Pacific Coast Highway Motorcycle Tour - San Francisco to Los Angeles

The same coast, the other way round. Three days from San Francisco to Los Angeles, two nights and around 470 miles, with the ocean on the right the whole way, which is the direction most riders prefer Highway 1.

The first afternoon is an easy 120 miles down to Monterey, enough to collect the bike, get clear of the city and arrive with the evening still free for the waterfront. It is a deliberately gentle opening, and it leaves the whole of the following day clear for the main event.

Big Sur fills the middle day. The road runs south from Carmel along the cliff edge, over the Bixby Bridge and past Point Sur, with the pull-offs on the ocean side rather than across the carriageway, which is the practical reason this direction wins. San Simeon, Cambria and Morro Bay follow on the way to Pismo Beach. The final day is the longest at 200 miles, inland briefly for Solvang, then back to the coast at Santa Barbara, through Malibu and finishing at the Santa Monica Pier.

EAGLERIDER provides the motorcycle in San Francisco and collects it in Los Angeles, with Harley-Davidson touring models and Triumph and BMW sport machines available, and books both nights. Fuel, meals and insurance sit outside the price. Being self-guided and one way, there is no group and no need to double back. For riders with a spare weekend at either end of a California trip, this is the headline ride of the West Coast reduced to its essentials.