Winter 2015

We have had the most unusually warm , and spectacular winter weather, here in central Oregon! The skiers are complaining, but the motorcycle riders are rejoicing!

We just took a ride out to Silver Lake, for lunch at our favorite little restaurant, The Feed Barn Cafe, and then continued on to Summer Lake Hot Springs, for a much needed soak in the pool.

The Feed Barn Cafe, in Silver Lake, is a hidden gem. The food is great. We've enjoyed massive breakfasts, and juicy burgers. Their bacon is to die for, and they have cinnamon rolls that are bigger than your head! We highly recommend a visit, the next time you're in the area! 

Summer Lake Hot Springs, is about 100 miles from our shop. A scenic ride out Highway 31, and a great place to soak your cares away. $10 will get you in.

The outdoor soaking pools are peaceful, and serene.

The indoor pool is rustic, but has plenty of room to paddle around. As some of you may already know, or be surprised to find out, Stacie, leads a double life as a floral designer. A motorcycle ride, and soak, at Summer Lake Hot Springs, was the perfect antidote, to consecutive 12 hour days on her feet, designing Valentine's Day flower arrangements!


Billy, also took advantage of our weather, (... and Stacie's long hours at the flower shop) to ride to Crater Lake National Park, last week. Crater Lake, is even more breath taking, when it's covered in snow!

The only way in to Crater Lake, in the winter, is through the south entrance. Here is our newly acquired, Triumph Tiger, posing by the sign.

The historic Crater Lake Lodge, is all boarded up for the winter.

The lake is such a perfect mirror; you can hardly tell where the mountains stop, and the reflection starts!

Another beautiful picture of the lake.

....and another beautiful picture of our new Triumph Tiger 800!







Like we said, we have had some very nice weather. We usually don't rent bikes in the winter months. Our bikes are on winter coverage with the insurance company, and our roads are usually covered with snow. This year, we are willing to make an exception. We will rent bikes, as long as the weather continues to be good, but a bike must be rented for 3 days, in order for us to put full coverage on it. It doesn't have to be 3 days in a row, but it must be 3 days in the same month.

Central Oregon is waiting for you!

Baja Tour

We have just returned from one of our Baja tours, and we had a great time! We had perfect weather, ate lots of Mexican food, saw whales up close, and of course, rode motorcycles!

The people of Baja are so friendly. If you ride a dirt bike, or adventure bike, you're like a rock star. The people of Baja LOVE motorcycles, and the children will mob you for stickers.

"Steekah, steekah!" Billy handing out our stickers in Ensanada. More kids showed up after this photo was taken, and a small herd followed him across the plaza.

The motorcycle riding in Baja is awesome! Since this is our Intro to Baja Tour, is mostly a paved tour, but we do have some unpaved stretches. This is the road to Coco's Corner. This road has some rocky and technical parts, as well as some straight, flat parts. Most of the paved highways in Baja are good, but when they do road work, and they do quite a bit of road work, you can expect an off road detour that might rattle your helmet a little.

Another unpaved section of the tour, took us to the tiny town of Sierra de San Francisco, to see ancient cave paintings. Actually, most of the road is paved, but the last 5 miles is a one lane, dirt road, that winds its way along the side of this canyon. It's very remote, and very beautiful.









The views we had, coming back down, were unmatched! Be sure to watch for goats and cows. We saw lots!

Lunching at roadside taco stands is a lot of fun. Some of these places don't look like much, but the food is great! One of the first questions most people ask us about Baja is "Did you get sick?" We have never gotten sick. We always carry enough Imodium with us to supply a small village, but we have never had to use it. We also carry bottled water, and most restaurants will bring bottled water to your table. Ice and lettuce can be a grey area, but like I said, none of us has ever been sick. (Knocking on wood.)

The other question we get asked a lot is "Do you feel safe in Baja?" Yes! We have never had any problems. We never travel at night, and we don't hang out in the border towns. The people we meet are always friendly. There are many military check points that we must go through as we travel. The sight of soldiers with large guns, is a little unnerving at first, but they're just doing their job. They ask you where you've been and where you're going, and they check through your stuff for contraband. Most don't speak English very well, but if you can manage a little Spanish, they are very friendly, and they are very interested in the motorcycles. Give them stickers, and they turn into kids. This picture of Billy with a soldier is kind of rare. They really prefer not to have their picture taken. He may  have given this one a sticker. ;-)

Most of the places we stay are really quite nice. One of our favorites, is Ignacio Springs B & B. The hospitality here is unmatched. This is the perfect base camp for day tours to go whale watching, and to head a little farther south and explore Santa Rosalia, Mulege, (Pronounced Moo-la-hay) and the Bay of Conception. The town of San Ignacio is a short walk away, and has a beautiful town square, and mission.

Another favorite, but a bit more rustic, is the Bahia de Los Angeles. Cabanas are available, or you can camp under a palapa on the beach. Billy and I prefer camping. There is nothing like falling asleep to the sound of waves gently lapping on the beach! We were pleasantly surprised to find a wonderful baker, named Sergio, just a short walk down the beach. He had empanadas, donuts, and coffee. We are very excited to return, and try his cinnamon rolls. He also said he would love to cook dinner for us, the  next time we come down.  We will certainly take him up on that!

