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The Rock Store and
PCH North
Check out our
latest published work on Newcomb's
Ranch and The
Rock Store in Motorcycle
Classics magazine.
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The Rock
Store.
Perhaps the
classic southern California motorcycle ride.
Nestled in the hills on
Mulholland Highway just east of Malibu, the Rock Store is considered by
many to be the ultimate motorcycle hangout.
I went with my friend,
John Welker, and I took my Honda CBX.
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| A Suzuki GXSR
1000 rider taking a break on the steps leading into the Rock Store.
The place is a motorcyclist's Mecca, drawing pilgrims on Harleys and all
kinds of sport bikes.
I used my N70 and the
marvelous Tamron 28-200 Super II lens for all of the photographs on this
page.
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A very exotic
Triumph Daytona. The paint scheme is awesome. |
| The Daytona up
close. Note the carbon fiber tank pad, designed to prevent tank
scratches from the rider's belt and jacket zippers. |
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The same
Triumph, headed out of the Rock Store parking lot. |
| Another exotic
machine...a very collectible CB900F Honda Super Sport.
Made in limited numbers
during the early 1980s, these machines paved the way for the radical
sport bikes offered today by the Japanese, the Italians, the British,
and even the Americans.
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A brand-new
Suzuki GSXR 1000. A colorful helmet on the world's most awesome
motorcycle. These machines can turn a 1/4-mile in less than 10
seconds and they have a top speed somewhere north of 175 mph.
The GSXR's 1000cc engine
delivers over 140 horsepower to the rear wheel. It only weighs 400
lbs.
I watched the rider on
this machine lightly twist the throttle and loft the front end 3 feet in
the air.
I want one.
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| A bright
yellow tank on a Honda Super Hawk. |
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Wow.
Filament wound mufflers.
This is space-age,
aerospace-quality componentry.
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A brand-new,
newly-resurrected Triumph Bonneville.
Triumph is
following Harley's lead, attempting to cash in on the nostalgia craze.
The Bonneville was the premier Triumph performance machine in the 1960s.
This new model is a redux of the classic Bonneville. Nice, but not
the real thing.
Note the
bluing on the exhaust pipes, just like the original Triumphs used to
have.
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A Suzuki
TL1000R sport bike. 1000cc's of v-twin grunt.
Very cool.
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Another
close-up of the same TL1000R.
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The moneyed
class....
The Italian Ducati
motorcycle is considered by many to be the Ferrari of the motorcycling
world.
They are exquisite
machines.
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A 996
Ducati, from the rider's perspective.
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An 851
Superlight Ducati. Definitely a collector's item. |
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Very cool.
That's
$36,000 you are eyeing, in just these two 996 Ducatis.
Yep, they
are $18K each.
The Rock
Store brings them in.
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A rider
leaving the Rock Store on his 900 SS Ducati.
Ducati riders call their
machines Ducks.
Harley riders call their
machines Hogs.
Quack. Quack.
Oink. Oink.
Old McDonald had a Rock
Store....
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| After leaving
the Rock Store, we turned west on Mulholland and in just a few minutes
we were at the water's edge, on the Pacific Coast Highway.
We stopped for lunch at
Neptune's Net in Malibu. The fish and chips were great.
Here's a Harley rider
doing the same thing we were.
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A super-exotic
RC51 Honda v-twin sportbike, tooling by on the Pacific Coast Highway. |
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A custom
Harley "Bagger" in the Neptune's Net parking lot.
Everything on it was painted black.
Check out
the descriptive vanity license tag.
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One of the
Harleys in the Neptune's Net parking lot.
If you kissed the frog,
would this Hog turn into a Duck?
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John and I,
caught in the reflection of a Virago 1100 air cleaner.
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This
photograph is at the Pacific's edge.
After leaving Neptune's
Net, we turned north and followed the Pacific Coast Highway up to Point
Mugu and Oxnard, where it turns inland. We picked up the 101 and
headed south, back to our homes in southern California.
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| More Rock
Store Photos!
We returned to the Rock
Store on 19 January 2003 to check out the action, and the place was
packed! Here are a few more shots I grabbed, this time with the
Sony CD400 Digital Mavica.
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There must
have been 400 motorcycles at the Rock Store on this visit. The
place was packed. |
| Here are a
couple of vintage Triumph Bonnevilles (the real ones, from the 1960s).
These are gorgeous machines. |
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Check out the
tangerine paint and scallops on this Bonneville. |
| Here's an old
BSA single-cylinder motorcycle. |
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These British
bike riders really look the part. |
| That's a
classy Triumph Trident on the left, but check out the guy in the middle.
You'll never guess who
showed up at the Rock Store on his jet-engined motorcycle...
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Yep, Jay Leno.
What a shot! That's me in his visor. |
| A Suzuki
RG500. This is a two-stroke, four-cylinder, 500cc machine.
Very rare, and never imported by Suzuki into the United States.
All that made it into this country are gray-market bikes. |
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A Moto Guzzi
V10 Centauro. Not very fast, and not especially photogenic, but in
person, these machines are stunning. |
| The instrument
cluster on a classic Vincent. These things are about 4 or 5 inches
in diameter. This bike is a 1952 Black Shadow. Notice the
range on the speedometer (150 miles per hour!). |
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Some of the
guys there let me take their picture. This fellow has a cool
carbon fiber helmet. |
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Another
photogenic Rock Store visitor. |
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I saw two CBX
Hondas at the Rock Store. Check out that awesome six-cylinder
engine. |
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