Thursday, June 21, 2012
Wobbly 2 wheel Wednesday, training for Road to Baja
Mr. Smithers and I rode our asses off yesterday at Smithville lake. The trails were dry but good! We ended the night with local Mexican food from Castizos. One more chapter to our Road to Baja! In one week we leave for the Continental Divide. Let the training continue...
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Triumph Tiger 800 XC build
About a year ago I purchased a 2011 Triumph Tiger 800XC. I have always wanted an adventure bike, however I didn't think it would be a Triumph. In fact I wasn't even planning on buying one for a few years. I originally wanted a BMW 800GS. I am super happy with my decision to purchase the Triumph. It's been a great bike!
I have been building her up from stock. It started out a little like this.
And now looks like this as of last week (without luggage)
Changes include:
Custom rear 52 tooth sprocket
Custom painted brushed aluminum pieces
Custom painted brushed aluminum pieces
Custom Acerbis rear shock protector
Acerbis hand guards
Acerbis rear mud flap
Acerbis rear mud flap
Touratech front fender riser
Touratech GPS mount/adjustable windscreen mount
Touratech foldable shifter
Touratech headlight guard
Touratech sidestand foot.
Touratech sidestand foot.
Garmin Zumo 665
Rigid Industries Dually D2 LED aux. lights
Carribou Luggage top rack and top box
Happy Trails rear luggage racks
Happy Trails front crash bars
Wolfeman Luggage Expedition dry bags
Wolfeman Rollie Bags-Large
RKA tank bag
Mega Tube tool tube
Triumph skid plate
Triumph center stand
Wolfeman Rollie Bags-Large
RKA tank bag
Mega Tube tool tube
Triumph skid plate
Triumph center stand
Make sure to check back regularly for new pictures.
Special thanks to:
Ride Three Sixty Five and Amsoil
Engle Motors
Happy Trail
Continental Divide Ride
In a couple weeks 5 of us are riding our motorcycles on the Continental Divide from just outside Pueblo Colorado to Canada. We will be riding highway from Kansas City to Pueblo, and from Canada to Kansas City. The rest of the trip will mostly be off-road. I would like to dedicate this trip to my Uncle Brian. Brian Loves motorcycles!
Here is our story...
Also follow us on Facebook: Facebook Page
You can follow our Spot page to see where we are: Spot Page
If you feel charitable you can donate here. Thanks in advance!!!: Click Here to Donate!
Here is our planned route:
Our total planned route is 4,059 miles. I think it will be about 4,500 miles before we get back. I foresee some unplanned routes on our trip.
We did a test run on Memorial Day. We rode 300 miles and it took us about 8 hours with 1 lunch stop and 1 gas stop. We will have a few 300+ mile days on our trip. This ride was very exhausting. I expect the first few days to be a mind game. Here is our track from Memorial Day.
6-20-12
Got some new shoes from Engle Motors. I have gone through 2 of these Continental TKC 80 tires already. Historically I have only been able to get about 3,000 miles out of one of these rear tires. I guess I will have to be a little easy on the throttle to make it home on this one...
6-24-12
Departure day is getting closer! Yesterday I used a rear fender dirt bike graphic I had laying around to protect my tank during our trip. I don't expect to have a lot of chances to wash my bike and I didn't want dirt and dust to sit under my tank bag and destroy my paint. Minus the little crease on the right side it doesn't not look terrible. You won't be able to see it any way.
Next order of business will be tire changes. On Wednesday we are all meeting up to swap rubber.
My primary luggage will be the Wolfman Expedition dry bags. I am waiting on Wolfman to send me new rubber backings so I can get them mounted up and start packing the bike. Hopefully I will get them today.
6-26-12
I am pretty much all packed except for my clothes. I spent some time last night putting everything in zip lock bags. It's incredible how much room a sleeping bag takes up. I have it compressed down as small as it goes and it still takes up almost an entire Wolfman Expedition side bag. As it stands right now I will have 1 tank bag for electronics, road snacks, wallet, etc. 2 Wolfman Expedition side bags, 2 Wolfman large Rollie Bags, and 1 Carribou luggage top case. The top case shouldn't have much in it. I will use it for over flow or just another place to put stuff while on the run.
6-27-12
New tires! I think we are ready to roll! In only a little over 24 hours we should be set up and making dinner at our first camp site.
6-29-12
Today we leave! Right now were waiting in Matt to get out of work. I just finished up a couple things on the bike so now it's time to roll!
Problem #1! Jim made a plate for a bike that Jamie is borrowing. We realized right before we left that it covered the gas tank. Ooops! It's 5.00 and were still in Kansas City. Jamie left you ladies a nice surprise.
3:00am MT
We finally arrived in La Junta, CO. It's 3 am! This is not the planned arrive time or place. We are officially 60 or so miles behind schedule. Today we really need to make it to the Breckenridge Fricso area. No more blog chit chat, time to sleep!
6-30-12 6:00am MT
I can't sleep. My damned internal clock is denying me the privilege to sleep in. Oh well.
What is it about motorcycles and the release from life that they give you while riding. I feel very sorry for the people in the world that have never ridden one. And even more sorry for the people in the world who have no desire to ride one. You get on a motorcycle and the world problems go away. The only thing going on at that exact moment is you, the bike, and the beautiful sights of mother nature. It's awesome!!! So back to the non motorcycle believers. Did you know that if you packed a 747 jumbo jet full of people and slammed it in to the earth that it would equal the amount of people that die in car accidents every day! So, thats 365 jumbo jets that crash every year. If 365 planes crashed every year do you believe that anyone in their right mind would fly? I sure as hell wouldn't. My point is, why are so many people against motorcycles but they drive their death box to work every day? This is a mystery that will never be solved.
