jhansen
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Bucket list for sure. Thanks for taking all of us along.
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Ride the Western Trans America Trail 2015
- Thread starter The Bruce
- Start date
Simmons1
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Bruce
I have really been enjoying this report.
Rich
I have really been enjoying this report.
Rich
bigdon55
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n
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Thank you Sir.
- Joined
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Last edited:
bigdon55
0
Didn't want to clog up such a good thread! 
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Day 13: Eastbound with heads down
The hotel we stayed at in Brookings was perfect. Clean, comfortable, good price and owned by 'Mericans.
Kidding aside it was a nice place and met any expectations we might have had.
Perry's foot was doing OK. More bruising was showing up but the swelling was going down a bit. He was OK limping around in his boot and riding didn't cause any pain.
We continued south along the coast through redwoods and winding roads. There was a good bit of fog and the cool temperature made for a pretty cool ride.
After about an hour and a half with one stop for extra layering we stopped in Trinidad, CA for breakfast. I just picked the only place that showed up in the Garmin GPS database and we were at the Beachcomber Cafe'. Turned out to be a mostly veganish coffeehouse style. We ordered at the counter then sat in a room with people hunched over their keyboards and making business calls; at 0900 on a Sunday morning.
The food was very good. Perry had a fritatta and I had a black bean breakfast burrito. We got ready to leave just in time as a hippie walk in, bare foot, and smelled like he had been sleeping inside a whale carcass. The fresh coastal air outside was a welcome relief. Outside, after I had put my earplugs in, a guy walking a tiny dog and grinning ear to ear came up to me. He was waving his hands and raving about something to do with angels and the day he was having. I smiled and said I had earplugs in already and couldn't really hear what he was saying and we rode off. California 
We turned left before Eureka CA on Hwy 299 towards Redding. What an amazing road! One sweeping turn after another for a couple of hours. On the east side of Redding we stopped for our second fillup at a convenience store that was selling shirts supporting the Jefferson movement. Once you get away from the coast and the big cities California really is like two very different states. The people are obviously different. Small town America is still alive and well in northern CA. While there eating our sundae cones this fella rolled in and started chatting us up about our trip.
He was really into it. He had read Jupiter's Travels and the sequel. Was all into the adventure of riding motorcycles. When we left he followed us for about 30 miles into the hills before looping back towards Redding. We had one other very cool visitor at the store....
I asked and he said it was a numbers matching original. Except for wheels and the silver stripe instead of white. It had original interior that looked new. The story: his uncle had titled it in the early 1970's. He parked it in his storage shed, on jack stands, and left it there. Nobody knew he had it until he passed 4 years ago and he had left it to his nephew in his will. I was covered with an inch of dust. It was cleaned up, rubber parts replace, and this guy drives it regularly. A rare site indeed.
We rode into Lassen National Forest but took the northern route rather than going through Lassen Volcano Park. Faster that way. Late afternoon we came to Susanville, CA. We stopped at this place for an early supper. It was bout 1630.
Another lucky find. Turned out to be the oldest saloon in northern CA. Open continuously since 1870s serving mostly the ranching community around there but also miners during that time. The bar is 36 feet long. There are 500 hand painted brands from the ranches that have operated in the area over the years up on the wall above the bar. We both had a pastrami Rueben.
Met another old school biker out front after dinner. He was on a early 70's shovel head that he owned since 1978. He looked to be in his early 70's too. Nice guy; no picture.
We headed south toward Reno, NV as the sun was setting. We had to stop at an O'Reilly's to change my tail light bulb, again. I guess the vibrations are just too much for the filament and it kept going out. The sky lit up in an amazing sunset.
We had about an hour more to ride to get to our stopping point of Fallon, NV on US 50. 25 minutes on IH 80 and the rest on US 50. Fallon has a Super 8 that fit our needs. Very nice and helpful people. After checking the manager went outside and showed us where to park so the bikes would be outside the window of our room.
Miles for the day; 491
The hotel we stayed at in Brookings was perfect. Clean, comfortable, good price and owned by 'Mericans.
Kidding aside it was a nice place and met any expectations we might have had. Perry's foot was doing OK. More bruising was showing up but the swelling was going down a bit. He was OK limping around in his boot and riding didn't cause any pain.
We continued south along the coast through redwoods and winding roads. There was a good bit of fog and the cool temperature made for a pretty cool ride.
