2 wr's battle a klx in a rugged cross country enduro ride..
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Mr. Fisherman
SheWolf
Six8
rydnseek
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rydnseek
Subject: 2 wr's battle a klx in a rugged cross country enduro ride.. Fri Feb 19, 2010 1:32 pm
2/15/10 Jerome to Laughlin
Kim, Tom & i met in Jerome at 9am Monday morning. The destination was Laughlin, Nv. We took the perkinsville road & followed it out fr 318a to Chino Valley.
Leaving Jerome, by the fire house.
There were a few patches of snow, & it was pretty chilly.. we were at over 5000' in elevation. The San Francisco Peaks in the distance..
This was only the beginning of the wildlife we were to encounter.. they were brazen & unafraid. We could only conclude that Tom's calming presence soothed the savage beasts.
Here we are in the wide open spaces before Chino Valley. Tom & I were on wr250's, Kim on a klx 250.
Here you can see the antelope running from me as i went by.. of course they came back to the fence to see Tom.
After Chino Valley, we were heading down toward camp wood.. we'd be nearing 6k' in elevation & weren't sure how clear the roads would be, or if the previous weeks' storms might have damaged them. But we were heading to Bagdad & would find out soon enough!
Here's a clip along the camp wood road..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMB0uAxKFyw
A little more snow, ice, mud, & water on the road..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgGuGTiNOa8
The road was a bit tricky in spots.. there was ice under some of the mud, & it could get slippery very quickly.
It was pretty chilly, too.. we had to stop & warm ourselves every so often.
We got up into the pines.. but only for about 20 miles or so.
As we got lower, there was more water on the road, more water running across the road, & more water covering us as we went through it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFx90Gi2Xf8
Here's a long clip of the 'Road to Bagdad'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHWD_n-r1sA
In this stretch we came upon more wild animals.. But Tom was in the lead, & when they saw it was him, they had to get a closer look. His reputation as a 'deer whisperer' is well known in the animal kingdom.
They even checked out Kim.. a known meat eater. He tried to offer some trail mix, but they weren't interested. This one let Kim pet her, though..
But enough of this.. Bambi will have to make some new friends. We had a ride to do. We continued along camp wood road until it reached Bagdad, a mining town. We crossed Burro Creek before we got into town.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iHBBgULXzc
We stopped in Bagdad, refueled, & had burritos for lunch.
More later.
Six8
Subject: Re: 2 wr's battle a klx in a rugged cross country enduro ride.. Fri Feb 19, 2010 3:50 pm
Tried to send you a PM... Nice job on the ride report I especcially liked the moderate paced videos, it was nice to see every thing clearly Even my not bikeish wife will enjoy them, at least I think so. Thanks again and I did enjoy the ride you had my slef. I'll run the sound part in the back ground like now while doing a tracking report.
Six8 Ottawa Ont.
SheWolf Alpha Rider
Subject: Re: 2 wr's battle a klx in a rugged cross country enduro ride.. Fri Feb 19, 2010 9:48 pm
*drools with envy* Toss me a towel, will ya Scotty? Most excellent RR! You've done some fantastic rides, my friend! Wow, I look forward to more of your reports. That one little spot where you guys crossed the rocky creek was pretty cool. Loved the footage. "Oh yeah, I got it all on video!"
_________________ A wolf's voice echoed down the mountain 'Share the bounty of the hunt with your brothers and sisters, and forever be strong and free.'
rydnseek
Subject: Re: 2 wr's battle a klx in a rugged cross country enduro ride.. Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:34 am
The road we wanted to take out of Bagdad went north, but when we got to it, it was gated shut.. part of the mine road. We circled around some looking for a way through, but were unsucessful. Kim & Tom stopped & talked to a couple of guys who had bikes in their driveway, & they said we needed to go south about 20 miles, then connect to the burro creet trail which went back north. It was about 3pm by now, & we had over 100 miles to go. So we headed south & got on the burro creek trail. We had decided that we should take the most direct route from here on, since it was late. My gps showed a connecting road from the burro creek trail to hwy 93 about 5 miles into the trail, so i planned to turn there. Tom & Kim were in the lead, but missed the turn.. it was a challenging trail with a lot of sand washes, & they were having fun riding it & staying upright. I stopped at the turn & waited for a bit.. hoping they would notice i was no longer behind them.. but alas, assumptions almost always are wrong & they continued up another 20 miles to another turn off to hwy 93. After about 1/2 hr, i continued up the trail & finally met them at the highway. But we were further behind, now, & would have to take pavement the rest of the way to get to Laughlin by dark.