Back to bed I go. I need some sleep!
Couldn't sleep. I guess a trail nap will need to happen a little later.
Yesterday we covered 543 highway miles. Today we need to get around 500 miles again to stay on schedule. Here goes nothin...
First day went good. We rode a lot of cool stuff today. The mountains are so beautiful. We didn't have any major events except for Dan's KTM not wanting to run right. For some reason the internal gas pump keeps pumping all of the gas to one side. We also did a really fun hill climb.(video of that later). All in all a very good day. We are back on schedule because we cut some of the route off. We totaled 269 miles today. Not too shabby. Not too many pictures from today's ride on my phone. Those will have to come later.
7-1-12
What a day! We totaled 273 miles today and 1,088 miles total. We saw some really cool stuff today. We basically rode along one river or another all day. Really good stuff. We saw a guy who is walking the continental divide and says that he should be to Canada in September! Wow. That dude is crazy. Soon after making it to Wyoming the scenery changed a bunch. We rode a flat and straight gravel rode for miles and miles. We were doing 80-100 at times. Whelp time for bed.
Here is our story...
Also follow us on Facebook: Facebook Page
You can follow our Spot page to see where we are: Spot Page
If you feel charitable you can donate here. Thanks in advance!!!: Click Here to Donate!
Here is our planned route:
We did a test run on Memorial Day. We rode 300 miles and it took us about 8 hours with 1 lunch stop and 1 gas stop. We will have a few 300+ mile days on our trip. This ride was very exhausting. I expect the first few days to be a mind game. Here is our track from Memorial Day.
6-20-12
Got some new shoes from Engle Motors. I have gone through 2 of these Continental TKC 80 tires already. Historically I have only been able to get about 3,000 miles out of one of these rear tires. I guess I will have to be a little easy on the throttle to make it home on this one...
Departure day is getting closer! Yesterday I used a rear fender dirt bike graphic I had laying around to protect my tank during our trip. I don't expect to have a lot of chances to wash my bike and I didn't want dirt and dust to sit under my tank bag and destroy my paint. Minus the little crease on the right side it doesn't not look terrible. You won't be able to see it any way.
Next order of business will be tire changes. On Wednesday we are all meeting up to swap rubber.
My primary luggage will be the Wolfman Expedition dry bags. I am waiting on Wolfman to send me new rubber backings so I can get them mounted up and start packing the bike. Hopefully I will get them today.
6-26-12
I am pretty much all packed except for my clothes. I spent some time last night putting everything in zip lock bags. It's incredible how much room a sleeping bag takes up. I have it compressed down as small as it goes and it still takes up almost an entire Wolfman Expedition side bag. As it stands right now I will have 1 tank bag for electronics, road snacks, wallet, etc. 2 Wolfman Expedition side bags, 2 Wolfman large Rollie Bags, and 1 Carribou luggage top case. The top case shouldn't have much in it. I will use it for over flow or just another place to put stuff while on the run.
6-27-12
New tires! I think we are ready to roll! In only a little over 24 hours we should be set up and making dinner at our first camp site.
6-29-12
Today we leave! Right now were waiting in Matt to get out of work. I just finished up a couple things on the bike so now it's time to roll!
Problem #1! Jim made a plate for a bike that Jamie is borrowing. We realized right before we left that it covered the gas tank. Ooops! It's 5.00 and were still in Kansas City. Jamie left you ladies a nice surprise.
3:00am MT
We finally arrived in La Junta, CO. It's 3 am! This is not the planned arrive time or place. We are officially 60 or so miles behind schedule. Today we really need to make it to the Breckenridge Fricso area. No more blog chit chat, time to sleep!
6-30-12 6:00am MT
I can't sleep. My damned internal clock is denying me the privilege to sleep in. Oh well.
What is it about motorcycles and the release from life that they give you while riding. I feel very sorry for the people in the world that have never ridden one. And even more sorry for the people in the world who have no desire to ride one. You get on a motorcycle and the world problems go away. The only thing going on at that exact moment is you, the bike, and the beautiful sights of mother nature. It's awesome!!! So back to the non motorcycle believers. Did you know that if you packed a 747 jumbo jet full of people and slammed it in to the earth that it would equal the amount of people that die in car accidents every day! So, thats 365 jumbo jets that crash every year. If 365 planes crashed every year do you believe that anyone in their right mind would fly? I sure as hell wouldn't. My point is, why are so many people against motorcycles but they drive their death box to work every day? This is a mystery that will never be solved.
Back to bed I go. I need some sleep!
Couldn't sleep. I guess a trail nap will need to happen a little later.
Yesterday we covered 543 highway miles. Today we need to get around 500 miles again to stay on schedule. Here goes nothin...
First day went good. We rode a lot of cool stuff today. The mountains are so beautiful. We didn't have any major events except for Dan's KTM not wanting to run right. For some reason the internal gas pump keeps pumping all of the gas to one side. We also did a really fun hill climb.(video of that later). All in all a very good day. We are back on schedule because we cut some of the route off. We totaled 269 miles today. Not too shabby. Not too many pictures from today's ride on my phone. Those will have to come later.
7-1-12
What a day! We totaled 273 miles today and 1,088 miles total. We saw some really cool stuff today. We basically rode along one river or another all day. Really good stuff. We saw a guy who is walking the continental divide and says that he should be to Canada in September! Wow. That dude is crazy. Soon after making it to Wyoming the scenery changed a bunch. We rode a flat and straight gravel rode for miles and miles. We were doing 80-100 at times. Whelp time for bed.
I seriously slacked off with the ride after we got back. I also started getting in to some areas at night where I couldn't update in the evenings or early morning. So it's time to get this finished!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)