[MMARSH]

Didn't read past the first page....

But I literally just got back from a week of off road riding and camping on the big bikes in Death Valley. There were four of us. A 2017 Ducati Multistrada Enduro, A 2015 KTM 1190, A 2015 KTM 1290 and me on my 2015 GSA. All the bikes were outfitted with TKC80s or Mefo Adventures. We all had tent camping gear and all but the Ducati were running soft bags for this trip......We did Eureka dunes, Steel pass to Saline Valley, Goler Wash, Titus Canyon and some other places i dont know the name of. This was my first time exploring DV off road, so I was just following my buddy on the 1190. All of us on this trip have smaller dirt bikes.....Would they have been easier over the some of the really rough stuff ? adsolutley no doubt about it. We all picked up our bikes at some point on this trip and had we crashed them while hustling them down a sandy or rocky road at 70mph, they wouldn't have fared to well. But we are already planning our 1000 mile Idaho BDR and it will definitely be on the big bikes....

FYI, the only bike that had any significant failures were the KTMs. The 1190 bent a front wheel enough so it wouldn't hold air. Hammered it back in place, pumped it up and rode on. The 1290 lost its shock (bad seal) on the third day. Kudos to KTM in Las Vegas. He rode 2 the bike 2 hours there and they were waiting to install the new shock that they had pulled off a new bike that was on the showroom floor....He was back with the group by dinner.

Oh something else. Although we were all on big bikes, I was the only one of the four of us that knew the easiest way to lift these bikes up. There is a technique. If you try to lift them like a 250, its going to be a long day if (when) you drop them a lot.