• Welcome to the Two Wheeled Texans community! Feel free to hang out and lurk as long as you like. However, we would like to encourage you to register so that you can join the community and use the numerous features on the site. After registering, don't forget to post up an introduction!

12 days, 3125mi, thru NM, AZ, and CO

Fix in flats...i did it in the cold 2 Christmas ago. You can do it when you have to. I used a Mesquite branch for a crutch and spooned the tire with the axle bolt.

Thanks for sharing, no tent ...nice if you can do it.
 
Were you using any product like Rideon or anything like that?

I had Slime in the tires, and was surprised on a couple of the flats that it didn't work.




no tent ...nice if you can do it.

I used to carry a tent, but never set it up (seriously- NEVER set it up), so just stopped carrying one. My current modus operandi is to lay my 12x12 tarp out, roll the bike on to one edge ( to hold it down if wind kicks up), then set up my pad and bag next to the bike, leaving about half the tarp available to taco over myself if it rains. If I know it is going to rain hard, then I'm not going to camp that night anyway, I'll get a motel.

A few of my buddies give me flack about the non tent thing, citing bears for a reason for use of a tent. To thing that a bear or cougar is discouraged from eating you due to a millimeter of fabric is akin to thinking a fat guy won't eat a candy bar because there is a wrapper around it.
 
I had Slime in the tires, and was surprised on a couple of the flats that it didn't work.






I used to carry a tent, but never set it up (seriously- NEVER set it up), so just stopped carrying one. My current modus operandi is to lay my 12x12 tarp out, roll the bike on to one edge ( to hold it down if wind kicks up), then set up my pad and bag next to the bike, leaving about half the tarp available to taco over myself if it rains. If I know it is going to rain hard, then I'm not going to camp that night anyway, I'll get a motel.

A few of my buddies give me flack about the non tent thing, citing bears for a reason for use of a tent. To thing that a bear or cougar is discouraged from eating you due to a millimeter of fabric is akin to thinking a fat guy won't eat a candy bar because there is a wrapper around it.

good copy, i think the tent thing would just serve as a deterrent to a large predator since they would not recognize the tent so much as a food source (could certainly smell however especially if you have some kind of food smells) dont get me wrong, you dont want to test my hypothesis please. this texas taco, as you call it;-) is a great idea to keep the damp off (not so much out west however). i expect these are the kinds of things presented at the show you went to.
 
Last edited:
I'm with you on the tent thing. Years of boy scout backpacking and I never used a tent. Tarp was way lighter and quicker to set up in a rain storm if caught out in it.
I had Slime in the tires, and was surprised on a couple of the flats that it didn't work.






I used to carry a tent, but never set it up (seriously- NEVER set it up), so just stopped carrying one. My current modus operandi is to lay my 12x12 tarp out, roll the bike on to one edge ( to hold it down if wind kicks up), then set up my pad and bag next to the bike, leaving about half the tarp available to taco over myself if it rains. If I know it is going to rain hard, then I'm not going to camp that night anyway, I'll get a motel.

A few of my buddies give me flack about the non tent thing, citing bears for a reason for use of a tent. To thing that a bear or cougar is discouraged from eating you due to a millimeter of fabric is akin to thinking a fat guy won't eat a candy bar because there is a wrapper around it.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk
 
Great report, thanks. I will say you are a flat magnet lol

I have been trying to get to ox the last 2 years, but something always comes up. This year it was he Kenny Chesney concert in Arlington.

You are tough as ducks guts sleeping rolled in a tarp. I would be thinking about the woolly buggers crawling in my ears, nose and mouth while I slept. :)
 
Just to clarify- I only roll the tarp over if it rains or is dewy.

Been camping like this for years, and have never had anything entry any orifices.
 
for a ride like that what tire would you recommend. I need to swap the ones on my 690R
 
I started with a TKC80 on the front, and Shinko 705 at the rear. The TKC gives enough grip on gravel, the 705 is more a road tire (great for all the pavement getting out of Texas) and is real fun in the gravel (think flat track drift turns). The 705 sucked for certain super rocky downhill sections though. When in Durango, I swapped the beat rear for a TKC80 to match the front.
 
I forgot to mention the dude I met in Van Horn, riding this moto bicycle to N Carolina. I felt like a pansy when compared to his adventure. Note his lack of gear! As a side note, it was odd being in Van Horn EXACTLY one year to the day after my huge (life changing) wreck on the NMBDR. Anyway...
I jumped on the NMBDR at TOC, and rode the section to Luna, right on the AZ border. No flats, but I did have a couple gnarly get-offs. I chose to ride my white DR650 because it had a Shinko 705 in the rear (great for all the pavement) and taller gearing (great for all the pavement). I knew the tires were going to make the trail sections a little more challenging, but everything is a trade off. On my first get-off, the bike slid down a trail on its right side after slipping on a rock. I ripped off the right side pannier that I got from Trail Boss, which is why in all the forthcoming pics it is not mounted. The fall also ripped my armored moto jeans to the point that it was almost inappropriate to wear them in public. Actually it was, but I had no choice at the time.

I have read of a ex British serviceman just post WW2 who rode around the world on a moped. He certainly has a bigger set than most anybody I have ever met.
 
Back
Top