Hemibee
08-03-2005, 05:57 AM
Trans Am Trail (http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=transam2005&width=320) :clap
Interesting Dual Sport video. Be sure to turn your speakers up for some good old music.
Take two KTM EXC’s (2001 520 and 2005 525) and see if they can run nearly 3,500 miles in two weeks. No problem, we just did that. We started near Tulsa Oklahoma and rode to the coast in Oregon. About 95% of the trip was on dirt roads. The 2001 520 EXC used already had a hard life running hare scrambles, enduros and dual sport events. The 05 525 only had 200 break-in miles before this punishment began. We didn’t even bother rejetting, just got up each day, hit that magical button and rode like mad for two weeks.
Ridewise, these bikes are friggin tough!! Our trusty KTM’s never encountered a serious issue the entire trip. They we ridden as hard as we could and in return we provided them some fresh oil and filters. The only maintenance issue at all was the two flat tires on the last day and that was to be expected.
A whole notebook was filled during the trip. We followed the maps and rollcharts created by Sam Correro (http://www.transamtrail.com). We each had a different method to carry all our gear, one guy used a HUGE backpack and the other overloaded the seat and rear fender with 40lbs of gear. I wonder if a KTM engineer would approve.
So after unloading, we hit the trail in Oklahoma – land of cows and straight flat roads. We then crossed into New Mexico, much better scenery and some noticeable elevation changes. Now for the fun stuff, Colorado. Unfortunately almost every pass along the Trans America trail route was snowed in at some point or another forcing us to re-route. Here we stopped for some much needed mid-trip maintenance (Oil/Filters/Chains/Tires…etc).
Next Up, Utah. Due to snow, we decided to enter Utah via the Kokopelli trail. We spent a day in Moab and briefly hit the slickrock trail.
Utah brought more great mountain scenery with some fast desert riding. We also took time out to get buzzed from a pilot friend before needing to cross some streams.
On into Nevada we went. Lots of Nevada, south to North to West!!
And after a brief run into California, we crossed Oregon in search of the Pacific.
We finally hit the beach at Port Orford.
And in case you are wondering, two 525 EXC’s can easily fit into any rental SUV. AGAIN, hats off to KTM – you can’t kill a good EXC!!
Overall - 20 Days covering 8,200 Miles;
20 hours by truck from Maryland (1300 miles) to intersect the Trans America Trail in Bartlesville, OK
2 Weeks By KTM EXC 525 – 3400 Miles offroad to the coast in Oregon
55 hours return – 3500 Miles (Port Orford Oregon to Tulsa Oklahoma and on to Maryland)
There was some pictures included in the ride report and they are available at KTMTalk if you are interested in seeing the original report with the photos.
Interesting Dual Sport video. Be sure to turn your speakers up for some good old music.
Take two KTM EXC’s (2001 520 and 2005 525) and see if they can run nearly 3,500 miles in two weeks. No problem, we just did that. We started near Tulsa Oklahoma and rode to the coast in Oregon. About 95% of the trip was on dirt roads. The 2001 520 EXC used already had a hard life running hare scrambles, enduros and dual sport events. The 05 525 only had 200 break-in miles before this punishment began. We didn’t even bother rejetting, just got up each day, hit that magical button and rode like mad for two weeks.
Ridewise, these bikes are friggin tough!! Our trusty KTM’s never encountered a serious issue the entire trip. They we ridden as hard as we could and in return we provided them some fresh oil and filters. The only maintenance issue at all was the two flat tires on the last day and that was to be expected.
A whole notebook was filled during the trip. We followed the maps and rollcharts created by Sam Correro (http://www.transamtrail.com). We each had a different method to carry all our gear, one guy used a HUGE backpack and the other overloaded the seat and rear fender with 40lbs of gear. I wonder if a KTM engineer would approve.
So after unloading, we hit the trail in Oklahoma – land of cows and straight flat roads. We then crossed into New Mexico, much better scenery and some noticeable elevation changes. Now for the fun stuff, Colorado. Unfortunately almost every pass along the Trans America trail route was snowed in at some point or another forcing us to re-route. Here we stopped for some much needed mid-trip maintenance (Oil/Filters/Chains/Tires…etc).
Next Up, Utah. Due to snow, we decided to enter Utah via the Kokopelli trail. We spent a day in Moab and briefly hit the slickrock trail.
Utah brought more great mountain scenery with some fast desert riding. We also took time out to get buzzed from a pilot friend before needing to cross some streams.
On into Nevada we went. Lots of Nevada, south to North to West!!
And after a brief run into California, we crossed Oregon in search of the Pacific.
We finally hit the beach at Port Orford.
And in case you are wondering, two 525 EXC’s can easily fit into any rental SUV. AGAIN, hats off to KTM – you can’t kill a good EXC!!
Overall - 20 Days covering 8,200 Miles;
20 hours by truck from Maryland (1300 miles) to intersect the Trans America Trail in Bartlesville, OK
2 Weeks By KTM EXC 525 – 3400 Miles offroad to the coast in Oregon
55 hours return – 3500 Miles (Port Orford Oregon to Tulsa Oklahoma and on to Maryland)
There was some pictures included in the ride report and they are available at KTMTalk if you are interested in seeing the original report with the photos.