Here's an early clip of the burro creek trail.. the sandy parts got deeper & narrower as we went along, but i didn't get the tougher parts on video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E23GmDS9Jc
We continued north on 93 toward Kingman, going between 60 & 70mph most of the way. Right before we got into Kingman, my fuel light came on & i needed to stop for gas. Tom had passed me on the freeway, but Kim saw me exit & he followed & we got gas. We continued into Kingman, then took the exit toward Laughlin. Tom was waiting at the exit, & i waved & continued on.. assuming he'd continue, too. But as assumptions go, he thought i needed gas, & began stopping at every station along the way looking for us. I went 5-10 miles under the limit, expecting Tom to catch up with us. He had made the reservations, so we needed him to get there & check us in.
But Kim & I got to Laughlin without Tom, & waited in front of the hotel.
We waited for about 1/2 hr, then i went in to check on the reservations. "We don't have any reservations for this guy', was all they could say. Murphy's law was in full swing by now, so i thought i'd call the riverside, in case we got the name confused.. we were supposed to stay at the river palms. The riverside hadn't heard of him, either. We left a few messages on Tom's cell phone, & decided we should go ahead & get a room.. it was dark, now & we were tired from the long ride, the pavement, the night cold through Kingman, & we were hungry.
The first time i went in to check on the reservations, there was no one there & i was able to ask about our alleged reservation. But now that i wanted to make one, there was a long line to a single reservationist. Another half hour of waiting in line & we secured a room. We were planning on putting our stuff in the room, parking the bikes, then continuing the search for Tom.
Then the phone rang. It was Tom. He had already checked into the hotel. He had parked in the parking garage instead of pulling in front of the hotel, & had come in another way so he didn't see us. To add to the perfect storm, his reservation was for the following week, not this day.. which explained why his reservation didn't show up. So i begin snapping at him, questioning why he didn't look for us out front, why he didn't turn back at burro creek trail, & any other real or imagined offenses i could remember. He was tired, hungry, & cranky, too, & returned the volleys. We stormed off to our respective rooms with Tom planning to have Paula come get him for the ride back.
Kim was tired & hungry, too, & wasn't interested in all the drama.. but it was keeping him from rest & food. After a few minutes, i realized i had come across too intensely & wanted to smooth things over. We did not know Tom's room #, & to add to the confusion, Tom's cell phone wasn't working right. We called & talked to Paula, & left a couple more messages on Tom's phone. We finally found Tom down by the buffet & patched things up. The drama over, we had a late meal & went to bed.
Day 2: Following Tim. Rocks, narrow gorges, sand washes, & Oatman.
We met at Tim's house & headed off into the desert. Another riding buddy of Tim's was there, Lyle. These guys are both terrific riders. Tim was riding a 2T ktm 200, & Lyle was on a ktm 520. Less then 5 minutes from Tim's house, we were into this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WulwNYMqX4o
More video following Tim through the desert..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aehuLiVcB4I
This was a very challenging ride for me.. lots of rocks.. steep hills, loose sand washes. Tim was showing us some primo riding in the area. A couple of hours into the ride, we started up another wash.. it narrowed & the water flow increased. The winter rains had made it very interesting.
Following Kim..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2Uu1TjRtx8
More rocky riding..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqzcj3Pg5jk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSkALfsANJc
We stopped right before we got into the tough section.. Tim wanted a smoke.. perhaps his last?
From right to left: Kim, Tim, Tom, Lyle. This is the beginning of the narrow wash & rocky creek section.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGRzx2kzeoY
Lyle made it look easy..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6VVAHSqMnc
There were a few more tough sections, but nothing that slowed us down much.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPoIVxo32y0
Me following the short climb section.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL_0IARmn8A
More later.. have to work!
rydnseek
Subject: burros, sandwiches & sand washes Sat Feb 20, 2010 7:42 pm
We continued following Tim all over the mountains, sand washes, & creeks around Bullhead City.
About halfway through this next clip, look for a blue & yellow flash go by.. that's Tom flying by both me & Tim.. he got tired of dawdling along in the sand & wanted to open it up a bit!
