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Barstow to Vegas 2017 Planning Thread

Fine. There are some guys who carry a lot of speed where they can, but most riders go just fast enough to stay on top of the surface they are on at the moment. The only spooky part for smaller bikes is the last few miles on NV160 into Vegas, but even there the traffic isn't going to run over you. If you decide to skip a section and ride I15 instead, that is another story. Guys ride this on CT90 Hondas, antique Huskies and even an old AJS. A 450 is about right, but out there smaller is better than larger.
Gear it up big and carry a spare counter sprocket either 1+/- so you can make it work is you misjudge the gearing. The gearing commander website is great for this. You can play with he gearing numbers and see what will work. I'd say gear it so it will run 50/60 ok then decide if 1st is low enough. I didnt find the technical parts that much in need of a low gear

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Gear it up big and carry a spare counter sprocket either 1+/- so you can make it work is you misjudge the gearing. The gearing commander website is great for this. You can play with he gearing numbers and see what will work. I'd say gear it so it will run 50/60 ok then decide if 1st is low enough. I didnt find the technical parts that much in need of a low gear

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Doubt if you have room to go even +1 on the countershaft. Majority of owners like to drop a tooth to gear down. That's how my 300 came and I quickly put it back to stock 14T. No clearance to go any higher.
 
I'll have to look into the gearing situation, check out the gearing commander website and get blistered by the guys on the ADV 300 thread. It would handle the short amount of highway the way it is. Most of the time in the forest I'm in 2nd or 3rd.

I'm also going to buy a handful of jets just to have them with me. Did I ever mention that I don't like carburetors? :lol2:

m
 
Doubt if you have room to go even +1 on the countershaft. Majority of owners like to drop a tooth to gear down. That's how my 300 came and I quickly put it back to stock 14T. No clearance to go any higher.
I was refering to the question about gearing the CRF250F, but I was able to do 1+ from stock on my 2006 300xc and it makes it much happier on the road.

See what will fit then use gearing commander to decide what you want to run for the speed/revs you want to target.

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I'll have to look into the gearing situation, check out the gearing commander website and get blistered by the guys on the ADV 300 thread. It would handle the short amount of highway the way it is. Most of the time in the forest I'm in 2nd or 3rd.

I'm also going to buy a handful of jets just to have them with me. Did I ever mention that I don't like carburetors? [emoji38]2:

m
I have a Lectron. Set up is easier than stock and then you can pretty much forget it. Better fuel economy (I'm getting a honest 30mpg) and happy over a wide range of air densities.

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Btw, I'm going to Hidden Falls tommorow if any of you jokers want to join me. I'm "planning" on getting there pretty close to 0800 and staying as late as my fuel and hands last.

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Apparently Renthal makes a 11 to 15 front and rears from 38 to 56 tooth. This is a common change for the SUMO guys.
Took another look and it is my clutch slave actuator protector with knock down bar that prevents me from going +1.
 
Give me a heads up when you're in ATX. Shooting for SHNF next weekend and CTOR the following weekend

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I have this ride on my list of must-dos and am in the same boat as you. My only concern is a 250f pinned for two days at high speeds. That really isnt what the motor is built to do.

How do you think your 250f will do?

I cant see why your 250 wouldn't do fine. As long as you carry enough spare fuel to get you from stop to stop. A 250 is light enough to deal with the sand. As Meriden said, you probably wouldn't want to take it very far on I-15. Otherwise it should do fine. There are countless terrain changes on this ride, some situations will in fact require you to juice the throttle pretty good to properly negotiate the course. And some rders will keep a pretty fierce pace thru a lot of the the course, just because they like to. However it is by no means for anyone, an entire day of pinned throttle as you blast across endless stretches of flat sandy desert floor. One of the things I was most amazed by on my first LAB2V foray, was just how many diferent riding environments we travelled thru. I guess my biggest surprise was having to negotiate a gas tank deep (if you got into the wrong area) water crossing. I remember thinking "wait a minute this isn't Arkansas, we are in the middle of the mojave desert and I have to do a 80' wide, up to waist deep water crossing! Doesn't anybody remember it is winter time, and we were all riding thru falling snow flakes a few hours ago?"
Yep folks, its not just another dual sport ride...its a full on adventure!
We are now 6 months out. Better make your plans, resos, and bike mods soon! Also as the date approaches, don't forget to tune up your all day long in the saddle riding skilz too!
 