Whales! The highlight of this tour was our whale watching trip. We were absolutely in awe of these massive, and gentle creatures! Terry, at Ignacio Springs said, "You think that was was great, come back in March, when the mom whales push their babies right up to the boats!" Well, that's exactly what we plan to do! Our next tour is March 15-22, 2014, and we cannot wait to see the baby whales!
The whale tour was about 90 minutes long, and afterwards, we had the most wonderful lunch waiting for us!

Vic and Carolyn, having a good time watching whales.

We start our tours from Pine Valley, CA; about 45 minutes east of San Diego. Our support truck has a locking bed cover, so we can put gear back there, and lock it up with no worries. We also have room in our truck for non motorcycle riding passengers. This is a great way for riding, and non riding couples and friends to share the same vacation.

Carolyn is visiting with Coco, and signing his guest book, at Coco's Corner.

Bond fire on the beach at Bahia de Los Angeles.

Your hosts, and tour guides, Billy and Stacie.

Vic, having fun at a museum.

We were all fascinated by the bright red sauce, and meat this man was piling on a skewer to roast.

Vic, riding into Coco's Corner.

While admiring the fantastic view above the Bahia de Los Angeles, Billy found 20 pesos in a bush!

Carolyn enjoys bird watching at the Bahia de Los Angeles.

We enjoyed dinner at the world famous Mama Espinoza's.

Baja Cactus Motel in El Rosario. Just steps from Mama Espinoza's.

More roadside dining at a taco stand. Delicious!

The sun sets on another beautiful day in paradise!







Now that we have you thinking about it, why don't you join us for our next tour? You can find all the details here, and you're always welcome to call us (541)520-4929.

June Has Been A Busy Month!

It's time to catch up! June has been busy in many ways, some good, and some not so good. June 1st started out, not so good. We packed up our DRZ's, and headed out on an over nighter to Summer Lake Hot Springs. The ride was organized by our good friends at Giant Loop. You are probably familiar with Giant Loop motorcycle bags. They are an awesome company, run by great people, and they're based right here in Bend, Oregon. Coincidentally, we are dealers of Giant Loop gear, and if you ever need some, give us a call! The ride started off just fine. About 25 riders heading off to the outback, to have a great time. Perfect weather, what could go wrong? 

   Billy and Steve share a good laugh, as we assemble at Giant Loop, before the ride.

Taking a break. The really technical part is behind us. Should be smooth sailing from here. 








"Should be". It's a little unclear what happened next. There was sand, there was a big bump, the dust hadn't settled, and there was some speed involved, but the end result was that Stacie, flew over the handlebars of the DRZ, and made a Superman style landing. The DRZ was just fine. Stacie, not so much.

Left arm in severe pain, but Stacie rode the DRZ all the way back home, about 50 miles, and then said to Billy, "We might want to have this looked at".

The painful ride home, involved navigating through this cattle drive. Typical Central Oregon stuff.








The good doctor at urgent care took a few x-rays, and said "You broke it!" Well, that kind of puts a damper on Stacie's activities. No riding, no bike moving, and one handed typing.  When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Last weekend, Stacie rode on the back of Billy's motorcycle, drove a stick shift car, and she's planning to be back on a motorcycle, by July 7th, for a trip to Canada.

Here is Stacie, all cleaned up, and attending her daughters graduation from the University of Oregon. 






Lots of other good things have been going on around the shop! We have had bikes going out on tours with Greg Munn, and High Desert Adventures . We have also had some great folks renting from us, and having a blast exploring Central Oregon.

Father and sons, came from Dubai, England, and Tigard, OR, for a five day family reunion ride. They had a great time!







There is always maintenance work going on. Tires and oil to be changed, chains to oil, and bikes to wash.

Billy is balancing a knobby tire for "Darth", our semi famous BMW F800GS. 

Darth is a work horse. With 92,000 miles, we have been trying to put this bike into semi retirement, but you can't keep a good bike down! Darth has a few more dates this summer.






Speaking of retirement. Billy will be retiring from the corporate world next week! He will be making his last commute from Portland, and residing in Bend full time. Billy can't wait to put all  of his time and attention into the rental, and touring business! Congratulations Billy!

Busy Weekend!

Billy was busy out in the shop this weekend. Our BMW F800GS, that we affectionately refer to as "Darth", got some maintenance. A new center stand, new tires, and a new chain & sprockets. 

 Getting ready to install the center stand. The trickiest part, is stretching the spring!

It looks like that new center stand is working nicely! Now it's time to get that old chain and sprocket set off.

Changing the tire.

 Making sure the tube isn't pinched.

Billy balances the new tire, and gets ready to put Darth back together.

Also this weekend, our black DRZ got a set of sturdy new Barkbusters.

What's this? Our friend, Vic, came by with his BMW F800GS. 
If you have a need for three F800's, or if our other two have already been rented, this bike can be made available.

 Customer Ralph, came by this weekend, to take advantage of our $100 a day deal. Ralph had a great time on our red KLR.

What is going on here? Is our BMW F650GS pretending to be a cafe racer? No. We're in the process of installing new handle bars. We have found that this bike needs a sturdier handlebar, than what comes stock.








We are expecting some really good weather this week. Don't forget about our $90 and $100 a day rental promotion for the KLR's, DRZ's, and KLX! It's a great time to ride!

So, as you can see, it's been a busy time at Oregon Dual Sport Rental & Adventures!