Normally on a Saturday afternoon, this parking lot is packed! Nary a spot for a motorcycle. Today, however, barely a soul was to be found. No one was manning the guard gate at the entrance to the park. Climbing the mountain, I didn’t have to wait behind anyone – simply passing and waving to a few bicycles. In many ways, it was the perfect afternoon getaway!

Times are changing though. The deep hues of green carpeting this Northern California landscape are quickly fleeting. The last bits of green façade hide in various shades of yellow climbing up the mountain. 

I’m on the Hawk GT 650 again.  It’s a very simple motorcycle. It’s carbureted, has no user-facing electronics (not even a clock), and runs like a top. This ride is equally simplistic. It’s 11 miles on one road to a dead end. I then turn around and return exactly the same way I came. While I didn’t have to navigate passing any cars, looking straight into the sun made the downhill return significantly more complex than the uphill climb.

Under the covers like every well-designed entity: simplicity cloaks complexity. Carbureted engines are fickle beasts with their float bowls and jets. They require significantly more maintenance than their fuel-injected counterparts. Carbureted motors get upset when not regularly run. This bike has a single-sided swingarm – much like my GS and well before the coming-of-age Japanese bikes.

While this ride is simply 11 miles along North Gate Road, the technicalities lie in the road itself. Mount Diablo is a good ride to improve a rider’s technical skills. Its narrow, steep corners will challenge the casual rider. Toss in some gravel in unsuspecting places and pavement that is subsiding at different rates from beginning to end and you’ve got a lovely afternoon run.

My GS hides a lot of the complexities in the asphalt through massive amounts of modern engineering. I trade the complexity of riding with the complexity of maintenance in that motorcycle. The GS’s suspension soaks up any pavement’s irregularities and is relatively unbothered by any sort of gravel. The Hawk is much more connected to the pavement. I feel the bumps. The rear wheel squirms a bit more with gravel. That’s the essence of this bike. It’s simplicity shows up in the rider experience.

I’ve done this ride many times, but this is the first time I’ve done it on a sporty standard motorcycle instead of an adventure bike. The difference is what keeps the whole ride interesting!