amgems

The new smart phones do have GPS capabilities, but, I would think, not as detailed or accurate as a true dedicated GPS receiver. With that said, a guy I have ridden with uses only his fancy smansy smart phone for navigation. Not sure what type it was. I have a Garmin 60 and he followed me all the time, so not sure how good it works. Tough guys don't need no stinking GPS. Maps and compass that's all.

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/getobext.php?wfo=psr&sid=BTTC1&num=72&raw=0 Go here first: http://www.weather.gov/ Click on the map Click on the map again http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/psr/ You can really pinpoint location here http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?minlon=-117&maxlon=-108.96&minlat=31.3&maxlat=37.14&mapwidth=354&site=psr&zmx=1.25&zmy=1.25&map.x=120&map.y=289 Then click on "3 day history" Upper right area of page. I did the dunes specifically, but you can pick anywhere.

The ground wire has to be disconnected before charging. It is burried in the owners or repair manual somewhere. I think all of 'em are like this EXC, XCW, etc. I read on KTM talk a while back that the fuel pump will run on the EXC's too. Some do, some don't. Mine don't. (good grammar huh). I also read about a guy who fried his ECU because he didn't disconnect the ground. Who knows what was going on there. I just take off the ground wire from the battery when I charge mine. The ECU's are very sensitive to voltage spikes. I had a guy weld something on my kids car, and he disconnected (unplugged) the ECU.

If this is developed for the military it could turn into a super cool consumer product. Think Hummer, GPS, Digital Cameras, etc. How cool would a two wheel drive electric bike, with tons of torque, be on some tight single track?

We were never below 2000 ft in elevation. Got as high as 7800 ft. It was kinda chilly. Never got much above 70 in the lower areas, and it felt like 40's - 50's up high. And windy. We even had a little rain in Saline Valley. Big spaces for sure. There is one pic with dunes in the distance. Those dunes are the largest in North America. The tallest is 680 feet. They don't look all that big in the picture, but up close, they are huge.

Did a ride in the Death Valley area 2 weeks ago. We did a big 150 mile loop through the northern end of the park on Saturday. On Sunday it was just one other guy and myself, and we poked around outside the park in Nevada. We found some cool old mines, cabins, and trails. Here are some pics:

Oatmeal will work. Used oatmeal cookies one time in Baja.

http://www.cgrp.us/home.html

The new lithium type batteries have a trait that bothers me a bit. When some of them die they drop off a cliff and can't be saved (as carguy stated). The Earth X has a protection circuit that saves the battery. But it still is stone cold dead. An AGM battery will give you a little warning (slow cranking, etc.). Lots of poeple have the new type batteries and love 'em, and they work great if your charging system treats them right. My next battery will be a replacement of what's in there now. Yuasa YTX4L-BS. it weighs 2.9 lbs and costs $40. Kept on a trickle charger they last a long time. The lithium's are 1.7 lbs and cost $150-$170 Heck...If I have frys with lunch it will add 1.2 lbs

I read an article once about gasoline storage. I can't find it on line now. Basically it said (this is from my faulty memory), that where you store your gas is important. Gas stored in an environment that has big temperature swings and high humidity is not good. Like a garage or shed. THe temperature swings can cause condesation to form on the inside of the tank. Not good, water gets in the gas. Can't remember the details, but, with ethanol in the gas it asorbs that water and seperates the ethanol from the gas, making a concentrated level of ethanol that can damage rubber stuff. If it stays mixed with the gasoline it's not as concentrated and less harmful. The best place to store gas is in a warm, dry area, that has as stable a temp as possible, in an air tight container. So, the best place to store your gas is in the living room (I just made this part up).

This is a long read, but a very interesting article: http://www.goldeagle.com/UserFiles/file/STA-BIL%20files/White_Paper_Ethanol_%20Blended_Gasline.pdf

Here is a web site that has stations that sell ethanol free gas: http://pure-gas.org/ I have been using regular old Sta-Bil and have not had any problems with my new bike. On my 07 KTM 450 the accelerator pump diaphram cracked and started leaking after a few years. Maybe from ethanol?

I will be there

Two awesome days of riding in Nevada and Arizona. Thanks Chris! Flat Repair There were a few guys who didn't help with the flat repair, but had a lot of advice: Da Guyz at the edge of Lake Mohave: Eazy little hillclimb: Woody's:

OOps! Checked after I got home 13/50 is really what I'm running

No Standard Use what works for you I run 13/52 on a 2012 350 EXC-F YMMV

I have the Moose Expedition. I've had it for about 20 years and it is still in excellent condition. I did have to replace 2 zippers a few years back. It's very warm and completely water proof. It's just the Gor-Tex shell with no liner, but is amazingly warm. The big thing I like about it, is that it folds up into it's own little pouch that has straps, so that when it gets too hot you take it off and wear it like a fanny pack. My back pack is a Zac Speed which is very small, so the self storage sytem of the jacket is really nice. The small Zac Speed back pack doesn't have enough room for a jacket. I think they are about $200. I think if it had zip off sleeves it would be better. For me any jacket under a pack pack / chest protector makes it kinda hard to move around and be flexible on the bike. I would think zip off sleeves would help with that and as well help regulate temperature.

A gem ! Thanks !

How old was it?

Nice Floor! Here is another type of look I just heard about this today Looks pretty cool http://puremetallic.com/index.html

I fixed the pictures

Me (amgems) aka Jim will have 3 additional guys Brad, Brian, and Rob. 4 total. We can ride as a group. All ariving Thursday afternoon/evening.

Hey Chris Are we still planning on meeting outside Firehouse Coffee at 8am Nevada (PST) time on Friday?

Went out to the dez for a quick 2 hour ride yesterday. Snapped this pic in Palo Verde Wash.

Fun ride guys. Ocotillo Wells, Buttes Pass, Cutaccross, Fonts, Culp, Grapevine, I'm probably missing some. 95 toasty degrees in the Dez, Air conditioned comfort and cold beer in Carmelita's (did I get that name right?) Thanks for riding Tom and BLAKE.