After about an hour and a half with one stop for extra layering we stopped in Trinidad, CA for breakfast. I just picked the only place that showed up in the Garmin GPS database and we were at the Beachcomber Cafe'. Turned out to be a mostly veganish coffeehouse style. We ordered at the counter then sat in a room with people hunched over their keyboards and making business calls; at 0900 on a Sunday morning.
The food was very good. Perry had a fritatta and I had a black bean breakfast burrito. We got ready to leave just in time as a hippie walk in, bare foot, and smelled like he had been sleeping inside a whale carcass. The fresh coastal air outside was a welcome relief. Outside, after I had put my earplugs in, a guy walking a tiny dog and grinning ear to ear came up to me. He was waving his hands and raving about something to do with angels and the day he was having. I smiled and said I had earplugs in already and couldn't really hear what he was saying and we rode off. California We turned left before Eureka CA on Hwy 299 towards Redding. What an amazing road!
One sweeping turn after another for a couple of hours. On the east side of Redding we stopped for our second fillup at a convenience store that was selling shirts supporting the Jefferson movement. Once you get away from the coast and the big cities California really is like two very different states. The people are obviously different. Small town America is still alive and well in northern CA. While there eating our sundae cones this fella rolled in and started chatting us up about our trip. He was really into it. He had read Jupiter's Travels and the sequel. Was all into the adventure of riding motorcycles. When we left he followed us for about 30 miles into the hills before looping back towards Redding. We had one other very cool visitor at the store....
I asked and he said it was a numbers matching original. Except for wheels and the silver stripe instead of white. It had original interior that looked new. The story: his uncle had titled it in the early 1970's. He parked it in his storage shed, on jack stands, and left it there. Nobody knew he had it until he passed 4 years ago and he had left it to his nephew in his will. I was covered with an inch of dust. It was cleaned up, rubber parts replace, and this guy drives it regularly. A rare site indeed.
We rode into Lassen National Forest but took the northern route rather than going through Lassen Volcano Park. Faster that way. Late afternoon we came to Susanville, CA. We stopped at this place for an early supper. It was bout 1630.
Another lucky find. Turned out to be the oldest saloon in northern CA. Open continuously since 1870s serving mostly the ranching community around there but also miners during that time. The bar is 36 feet long. There are 500 hand painted brands from the ranches that have operated in the area over the years up on the wall above the bar. We both had a pastrami Rueben.
Met another old school biker out front after dinner. He was on a early 70's shovel head that he owned since 1978. He looked to be in his early 70's too. Nice guy; no picture.
We headed south toward Reno, NV as the sun was setting. We had to stop at an O'Reilly's to change my tail light bulb, again. I guess the vibrations are just too much for the filament and it kept going out. The sky lit up in an amazing sunset.
We had about an hour more to ride to get to our stopping point of Fallon, NV on US 50. 25 minutes on IH 80 and the rest on US 50. Fallon has a Super 8 that fit our needs. Very nice and helpful people. After checking the manager went outside and showed us where to park so the bikes would be outside the window of our room.
Miles for the day; 491
- Joined
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- Big sky country; Ronan, MT
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- Bruce
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- Taylor
I got some things to take care of. More later this afternoon.
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- Friday
You need to replace that filament tail light with an LED tail light
"slept in a whale carcass..."
"slept in a whale carcass..."
- Joined
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- 36
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- Taylor
You need to replace that filament tail light with an LED tail light
"slept in a whale carcass..."
I had some in my hand at the O'Reilly's in Reno. But they were two standard for $4 or two LED for $18. I was buying spares for the tank bag and never needed them. If it was my primary bike then yes, I would have bought the LED.
Last edited:
- Joined
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- Big sky country; Ronan, MT
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- Bruce
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- Taylor
Day 14; across Nevada
US 50 all the way Baby! That was the plan and it worked as good as it could have. After breakfast in the Super 8 Casino cafe we pushed eastward on the Loneliest Road in the US. It lived up to it's billing fairly well. But, there are several very cool little towns along the route that are worth visiting at least once in your travels. Following the pattern of hills/mountains followed by a basin or high plains the towns are mostly in the higher elevations near a highway summit or an actual pass. The first being Austin, Nevada. A vibrant community with two gas stations, hotels, a couple of stores, cafes, and a fire department. I took this shot from the gas station coming into town from the west.
