San Francisco, return leg

I arrived back in San Francisco on Thursday and dropped my sister and her husband at the airport on Friday for their honeymoon. Saturday was spent taking care of the bike. The KLR was treated to new tires, new chain and new oil. Yesterday (Sunday) I met up with my friend Jesse and went for a ride around the hills of Oakland. After stopping at a viewpoint that offered the entire city of San Francisco, we headed down into Berkley for lunch. Lunch consumed, we swapped bikes and took the scenic route back into San Francisco. Jesse got a huge kick riding my KLR. He though the ride compared favorably to a Cadillac while the engine felt like a tractor's! I had a great time on his lightly modified SV650S. The engine was especially impressive. The SV's torque was comparable to the KLR but it made power all the way up to the 11,000 rpm redline while the KLR runs out of breath around 6,000. I am now convinced that the Suzuki V-Strom should be my next bike, ergonomics of the KLR with the engine of the SV. This morning I rode into downtown for an appointment with a diamond merchant. My task was to authenticate a diamond for a friend who is in the market for a ring. Examining the stones under high power magnification and all the certificates, I had no idea what I was doing. Mission accomplished, I called my friend to give him the report. Since then I've been back at my sister's apartment preparing my gear for my departure from San Francisco tomorrow. The plan is to head to Reno tomorrow to check out the air races. Then back to Vegas for a quick stop at Jeremy's. Stay tune as I head eastbound, and down!