Los Angeles DGR

[Gone in 60]

My continuing gratitude to everyone to everyone on the forum for your support of my participation in the Los Angeles DGR! This was my first L.A. ride since 2015. I love to support my home county, OC, but the ride was getting too large for its organizers. I had been chatting with one of the L.A. ride hosts, and he convinced me that their ride, while quite a bit larger, had more organization with full escorts and controlled intersection crossings. Where OC posts the ride map a week or so ahead of time, the LA ride doesn't announce the route at all. With full traffic control, they make it a surprise for the riders. At first I was dubious, but 15 escorts provided full protection and kept the group together.

A total of 472 riders participated. Of my modern classics, I could have taken my Enfield Interceptor, and joined the two others that participated. I could have taken my black Bonneville, and been one of countless other black Bonnevilles. I took my CB1100, and out of 472 bikes, had the only one on the ride. When I arrived at the gathering site, I rode up to a tent with three volunteers checking the riders in. The guy checking me in commented to the others about my bike... "Hey, you guys ever seen a CB1100? Smoothest running, shifting bike Honda ever made!" I had to agree with him. He also commented "Hey, congratulations on being a top-50 donor!" That was very cool to learn! 

All kinds of bikes showed up, even a group of Filipino sidecar jitneys - these had so much detail in them that it was difficult to see everything at once in them.

It was a great scene, and I made all kinds of new friends. When the ride kicked off, We were away, riding two-by-two. I ended up right behind a Ural sidecar rig that was decked out with a very dapper couple holding a dog. One of the ride photographers was in front of them, in another Ural sidecar facing back, snapping away at the cute couple with the dog. I must have ended up in the background of plenty of pictures.

The ride started from a college next to the Santa Monica Airport, and wove through many of the highlights on the west side of L.A. including Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, the Santa Monica Pier, Venice and the Venice canals.

 

[rdprdp01]

Outstanding moment and fantastic pictures. Well done!!! David

 

[Cormanus]

Gone, you're an ornament to the CB1100 universe.

 

[Gone in 60]

Gone, you're an ornament to the CB1100 universe.

Wow, Cormanus, that is a very lofty statement. Thank you, sir! Sorta reminds me of the time a lady in Portland called me a Pretty Bowling Ball.

I was just proud to represent the CB1100 on the ride, and got quite a kick when the guy checking me in for the ride was fawning over my bike.

She did get quite a few admiring looks. The ride is always a cool scene with very fun people. I started chatting with a guy who brought his Enfield Interceptor, saying "Hey, I have one of those too", and adding the obligatory "So, has anything on it gone wrong?" I got a very reassuring reply that in 13k miles it's been reliable, and further conversation with him and his friend, who brought a '76 Lambretta scooter, revealed that we're all friends with another group of guys who ride vintage bicycles. Small world. 

I hate to dis on my own local ride so much, but once it hit nearly 300 riders, simply posting the ride route online and saying "good luck, ride safe, we'll block the first couple of intersections for you" is a recipe for unsafe riding and a lot of angry drivers. The L.A. ride had 15 escort riders, most of whom were on BMW RTP bikes. I chatted up some of them, as they had some interesting farkles on their bikes that I'd like to try on our fleet of blood bikes, like comfy seat covers, etc. These guys did a fantastic job keeping 472 riders together and safe. They'd block intersections ahead of us, and once most of the escorts had dropped to the back as the riders passed, a lead escort would stop the group, allowing stragglers to catch back up to the pack, while the escorts caught back up to the front of the group and we'd resume. With that kind of control, there was no need to post a ride route, as we were in a protected group, and the iconic areas of West L.A. that we passed through became surprises for the riders. I loved it.

It was much safer and less frustrating than being in a clump of maybe 30 uncontrolled riders, trusting that the guy up front knows where he's going, and being broken into smaller groups as we'd hit intersections, with some deciding to charge through a red light whlie others hung back... After hearing me quibble over all of this, the L.A. ride host told me "You gotta do the L.A. ride, you'll have a better time", and he was right. Made for a longer ride up and back to get there, but hey, just more enjoyable riding!