We were grinding out the miles as best as we could. Usually riding around 100 miles then looking for a break. Austin fit the bill and we took a much needed break. Going east there was a nice series of paved switchbacks as we climbed up to about 8500 feet to clear the pass. Further down the road as we approached Eureka my odometer hit a milestone. There was a parking area so I stopped to take a photo.
Nowhere near Perry's 45,000 on his KLR but pretty good for an old DRZ. We stopped for fuel again in Eureka then continued east. The next stop was Ely, Nevada. But before we got there our progress came to a halt for a construction zone. So I pulled the camera out for some snapshots.
The local economy;
Someones dream from many years ago.
We had cloudy skies so the temperature was quite pleasant.
Patiently waiting...
We stopped again for fuel in Ely and started the next leg of the trip. After about and hour we were back at the Border Inn on the Nevada/Utah state line. As I pulled in I spotted a dirty bike so I parked over near it and the rider was there to great us. Once again; "This guy was the real deal". We met Lukas from Austria.
He has been riding the world for about 9 months. He started on a Suzuki DR 650 heading generally east into Asia. He bought his current ride in a village in Kamchatka; a 2004 KTM 660 Rally. One of 200 factory rally bikes built for the Dakar. It holds 8 gallons of fuel and keeps 12" plus for suspension travel. The monster also produces over 70 hp. Twice as much as my lowly DRZ. From Kamchatka he traveled south all the way to Australia then shipped his bike to Los Angels. He had ridden north to the start of the TAT and was taking it east. We chatted for at least half an hour. He rode off and we went in for supper before making the 85 mile run to Delta, UT; the next services available.
We got fuel in Delta and decided to push on to the next hotel on US 50 in Scipio, about 40 miles away. We got there as darkness was falling and got a nice room in what appeared to be a former Holiday Inn Express changed over to private ownership. They let us park under the front awning in good sight of the security cameras. Plus, they had a hot tub that felt soooo goooood after two days of highway riding.
Miles 447
US 50 all the way Baby! That was the plan and it worked as good as it could have. After breakfast in the Super 8 Casino cafe we pushed eastward on the Loneliest Road in the US. It lived up to it's billing fairly well. But, there are several very cool little towns along the route that are worth visiting at least once in your travels. Following the pattern of hills/mountains followed by a basin or high plains the towns are mostly in the higher elevations near a highway summit or an actual pass. The first being Austin, Nevada. A vibrant community with two gas stations, hotels, a couple of stores, cafes, and a fire department. I took this shot from the gas station coming into town from the west.
We were grinding out the miles as best as we could. Usually riding around 100 miles then looking for a break. Austin fit the bill and we took a much needed break. Going east there was a nice series of paved switchbacks as we climbed up to about 8500 feet to clear the pass. Further down the road as we approached Eureka my odometer hit a milestone. There was a parking area so I stopped to take a photo.
Nowhere near Perry's 45,000 on his KLR but pretty good for an old DRZ. We stopped for fuel again in Eureka then continued east. The next stop was Ely, Nevada. But before we got there our progress came to a halt for a construction zone. So I pulled the camera out for some snapshots.
The local economy;
Someones dream from many years ago.
We had cloudy skies so the temperature was quite pleasant.
Patiently waiting...
We stopped again for fuel in Ely and started the next leg of the trip. After about and hour we were back at the Border Inn on the Nevada/Utah state line. As I pulled in I spotted a dirty bike so I parked over near it and the rider was there to great us. Once again; "This guy was the real deal". We met Lukas from Austria.
He has been riding the world for about 9 months. He started on a Suzuki DR 650 heading generally east into Asia. He bought his current ride in a village in Kamchatka; a 2004 KTM 660 Rally. One of 200 factory rally bikes built for the Dakar. It holds 8 gallons of fuel and keeps 12" plus for suspension travel. The monster also produces over 70 hp. Twice as much as my lowly DRZ. From Kamchatka he traveled south all the way to Australia then shipped his bike to Los Angels. He had ridden north to the start of the TAT and was taking it east. We chatted for at least half an hour. He rode off and we went in for supper before making the 85 mile run to Delta, UT; the next services available.
We got fuel in Delta and decided to push on to the next hotel on US 50 in Scipio, about 40 miles away. We got there as darkness was falling and got a nice room in what appeared to be a former Holiday Inn Express changed over to private ownership. They let us park under the front awning in good sight of the security cameras. Plus, they had a hot tub that felt soooo goooood after two days of highway riding.