This next clip is a shorter on with mostly the sand washes.. you can see some of them are pretty deep.. the bike moves around a lot in these!
Finally, we got on pavement & went into Oatman for lunch.. Oatman is a colorful tourist town on old route 66. It's mostly a destination, now, & one of the main attractions is the 'wild' burros that wander the street.
We were 'escorting' Tim into Oatman.. not just because he is a famous celebrity, but also because he wasn't plated.
The story on the burros is this: They are fierce & vicious animals that terrorize the town most of the time. But we had in our company the famous 'burro whisperer'. Once Tom rolled into town, the burros calmed down, & some even took naps.
This one was the meanest, orneriest, & most ill tempered beast in the whole town.. see how Tom's soothing influence made him into a gentle pet.
We finished lunch, & narrowly escaped the burro infested town. Back in the desert, we rode up to some pretty views.
More of the typical terrain our fearless leader took us on.. or subjected us to!
Eventually we made it out of the canyons & washes, & were heading home.. down to the valley in Bullhead City.
We made it uneventfully back to Tim's house, then stood around & talked for another hour. We finally decided to meet at one of the casino's buffets & have dinner. Tim & his lovely wife Tara made it, but Lyle & his wife missed us.. they came early & decided to take off when they saw the crowd at the buffet. We also couldn't take the long wait in line at the buffet, & headed to a pizza bar for dinner. Before meeting for dinner, Tom got his long island iced teas, & i knocked off a couple of fat tires. Kim, who is the hard core party animal in our group, decided to nap in the room until dinner.
But this was a day of challenging riding.. the most i've been on in a single day for a long time. Tim was his usual great & gracious self, & meeting & riding with Lyle was a priviledge. His riding & tales of injury were classic! We got to bed late, with plans for an early departure & ride on the california side into Parker, then across the dam & back home to Az.
End of Day 2.
Mr. Fisherman
Subject: Re: 2 wr's battle a klx in a rugged cross country enduro ride.. Sun Feb 21, 2010 12:14 am
Awsome stuff, GREAT report. Thanks for taking the time to put it together and for sharing.
rydnseek
Subject: The final ride? Sun Feb 21, 2010 8:35 am
Day 3. The ride home. The end of the ride?
We left the hotel & took pavement for about 50 miles south. We went past Needles to a dirt road that came out by Parker, Az & crossed at the dam. That was another 40-50 miles of some pretty challenging riding. The road was pretty easy most of the way, but it was rutted out in several places, with many wash crossings & a lot of ups & downs.
Notice how green everything is from the winter rains.. well, it's green for this part of the country, anyway.
This was really a powerline road. It was fairly well maintained, but had a lot of damage from the previous weeks' rains.
This was just a big hole in the rocks.
Occasionally you can see glimpses of Lake Havasu in the distance. In this clip we caught up with the road grading crew.. a little over halfway through the road. The first part was pretty fun with all the washouts, but the second part had it's own challenges with all the loose rock & gravel.
This was a very scenic road.. it curved around the hills & went up & down a lot. And with the distant mountains & the lake views, it was a fun & pretty ride.
This is the last video clip of the ride. There is still plenty of great scenery, & we pass the only vehicle we saw on this road, other than the road crew.
At long last we came to Parker Dam. We crossed it & went into Parker for gas.
After Parker, we had planned to ride dirt over to Bagdad, then back the way we came along the Camp Wood road. But the more everyone thought about it, the less enthused we were about riding another 200+ miles through mud, water crossings, ice & snow. So after a brief discussion, we opted for pavement home.. still about 250 miles.. no simple ride. But we got into Prescott about 6pm, & Kim & i got to sedona by 7.. pretty dark & cool.
All together we rode nearly 700 miles, about half & half dirt & pavement. It was probably too long of an offroad ride to go from jerome to Laughlin in one day. It would probably have been better to split it up & stay in Bagdad or even Parker. But it was fun & an adventure.. although i haven't heard from Kim or Tom since. You should probably hear their side before planning a ride like this. I'll let you know if any of us are still friends...
LPB
Subject: Re: 2 wr's battle a klx in a rugged cross country enduro ride.. Sun Feb 21, 2010 11:08 am
Excellent RR. I wish we had tracks like that here in UK!
