In October 2014, I found a Honda 599 for sale on eBay in St. George Utah. The description was very promising

Beautiful Hornet 599. 14,800 miles, no dents, good paint, plenty of miles left on the tires. Everything works and is ready to ride. Mostly all stock with bar end mirrors and integrated rear turn signals. This is a fun bike to ride and easy to handle. If you like neat bikes and don't want to ride what everyone else does than this is the bike for you. Clean and clear California Title in hand. Call or text with any questions 435-669-9857

Turns out the "Clean and clear California Title" wasn't exactly correct. The guy selling the bike (Maxx AKA Jaime) apparently had bought it in California, never transferred the title, moved to Utah, rode it about 750 miles, then let the bike sit for a couple of years before selling it to me. I found out when I tried registering the bike in California on my way back home. The seller posed as the previous owner (Nathan) when selling the bike to me. It took about 3 months to get the paperwork sorted out. All's well that ends well :-)

The Bike


The Honda CB600F AKA Honda Hornet AKA 599 in Death Valley on the way back to California from Utah.

More eBay pics

The Route


I flew Oakland to Las Vegas on Spirit airlines Then I took a bus to St George where the owner picked me up.
Paid for the bike, then drove off the 431 miles to El Rancho Motel in Bishop CA via Furnace Creek and Death Valley.

Danville to Las Vegas to St. George to Bishop CA Nov 5, 2014 (415 miles)


I found a super cheap flight on Spirit Airlines from Oakland to Las Vegas.
I wore my crash suit on the airplane to avoid a baggage charge. My helmet was my carry-on personal item.
From Las Vegas, I found a cheap bus ticket to St. George Utah. I think the seller picked me up in St. George.

After signing paperwork and putting air in the tires, I was headed back home.



I stopped for gas in Las Vegas, then again near the fameous "Area 51" Alien Center truck stop.

Death Valley







The scenery got interesting in Death Valley, here at Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes.

After climbing out of Death Valley in the dark up the wonderful Highway 190, I stopped for the night at El Rancho Motel in Bishop California.

Bishop to Manteca to Danville Nov 6, 2014 (350 miles)


The next morning, the mountains were amazing. I cruised up highway 395, past Yosemite, and took Highway 108 over the Sierras and down into Manteca where I stopped at the DMV to register my new bike.


Manteca DMV


The bill of sale is signed by "Nathan Plumer".

And the bike has a California Title with Nathan Plumer as the registered owner.
It became inconvenient that the guy who sold me the bike was MaxxXXX with eBay userID JaimeXXX. This took some calls to the Utah sheriff's department to sort out.