brave and the free. Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Santa Barbara.
Hired 2 cars (on separate occasions) the second car was a Chevy Tahoe, Bloody big v8 with all the added buttons. black in colour (oops... color) and we felt like the bloody FBI. all that was needed was the wrap around sunnies.

Weather was great ,mild temps and very dry heat in Vegas, I was going to hire a bike there but on the day the temp was down to about 9 degrees and as I had no gear it was just too bloody cold. Normal temps are about 23/25 The rental for the bike (a Harley) was $200, for 24 hours, ride out the door, They could supply a helmet but if you needed a jacket gloves etc... you had to buy them.
Vegas is a weird place, All the glitz you could ever hope to see. People everywhere, and if you are, like us, non smokers, it's a shithole. Every one smokes and all the Casinos allow smoking and it is not unusual to see little kids in strollers parked beside a slot machine while mum and/or dad are puffing up a storm. And it always seems that to get to your accommodation one must go thru the Casino floor. We stayed at a hotel which did not have a Casino, but one was never short of options.
I got to visit a little place called Solvang, which is in behind Santa Barbara. It is a village with a Danish theme, all very cute and stuff, but there is a Motorcycle Museum there which is privately owned , does not make money, but the owner is an enthusiast with deep pockets as best I understand . It has as it's main exhibit, one of these

Apparently the bike sat new in a crate up until 2004, then was bought by some guy in LA with the intention of flicking it off for a profit. The owner of the museum grabbed it and here it sits. Its started regularly, and ridden in exhibition events but not raced. A vast collection of bikes including the bike that Rollie Free rode on that record breaking run at Bonneville Salt Lakes (google Rollie Free.)A V8 Guzzi replica, and some more normal bikes such as

[M.V.]

Nice! Gee that Britten is apiece of work, would love to see on in the flesh.

(Oh, we leave on Friday, someone dropped out of CSS @ Laguna, so I got in! )

[ekoja]

Weather there, (Cal) was really just right. Not to hot with nice cool nights.
Enjoy the trip, the drive we did from Las Vegas to LA was something special. The country side was spectacular.
If you get the chance go to Solvang (where the museum with the Britten is) it is only 45 mins from Santa Barbara, and I found it well worth the time.

[M.V.]

Weather there, (Cal) was really just right. Not to hot with nice cool nights.
Enjoy the trip, the drive we did from Las Vegas to LA was something special. The country side was spectacular.
If you get the chance go to Solvang (where the museum with the Britten is) it is only 45 mins from Santa Barbara, and I found it well worth the time.

Excellent, our first drive is LA to Vegas! Not sure we're getting anywhere near Santa Barbara, but I'll consult the map. Looks like a worthy detour for the Britten alone.

[alextrx850]

Excellent, our first drive is LA to Vegas! Not sure we're getting anywhere near Santa Barbara, but I'll consult the map. Looks like a worthy detour for the Britten alone.

For sure M.V wonder how much it would take for him to start it up..!
Any more photos Ash ?

[Rod.s]

Fantastic bike the Britten, If it's the Jason McEwen bike (name on the faring, which is unlikely) then it never sat in a crate since new, the Jason McEwen bike was successfully raced from new.

John Britten built 10 complete bikes and the one prototype (that was never really finished, as it was the experimental bike) All the bikes were built on a very tight budget and all for a specific purpose, ie "battle of the twins" (BEARS) or Isle Of Man, until John died….except for bike #10

The bike that you saw is the 10th bike built was sold to Michael Iannuccilli in 1999, this was bought new from Britten (apparently) It has not yet been ridden/raced apart from the factory testing and a couple of demonstration rides (now owned by Virgil Elings). John Britten died during its construction, this and several other bikes were then completed by the company and sold as race bikes before production stopped

I met John Britten in Melbourne in 1994 at a Composites conference. I was truly amazed at his enthusiasm and drive to complete these bikes, he never wasted any time on trivial matters and was always talking bike/engine development and construction or asking how can this or that could be done, a truly amazing Kiwi.

Edit….apparently Jason McEwen rode the bike as a demonstration ride day, so they put his name on the faring

[ekoja]

Excellent, our first drive is LA to Vegas! Not sure we're getting anywhere near Santa Barbara, but I'll consult the map. Looks like a worthy detour for the Britten alone.

For sure M.V wonder how much it would take for him to start it up..!
Any more photos Ash ?

Quite a lot from the museum altho it was difficult to get a decent picture as the bikes were fairly close together. I will post some more up shortly.
MV the trip from LA to Santa Barbara is about 1 to 1&1/2 hours with about a 45 min run from Santa Barbara to Solvang Poxy LA traffic permitting. If you go out thru Santa Monica along the Pacific Coast Highway it may be a little quicker depending on where you start from.

Fantastic bike the Britten, If it's the Jason McEwen bike (name on the faring, which is unlikely) then it never sat in a crate since new, the Jason McEwen bike was successfully raced from new.

John Britten built 10 complete bikes and the one prototype (that was never really finished, as it was the experimental bike) All the bikes were built on a very tight budget and all for a specific purpose, ie "battle of the twins" (BEARS) or Isle Of Man, until John died….except for bike #10

The bike that you saw is the 10th bike built was sold to Michael Iannuccilli in 1999, this was bought new from Britten (apparently) It has not yet been ridden/raced apart from the factory testing and a couple of demonstration rides (now owned by Virgil Elings). John Britten died during its construction, this and several other bikes were then completed by the company and sold as race bikes before production stopped

I met John Britten in Melbourne in 1994 at a Composites conference. I was truly amazed at his enthusiasm and drive to complete these bikes, he never wasted any time on trivial matters and was always talking bike/engine development and construction or asking how can this or that could be done, a truly amazing Kiwi.

Edit….apparently Jason McEwen rode the bike as a demonstration ride day, so they put his name on the faring

Thanks for the insight Rod, I did wonder how Jason's name would have appeared on a new bike as If I remember correctly Jason was riding for Ducati here in Aus when John passed away.

[ekoja]

Click on the picture for better lookee.
Guzzi Replica less Dustbin Fairing


Ice Racer for racing in them cold countries


BMW Rennsport Mit Blower


Infamous H1 Kawasaki Racer allegedly raced by Yvon Du Hamel... MIguel's Dad.


7R AJS


Triumph Bonnie


This is supposed to be the bike ridden by Rollie Free at Bonneville. ...Could possibly be the worlds first at planking on a motorcycle.


Same bike different side



The big exhaust was to make it easier to adjust various internals ...from the outside

The Britten Control Room.