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I'm just here for the mountains - the Great Divide Ride 2017

Kevin I want to see picture of the closed mountain pass we made it through going from New Mexico to Colorado with Adam. That part was the hardest of the week for me with snow, downed trees, mud and a missing track. I dropped my bike probably 6 times and I think Kevin took a picture every time. I am glad we were able to get help for Chuck....:)

Collin
 
Class 1 and 2



That makes sense. I could bomb down most of River Road at 20-45 MPH on my '09 Multistrada, although a broken fairing bracket was an unanticipated casualty. Off-road pegs would have been nice as well.

Sidebar: a slice in my rear TKC 80 about 7 miles from the end of River Road had me riding on ~10 PSI from Rio Grande Village to Telingua. Then to Alpine. Then Fort Stockton and finally Midland where I finally found a replacement tire. Yeah, 260 miles on a semi-flat. But the TKC performed admirably and could sustain up to 70 MPH, finally forcing a very controlled ride just a few miles from the Yamaha shop.


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Did any of the flats have Slime or Ride On in the tubes?

I have this in my tubes but have not had a puncture yet so I do not know if it really works.

The one time I did get a nail I did not have anything in the tube so after that I put it in all my tubes but do not know if it really works.
 
TKCs were tubeless. And it was a 1"+ slice, not a puncture. We shoved 3 heavy-duty plug in it, along with a full can of fix-a-flat. It would inflate to about 20 PSI, then settle at around 10. I could depress the tire slightly with my thumb, which told me I have enough PSI, but barely (didn't want to use the gauge after filling the tires with FaF). That didn't prevent me from performing some rather non-standard acrobatics diving into Alpine.


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Clarification on what you're calling "dual sport" sections, is this hard options? From GPS Kevin routes there is the standard route and then easy and hard options.

Yes, I'm referring to the "hard" sections on the GPS routes as dual sport routes (as opposed to the main route which, in my mind, I call the adventure route).
 
I am wondering out of all the flats was any of them tubeless and if so were you able to repair on the trail? Of all the bikes were any of tubeless?


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Mike,

All, or most, of the big adventure bikes were tubeless.

The smaller dual sport bikes (DR650, KTM 690, KLR, KTM 500 EXC) all ran tubes. None of the 5 bikes in my group were tubeless.
 
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Did any of the flats have Slime or Ride On in the tubes?

I have this in my tubes but have not had a puncture yet so I do not know if it really works.

The one time I did get a nail I did not have anything in the tube so after that I put it in all my tubes but do not know if it really works.

I tend to run Ride-On in my tires and it has saved my bacon on more than one occasion. I don't know why but I did not have Ride-On in my front tube - just a mistake on my part.

If I recall correctly, Mark had slime in his tube but the nail in the tube made a hole too big for the slime to handle.

Milton did not have anything other than air in his tubes (and didn't have that once the tire went flat. :-P )
 
Kevin I want to see picture of the closed mountain pass we made it through going from New Mexico to Colorado with Adam. That part was the hardest of the week for me with snow, downed trees, mud and a missing track. I dropped my bike probably 6 times and I think Kevin took a picture every time. I am glad we were able to get help for Chuck....:)

Collin



Coming


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Guess I am hoping to hear a story of someone running tubeless that says "Wow, had a flat today, took 10 mins tops to plug it and air up, piece of cake!!!"

Someday I hope...
 
It's all about the food too

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Coffee encrusted elk steak at the Windsor Hotel in Del Norte, Colorado. Best hotel of the trip and the best plate I've had in memory anywhere.

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Beet salad with added salmon and added shrimp, Mahogany Ridge Brewery, Steamboat Springs, Colorado. This was at the wrap up dinner.

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Two certainly edible but forgettable, overpriced Gucci toast and meat things, in an otherwise forgettable coffee shop, Breckenridge, Colorado. Hey, add a single, chinsy slice of egg to the production and you can jump the charge from $4 to $9 don't ya know. But hey, you're in Breckenridge and you deserve the prices you're charged.

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A seemingly banal, simple salad but it wasn't on the menu and the chef/owner at the Tomichi Creek Trading Post in Sargents, Colorado, made it up for me and I appreciated it. Our group came in for the burgers and they appeared to be amazing to everyone else that ordered them. Tomichi Creek is worth a stop in Sargents just to get the vibe of the place. Our pleasant and affable server, Hanna, even brought me the entire bottle of balsamic when I asked for extra dressing.
 
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Guess I am hoping to hear a story of someone running tubeless that says "Wow, had a flat today, took 10 mins tops to plug it and air up, piece of cake!!!"

Someday I hope...

I had a flat on the rear tubless set up on the AT. Leak at spoke, wound up putting a tube in less than an hour after getting on the road to Silver City.

I am guessing that is not what you wanted to here.:lol2:
 
Rich, that blows... Was that the Outex system that failed ?
 
Watching those videos I have a few thoughts.

