Adventure bikes

[footgoose]

Nice. The perfect machine for that stuff. Camera gets a workout too... beautiful.

 

Does the new rear favor a tiny bit more 'on pavement' time?

 

Happy TG to ya! Hope the rains are welcome.

[Scud]

Nice. The perfect machine for that stuff. Camera gets a workout too... beautiful.

 

Does the new rear favor a tiny bit more 'on pavement' time?

 

Happy TG to ya! Hope the rains are welcome.

 

Rain is usually welcome in California. I passed a sign that said "Impassable in Wet Weather" yesterday. And I managed some pretty steep and slippery sections - might have to try again tomorrow, but there is another road that runs along the creek. I haven't done a proper water crossing on the 701 yet.

 

As for the new rear, it's a Heidenau K60 Scout - a bit more street-biased than the Continental TKC80, which I torched in 2,000 miles. The Heidenau supposedly lasts a lot longer. Yesterday was my first proper dual sport ride on that tire and I was impressed. Great traction on wet asphalt, rocks, mud, wet leaves, deep pine needles, etc. And I ran it at 30+psi the whole time. With the Tubliss system, I can drop it down to 5psi for uber-grip - but yesterday wasn't technical enough to bother dropping pressure.

[Scud]

Took the Ducati ST3 for a 1,000 mile farewell tour up some minor roads to the San Francisco area... and dropped it off at GP Motorcycles in exchange for this helluva deal on a brand new (but 2 year old) Stelvio.

 

 

The V85TT was so tempting... but the end-of-the-run Stelvios seem to have all the issues sorted. Plus an 8.5 gallon tank (could have used that on the speed-run home on 101 from San Luis Obispo to San Diego). And the NTX has so many nice features or accessories that you would normally have to pay extra for:

• Suspension adjustable for pre-load, rebound, and damping, front and rear - had the dealer set sag for me on delivery.
• Crash bars
• Luggage
• Fog lights
• Bash plate
• Hand guards (those would've been nice for the last 100 miles to SF in the rain last Sunday)

[czakky]

Congrats! Love the color. Will it see any off road?

[Scud]

Oh yeah, it's gonna see dirt and rocks for sure. I'll probably do all the break-in miles on the street though.

[Chuck]

Congrats! Love the color. Will it see any off road?

 

Shirley  you jest..

[czakky]

Never been a dirt rider, I wasn’t sure how capable these bikes are. But, yeah you’re right I should know who I’m talking to...

[al_roethlisberger]

Those Stelvio's are nice, and yep some good deals to be had on the last year or so that are still on dealer floors.

[Scud]

For the record... a Moto Guzzi Stelvio has a single-plate clutch.

[docc]

For the record... a Moto Guzzi Stelvio has a single-plate clutch.

But NOT an aluminum flywheel (one would hope)?

[LowRyter]

there are different "adventures"

[roktbox]

On 2/19/2018 at 10:52 AM, Bill Hagan said:

 

Concur with all of that ... including the "don't do FB."  

 

OTOH, I am a bit two-faced as, while I do not have an account, I do lurk on Kathi's.  

 

FB is a nice place to see pix, etc., of friends and family.  That said, the political comments -- from both sides -- make me sad, so I won't belong or post. 

 

As for mototrekkin, he started using Instagram -- which I do use ... at least to see, but not yet post -- but seems to have found FB easier.

 

Here's an example of his latest pix, taken yesterday near Puerto Guadal, Chile.  He's WAY down the unroads to the southern tip.  So darn impressive to me.

 

Best,

 

Bill

 

 

 

 

I took that same picture in January!! Excellent ......... Around the corner and down river a little bit is a beautiful little ranch house looking across at the glacier. One of the many, "Holy crap. What a place!" moments of our trip. 

Edited March 22, 2019 by roktbox
Added content

[Scud]

I went up to Carizzo Plain National Monument for the superbloom.  After heavy rains, this valley is carpeted in flowers. Pictures can't do it justice... this goes on for about 50 miles by 30 miles wide.

Now I am planning a ride to Utah on Stelvio, with as little freeway as possible. I have work there next Monday, so will take next weekend to go via Joshua Tree, Mojave National Preserve, Lake Mead, and few other minor roads into Southern Utah. The plan is to camp somewhere in Southern Utah, then take the amazing route 12 to Capitol Reef National Park. I'm having fun getting the Stelvio set up for solo-camping.

[Chuck]

amazing route 12 is right. Did that a couple of years ago. It had my vote as most scenic road in America.. although, I just came back from doing Big Sur on the MZed. It's awesome, too.  Tough call.

[Scud]

Highway 1 from Morro Bay to Monterey has to be one of the most beautiful places on Earth. I've done a bit of Utah's 12 many years ago in a truck, and am looking forward to going all the way to Capitol Reef this time on the bike.

Here's my plan. Want to come along? Roll out 5:30am Saturday - or meet for breakfast in 29 Palms.

The 8 gallon tank on the Stelvio - and 40+ MPG on open roads - is perfect for these long desert crossings. Each page above is a bit less than 200 miles. The plan is to camp near Zion on Saturday night, but sadly, the road through Zion is closed for the whole month and I have to go around it.

I plan to visit Great Basin National Park and Death Valley on the way home. Never crossed the middle of Nevada before. 12,000 foot tall mountains in Great Basin... some roads closed November to June.