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Over the years, I have ragged on California…hard. It’s the France of the US. I say that in jest really. Its almost a national pastime for the two countries to hack on each other, knowing that for the most part its not the citizenry, but the extremely different forms of government. Until the recall, Kalifornia was more of the ‘People’s Republic’ versus a state within a Republic.

I have spent ten or so days of the past two weeks in California for both vacation (one week trip surrounding MotoGP) and a business trip collecting vehicle data. I have paid much more attention these past two trips on what California has to offer versus what Kalifornia stands for.

The bottom line is that California has arguably the best landscape in the country for motorcycles and simply put, the great outdoors (ahem…except those sports with guns) of any other state I have visited. This morning I was blazing through Angeles Crest collecting vehicle data and I couldn’t help but think what a great ‘twisties’ convenience to LA. Sure there are better roads, but not 5 miles off an interstate. And the other night I was sitting at the base of MT Whitney taking in all the scenery. The following morning was spent driving through Death Valley National Park from West to East. Truly incredible.

When I’m wrong, I admit it. My error was equating the Kooks and what they stand for in Kalifornia with mainstream California, almost to the point that I avoided spending money there (that would be the same error a “the French” with the French gov’t). Now that I have spent a fair amount of time outside of LA proper, this place is incredible.

I have been all through the Smoky’s and it hurts me to confess the following, but Deals Gap can’t hold Northern & Central California’s jock. The roads are in great condition overall, and the weather is consistently NOT cold. There are definitely parts that are hot…Phoenix hot, but riding in hot weather is better than staring at your covered bike in winter storage.

I’ve also learned that California is where its at for true sport bike enthusiasts. Look, its hard to be a ride every weekend sport bike fanatic when you live in the Detroit area (ask me how I know). California having the most dedicated sport bike riders is only logical. If I grew up there, I’d probably be single, living in a shack, with bunch of sweet sport bikes parked in my living room, and a line of credit to http://tireexpress.com .

Its not all good news though. Kalifornia has shut down almost 50,000 acres of the Algodones Dunes to off-road vehicles to protect Peirson’s milk-vetch…an endangered weed. Another great piece of advertising for Kalifornia is the Earth Liberation Front or ELF. These are the Kooks who burn SUV’s and new construction in the name of preserving mother earth…never mind the fact that the pollutants from burning a vehicle far exceeds the emissions throughout the life of that vehicle.

To the normal folks in California, either speak louder, or start pounding on the idiots that give your state a bad name. It matters. Those who live in the west of the Mississippi only get the sound bites from cable news, and guess who gets the attention?

California is a great motorcycle state. They allow lane splitting / sharing. They allow motorcycles to bypass the mess of LA traffic and use the carpool lane. Its riding weather year-round. They have mountains…everywhere! I’m temporarily cutting them some slack after MotoGP. Time will tell how long that will last.

New bumper sticker: Have you beaten a Kook today?