Zubb

Well, it’s free of charge… but you really should “punch in” at Tecate like everyone else.

Yeh, the s’penders are are already top flight. Just need a little more spring for my beer belly and gear. cheers!

Congrats man! There's nothing like a new bike, and getting it set up for you. I'm currently neck deep in doing the same with a Norden 901 expedition.

Heck yea! Would be fantastic if you can make it.

The road is a narrow single lane (broken pavement) thing with a few blind hairpin turns. Hopefully your wife is brave, skilled, and your vehicles are small.

So glad you picked this weekend as I think I’m free. This has always been truly fun. what’s better than a group ride? One that ends at a campfire when you can all talk gear, and stories, and Moto stuff. I think campfire talk after a ride is where the best of the best Moto friendships happen. Im in!

Great write up Tom. While I as a reader was even frustrated with all the foot dragging from your pal . . . I'll state it takes courage (on his part) to throw in the towel especially so close to home. One of the most important riding skills is to know ones own limits and be willing to listen to that inner voice. Kudo's to him for giving it the effort to get on the bike and try to reignite the spark for riding with you. Kudos to you for always being cool under pressure and keeping it about the people more so than the ride or the bikes. It's a great story Tom, thanks for sharing.

Looking forward to the finale… Great write up!

. . . . . and, . . . . The trailer thing. I've spent my riding life evolving into smaller, lighter, tighter, "less" gear on the bike. But I am secretly drawn toward that thing and the thought of being able to just throw the gear "in the trunk and close the lid", and just riding the bike sans Beverly Hillbilly like. Road trips are awesome.

Those bikes cleaned up well. I really dig seeing old bikes doing what they were designed to do and not sitting in the weeds out behind some garage. You're an inspiration Tom. And who doesn't love a good old fashioned ride report like this?? Thanks for taking the time to share the story and pics with us. Time to make some more popcorn!

Lemme grab some popcorn and a couple PBR's . . . this is gonna be good.

I'll never forget the lightbulb moment when I realized that I could zoom across the country on a wonderful full sized ADV bike, and then actually ride it off road, comfortably, confidently and safely. It was incredibly liberating. I have since logged several hundred thousand miles on two wheels crossing the country many times to ride dirt, gravel, sand, imbedded rocks, ledges, ruts, steeps, etc. Todays modern adventure bikes are spectacular, and while it's easy to get caught up in nuance . . . I can't think of a single one that I would hesitate to climb on and go to the ends of the earth. Look, I'm as excitable as the next guy when we start talking about the next new latest greatest wonder-bike. Having just finished a couple laps of the IDBDR, I'm tempted to raid the piggy bank and buy my next War Horse (I do seem to trade up every couple years, and it's about that time). There's one thing though that will never change, and that's the need for MASTERING balance. Balance is fundamental. And very few of us will ever master it. We cheat it with speed. Especially if we've spent our lives racing or desert riding on skinny bikes (not that there's anything wrong with that). But the bigger the bike, typically the slower we have to go when things get technical (and they always will). The better your balance skills are, the lighter your bike will feel and ride. My son Adam "Gerty" talks about this in his first guest appearance on the MotoTrek channel. Hope you enjoy it, and are hopefully inspired by it.

it's called "ramp building".

He's way better at balance than I am. No contest.

Hottest summer on Idaho record. I had to re-route the Sept tour several times the week before the ride. Fortunately Idaho is full of options. Magruder was closed. Then right before we got to Elk City, it rained for 1.5 days and put the fires down enough to open the corridor! Which also meant the first 4+ days were dust free riding.

Gerty is the only guy I ever coached that figured out Borrego sand in literally 5 minutes. Because…. He understands balance.

Wow! Great pics and write up Mimi. I love seeing your updates like this. So glad you keep posting even though you’re far away.

That is a gorgeous bike!! Have fun!

I'll be traveling. Sorry to miss this one. Cheers!

Thanks for sharing the pics and write up Randy.

If your papers are in order you’ll be good to go. Get your insurance and your FMM. Don’t carry a pocket knife on your person. No drugs. If by some very small chance you get pulled over, you’ll have nothing to be “leveraged” against you. I’ll be touring in Baja at that time so unfortunately won’t be able to join you guys.

Sweet looking bike. Congratulations!

I don’t know, but I keep running into you here in Idaho this week.

Also knew and talked with him regularly for 10+ years. I’m sad I won’t be able to attend as I’m still in Idaho. RIP friend.