Maybe it's crazy to start a planning thread for a ride that is ten months away, but posts will keep coming in on the 2016 thread if we don't. So this is an opportunity to discuss logistics, equipment, etc. for those planning to go or those just interested in the 450+ mile desert dual sport ride.


For anyone unfamiliar with the ride, the starting point is Palmdale, California and goes to Barstow on the Friday after Thanksgiving. The second day starts at the Barstow Ramada Inn and ends at the Orleans Casino in Las Vegas. In between the route crosses various desert OHV areas and BLM land that is normally closed to off road riding, so this is a once a year opportunity. AMA District 37 sponsors this as a tribute ride to the old Barstow to Vegas desert race of the 60s.

Formal registration will begin in the early summer. In the mean time it is never too early to book a hotel. ;-)

TWT Ride Reports
2012
2013
2015
2016

I have hotel reservations:
Matt the Hatt
Magus

Got my 2017 kitchen pass:
Meriden
Infidel
SilverBullet
Wildernessrider
Moto Gal
2WheelsDown

Likely:
JcatDRZ +1
rustylane7
Goyko


Could you post exact dates for each hotel I should make reservations? First time going to this and I don't wanna mess something up. Like book the wrong hotel.
 
My schedule is:
11/20/17 Las Vegas-hotel
11/21-22/17 bandit camping
11/23/17 Palmdale-hotel
11/24/17 Barstow-hotel
11/25/17 Las Vegas-Hotel
11/26/17 Az/Nm-camp

Ymmv, I am riding from LV to Palmdale for the start. Unless you have a chase truck you will have to ride to Palmdale before or after the ride.

In 2014 we rode from LV->primm->barstow then to palmdale getting in about 100mi of powerline ROW through the desert. It was a long day and made us start the two days of LAB2V already tired. This go around, I scheduled 3 days to get there, to make it a bit easier on the body and build in some time for maintenance and sight seeing. If the weather is too bad we can always get a cheap room somewhere.

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http://www.labarstowvegas.com/

Ride starts at Palmdale Supercycle Friday the 24th with the nearby Holiday Inn as an informal meeting point the night before. Lots of hotels around Palmdale. Friday night the ride stops at the Barstow Ramada Inn. There are some hotels in the area, too. Not everyone likes the Ramada. The trick in Barstow is to be close enough to leave you bike at the Ramada where the boy scouts, or more correctly their dads, stay up all night and watch them. The night of the 25th has traditionally been at the Orleans Casino. There is an AMA discount at the Orleans and they have so many rooms that reserving one now is not really necessary.

My preference is to rent a room at the Orleans and then ride to Palmdale along the powerlines. Stay Thanksgiving night at the Holiday Inn, on to the Barstow Ramada and then back to the Orleans. You can leave you rig at the Orleans and they won't care. Either way, there will be people back riding the route before and after the event.

m
 
Gang I am really thinking about doing this !!! I have a few months to try and get a little conditioning in. . .
 
Gang I am really thinking about doing this !!! I have a few months to try and get a little conditioning in. . .

Take the 90!

P2BOrangeHonda_zpsb5814f57.jpg
 
That is a great pic !!! If you look close enough you can see a pronounced roster tail coming from that rear tire :)

Oh never mind the same "roster tail" is coming off the front tire too. Must just be dust LOL

Hey the first time I ever rode in the Mojave I was on a 1969 Kawasaki 90, does that count?

