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We are going to be riding up the coast tomorrow and decided we are going to stay in Napa, CA for a long weekend. Do any of the locals have any recommendations and on scooter/bike friendly places to stay. We are thinking of going low budget and staying at the local Motel 6 in Fairfield which is only about 10 miles south of Napa. I always get worried leaving my bike outside all night and I like to request a bottom floor right in front of my door.

We are going to spit the wine out during our tastings and eat to make sure we do not break any laws while sharing the roads. Is Napa a bike friendly place?
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Napa is a bike friendly place, well maybe not really the city of Napa, but other parts of the valley.

Staying in Fairfield is like staying in Santa Ana when you visit the beach - but whatever. 680 between 80 and and 4 is usually nasty windy.

Trick: http://tinyurl.com/2007GTS-FF2NAPA

Stay off of 29, use Silverado Trail, obey the speed limit and watch for tipsy and aggressive drivers.

If you want to get across the valley - use any of the '________ Cross,' they all shuttle between 12 and and Silverado Trail. Yountville and Calistoga are both bike friendly and walkable.

ProTip for next time: Sonoma County has 10X better roads, unless one of the kids from that silly moped club up there, NACA or whatever, provides help.

Vallejo and American Canyon- skip 'em.
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Damnit, I'd LOVE to come, too bad I'm so far away. Crying or Very sad emoticon I've been to Napa but once, and it was over a decade ago. I'd love to ride my 300 there and do some wine tasting. Have a great time.
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If you are a fan of Frances Ford Coppola, stop in at his winery, Niebaum-Coppola, Rutherford. It is probably one of the most touristy wineries near Napa, but the building and grounds are beautiful. The underground caves are open to visitors, and they give a lot of history about wine making in the Napa region during the tour. Most of the other wineries seem to just be about going to the tasting room and tasting wine, which is nice too

The Rutherford Grill, owned by the same group that owns Houston's, is pretty good and fairly reasonable for that area. There's also Taylor's Automatic Refresher, burger stand. I can't remember the town. I think it's the next big one just north of Rutherford.
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We were there at the Francis Ford Coppola winery. The grounds are grand. I especially liked their citrus trees. The ones with three or four different citrus fruits grafted onto the trunk. It was cool seeing oranges, lemons and limes growing on a single tree.
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Scooter trip
We were through the Napa Valley a while back (on the GTS). Found a place to stay in a small town called Glen Ellen. Right next door was the Jack London Saloon, great place for a beer and food. They also had tables outside right next to a small stream.
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There are some excellent small wineries there.

Try Provenance. Great Cabs. If they will let you taste the Hewitt cab. "BV" has a great winery. Their estate wines are top notch. I particularly like their proprietary blend "Tapestry".
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Thank you everyone and sorry for not commenting back as we just returned. It was a trip to remember!! 8)
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Re: Scooter trip
Turkman wrote:
We were through the Napa Valley a while back (on the GTS). Found a place to stay in a small town called Glen Ellen. Right next door was the Jack London Saloon, great place for a beer and food. They also had tables outside right next to a small stream.
Was there just a few months ago. As I remember, their house red was fabulous. Turned out to be Kenwood, which uses grapes from the (former) Jack London estate.
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As long as you're heading to Napa, why not keep going a little further to Guerneville. The RBSC is holding their annual rally (Russian to Ride, this year) and it should be awesome. More information at http://www.royalbastardsscooterclub.com/russian_to_ride.html
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DavidH wrote:
As long as you're heading to Napa, why not keep going a little further to Guerneville. The RBSC is holding their annual rally (Russian to Ride, this year) and it should be awesome. More information at http://www.royalbastardsscooterclub.com/russian_to_ride.html
I will be riding further north early September for our annual ride to Victoria, BC with the guys but I will be on the FJR. I need to get some new tires on and oil change and go over the bike before I clean it and cover it to prep it for the trip.

The ride looks awesome and thanks for sharing!
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Re: Scooter trip
Turkman wrote:
We were through the Napa Valley a while back (on the GTS). Found a place to stay in a small town called Glen Ellen. Right next door was the Jack London Saloon, great place for a beer and food. They also had tables outside right next to a small stream.
BTW, this was Sonoma, not Napa . . . venture into Sonoma as well and you won't be disappointed.

I just spent the weekend showing some friends from Texas around Sonoma and Napa. They were absolutely smitten with the area, esp. when it's 70 degrees and no humidity vs. 100+ in Austin this time of year.

Revolution Moto, our local Vespa dealer in Santa Rosa rents Vespas. They also help plan itineraries http://www.winecountryvespa.com/

It's Vespa country--come visit!
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Re: Scooter trip
kevinr wrote:
Turkman wrote:
We were through the Napa Valley a while back (on the GTS). Found a place to stay in a small town called Glen Ellen. Right next door was the Jack London Saloon, great place for a beer and food. They also had tables outside right next to a small stream.
BTW, this was Sonoma, not Napa . . . venture into Sonoma as well and you won't be disappointed.

I just spent the weekend showing some friends from Texas around Sonoma and Napa. They were absolutely smitten with the area, esp. when it's 70 degrees and no humidity vs. 100+ in Austin this time of year.

Revolution Moto, our local Vespa dealer in Santa Rosa rents Vespas. They also help plan itineraries http://www.winecountryvespa.com/

It's Vespa country--come visit!
Nice that it wasn't 107F while they visited... it's almost cool for the past few weeks around NorCal.
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