Tam Junction, Mt Tam, 01/23/21

[SFMCjohn]

we decided to get up at 5:45am and join some friends for coffee at 7am in Tam Junction and then tag along up Mt Tam ... turns out any ride can be a vintage ride if you show up on an old bike ...

this is the route they had planned for the real men who were going to do the whole ride ... will have to try it someday:



my plan was to go home after Mt Tam and take a nap ...



‘73 Tiger ... ready to ride over and collect the Indian and BMW.



‘48 Chief being pushed out to meet the day ...



almost ready to start riding ...



our ‘48 Rapide friend, Mark—right on time—decided to show up today on his super clean ‘63 BMW R69S. the Rapide gas tank is having liner removed, any leaks fixed and will be repainted, so it got to stay in the stable today ...



ready to roll through early morning traffic-free San Francisco and make our way across the Golden Gate Bridge.

[SFMCjohn]

couple pics of Mark’s 1963 BMW R69S in Tam Junction:





he says he rides for an hour and then needs to clean and polish his bikes for two hours, and it shows. insanely clean bikes he always turns up riding ...



daylight and the crowd of mostly late model KTMs, Ducatis and Aero-clad graybeards at Coyote Coffee.



holding the rider’s meeting for the ride. pretty good turnout, maybe 40 bikes ...



my friend and fellow BARFer, wowens, making an appearance on his trusty 2001 Yamaha FZ1 ...

[budman]

Your kind of nuts.

Love it

[SFMCjohn]

Originally Posted by budman

Your kind of nuts.

Love it

crowd of the usual suspects, for sure—you’d have enjoyed it.

was a nice dry-run for this year’s Easter Sunday Sunrise Ride, on April 4th. we get up at 4am here in SF for that.

we all left Coyote Coffee at around 7:30am and headed for the east peak of Mt Tamalpias ...



as usual, a beautiful ride, if a bit chilly on the fingers by the time we got to the top. the sun was out, so we soon warmed up.



the gang at in the east peak parking lot, with the west peak radar dome in the distance.



Jeff and Josh (in the helmet) talking about Jeff’s original-owner 1990 GSX-R 1100. ... Jeff told us he purchased it in 1990, that there is about 150,000 miles on the chassis, and the engine has had three rebuilds, with another planned for the near future. was running velocity-stack flat slides this am, and sporting a sweet stylish sheet-metal windscreen he had made by hand. “It’s hard to find the windscreens, anymore ...”



we enjoyed chatting with everyone, and the views, watched the fast guys roar off toward Mt Diablo and Mt Ham ... my Tiger was ready for its nap, so we rolled down the hill and back to Lower Haight. Hoping to get back up there for Easter!

[1962siia]

Oh man this looks like a fun ride!

[WoodsChick]

Originally Posted by SFMCjohn

Jeff and Josh talking about Jeff’s original-owner 1990 GSX-R 1100. ... Jeff told us he purchased it in 1990, that there is about 150,000 miles on the chassis, and the engine has had three rebuilds, with another planned for the near future. was running velocity-stack flat slides this am, and sporting a sweet stylish sheet-metal windscreen he had made by hand. “It’s hard to find the windscreens, anymore ...”

I'm pretty sure the gentleman on the right is Jeff Latta. If so, he did not make it home yesterday I did not know him but we shared many friends.

[SFMCjohn]

Originally Posted by WoodsChick

I'm pretty sure the gentleman on the right is Jeff Latta. If so, he did not make it home yesterday I did not know him but we shared many friends.

wow, that's incredibly awful news ... was just speaking to him! super-nice guy.

in the pic, Josh is in the helmet and Jeff—the owner of the GSX-R—is on the right.

[elemetal]

Good thing you bailed early, John. Crash was a little before 3 on Mt Ham rd (according to CHP).

RIP rider....

[SFMCjohn]

yes, was able to find a notice in one of the East Bay papers ... just making me sick.

Jeff was waiting at the top of Mt Tam for us, having gotten a late start.

our vintage group had gone directly up Mt Tam from Tam Junction, so we got there before the main group that went down Hwy 1 and up from Stinson Beach.

so Jeff and myself had a few minutes to chat about our AFM club racing days in the early 1990s, and his cool Suzuki, while we were waiting for the main group to show up ... talk about the beautiful day.

totally messed up ...

[budman]

Jeff

Really sucks.

[two wheel tramp]

Originally Posted by WoodsChick

I'm pretty sure the gentleman on the right is Jeff Latta. If so, he did not make it home yesterday I did not know him but we shared many friends.

It is.

I'm gutted.

[WoodsChick]

Originally Posted by two wheel tramp

It is.

I'm gutted.

I’m sorry, TWT
I knew you’d be affected by his departure, too, and that hurts me in my heart

[two wheel tramp]

Originally Posted by WoodsChick

I’m sorry, TWT
I knew you’d be affected by his departure, too, and that hurts me in my heart

Jeff was a big guy, physically but also his energy. He was a nut and I mean that in the best way. Fast, fast rider, super funny with ALL the great stories. Had a glass half full outlook on life. It was easy to make him laugh, too.

I spent more than one Christmas with him and the guys at picture point. That makes them an awful lot like family. You know, may not be close but you'd do anything for them. That's how it was.

I'm gonna miss him an awful lot.

[1962siia]

Jeff Latta. Condolences to everyone who knew him and to his family and friends.

Super sad and so sorry to you folks here who knew Jeff.

[SFMCjohn]

as if we needed it, more proof that Jeff was one of us,
and had motorcycle poetry in his soul:



spent some time on my wife's FaceBook last night, looking at the remembrances there ... heartfelt condolences to Mr Latta's loved ones.