Newish to riding, but ready for some gnarly adventures

Sup ya'll, my name Tom and I'm completely new to this forum-ing stuff and somewhat new to riding. I got my first bike ever, 2014 Honda XR650L, in February of this year, and I've been using it as a daily rider here in Austin, TX.
I hate to say it but my dirt bike has spent majority of it's life on the pavement than on dirt, and its starting to bug me. I mean really bug me. It's spent 95% of its time on pavement, and yet I've been rockin those Dunlop D606. Which are meant for 90% off road and 10% on. Sad right?
I spend all my money on my bike, compact camping gear, annnnd on my toyota taco that i just got to transport her. Anyways, I want to do some exploring but don't know anyone who has an adventure/enduro bike that has the same urge for exploring like me. I was born and raised in the city, but was never met to be here. I really want to try to get out to big bend, and then colorado, and then anywhere else in the world i could take my bike. I'm honestly down to go anywhere that has dirt. I've got my bearings on a bike but I'm still wayyy too new to do any of these adventures alone. I hope to find some people on here who share the same urge for adventure as me. Also, if anyone has any advice or helpful info on adventure riding I'm all ears.
I'm now going to attempt to post some pics of my bike, but like i said I'm new to this forum-ing shenanigans so it might not work...

Welcome to the site. Nice bike! Way too clean though...

Another good source. http://advrider.com/index.php

Well, I know it is a couple of months out, but the Roll the Bones rally is good. http://www.twtex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109768

I wouldn't be surprised if Ghostrider1964, who runs that rally, has an overnight at his place once it starts to cool done before the rally. That's a camping event too.

Right now I need to wear out some street tires on my GSA so I can get it back on the dirt. Picked up a street bike so I can keep dual sport tires on the GSA.

If it had better tires on it, I'd be up for running some backroads with you.

Very nice bike!

Roger is right, needs some dirt on it

Welcome to the site!

Welcome!

We'll get you and your bike dirty in no time.

Great choice for a DS bike, btw.

throw that bike in the back of your taco (great choice for a truck too, btw)
and meet up with this crew Saturday morning.

http://www.twtex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110811

Holy **** you added some stuff to the bike since I saw it last. Glad you joined up

Wayyyy...too clean. See if any neighborhood kids have some mud worked up that you can borrow. Welcome!

Hey bro, live in Brenham about 90 miles east of ya. Down to ride around your area. Nice 650 by the way. Gotta a new 690 Ktm enduro myself. Needs some farkles but that won't take long, only money.

texaspatrick said:

Holy **** you added some stuff to the bike since I saw it last. Glad you joined up

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Haha yea i did. I hope to turn it into the ultimate adventure machine. Btw thanks for telling about the site. This place is awesome for finding connections and advice for dual sporting

Welcome! Your tires look a bit worn.

Howdy, you've come to the right place.

& enjoy!

Welcome to the group. Lots of people on here to ride with dual sport and more.

Def. check out the Roll the Bones Rally coming up in October!

Good lord that is a clean dirtbike... you should fix that asap. haha.

PS - get some new tires

If you are considering riding some dirt, first thing I'd do is to protect your left clutch lever in the event that you drop the bike (add wraparound barkbusters, and/or a swivel out clutch lever, or bring a spare one). Only takes one drop, and you're SOL should the clutch lever snaps in two. The hand brake side isn't so much mandatory as you can still use the rear brake to get home.

2nd thing is, that x grip for your phone is marginally fine for pavement, but it will let go of the phone on dirt. I had one, I speak from experience, and mine let go when I hit a pothole riding on pavement.

You picked some nice bags to go on that bike, Wolfman make some great gear.
Welcome to the site, hopefully there are a few riders in the Austin area that can show you some dirt roads!! I would have thought the D606's would have worn out very quickly if you are only riding on road!! You might want to put some more road orientated tyres on it until you find some dirt trails to ride. D606's are brilliant off-road tyres, but a bit soft for road use!!

