Trashed my bike yesterday

[Rick Lee]

The carnage isn't too apparent in the photos, but yesterday's ride averaged about one drop per mile and it took us eight hours to make it 30 miles.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=411094

It was probably the hardest thing I've ever done, worse than my first marathon and took twice as long to go about the same distance. And today I'm about as sore as I have been after a marathon. Anyway, the scenery was amazing. We made it to pavement about 30 min. after it got pitch dark. You haven't seen dark until you've been in the desert on a cloudy night. Oh, we got rained on too. Sure enjoyed that 100 mile ride home at highway speeds, soaking wet, no mirrors or brake light and a host of other issues. Let the repairs begin. Licking my wounds.

[Gogar]

That's livin' man! I could - maybe- see doing that on a CR or something.

[LakeCleElum]

Rick - Come ride the trails around LAKE CLE ELUM....6" wide and 2,000 ft. down when you drop it........None of these "Freeway Wide" type trails with a 2% grade.......

[nostatic]

that's freakin' nuts...though rocks are usually a tad easier than sand.

[dentist90]

My motto is go big or go home! (I chose go home )

Some of that dessert scenery is simply gorgeous though.

[911boost]

Rides like that Rick are why I got the Honda Cr, so I could have a dedicated bike for that kind of fun. That is a tad narley for my tastes on a bike that big. Now, on one of the new 800 GS's, that would have been a different story. I made the mistake of trying to ride something a little easier than that, in the rain, and got schooled by the single cylinder GS's in the group.

On a side note, I can understand the open carry depending on certain circumstances, crashing my motorcycle every 5 minutes, is not one of those circumstances. On rides in to mountains, in no mans land, I sometimes take a handgun, but it is always in my backpack.

Hope you get it fixed, and while you have the checkbook out, buy a set of knobbies for the GS, or a smaller dual sport mc to go along with the GS if you like rides like that.

Bill

[Rick Lee]

I need to get a dedicated dirt bike when funds allow. I wasn't the only one carrying there. Lots of folks we saw on quads were carrying too. Man, we saw some scary tracks out there at night. There is zero help out there if you get into trouble. Just found another cactus needle in my leg from that first drop into a bunch of prickly pear. Man, that was a rough day.

[911boost]

I hear you on the wildlife, and owning an atv as well, its a lot easier to ride one of those without the risk of falling on your side, imprinting that 1911's shape into your hip, smile.

I can't imagine how sore you are, I get tired after 8 + rides, and my CR is a lot lighter.

This is one of the reasons I have been avoiding the BMW dealership, when my CR gets long in the tooth....



Good luck healing.

[TerryH]

That looks like a blast! But too nice of a bike to go wrecking.


Is it just me or do most of Rick's posts start with, "wrecked my car, wife wrecked the car, hit a pedestrian.... trashed my bike."

I've been driving 35+ years and don't have the incidents you have in a month. Can't tell if you're very lucky or very unlucky!

[porsche4life]

That trail looks like I would enjoy it on a 250 tops. Your bike is just way too heavy for that, But I' m a light weight. I would love to have another bike and a good place to ride and people to ride with.

[Rick Lee]

I'll give three cheers for SIG Sauer and Robar (refinishing shop) too. I was using a Blackhawk active retention holster and it didn't come loose at all. My SIG got smacked real good a few times into rocks. Didn't bruise or hurt at all, as the holster takes the hit. I thought I had really dinged up my slide. But I just dusted it off and I can't find a mark on it. That NP3 finish must be pretty tough. I'm glad I didn't bring a 1911, as I would worry about the hammer getting broken off. And they weigh a lot more than the aluminum frame SIG's anyway.

Still sore and the wife just pulled that last cactus needle out of my leg. I felt like Wile E. Coyote, but the Acme delivery truck didn't show up.

[speeder]

Looks like a lot of fun but I'd want a trials type bike for that stuff. Something feather-light that's made to be dropped and can be picked-up really easy by one person w/ crazy ground clearance and suspension travel. Great adventure anyways!

[Eric Coffey]

Duuuuude! I think you need one of these:



Hey, did you happen to see that whopper of a meteor in the Northern sky around 10:00pm? Pretty cool.