I rode the old BTV somewhere in the mid 70's but can't remember what I was riding then. It wasn't my Maco 250, so I may have been a *** CanAm 175 I had for a short while. Yea I was only 180 lbs back then and could ride the smaller bikes. Now a 501 struggles with my lard ***.
 
My best friend growing up had a Kawasaki 90. He could really make it scoot.

I've managed to loose 20 pounds and really increase my strength in the past five months. All it takes is 4 hours of gym time per week and someone making sure I don't cheat! Oh yea, I'm sticking to the New American Plate, too. So there is plenty of time to get in shape! :rider:
 
A little entertainment from the 2013 ride. The bike count was:
KTM 221
Honda 133
Husqvarna 41 (a few of the old huskies)
Yamaha 29
Suzuki 35
BMW 17 (including 4 Challenges and 3 HP2s)
Kawasaki 12
Husaberg 10
Triumph 9 (about half were desert sleds from the 60s)
Beta 3
Others 5


Riders came from 31 home states/provinces:
California 417
Texas 15
Nevada 13
Arizona 11
New York and Colorado 6
Also riders from Alberta, Ontario, Essex England and New South Wales
 
I hope one of those "others" was an Aprilia RXV! Really interesting numbers.
 
I cant see why your 250 wouldn't do fine. As long as you carry enough spare fuel to get you from stop to stop. A 250 is light enough to deal with the sand. As Meriden said, you probably wouldn't want to take it very far on I-15. Otherwise it should do fine. There are countless terrain changes on this ride, some situations will in fact require you to juice the throttle pretty good to properly negotiate the course. And some rders will keep a pretty fierce pace thru a lot of the the course, just because they like to. However it is by no means for anyone, an entire day of pinned throttle as you blast across endless stretches of flat sandy desert floor. One of the things I was most amazed by on my first LAB2V foray, was just how many diferent riding environments we travelled thru. I guess my biggest surprise was having to negotiate a gas tank deep (if you got into the wrong area) water crossing. I remember thinking "wait a minute this isn't Arkansas, we are in the middle of the mojave desert and I have to do a 80' wide, up to waist deep water crossing! Doesn't anybody remember it is winter time, and we were all riding thru falling snow flakes a few hours ago?"
Yep folks, its not just another dual sport ride...its a full on adventure!
We are now 6 months out. Better make your plans, resos, and bike mods soon! Also as the date approaches, don't forget to tune up your all day long in the saddle riding skilz too!

Great feedback, thanks! Ok so what if i do a complete 180 and have my tiger 800xc set up as light as possible and rip it? I consider myself an intermediate rider (former mx) and would have no second doubt about forging black gap road on the tiger.
 
Great feedback, thanks! Ok so what if i do a complete 180 and have my tiger 800xc set up as light as possible and rip it? I consider myself an intermediate rider (former mx) and would have no second doubt about forging black gap road on the tiger.

My X is 363 wet and loaded for LAB2LV and it's a handful. That's not to say that a better rider can't do the ride on a heavier bike. In 2011 a guys did it on a loaded GS with his girlfriend. I met him the next year riding an HP2. Other guys ride it two up, including one guy on a 990 doing the hard way. (Lots of film of him on the internet.) A handful of guys ride bigger ADV bikes, so it can be done. In the case of the 250 you won't want to bail and ride I15. In the case of the 800 you may find yourself needing to. Ride what suits you.
 
For my two cents; If you really want to enjoy both days, and truly savor all the LAB2V expierience ...go with the smaller lighter dirt bike this first time. You can always decide to give it a whirl next time and make 2018 the year of the Tiger.
 
Well said by both of you. It furthers my thought of selling the 250 for a 450 so check the For Sale section here in about 30 mins :)
 
We spent a dozen years riding all of that country on 250's when we were younger. You will be much happier on a lighter bike in the rocks and sand, but might miss the tiger on the street sections. Later we rode XR400's and now I will take my Husky 501 (if I go) and leave the Adventure bike at home. I know I could do it on the twin but will have a LOT more fun on the smaller 250 lb Husky.
 
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