Courtesy of Brian Wood:

After several months of cold weather the forecast for warm temps for this ride was more than welcome.  As it turned out, we had incredible temperatures, ranging from the low 70s to low 90s -- absolutely perfect following our long cold streak.  We had a total of nine bikes meet up in Newhall for this ride (six Honda's, a BMW, a Yamaha, and an Aprilia) -- a good sized group for a ride like this.  Following a brief pre-ride chat, we got off to a bit of a late start (some attendees apparently had a bit of difficulty with the time change) and headed to Fillmore (taking Guiberson Road for a bit of relief from highway 126) for a rest stop and impromptu quickie breakfast for a couple riders at McDonald's. 

Heading out of Fillmore, we had clear sailing until Santa Paula.  Though looking forward to a spirited ride up the twisties to Ojai, we got snagged in traffic behind an aging, diesel Mercedes that refused to pull over, let alone approach the speed limit.  Oh well, the CHP was out in force so perhaps we avoided any target practice with their radar guns.  Fortunately, we got by the diesel roadblock in Ojai just before heading up Baldwin Road to Casitas Pass Road.  Light traffic made riding around Lake Casitas a pleasure as we headed to Carpinteria and our brief freeway section (about 17 miles) to Santa Barbara.  After passing through Santa Barbara (and incredibly clear views of the ocean and the Channel Islands), we headed up San Marcos Pass Road (highway 154) toward Solvang.  Again, reasonable traffic and speeds made for fun, sweeping corners as we headed up the road to Highway 246 and into Solvang. 

We had slight difficulty actually finding the museum (it's not marked very obviously from the road), but managed to find ample parking nearby and lined up our mounts in a neat row before officially terminating the ride.  Conscious that everybody had varying schedules and priorities, we did not schedule a specific time to ride back -- leaving that to each rider to determine what suited them best.  This allowed for everyone to arrange for lunch and visiting the museum at their leisure.  While a few riders opted to make a brief check of the museum or grab a quick bite to eat before simply heading back down the coast, several got food at one of the abundant eateries and spent quality time at the museum viewing the incredible collection of bikes. 

The museum is actually quite remarkable.  Despite it's very small size (just another shop-sized venue in Solvang), it has an amazing display of bikes crammed into neat rows that are easily accessible by visitors.  No ropes or display cases to keep visitors at a safe distance (though they obviously hope everyone will mind their manners), so you are free to get as close as you want and inspect every little detail.  The bikes spanned a wide range of history (from a 1914 Indian all the way through a 90s Britten V1000) and technology (from a Whizzer to the Britten).  Visit their website for more information, but any motorcycle enthusiast is sure to find something of interest there.  There were simply too many incredible bikes to list here, but I took pictures of some of my favorites and posted them here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rydred/SolvangVintageMotorcycleMuseum

If you're within riding distance of the Solvang Vintage Motorcycle Museum and would enjoy the opportunity to personally view and appreciate such classics as a 1914 Indian (or '46 Indian Chief, for that matter), or '27 Henderson Four, or '34 Ariel Square Four, or '39 Norton Manx, or '49 Vincent Black Lightning (supercharged), or gorgeous '55 Matchless G45, or a number of classic/rare Ducatis, Moto Guzzis, BMW's, Hondas, and other makes, the $5 price of admission is nothing... 

A few additional pictures from the ride can be viewed here: http://picasaweb.google.com/rydred/20070311GroupRide