 

[Cormanus]

Group rides make me nervous, so going on one that's well planned and executed would be reassuring. The OC ride sounds a little alarming.

 

[pdedse]

That would be fun to see all those bikes in one setting.  A guy on his DR650 posted photos of his DGR in England a few days back: 

the DR650 thread

I think his bike stood out a bit.

 

[Gone in 60]

Hey, found myself among the scads of pics uploaded by the L.A. DGR crew.
Note the shine on that RLET.

 

[rdprdp01]

Truly a distinguished motorcycle gentleman. Your CB1100 also represented very, very well!

 

[Cormanus]

Gee the bike looks good, Gone.

And you scrub up well, too!

 

[qhungclef]

That looks fun, Gone! Here are my pictures at the Saigon DGR. There was another CB1100 on the day with 4 pipes, a pleasant surprise. Triumphs are plenty here so the CB always gets the attention it deserves. 

 

[Gone in 60]

That’s awesome! One of my favorite things about the DGR besides participating is seeing pictures and videos from the other rides around the world!

How many riders did you have in Saigon? Must have been cool to see another CB1100. Last year on the O.C. ride was the only time I saw another one.

 

[Lord Popgun]

Hung, if I click on a pic, I can see your album. The hiking pics are awesome, and the cowboy pic is pretty cool, but why is a bass drum pedal there? And why didn’t the ladies put on saloon outfits something?

 

[rdprdp01]

[quote="qhungclef" pid='274382' dateline='1779445425']
That looks fun, Gone! Here are my pictures at the Saigon DGR. There was another CB1100 on the day with 4 pipes, a pleasant surprise. Triumphs are plenty here so the CB always gets the attention it deserves. 

[/QUOTE]

Very dapper and yet another great CB1100. With all you distinguished gentlemen setting the proper example and riding for a good cause, I may just have to man up, get past my concerns about riding in a group, and ride in the 2027 DGR.

 

[Gone in 60]

You should! It’s a great time, and a great cause. If you do the San Francisco ride, I’ve talked to participants who’ve told me they shut down the route streets for it, so should be stress free. Not the normal idea of a “group ride.”

---

You can meet all kinds of new friends!

 

[rdprdp01]

San Jose is a better fit for me than San Fran. Would welcome any info you have about sponsors and coordinators. David

 

[Gone in 60]

Group rides make me nervous, so going on one that's well planned and executed would be reassuring. The OC ride sounds a little alarming.

I’ve been in a running conversation with one of the main L.A. ride hosts. I met him at a local Triumph dealer earlier in the year when they did the local “unveiling” of the Trident 800. He had a DGR booth and we started talking, I voiced my concerns about our local ride, and he convinced me to switch to L.A. I’m glad I did, but he’s heard that O.C. will be stepping up their level of coordination and organization. I hope so.

 

[peterbaron]

NO doubt in my mind, our Gone is DGR boss

 

[Gone in 60]

NO doubt in my mind, our Gone is DGR boss

A very lofty statement! I’m scanning my GoPro video and the audio picked up the guy who was fawning over how smooth the CB1100 is. I’ll have to keep that in the final edit.
Also planning to volunteer to help with next year’s ride. Seems like a really fun group.

 

[qhungclef]

That’s awesome! One of my favorite things about the DGR besides participating is seeing pictures and videos from the other rides around the world!

How many riders did you have in Saigon? Must have been cool to see another CB1100. Last year on the O.C. ride was the only time I saw another one.

There were 186 registered riders but I was told the actual number was closer to 400.  There was this nice looking CB400 as well:


There is this video of the event if you want to see how different it is over here! 
The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride 2026 - Ho Chi Minh City

 

[pdedse]

That's a cool video, so many great looking bikes, and yep, distinguishedly attired riders. Nice.