:tab On the hill climbs, it is REAL important to stand up, lean slightly forward, and do everything possible to keep up your momentum. A little speed is your friend when it comes to those big rocks. Too slow and a glancing blow or trying to roll over one will put you on the ground in a heart beat. With enough speed, the bike is more stable and better able to deal with those rocks. The gyroscopic effect of spinning wheels is your friend. The standing also allows the bike to flop around a bit more without flopping you around, which makes the bike much easier to control. This is especially important on the big adventure bikes that have less suspension travel and can't go as far over before you reach the point of no return. Lastly, try not to follow too close to the rider ahead of you. If that rider has problems and you can't get around, then you might have problems as well. Stopping on a hill climb is to be avoided at all costs unless you just have no choice. It can be difficult, if not impossible, to get started again. Remember, momentum is your friend and stopping kills it ;-) If I see a rider stalled and I have to get around him, I will continue to the top of the climb, or at least a mostly level section before the top if available, and walk back down to assist. That is usually easier than trying to stop and assist, then restart my own climb. This is especially true as the climbs get longer and more technical.

:tab On creek crossings standing helps for many of the same reasons as on hill climbs. It also can help you see rocks under the water easier. It is usually a good idea to wait for the rider in front of you to complete the crossing before you head in behind them. You don't want to have to stop in the middle of a crossing. The rear tire can sometimes dig into a soft bottom, making it VERY difficult to get moving again, especially if there are any rocks in the way! You have lost your momentum and gyroscopic effect, which are your friends when it comes to getting around/over any rocks. It also sucks to get roosted by the rider in front if he has to get on the gas :-P

:tab Fatigue is a BIG factor for this kind of riding. In my experience, it has been the biggest contributing factor to accidents/falls that I have seen on many many rides (including my own). I think this is more frequently an issue than even a lack of technical skills or experience. It is common when riders are camping. Most people generally don't sleep as well when camping as they do in their regular beds. Add to this the likely higher than usual energy expenditure over a day of this kind of riding and it does not take more than a day or two before many riders start to feel the effects of the fatigue. I often try to plan trips like this to have the long days up front and try to put the shorter days at the end of the trip, if possible. Either that, or I try to keep each day short, like maybe 200 miles tops. Even if you average 25mph, that makes for an eight hour day of riding. Ideally, I would like to ride three days, take a day off, ride three days, take a day off... Now if only I had a job that let me take that kind of time off for trips!

:tab This one looks like it was fun! I recognize some of the stuff South of Pie Town and I have been to that gas station in Datil. We too were getting iffy on gas... but they were open.
 
All great advice Tourmaster and by the end if the trip I was a totally different rider. I was nervous on dirt and didn't understand the importance of standing and counterbalance. Rocks were much easier to ride over going faster and standing up. You made very good points and I was curious above standing and water crossings so thank you. I am in decent shape and didn't feel tired or fatigued.

Collin
 
I would like to know what screen is this on 690? Screens for bikes from Australia?

You got it. It is a Screens for Bikes. I really like it. Not too large but really cuts the wind when riding pavement.
 
Having not gone to bed until midnight, we were a bit slow getting started on day 2. In fact, we didn't roll out of the parking lot until after 10:30 am. Milton especially was feeling the lingering fatigue from the long day before and decided to ride pavement the first half of the day and then rejoin the group for the second half of the day.

I will tell you up front that day 2 was fantastic. Best riding of the entire trip. By far. As Jon Smiley said after we finished the first half, "I'm gonna find the guy who figured out today's route and marry him" It was happiness and smiles all around.
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What made the first half so fun was riding 60 miles across the desert (or what seemed like desert) with great desert scenery all around. It was sort of like riding river road in Big Bend but with better (yes, better) scenery.
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The sand was not an issue for us on our smaller bikes. I suspect the big bikes might feel differently about the first 60 miles of today's riding though.

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Never underestimate the power of an old man with a KTM 500. :)
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Then, slowly, the landscape began to change. We left the desert behind and entered the mountains.
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I kept expecting to run into John Wayne around every corner...
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In the movie Dumb and Dumber there is a scene where Harry & Lloyd think they are in the Rocky Mountains but are actually in the plains of Nebraska and are vastly underwhelmed with the Rocky Mountains. Well, we had been riding the Rocky Mountains for 300 miles so far and hadn't spent any time riding on rocks. Nothin'!!!

Then, finally - FINALLY! - rocks showed up in the Rocky Mountains. Praise the Lord!
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At this point, I had more than 300 miles on the KTM 500's tripometer so it was time for a little roadside maintenance.
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I keep hearing how the maintenance requirements for KTMs are so much more intensive than Japanese bike and that KTMs are also much less reliable than Japanese bikes. So, in an effort to prevent total engine failure I resolved to do maintenance on my bike by the book. If it says change the oil every 10 hours, then, by God!, I'm going to change the oil every 10 hours, even if that 10th hour is in the middle of a ride. I'm not taking any chances!!!

Trail side maintenance
 
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Richard is this "The Ranch"? If so, we had a great time and the big bikes did great.
 
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