Miles 447
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2006
- Messages
- 8,250
- Reaction score
- 36
- Location
- Big sky country; Ronan, MT
- First Name
- Bruce
- Last Name
- Taylor
Day 15; into Colorado
For the first part of the day we would be riding IH 70 for a couple hundred miles. YUK! My bike is working really had at 65 mph and is screaming at 75 so Interstate is not good for me. She got the job done but is was tough. On the good side the Interstate east of Green River Utah is some of the most scenic Interstate Highway you could travel. Canyons, rock formations and scenic vistas made the miles a bit more tolerable. We stopped in Green River, first for fuel. Perry was hungry so he ran in and grabbed a chicken salad sandwich. When he got back out I told him of a restaurant on the east side of town I was shooting for to have brunch. He quickly handed off the sandwich to a bicyclist who reacted like he hadn't eaten in days. He practically did a dance of joy. Maybe he was low on cash, I don't know. It was fun to see.
We rode through town to the Tamarisk Restaurant on the banks of the Green (really brown) River. This photo from their website is actually the table we were seated at.
We ordered and a guy sat at the table behind Perry wearing the uniform of an adventure rider. Filthy pants and a moisture whicking quick-dry tshirt. We spent brunch, really good food, talking about riding the back country of the western US. He had been to Alaska and was making his way back home to Arizona using the Utah Backcountry Discovery Route. Once again, "The real deal". Our conversation continued into the parking lot where he pulled out a map he was using to navigate. Old school, no GPS. And showed us his old GS 1150 that had been around the world. \
Lots of adventure beauty marks on this old beast. Over 100,000 miles of stories on this bike. Around the world and from southern Argentina to Deadhorse, Alaska.
I didn't write down his name and cannot recall it at all. Perhaps Perry will remember. He said he had his fill of sand and was going to do some easier routes heading south. I can't even imagine riding deep sand on a heavy bike like that by yourself. Pick it up more than once and you get exhausted. Salute to him.
After another hundred or so miles we departed the interstate for the old US 50 at Grand Junction, CO. We stopped again for fuel and a brake a bit further down the road in Delta, CO. Perry was starting to get concerned about his rear sprocket wearing out. I knew there is a great bike shop in Gunnison if we needed a replacement so we kept going. Another break in Gunnison to check the sprocket. It didn't look any worse, no missing teeth, so we kept going. We kinda raced over Monarch Pass. There was almost no traffic. My DRZ was struggling with the altitude and the rich jetting so Perry had no problem rolling by. Coming down the east side we were chasing a local thunderstorm that had just been in the area. That smell of a fresh rain on the asphalt filled the air and we could see the clouds over Salida. Suddenly the sun came out producing a rainbow over the town. US 50 going into Salida is known as Rainbow Ave. locally. A great end to the days ride. We checked into the Super 8, managed by the owner, then went downtown for dinner. We parked at the end of Ave. F under the big S hill.
Dinner was at The Boathouse along the Arkansas River. We got great seats and celebrated the last night of the ride with Cream Cheese Jalapeno Poppers and an equally great dinner. Perry had a burger and I had a chipotle chicken sandwich. Happy time.
Miles for the day; 430
For the first part of the day we would be riding IH 70 for a couple hundred miles. YUK! My bike is working really had at 65 mph and is screaming at 75 so Interstate is not good for me. She got the job done but is was tough. On the good side the Interstate east of Green River Utah is some of the most scenic Interstate Highway you could travel. Canyons, rock formations and scenic vistas made the miles a bit more tolerable. We stopped in Green River, first for fuel. Perry was hungry so he ran in and grabbed a chicken salad sandwich. When he got back out I told him of a restaurant on the east side of town I was shooting for to have brunch. He quickly handed off the sandwich to a bicyclist who reacted like he hadn't eaten in days. He practically did a dance of joy. Maybe he was low on cash, I don't know. It was fun to see.
We rode through town to the Tamarisk Restaurant on the banks of the Green (really brown) River. This photo from their website is actually the table we were seated at.
