I am out in San Diego for the next 2 weekends and I am thinking of renting a bike while visiting either this weekend or next. Can anyone recommend "must ride" areas near San Diego that would be no more then a day trip? I am familiar only with areas directly around San Diego proper, but want to get out away from the city (obviously). THanks!

 

I road from San Diego to Julian via the Sunrise HWY (S-1) a few weeks ago and it was awesome! You ride alone a ridge line with nice twisties and pine trees at 6000 ft with awesome views of the desert below. Julian is a cool little old mining town famous for it's apple pies. Here is the route.

 

Thanks Bill... Looks interesting. I am staying right off I-8 also, so easy to find. Anyone else with suggestions are most appreciated. After, I hopefully will have some pictures to post of my first SoCal ride. So far I have ridden Hawaii, Guam, and most of the east coast states. From the looks of it, this will be a new riding experience.

 

We are riding to Julian on the 17th overnight. Then in the morning heading up Palomar Mt. Haven't been before, but from what I've heard its pretty nice too.

Have a great ride, maybe we will run into you up in Julian.

 

I lived in North County San Diego (Encintias) for a year and my usual Sundayride started with friendsriding out tothe Hernandez Hideaway at Lake Hodges. (Hernandez Hideaway 19320 Lake Dr. Escondido, CA 92029, 760-746-1444). TheHernandez Hideawayhasthe best Margaritas in town and good Mexican food. You will usually find half a dozen Harley out front. Then wewould ride out towardsJulian via 78,take a left on 76and stop in atthe Hideout Saloon (27413 Highway 76, Santa Ysabel, CA 92070). The Hideout is packed with Harleys on the weekends. They have cold beer and good hamburgers. Next we would head over to Pala Casino (Pala Casino 11154 HWY 76, Pala, CA 92059 USA, 1-877-WIN-PALA (1-877-946-7252). Pala has good Bike parkingin the parking garage right next to the entrance to the casino. Pala has cold drinks and of course lots of slots. After Pala we would continue west on 76 and end up back on the coast in Oceanside. This ride is basically a big loop and with a couple of hours in stops can be done in5to6 hours. We would start at the Hernandz Hidaway at noon and be backin Oceanside by 6:00 PM

You mightalso want to consider doingPalomar Mountain, which is suppose to be one of the ten best rides in the US. Palomar Mountain is off of the 76, between the Hideout Saloon and the Pala Casino. However, I would not ridePalomar Mountainafter the consumption ofanyalcoholic beverages.The mountains elevationat the top is 6500 feet and it is one big twisty. Also note thatit isa big sport bike destination.

 

To get the best of both worlds coastal and mountains. Go west on I-8 to Mission Bay. Go north up through La Jolla onto PCH Follow it thru the Beach Towns up to Oceanside. you can pick up the 78 and follow it up East to Julian and end up back at highway 8 around Pine Valley.

There are soo many routes here in SD you won't get bored.
Another nice ride is North to Temecula up to Hells Kitchen near Lake Elsinore. then west to San Juan Capistrano. Where U can get on the 5 or head to PCH and follow the Coast South.

 

go to my group's website
http://www.sdwanderers.org/
under misc drop down go to links
now go to "Map Of San Diego County's Best Motorcycle Roads"
now you have a map of our backroads and discriptions of them for your 'twisties".
For eats, try Cuyamucha Lake Resort. The resturant overlooks the lake with some great scenery. Good food too.

This weekend would be ideal to go towards the desert because of the clouds we have. I'm booked this weekend and Sunday next weekend. If you want a guide next Saturday, let me know. Always up for a ride.[sm=biker2.gif]

 

OK, so my riding bud who brought this up has decided to back out once he found out the deductible on a rental's insurance and that his insurance (Progressive) won't cover him for a rental. So unless I go out on my own, it's off[&o][>:] I rode by myself in Guam and had a blast. Not sure what I am gonna do now, but I so looked forward to this.

That deductible on the rental insurance is high though. They put 1000 or 2000 hold on your credit card and if something happens to the bike, your fault or not, then you are out that amount. Pretty bad deal if you don't have insurance to cover, and even then they put a deposit hold on your card.

 

Asked a similar question a few weeks ago just before I moved down.

Might want to check out this thread. Just looked at the street view of some of the suggestions on google maps. Look good.

https://www.hdforums.com/m_2963770/tm.htm