Maui Wowee!

[emptysea]

Cheryl and I were invited to spend a week (plus an extra weekend) with her brother and his wife at their condo in Hawaii. All we had to do was pay our airfare. Pretty sweet deal and one that was too good for us to pass up. So on Friday, January 26th we boarded a non-stop flight to Kahului Airport on the island of Maui for week of fun, sun, and as it turns out, motorcycling.

Tony and Janet both have their M designations on their licenses, but Janet decided shortly after taking the safety course that she really did not like riding motorcycles. On the other hand, Tony and I rode a Saddle Sore 1000 together several years ago and still try to ride all day on the Summer Solstice. Really an excellent natural rider. I've never seen him get way out of whack on slick or gravel roads or to do anything stupid in traffic anywhere. He suggested that we rent bikes when we were in Maui. Seemed like a fine idea to me, so I arranged for 2 Yamaha FZ/MT-07s to be available through Eagle Rider on Feb 1.

Tony rides a BMW R1200GS when in the states. He's 6'3" so I was a little worried about comfort for him on the Yamaha, but he said he'd be fine. As for me, it was the closest I could come to the ergos of my CB1100 so I figured I'd be fine, too. It turned out to be a more than competent street bike for me although I think mine needed new tires or possibly a better rider (or both).

The day before our ride, I get a call from Steve at Eagle Rider explaining that one of our bikes had burnt clutch and would not be available for us. He could get another MT-07 from across the island or I could sub in another bike with no up-charge. Then he ran down the list -- all Harley cruisers or touring bikes. I hated to make him get a bike delivered, but none of the ones he had listed for us would be suitable to our ride. Tony had told me that some of the roads we'd be on were in pretty bad shape and there were "a few short stretches of gravel" along his planned route. I figured that a bike called "Street Glide" is probably not well-suited for chewed up asphalt and crushed lava rock. I asked "I don't suppose you have some sort of 'Adventure Bike' in your shop, do you?" Steve said, 'Well we have a Pan America here if you want it" I said that I didn't want it, but that Tony would probably appreciate the taller stance. Deal done.

We walked the 2 blocks or so from the condo to Eagle Rider late in the afternoon on the day before the ride mainly because Tony wanted an early start for the ride the next day. The timing of the start as well as the counterclockwise direction of our route was chosen to avoid traffic especially oncoming traffic on very narrow roads. I had no idea of the validity of Tony's theories because this was my first visit to Maui. Turns out that it was probably the right way to go for the reasons that Tony speculated plus the fact that we'd have the ocean on our right for the entire ride which would lead to some spectacular and sometimes terrifying views.

Headed out 8:00am. Decided to eat breakfast at a little diner called Grandma's Cafe' which is near a couple of famous cattle ranches (true fact) and Oprah's home. I was far more interested in the former, but even more interested in getting back to Grandma's as we had stopped there for breakfast two days before when we drove up to the Haleakala Crater to watch the sunrise.


Haleakala Crater, Sunrise, January 27, 2024


Grandma's Coffee House

Since we were on an island in the Pacific Ocean and all, I had set a goal of having fish at least once a day. This was easily achieved and I usually had it twice/day. Always very fresh. In fact, we splurged for dinner at the famous Mama's Fish House on night where they list on the menu the person who caught the fish being served and when and where it was caught. Off the topic at hand, but Mama's is the most beautiful restaurant I've ever eaten at and our meals and the servers where impeccable.

I was surprised to find "Fresh Fish and Eggs" on the menu at Grandma's when we stopped on our way to the volcano. I was also surprised, though not as much, that rice was a breakfast side dish. I employed the "When in Rome" strategy and ordered the Ono (aka "Wahoo") and scrambled eggs with a side of rice. For those that don't care for fish, I get it, but for those that do, try this for breakfast sometime.

On my second visit, I had hoped that they would have Ahi or something other than Ono to go with my eggs. No luck, so I decided to add another Hawaiian staple to my meal. SPAM. SPAM is a huge part of the food culture in Hawaii. SPAM was introduced to the the U.S. market in 1937, its name a portmanteau (a term I only learned in preparing this report) for "spiced ham". Brought to Hawaii during WWII to feed the US soldiers and sailors stationed there, it quickly found its way into local households and restaurants. Now, almost seven million cans of SPAM are eaten in Hawaii every year, more than in any other U.S. state, according to Hormel.


Fresh Fish and Eggs


Omelette with a side of grilled SPAM

Grandma's marked the real beginning of our ride around the island. It's in the "upcountry" area of the island, away from the ocean and into the volcanic hills, where the roads get curvy and not as well maintained. Think farm roads on the mainland, a good comparison since Upcountry is dotted with cattle ranches and farms.