We ordered and a guy sat at the table behind Perry wearing the uniform of an adventure rider. Filthy pants and a moisture whicking quick-dry tshirt. We spent brunch, really good food, talking about riding the back country of the western US. He had been to Alaska and was making his way back home to Arizona using the Utah Backcountry Discovery Route. Once again, "The real deal". Our conversation continued into the parking lot where he pulled out a map he was using to navigate. Old school, no GPS. And showed us his old GS 1150 that had been around the world. \
Lots of adventure beauty marks on this old beast. Over 100,000 miles of stories on this bike. Around the world and from southern Argentina to Deadhorse, Alaska.
I didn't write down his name and cannot recall it at all. Perhaps Perry will remember. He said he had his fill of sand and was going to do some easier routes heading south. I can't even imagine riding deep sand on a heavy bike like that by yourself. Pick it up more than once and you get exhausted. Salute to him.
After another hundred or so miles we departed the interstate for the old US 50 at Grand Junction, CO. We stopped again for fuel and a brake a bit further down the road in Delta, CO. Perry was starting to get concerned about his rear sprocket wearing out. I knew there is a great bike shop in Gunnison if we needed a replacement so we kept going. Another break in Gunnison to check the sprocket. It didn't look any worse, no missing teeth, so we kept going. We kinda raced over Monarch Pass. There was almost no traffic. My DRZ was struggling with the altitude and the rich jetting so Perry had no problem rolling by. Coming down the east side we were chasing a local thunderstorm that had just been in the area. That smell of a fresh rain on the asphalt filled the air and we could see the clouds over Salida. Suddenly the sun came out producing a rainbow over the town. US 50 going into Salida is known as Rainbow Ave. locally. A great end to the days ride. We checked into the Super 8, managed by the owner, then went downtown for dinner. We parked at the end of Ave. F under the big S hill.
Dinner was at The Boathouse along the Arkansas River. We got great seats and celebrated the last night of the ride with Cream Cheese Jalapeno Poppers and an equally great dinner. Perry had a burger and I had a chipotle chicken sandwich. Happy time.
Miles for the day; 430
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2006
- Messages
- 8,250
- Reaction score
- 36
- Location
- Big sky country; Ronan, MT
- First Name
- Bruce
- Last Name
- Taylor
Day 16: the final push to the finish.
This was the last day of the ride. We weren't in any hurry as we only had about 120 miles to ride to get back to the truck and trailer. The parking lot was fairly empty by the time we crawled out of the room around 0830.
We rode down the street to one of my old favorites in Salida; The Patio Pancake Place. I love their in house German sausage.
I get The Fourteener which is two eggs, German sausage patty, hash browns, and two blueberry cakes. We rode north on 285 until just before Buena Vista then east over the pass and through South Park. It was pretty cold at the higher elevation. South park is around 9000 ft. and it was a bit cloudy so it was a little less than 50 degrees. But the fall scenery was beautiful and classic Colorado.
It warmed up as we dropped into Woodland Park and even warmer in The Springs. And then we were done! Just shy of 3800 miles.
And Perry's KLR still had teeth on the rear sprocket. The chain was severely stretched and almost rubbing his center stand.
Mine held up much better.
Let the debate begin on why they performed so differently. We both started with new chain and both sprockets. I did nothing to mine and took one notch of adjustment out after about 1500 miles while we were at the Border Inn waiting on my stator to arrive. Perry kept his lubed and was having to adjust his probably every other day. He was out of adjustment. I think he had some bad steel in his sprocket and a week chain. I think he said it was CZ brand from Czechoslovakia and came in a set. I got mine from Rocky Mountain ATV. I had an RK o-ring chain and steel sprockets.
Our tires did very well. Here is my rear at the end. Pirelli MT21. Still a 3/8 inch left and not totally squared off. My front could go again. It was Maxxis Desert IT. my favorite front tire. Not DOT but it isn't marked off road only either. I've passed inspections with it over the years.
The final run into Colorado Springs
We had a great lunch of roast beef, potatoes and green beans. We got the truck loaded and headed towards Texas around 1430. We reached Amarillo that night and made it home the next afternoon.
The next day Perry went to the doctor to get his ankle checked. He suffered a dislocation fracture which would require surgery to repair. Surgery took 3 hours longer since it had started to heal as we rode the last 6 days and made the trip home. He is resting in a soft cast and will be off work for at least 6 weeks.
My knee is a bit sore and complains if I squat then try to stand but otherwise is OK. My left thumb is still pretty weak. And several knuckles on both hands are swollen and sore from the pounding they took over the 1800 miles of dirt. I think I'll heal up Ok with time.