Gary

There is a ride in Kerrville on Thur Sept 29 - Sun Oct 2. Everyone is staying at the Kerrville Schreiner City Park. They have the RanchHouse reserved for that Thur-Sun but I think it is full already. There are 23 small cabins that are only $50/night & sleep at least 4 people. There is a 25$ cleaning fee deposit that you get back if the cabin is clean when they check it. They mail you the 25$ fee in the form of a check. Call now & reserve a cabin. 830-257-7300. I reserved cabin #10 in the High Point Area. Cabin #9 is available at this time. Has A/C and heat. Go to web site for more details. They also have RV spots & tent camping. Ideally, if we get enough riders together we can split up into groups, 1 pavement & 1 dirt. There's some dirt roads down SW of there to check out. Of course, the 3 Sisters are right there handy too. Check out upcoming ride forums under "Kerrville Ride Sept 30-Oct 2 by Maximus_Flavius and post replies there if interested/going. Hope to see a good Central Texas area turn out!!!! I'm going to take the S10 and the wife. That translates to the 3 Sisters runs.

***UPDATE*** I took Friday the 30th off, so I will be up for an all day ride Friday. I am trailering the KLR and the S10 up Friday morning so I am ready for dirt/gravel off road rides. We also decided to stay Friday night at the park. Group is going to Mamacitas in Kerrville for dinner Friday night. Really good Mexican food and magaritas!

That be awesome! I'd love to go, but i don't think I'll be able to ride that soon.. I just got in my first accident about 3 weeks ago. Riding in some gravel and gave it way to much throttle into a turn and broke my right foot. I'll be wearing boot for another 2 months and can't really ride until I get off of it. The bike's ok though! Just a few minor scrapes on dents. I'd be interested in doing rides out there in the future, but I can't until November or December.

Tommy said:

I just got in my first accident about 3 weeks ago. Riding in some gravel and gave it way to much throttle into a turn and broke my right foot. I'll be wearing boot for another 2 months and can't really ride until I get off of it. The bike's ok though! Just a few minor scrapes on dents.

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Sure hate to hear that! I hope it heals quickly and correctly so it doesn't give you any trouble in the future. It can happen even to the best of riders though, so don't get discourage or let people hound you about it. If you don't already have some, I highly recommend a good pair of dirt/adventure boots. They give much better protection that the typical street boots. I know my feet and ankles have been saved by my boots on many occasions! The one time I broke my ankle... I was wearing my street boots I spent 10 weeks in a cast and on crutches because I was not allowed to put ANY weight on it until it was fully healed.

Here's a serious piece of advice. Get you some of those twisted metal wire handled fly swatters. You know, the metal is about the thickness of a coat hanger and makes a loop on the end of the handle. They are GREAT for getting down in the cast to rub those itchy places. The rounded metal/handle won't snag on anything and you can't scratch hard enough to actually break skin because the handle will bend before you can get enough leverage on it to do any damage. If there is a wound from surgery, just be careful to avoid that.

Tommy said:

That be awesome! I'd love to go, but i don't think I'll be able to ride that soon.. I just got in my first accident about 3 weeks ago. Riding in some gravel and gave it way to much throttle into a turn and broke my right foot. I'll be wearing boot for another 2 months and can't really ride until I get off of it. The bike's ok though! Just a few minor scrapes on dents. I'd be interested in doing rides out there in the future, but I can't until November or December.

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Heal well Tommy. Give me a holler when you are ready to ride again.


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Tourmeister said:

Sure hate to hear that! I hope it heals quickly and correctly so it doesn't give you any trouble in the future. It can happen even to the best of riders though, so don't get discourage or let people hound you about it. If you don't already have some, I highly recommend a good pair of dirt/adventure boots. They give much better protection that the typical street boots. I know my feet and ankles have been saved by my boots on many occasions! The one time I broke my ankle... I was wearing my street boots I spent 10 weeks in a cast and on crutches because I was not allowed to put ANY weight on it until it was fully healed.

Here's a serious piece of advice. Get you some of those twisted metal wire handled fly swatters. You know, the metal is about the thickness of a coat hanger and makes a loop on the end of the handle. They are GREAT for getting down in the cast to rub those itchy places. The rounded metal/handle won't snag on anything and you can't scratch hard enough to actually break skin because the handle will bend before you can get enough leverage on it to do any damage. If there is a wound from surgery, just be careful to avoid that.

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I second tourmeister's comment on the good boots. Especially for dual sporting or dirt riding.
Don't but cheap boots.
It will cost you a lot more than the expensive ones would have in the long run and I (and many others) have some bills that will prove it.

Heal quick and get back on the saddle.

I was wondering why I hadn't seen your bike in front of the store in a while. That's a bummer man! Heal quick and shoot me a text when you want to ride