Hey guys---almost forgot to update you. The trip was a success. I took the 1 and 101 pretty much the whole way, generally preferring the 1 to the 101 whenever the two routes split. (The 1 is the true coastal route when the two routes split.)
Some notes:
1. The T-dub held up great mechanically. The only issue is that, although hitherto my motor has never leaked or burned a drop of oil, my motor did, after the first 550 mile leg from SoCal (La Mirada) to the east Bay Area (Lafayette), begin to have the infamous base gasket oil leak. But the leak was so slow that I never had to add any oil for the remaining 1000 miles. (At each gas stop I checked the oil window and the level remained between the two lines.) I am running Mobil 1 20w-50 motorcycle oil (the `V-Twin' stuff for air cooled motors).
2. I did bring teflon spray-on chain lube.
3. The coastal ride through Big Sur is beautiful and awesome. I wanted to bring my camera (someone here suggested I take and post photos) but could not obtain a replacement battery in time. Such a shame!
4. I forgot that the Bay Area coast has fog and did get stuck riding through cold coastal fog at night. My teeth chattered. But I made it. In general, I found that riding along the coast is much colder than riding just a tiny bit inland. This was sometimes good (when escaping heat) and sometimes bad (when riding through freezing fog).
5. At first butt soreness was not an issue because of how I kept adjusting myself. But I found, in time, that adjusting myself to save my butt made my lower back sore. So eventually, to save my back, I had to adopt the correct posture of keeping my chest up, shoulders back and relaxed, arms bent and relaxed, and my crouch pretty far forward on the seat, knees and thighs resting and hugging the tank. (This is the position you tend to naturally arrive at if, while riding, you stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down, and repeat a bunch of times. It's the position that puts your weight in the best place for taking corners and makes you feel the most connected with and `one with' the motorcycle, like you are a centaur with a motorcycle body instead of a horse body, or something.) But this correct riding position did, after so many miles, make my butt terribly sore and there was no escape. But my lower back did great, completely pain free thereafter.
6. In warm SoCal I usually did not need to use the choke but as I moved north it became essential. My battery start usually had trouble but then I'd try the kicker and the motor would start first kick. (I have the older kick-and-electric one. My experience makes me firmly believe I'd never want a motorcycle without a kickstarter. It's too bad the new TWs lack it.)
7. My earplugs became surprisingly comfortable after awhile. I used `Etymotic Research ER20 High-Fidelity Earplugs' I bought on Amazon---plugs made for musicians, because I wanted to still be able to talk to people and ask for directions with my plugs in. These plugs more-or-less uniformly mute sound, so sounds still sound more or less the same, just quieter. Plain foam earplugs tend to clip higher frequency sounds.
8. My cheap gel gloves also worked well, except I should have put rubber dish gloves over them to keep them from getting wet in the fog.
9. Concerning wet gloves: for a couple years I've had a few small tiny inconspicuous pink bumps on my left hand (which until recently I never knew were warts) which I never bothered to treat because they were so minor, but the wet environment of my wet gloves actually made them spread and caused a few slightly bigger bumps! I did research afterward and learned that wet dirty gloves can indeed promote wart growth! I am now going to get some Compound W and actually treat them. Let this be a warning to all of you. Keep your hands dry and clean. Treat warts if you get them so that they do not spread.
10. After I entered Oregon at night a deer ran out into the middle of the road in front of me and stopped in the lane to my left. I realized how tired I was and that my reflexes weren't what they ought be. Rather than try to find a Motel 6, I found a trail in the woods and took a nap on it! I put a plastic bag on the ground and just laid on it. Even with all my motorcycle leather on and a rain suit on top of that (sans rain gloves) I still felt cold after awhile! Fog dripped tiny droplets on my face until I put a towel over my face. I heard a strange noise nearby of a large animal which I think may have been an elk (not sure). It was an adventure! Later I took a nap in a seaside cave in a beautiful little beach in Oregon. Caves are much nicer than forest trails, that's for sure!
11. After the first 550 mile leg, I stayed with family for almost a week in the Bay Area, then did 1000 miles beginning before dawn on Saturday and ending in Seattle on Sunday night. My butt did good the first 550 miles (but my lower back hurt); my lower back did great the remaining 1000, but my butt killed. (See #5 above.)
Anyway guys, thanks for all the tips!