Will I do it again? I don't think so. The TAT is an endurance ride. It challenges a rider physically and mentally. And I'm proud of what we have completed and feel the need fulfilled. But it is not the most scenic backcountry ride out there. I enjoyed riding the Great Divide Route more. Utah was amazing. The route we took was great and I would do most of it on my Tenere with the exception of the White Rim and that ATV trail. I would haul the DRZ to Moab and ride around there for a few days. I won't do the White Rim again on two wheels. Glad I did it but not again, it's done. Nevada was a struggle. Nothing special; it seemed like it just went on and on and on. Oregon and northern California are beautiful riding the paved roads. An occasional run down a dirt road on the Tenere' would be fun but I don't feel the need to get the DRZ out there. I could ride Colorado for many weeks and still find nice places to ride. I could stay along the Rocky Mountains from New Mexico to Montana and be just fine. Throw in upper Idaho and I'm covered.
Thanks for following our story. That's all; for now
This was the last day of the ride. We weren't in any hurry as we only had about 120 miles to ride to get back to the truck and trailer. The parking lot was fairly empty by the time we crawled out of the room around 0830.
We rode down the street to one of my old favorites in Salida; The Patio Pancake Place. I love their in house German sausage.
I get The Fourteener which is two eggs, German sausage patty, hash browns, and two blueberry cakes. We rode north on 285 until just before Buena Vista then east over the pass and through South Park. It was pretty cold at the higher elevation. South park is around 9000 ft. and it was a bit cloudy so it was a little less than 50 degrees. But the fall scenery was beautiful and classic Colorado.
It warmed up as we dropped into Woodland Park and even warmer in The Springs. And then we were done! Just shy of 3800 miles.
And Perry's KLR still had teeth on the rear sprocket. The chain was severely stretched and almost rubbing his center stand.
Mine held up much better.
Let the debate begin on why they performed so differently. We both started with new chain and both sprockets. I did nothing to mine and took one notch of adjustment out after about 1500 miles while we were at the Border Inn waiting on my stator to arrive. Perry kept his lubed and was having to adjust his probably every other day. He was out of adjustment. I think he had some bad steel in his sprocket and a week chain. I think he said it was CZ brand from Czechoslovakia and came in a set. I got mine from Rocky Mountain ATV. I had an RK o-ring chain and steel sprockets.
Our tires did very well. Here is my rear at the end. Pirelli MT21. Still a 3/8 inch left and not totally squared off. My front could go again. It was Maxxis Desert IT. my favorite front tire. Not DOT but it isn't marked off road only either. I've passed inspections with it over the years.
The final run into Colorado Springs
We had a great lunch of roast beef, potatoes and green beans. We got the truck loaded and headed towards Texas around 1430. We reached Amarillo that night and made it home the next afternoon.
The next day Perry went to the doctor to get his ankle checked. He suffered a dislocation fracture which would require surgery to repair. Surgery took 3 hours longer since it had started to heal as we rode the last 6 days and made the trip home. He is resting in a soft cast and will be off work for at least 6 weeks.
My knee is a bit sore and complains if I squat then try to stand but otherwise is OK. My left thumb is still pretty weak. And several knuckles on both hands are swollen and sore from the pounding they took over the 1800 miles of dirt. I think I'll heal up Ok with time.
Will I do it again? I don't think so. The TAT is an endurance ride. It challenges a rider physically and mentally. And I'm proud of what we have completed and feel the need fulfilled. But it is not the most scenic backcountry ride out there. I enjoyed riding the Great Divide Route more. Utah was amazing. The route we took was great and I would do most of it on my Tenere with the exception of the White Rim and that ATV trail. I would haul the DRZ to Moab and ride around there for a few days. I won't do the White Rim again on two wheels. Glad I did it but not again, it's done. Nevada was a struggle. Nothing special; it seemed like it just went on and on and on. Oregon and northern California are beautiful riding the paved roads. An occasional run down a dirt road on the Tenere' would be fun but I don't feel the need to get the DRZ out there. I could ride Colorado for many weeks and still find nice places to ride. I could stay along the Rocky Mountains from New Mexico to Montana and be just fine.
