Let me set the scene..Thursday afternoon, a friend of mine calls me up to go for a ride on Friday (today). I pondered it for a bit, decided that I needed to go for a ride. A quick phone call to the boss and everything is set! Deciding on which bike to take was easy..the TL has a frayed clutch cable, and I had been wanting to try the 250 on Palomar Mountain. I met a friend near my place, and rode down to Escondido to meet two other guys. Our rag-tag group consisted of an 07 Suzuki GSXR 750, two 2004 Suzuki SV650S, and myself on the ninja.

http://tinyurl.com/menlsg This was today's route.

Highland Valley Road and Old Julian Rd-twisty goodness! There were a few spots where the lack of HP became apparent...especially on decreasing radius, uphill turns. I could deal with that part..but something else came to light..this thing needs stiffer fork springs! Pushing it hard into the corners while braking would make the front end dive hard and deep..I don't like that feeling. Nevertheless, I kept going, just made mental notes as I went.

Mesa Grande-this road can be categorized in two parts. First part is pretty mellow, a couple decreasing radius turns, but nothing too surprising. The second part, towards highway 76, is very tight. Suicidal squirrels and lots of debris in the turns adds to it. Vigilance pays off in this section.

East grade of Palomar: the pavement is ugly, tar snakes and cracked pavement everywhere..but it's a fun ride. While not as tight as South Grade, it offers some tight turns. We didn't encounter much in the way of debris, except for one idiot in a Miata that was just sitting in the middle of the road. We arrive at Mother's restaurant.

Mother's Restaurant is a Palomar favorite..particularly because there isn't anything else! Their fare is vegetarian, but the prices are decent. If you're looking for meat, there is a country store next to the restaurant that sells beef jerky.

We decide to do a few runs up and down South Grade rd. before we eat lunch. We take our time going down, surveying the road conditions. I ended up leading the group down..not something I minded. 7 miles later, we are at the base of the mountain. Time to go back up! The GSXR takes the lead, and I tried my best to stay with him..I did ok until I hit one of the many decreasing radius turns. Crap! I never lost sight of him, but I dropped back quite a bit. I took comfort in knowing that keeping the bike in it's powerband was easy, and kept the little mill in the sweet spot. Now, if only the front end was so easy! Diving into another decreasing radius turn, the front end dives hard and deep when I got on the brakes. On the TL, everything is adjustable, and it's sprung for my weight..clearly the 250 will need some work before I take it to the track. We do another run on the hill, and break for lunch. We called it quits afterwards, and pointed ourselves towards are respective areas.

I get home, and I started to reflect. That was the first time I took the 250 to Palomar..and it will most likely be the last, unless I do some modifications. It was a lot of fun though!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZnyFoQpDS8
Highland Valley Road

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYGpre-xosY
Old Julian Road

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys3Vj7me3vw
Mesa Grande

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUw8CG6Kjpg
Palomar Mountain, East Grade

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7YY2e9QivE
Palomar Mountain, South Grade

Good ole mothers kitchen :)

Nice write up, palomar is my all time favorite for SD. Sounds like the pavement has changed, be a few years since I been there.

Nice story thanks for sharing.

Sounds like an awesome ride :)

I love all those roads, also love banner grade, they just repaved it and its smooth like silk now :)

I haven't been on Banner Grade in a long time.

hmm. palomar = my fave!

I don't really get that feeling of front diving, but I guess b/c I don't push hard in the corners while breaking very often, I don't notice it; usually I'm on the throttle the whole time in the turn until I hit a straight to engine break before setting up for the next turn

but also, maybe I don't notice as much because the 250 is all I've really ridden so far so I have nothing to compare it to

hmm. palomar = my fave!

I don't really get that feeling of front diving, but I guess b/c I don't push hard in the corners while breaking very often, I don't notice it; usually I'm on the throttle the whole time in the turn until I hit a straight to engine break before setting up for the next turn

but also, maybe I don't notice as much because the 250 is all I've really ridden so far so I have nothing to compare it to

You're probably not as heavy as I am either..I'm around 200lbs with gear.