Tony lead the entirety of the ride as he had driven it in a car the last time he as on the island. Almost as soon as we left Grandma's on the Hana Highway, a sign confronted us warning "Road Closed 20<something> Miles Ahead". Tony, on his rented Harley Pan-Americal was not as concerned with the prospect of closed roads and suggested that we could ride down to the closure and then back. We had stopped to talk about this at an overlook and two V-Twin riders showed up. Tony talked to them. I could see one shaking his head and the other nodding his. Tony walked over to me, sitting atop my MT-07 street bike and said, "These guys say it'll be fine". I set aside my suspicions on the veracity of that statement and got mentally prepared for what was to come -- GPS Tracking On. Life Insurance Paid. Said "I love you" to Cheryl before leaving. OK, I'm good.


Tony in the foreground, checking his route. Paradise in the background, doing what paradise does.

Off we went on "The (Back) Road To Hana" as it's called. Also called: HI 37, Kula Hwy., Ulupalakua Rd. until it changes to HI 31, aka Piilani Hwy (which I think is Hawaiian for "Pee a Little Highway") and finally Hana Highway, HI 360 into and out of the small town of Hana on Maui's southern tip. That's a lot of road names for not a lot of actual road. Fully paved, this would be a street rider's dream road with lots of sweeping turns, then switchbacks, elevation changes, and magnificent views. It was difficult to discern if sections were always gravel (ground up lava rock) or the pavement had just decayed to that point. The smoother sections were clearly paved once, probably shortly after statehood. The road had highway mile markers, which seemed a bit nervy to put out on something that really doesn't count as a "highway" by any modern metric.

The ride was beautiful. When I told of our adventure to others who have been on this route, some of whom are riders, and mentioned that we rode around the island counterclockwise, they said things like "bold move". They're point being that along with the ocean views to our right the entire way, so would be steep drop-offs, road washouts, and oncoming traffic pushing us close to the precipice rather than into the side of a hill. I didn't really think of this until we got to the "road closed" area. They were repairing a narrow stretch of the highway which hugs the mountain tightly with an incredibly steep drop off. It was barely one line and since it was "closed", there were no instructions for traffic on either side to wait for oncoming vehicles. Fortunately, the one oncoming vehicle waited for us to get through. As we exited the Road Closed area, a couple in their (rented) BMW convertible drove around the sign, encroaching on me which is why I remember. He had a "I'm such a scofflaw" look on his face as he passed. I remember thinking that he's not going to feel so cool when he realizes he can't turn around on this footpath with an ego for probably 20 miles without significant risk to both his safety and his rental car agreement.


There are far more cattle in the Hawaiian Islands than most people would imagine. I think they're on the road because there is so little difference between it and the rest of the their grazing area.


Back Road To Hana

Back Road To Hana

Around this corner was where it narrowed down for the construction. Probably about 4' narrower with the construction portion against the rock wall. It had me bit on edge, as it were.

Shortly after squeezing past my adventurous BMW renter, the pavement improved as did my disposition. This was the beginning of the actual Hana Highway/HI 360, I believe. Still narrow, but more recently paved (although that could mean 30 years ago), it ran through the outskirts of Hana. Hana is a "census-designated place". I'm not sure what that means in terms of governance or anything, but it's not a town, village, or city by the US definitions of such places. They do have a "Welcome to Hana" sign which, along with two large plots of land filled with food trucks, greeted us as we rode in.

First stop was for comfort. Then we found a food truck to our liking for lunch.


Tony looking relieved for a couple of reasons.


This little coffee shop wasn't quite open for business when we parked, but the name made us giggle.


Da Fish Shack was open. And delicious.


Sesame-glazed Ono (or maybe Ahi, I forget now) with broccoli and rice. From a truck. On the side of the road. Pretty amazing.

After lunch, it was off around the east side of the island and north toward the town of Paia (Pie-A-ah). This section of HI 360/Hana Highway is what most people think of when you say "the road to Hana". It's curvy and beautiful. and paved. There was a lot more traffic here so while this probably was the best street motorcycling stretch of the entire tour, we spent a lot of it behind slower vehicles. Next time, and I sincerely hope there's a next time, we'll not circumnavigate the entire island, but rather head directly to this section of Hana Highway first thing in the morning. I think 5-0 takes credit cards for traffic fines, but I'll bring my checkbook just in case.


The road "From" Hana (at least for us on this day)

I think I'm at the max number of pics so this is the end of Part I