Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

~ i Q. a <{ ~ w Z W ..J U > U Being basically that portion of Los' Angeles County Road 27 between California 1 and US 101 by the Editorial Staff, Special Consultants and other Hangers-On When w e first tested Topanga Canyon Blvd . back in 1965, it was a very primitive piece of pavement. It was, even then, asphalt from th e beach all the way to the San Fernando Valley, but it was basically a narrow, two-lane, seldom traveled road used mainly only for acc ess by Topanga Canyon residents. To most people it was a transportation road and little more. In the years since then, two major factors have affected the development of Topanga Canyon Blvd. It, like most other transportation units, has seen the effect of safety legislation and other improvements such as "light-up" safety reflectors on . the comers, suggested speed signs and white "Botts dots" down the center strip. The 1973 model TCB has also been widened throughout most of its curving route up into the inner canyon itself. While the road has probably been made safer,..it will no longer appeal to the purist since it has, as a result of such improvements and burgeoning public interest in "road" travel, become a much more popular model. As recently as 1967, it was 'Possible to take a Bultaco Metralla from one end of the canyon to the other early on Sunday morning and encounter maybe one VW and a pickup truck. Ditto with a subsequent Honda Super Hawk. Now, .o<~. ' ..... "1:,: , ' ;'/ A .. • LOS AN,G.CLE S ~ the intrepid roadster will have to fight for asphalt with a horde of choppers and Porsches. It has been a considerable price to pay for the popularizing of this particular model road. Shoulders have been widened in the last two model years which is a definite advantage as it allows the biker someplace to go when he is being run out of his lane by the non-canyon commuter in his Buick station wagon. It also allows you to work on your nat track style should you drift a little wide on the turns. This is one of the few roads we have tested ' where a dual purpose machine really shines as the maximum speeds are about those attainable on the stock-geared street/trail bikes and the numerous features of the road, such as dirt and gravel side trails, invite the use of this type of machine. What will Topanga Canyon Blvd . really do for you, the biker? Basically it will take you from the Pacific Coast Highway to Ventura Blvd. (It then The Topanga is not for the inexperienced rider because of its high-performance character . On this very spot one unwary. un..road-wise eN staffer became un-ctked on one cold night when the wet spot on the road had frozen . One should also note the lurking CHP road lizard . TO U.NTA f"\ONICA PAC I'. ' 1,, '''. . .x. . " T , . '" . ... ~" ~ . . .. ~ . 1973 model Topanga is water cooled. but this feature mav be removed later in the model vear. Photos bV Wendv Blanton & Art Friedman. • ROAD TEST • veNTURA 1 1973 Model Topanga Cany.on Blvd "Y ~ 0(":' t C.OAST 1"'1 c. ~nt AY Before entering slide section it is best to check your equipment and see if steel shoe is necessary . continues out into the flatlands but this application will normally hold little interest for the type of rider who will use this road.) . . But the road is much more than that. It covers three distinct types of life style. It will carry you from the beach scene of Malibu through the (now fading) hip community up in the canyon itself out into the plastic newness of the San Fernando Valley. TCB definitely has its appeal to those involved in all three aspects of its basic application. . . Taking it from the bottom up, as It were the road runs straight a few hundred yards from the Gulf station , another recent .addi tio n to its layout, around a long righthand sweeper to a 90-degree left-hander with a . recommended speed of 25 MPH posted on it. The intrepid biker will be able to negotiate this first comer at a considerably higher velocity . This leads ' in to a series of fairly quick turns up the wall of the canyon itself, across a wide bridge and into the climbing esses on the north side of the canyon wall. A particular feature here is the high sandstone rock formations over which tumble a couple of waterfalls in the rainy season. This is also where the rider is likely to get stuck behind a line of cars which is stuck behind a 10 year-old Volkswagen microbus loaded to the roof with tools, hitchhikers, kids, dogs and unidentifiable pieces of machinery and/or furniture. Passing must be executed with extreme care or foolhardiness. The 1972 model TCB saw the addition of numerous "N 0 Parking for Next 2 Miles" signs which were added in an attempt to keep people from parking and using the old swimming hole down in the creek (which is used to water-cool the canyon; ai r cooling is also employed.) Skinny-dipping was . not unpopular in earlier years. There is a nice little fresh water spring coming out of the rocks, however. The road narrows somewhat through this section but the surface remains newly applied asphalt. At the end . of this section is a righ t hand comer, next to the fire station, which should be kept in mind on cold evenings as the runoff tends to freeze on the road surface. . The next feature on the TCB is the settlement of Topanga itself. This includes a serviceable general store with a good wine selection, numerous craft shops and galleries, a restaurant or two and very modem U.S. Post Office which strikes us as being out of character with the rest of the road. This is a good place to stop and get a cold drink and is truly one of the major attractions of our test subject. There is also another gas station making mileage between gas stops entirely acceptable for either the casual tourer or the serious street racer.

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