[Dutchie]

Have to go with Eric on this one get a trial bike why even try that stuff on a heavy bike like yours ?

Why not get try a Trial bike for fun ? i started 2 years ago with trials and love it !

Cheers,

Ed

[Jim Richards]

Originally Posted by TerryH

Is it just me or do most of Rick's posts start with, "wrecked my car, wife wrecked the car, hit a pedestrian.... trashed my bike."

I've been driving 35+ years and don't have the incidents you have in a month. Can't tell if you're very lucky or very unlucky!

I've known him for years. He's good for many, many more of these threads.

[SLO-BOB]

Most people haven't the vaguest idea how hard that is even after seeing picks. The GS is a HUGE, ponderous, clumsy motorcycle. I've ridden them and always wondered what would posses a man, let alone scores of riders all over the world (including Ewan McGregor who has written books on the topic) to take a GS (yes - even the Adventure) on anything worse than a tame logging road. Damage to man and/or machine is a certainty.

the pucker factor on this was what....about 11?



My BMW does nothing more technical than gravel, hence my search for a nice, light-weight (relative to a GS) 690 KTM. Still carries gear and weighs about a buck 50 less. - The 990 is nice too, (but maybe a little big) like this guy who was with you -



Did he get sick of waiting on the GS guys?

You, sir, have balls. BIG ones.

[VincentVega]

I rode with a guy on a GS recently, I was surprised how big it was. Nice job RL, I'm surprised you didnt break something.

Anyone take a KLR 650 on something like this? I've been thinking about a dual sport bike and while we dont have this kind of stuff on the east coast, I'd like the options of some offroad yet would need to get there via the bike on the highway.

[Rick Lee]

One guy had a KLR and he only dumped it once. I think the two KTM's were the only ones not to dump their bikes at all, or else they were so far ahead of us when they did, that we didn't see it. But those guys do these rides every weekend and have been doing them for decades. They are so hardcore. I'm only two years into serious riding. And no, I had NO idea what I was getting into when I got onto this trail. I heard it was a 7 out of 10 and I was pretty sure the last few I did were 5's and I didn't find them that bad. Lesson learned. For me this trail was an 11 out of 10. Going up hill was never that bad, other than the clutch smoke. Going down was the pucker stuff, but I don't think I dumped it once going downhill. I really think all my drops were on easy stuff and I handled the hard stuff pretty well.

After more drops than I could count, I was getting so frustrated and just wanted to see pavement. Imagine how I felt when we came up to a fork in the trail, no signs and my GPS said we were still 2-3 miles from pavement. We took wrong turns that dead-ended twice and that was in the dark. Man, it was tough. Once we hit pavement and I got to a gas station, I called my wife and asked her to meet me for dinner in Tempe to break up my ride home into 70 and 30 mile segments. She brought me a dry shirt, winter riding jacket and a daytime helmet visor. That ride home after dinner was like getting a massage compared to the rest of the day. My hands were cramping at dinner and I couldn't use my chopsticks. What a mess.

[GDSOB]

Originally Posted by Chris Martin

I rode with a guy on a GS recently, I was surprised how big it was. Nice job RL, I'm surprised you didnt break something.

Anyone take a KLR 650 on something like this? I've been thinking about a dual sport bike and while we dont have this kind of stuff on the east coast, I'd like the options of some offroad yet would need to get there via the bike on the highway.

Chris, I have an 08 KLR650 and it is a great all around bike. Definitely alot more dirt oriented than the GS, surprisingly good on on the pavement, and not bad on the freeway less than 80 mph. It works well for me since I have a 1.5 hr ride to anywhere interesting in the southern Ohio foothills or Kentucky. It still is a big heavy pig for a dirt bike and it'll wear you out picking it up after drops. If you do break something, helluva lot cheaper to replace than BMW parts.

[Tim Hancock]

As a long time dirt rider and MX racer, I can say that I have always disliked the large displacement monster "dual" purpose bikes. With my years of off road experience, no doubt I would have faired much better on that pig, but regardless of how these monstrosities are marketed, they are not well suited to off-road use.

Hell, a 20 year old measely Honda XL250 would put the fat pigs to shame on this type of terrain.

None the less, I applaud your ambition (just not your choice of "off-road" machine).