Rydnseek how are your MT21 tyres doing? I have an X and I think I may go for the same tyres. Lloyd
X-Racer
Subject: Re: 2 wr's battle a klx in a rugged cross country enduro ride.. Sun Feb 21, 2010 3:56 pm
Great report guys !
Next time can we get an extra ADV sticker and let Tom sneak it onto the Burro's backside (while whispering in his enormous ears of course) ?
LPB
Subject: Re: 2 wr's battle a klx in a rugged cross country enduro ride.. Mon Feb 22, 2010 1:46 pm
LPB wrote:
Excellent RR. I wish we had tracks like that here in UK!
Rydnseek how are your MT21 tyres doing? I have an X and I think I may go for the same tyres. Lloyd
Sorry also meant to ask if you have changed the gearing? Lloyd.
rydnseek
Subject: Re: 2 wr's battle a klx in a rugged cross country enduro ride.. Sat Mar 06, 2010 12:14 pm
LPB wrote:
LPB wrote:
Excellent RR. I wish we had tracks like that here in UK!
Rydnseek how are your MT21 tyres doing? I have an X and I think I may go for the same tyres. Lloyd
Sorry also meant to ask if you have changed the gearing? Lloyd.
Lloyd, the mt21's have been great.. they've held up longer than i expected, & have exceeded my expectations off road.
I have the stock gearing on the x.. 13/42 as opposed to the 13/43 on the R. I've considered tweaking it some, but i'm pretty happy with the gearing. First is low enough.. i'm used to my old drz with 15/47 & the close range 5 spd, so the wrx is geared to the moon by comparison. 6th is a little high on some long grades, but i can down shift to 5th & it's fine. 6th stock is fine on flat or downhills (duh).
My next set of tires might be a more road worthy tire.. like the kenda 270,s or the shinko's. I like to try different things, but i'll probably stick with the mt21's. They handle the worst terrain the best, & are still fine on pavement.
Hetch
Subject: Re: 2 wr's battle a klx in a rugged cross country enduro ride.. Sat Mar 06, 2010 1:04 pm
Man, you are lucky to be living in Sedona! Beautiful country. My wifes Grandmother (93) is one of the folks that never left Jerome after the mine closed. We used to spend some time on the mountain visiting and the view from her house seems to go forever. Your pictures took me back. Thanks for the ride report!
bikerider
Subject: Re: 2 wr's battle a klx in a rugged cross country enduro ride.. Thu Mar 11, 2010 2:19 pm
Question for you, How did the KLX do? You see right now I'm torn. I'd prefer the WR for a lot of reasons, but local dealers are unloading 09 KLX's for $2999. For a grand I can do some mods and have a decent bike for my needs.
rydnseek
Subject: Re: 2 wr's battle a klx in a rugged cross country enduro ride.. Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:11 pm
bikerider wrote:
Question for you, How did the KLX do? You see right now I'm torn. I'd prefer the WR for a lot of reasons, but local dealers are unloading 09 KLX's for $2999. For a grand I can do some mods and have a decent bike for my needs.
Kim's KLX is a nice bike.. once he rejetted & put on a pipe, it is very peppy. It's just a little bit weaker than the wr's but is a nice bike. AzTom likes the suspension on the klx better than the wrr.
You're right, it's about a grand less. I wanted the yamaha for the higher tech engine.. FI, etc. The klx is a good bike that you can easily upgrade.. bigger tanks are cheaper as are jets. 6th gears are basically the same, too. You won't go wrong with either.. just get what you like better.
bikerider
Subject: Re: 2 wr's battle a klx in a rugged cross country enduro ride.. Fri Mar 12, 2010 12:36 pm
Kim's KLX is a nice bike.. once he rejetted & put on a pipe, it is very peppy. It's just a little bit weaker than the wr's but is a nice bike. AzTom likes the suspension on the klx better than the wrr.
You're right, it's about a grand less. I wanted the yamaha for the higher tech engine.. FI, etc. The klx is a good bike that you can easily upgrade.. bigger tanks are cheaper as are jets. 6th gears are basically the same, too. You won't go wrong with either.. just get what you like better.
Thanks for the insight. I am still in the looking stage and will try to find a nice used WR before I pull the trigger on a new KLX.
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Subject: Re: 2 wr's battle a klx in a rugged cross country enduro ride..
2 wr's battle a klx in a rugged cross country enduro ride..