DaBin and I found a great route from San Jose to LA.
It takes about 8 hours to the edge of the Melting Pot. Seems pretty amazing on a 50cc Ruckus eh? We didn't use much gas either. When I was a kid it took that long in a car.. I'm not sure why but it did. I think we stopped all the time.
Let's get started.
Follow Monterey HWY/ Rd. out of San Jose. Later it turns into Bolsa Rd after Gilroy at HWY101.
After Monterey Rd. passes under 101 it becomes Bolsa Rd. Keep right.
Bolsa Rd. joins CA-25/Hollister Rd Turn left.
Make a slight right on CA-25/San Felipe Rd/San Benito St. in Hollister.
Turn left at CA-25/Nash Rd/Tres Pinos Rd.
Turn right at CA-25/Prospect Ave/Airline HWY towards Tres Pinos.
If you are heading South you may start to have the feeling that the ride is a mistake. Hang in there, you just started. The fun part hasn't even started yet. It takes about 2 hours of flat out riding to get into the groove. Once you start out on your second tank of gas you'll feel better (^_^)
You need to get gas at the Tres Pinos Store. It’s a long way to the next gas. Get right back on your bike and ride, don't mess around. You have food waiting in Coalinga! Repeat.. Get gas here, many doomed trips did not get gas at this stop.
On this stretch you will pass near Pinnacles. If you are in the Camping mood this is a nice place to stop for a day or two with lots of cool hiking and even some caving.
If you are heading South don't even think about stopping. Are you kidding? This stop is for people headed North. If you stop this soon the World could end before you ever get to LA (^_^)
Turn left at CA-198/Mustang/Mustang Grade/W Elm Ave.Head up the grade. Don’t take that road that looks like a short cut (^_^) It’s a long cut just as most short cuts. Mustang Grade takes you up and over into Coalinga. If you are there in the summer it’s hot like burning coal too. This is a good place to eat. You need to get gas here as well.
Turn right at N 5th St. 5th St. is easy to miss somehow you keep your eyes peeled. We found a decent Mexican food place right at 5th and W Elm.
Turn left (slight, 5th sort of becomes Polk) at CA-33/E Polk St/Jayne Ave.
Right toward S Alpine Ave/CA-33/E Laneva Blvd.When you reach Avenal watch for the welcome sign. It’s the best I’ve seen, “Welcome to Avenal State Prison” It was a great way to break up the boring part of the ride (^_^)
CA-33 actually changes names a lot but just keep going straight towards Taft. It becomes Kern St in Taft and you need to get gas. If it’s hot you need to stop and hydrate. The road between Coalinga and Taft can take it out of you. Don't mess around here either. Just get gas, hydrate and jump back on your bike. Stopping too long will take you out of the groove you have worked to hard to get into.
Take CA-33/Adkisson Way/West Side HWY to Maricopa.
Maricopa is an oil worker town so the Motels can be near full and seem pretty safe, not too clean but not the bad kind of dirty. This is scooter campging (^_^) It was over 100 degrees in Maricopa the night we came back so camping didn't sound so cool.
(picture from the return trip, like 2am since we poked around LA all day)
Turn right in Maricopa at CA-166/CA-33/Klipstein St/West Side HWY.
This stretch is all up hill heading South but it’s a lot of fun going North.
Some odd stuff happened to our bikes bombing this hill on the return so keep that in mind. I’d make an effort to keep it off the limiter on this one. It was over 100 degrees in the middle of the night on the way back.
Going North out of Ojai is a long descent added to an already hot bike. It's a great ride! Enjoy but be warned.
Turn left off of CA-166 at CA-33 through the Los Padres National Forest towards Ojai. At this point you are on the famed Maricopa HWY (^_^) Lots of camping and stuff to see if you want to stop.
Turn left at CA-150/W Ojai Ave/N. Ventura Ave. in Ojai. Nothing is going on in Ojai at night so make sure you have that in mind.
Keep right - Stay on CA-150/Ojai Santa Paula Rd. Towards Santa Paula CA-150/Ojai Santa Paula Rd. joins N 10th St in Santa Paula.
Some gourmet may be in order at this time. Santa Paula has many gourmet restaurants to tease the pallet. You might as well get some gas in your scooter too since you are stopping.
Turn right at E Telegraph Rd to get on CA-126.
Turn left at CA-126/E Telegraph Rd/W Ventura St Towards Fillmore.
Keep going on CA-126/Henry Mayo Dr/Saugus Ventura Dr. Stay on the main road and go up over I-5. Henry Mayo Dr/Saugus Ventura Dr. becomes Newhall Ranch Rd. on the other side of I-5. You can see Magic Mountain or even go there!
Follow Newhall Ranch Rd until you reach Bouquet Canyon Rd. and make a right.
Continue on Bouquet Canyon Rd./CA-126/San Fernando Rd./Railroad Ave.
Turn right Sierra Hwy before you reach HWY 14. Then turn left at Foothill Blvd at I-5. Follow Foothill through some of the most interesting cities one can imagine. I’d make sure you do this before dark. Make a right onto Glenoaks Blvd. Glenoaks takes you all the way into Burbank.
Congrats, now you can start your career as a movie star or Chinese product importing business.
You can also eat and think about heading back. If you head to the Ocean you can pass through Malibu and Camarillo on the return trip.
Before you head off on this ride let me let you in on a couple details. This is a 50cc route. If you have something bigger just jump on the freeway, or better yet get in a plane. 50's need to avoid the freeway. This is part of the 50cc magic. It takes a little longer but you are doing something that feels wrong and pointless. That's the point (^_^) It's a lot of fun to do a long ride on a small, slow scooter.
A bigger scooter is just a slow motorcycle. A real motorcycle will just make you angry riding around at 1/4 throttle.
A 50cc will allow you to ride wild, throttle pinned well into the night!
All you need to remember is toss the speedo, bring some cash and a couple tools.
Ride safe, General Abe
Your help is always appreciated to keep things running and pay for dumb ideas.