Throw in upper Idaho and I'm covered. Thanks for following our story. That's all; for now
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2008
- Messages
- 96
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- 0
- Location
- Pflugerville Tx
- First Name
- Perry
- Last Name
- Koehn
Bruce. Thanks for putting together this report. I too had a great time working through all of the challenges that we had. My big takeaway from the trip is how blessed we are to have such a beautiful country to freely explore. We didn't meet a mean person. Everyone was friendly, inquisitive and helpful. Preparation is so important for this kind of trip. Mechanical and physical, and still so much can go wrong. Great job on the report. Thanks for getting us safely home. Now let's rest up 
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2006
- Messages
- 8,250
- Reaction score
- 36
- Location
- Big sky country; Ronan, MT
- First Name
- Bruce
- Last Name
- Taylor
Bruce. Thanks for putting together this report. I too had a great time working through all of the challenges that we had. My big takeaway from the trip is how blessed we are to have such a beautiful country to freely explore. We didn't meet a mean person. Everyone was friendly, inquisitive and helpful. Preparation is so important for this kind of trip. Mechanical and physical, and still so much can go wrong. Great job on the report. Thanks for getting us safely home. Now let's rest up
This report wore me out!
Bra-vo!
Awesome ride report Chief !
Got us all drooling for retirement here at Sta. 15
Got us all drooling for retirement here at Sta. 15
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Well done!
Don't feel bad. I haven't even started my report from a week long trip out to Utah back in April of this year
However, your report has motivated me to finish going through the pics so I can at least get started on the report soon...
On the sprocket issue... I don't lube my KTM 530 chain. If you are riding in the dirt, anything wet will make grit, sand, dirt, etc,... stick to the chain. I believe that will wear down a chain and sprocket very quickly. The only time I do anything to it is after washing the bike.
I spray it with WD-40 That is just to keep the rust away and then it dries clean for the next ride. I did the same thing with my KLR and never had any chain/sprocket issues.
Don't feel bad. I haven't even started my report from a week long trip out to Utah back in April of this year
However, your report has motivated me to finish going through the pics so I can at least get started on the report soon... On the sprocket issue... I don't lube my KTM 530 chain. If you are riding in the dirt, anything wet will make grit, sand, dirt, etc,... stick to the chain. I believe that will wear down a chain and sprocket very quickly. The only time I do anything to it is after washing the bike.
I spray it with WD-40 That is just to keep the rust away and then it dries clean for the next ride. I did the same thing with my KLR and never had any chain/sprocket issues.
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Thank you.
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Thanks. Hang in there and stay safe.
- Joined
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Well done!
Don't feel bad. I haven't even started my report from a week long trip out to Utah back in April of this year
Looking forward to that
On the sprocket issue... I don't lube my KTM 530 chain. If you are riding in the dirt, anything wet will make grit, sand, dirt, etc,... stick to the chain. I believe that will wear down a chain and sprocket very quickly. The only time I do anything to it is after washing the bike.
That was my thinking as well. With the O-ring the factory lube stays in the rollers so no need to keep lubing. And lube doesn't do much for the wear on the sprockets. That wear is more related to proper adjustment and a good chain. If the chain starts to stretch the fit is off an will cause wear. YOMV
I love the shaft drive on my Tenere'.
How's that for quoting
This Two Wheeled Texan is very grateful for this TRIP REPORT.
The photos were entirely awesome, as we all well know.
I read through the entire report in one sitting.
Excellent content and was MOST entertaining and informative.
THANK YOU !
The photos were entirely awesome, as we all well know.
I read through the entire report in one sitting.
Excellent content and was MOST entertaining and informative.
THANK YOU !
- Joined
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- Big sky country; Ronan, MT
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- Bruce
- Last Name
- Taylor
You are most welcome.
I read the first 3/4 of it (as thats all there was at the time)
Took a minute!
These are they types of reports I like to see.
Expect similar for mine and PhilipBarrett's upcoming HillCo350 this weekend.
Last edited:
achesley
0
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I totally understand your affection for the Rocky Mountain Chain. I was thinking that I was glad I covered about all the Eastern part of the US before I started traveling West again after about a 6 year lay off from there. After my first return to NM and CO and WY, I was forever hooked on the West for the last 8 yrs and couple dozen journeys by bikes.
Thanks for sharing your journey and meeting Luke had to be a high. First read of him when he was on the team with Colebatch that set the high altitude record on motorcycles a few year back.
Thanks for sharing your journey and meeting Luke had to be a high. First read of him when he was on the team with Colebatch that set the high altitude record on motorcycles a few year back.