SICVIC

You're spot on Rob however he was taking an undercover jab at me cause the one I made looks like a beat up New York trash can lid and the one he Fab 'ed looks like it could sell for $100 bucks in the KTM hardparts catalog. It's all fun and games till the Hippie gets cranky. Don't tell, I've been giving him all sorts of BAD advice on carb setup. He'll be pushing that thing home on his next ride! LOL

You justa crazy JarHead (that rides fast)

Yeah, I'm out of my element on the tarmac. I need to make a quick release yellow line that I can just throw on when I come off the dirt. I think I saw you too.... Did you quickly turn your head as to not make eye contact so you wouldn't be shamed by your friends for acknowledging that you knew me???? Wait, no.. It was more of the "Hey the Circus is in town look" (kidding) Just happy to be oootn a'boot. (Canadian 'eh)

So I've been doing the math and from what I added up so far I can see that you're single....or once your wife finds out you're gonna be!!!! HAAAAAAA It's rad to see someone so jazzed bout the new bike. Now we just need to adjust fire on that paint job and you'll be ready for business....Go all Martha Stewart on that orange with some flowers-n-cit. Super cool and congrats man. Im'a mid week rider but only operating on half-a-cylinder right now. I'll lurk the posts watching for something not too technical. Git-it

Heck no; I up the value.

Lurking the DV ride, spending billions in prep for TAT, 50 miler PCT race in May. 'bout sums things up for this kid.

Poaching your ride post to see if I can load pictures now. (sorry) ..test test..

Congrats! What dealer did you go with for the purchase?

The dates I listed are rough guess. My thought is; winters been heavy up North and I really want to aviod snow blockage over the Rockies. Earlier is fine as long as I get the all clear up there. No desires to see NY. Starting down in NC keeps me in touch with my neck brotherns in arms. No desire to set any speed records going across. I'm fine with 50/55 mph on the wide open stuff. 200 mile days as an avg sounds like a good goal. I'm thinking following it to OR then down the coast would be awesome. If that's the case I figure about 7000 miles should be around 35 days....?? All this is still in the planning phase. Come a point I'll need to decide if It's really worth a go. What value it has on my life; that sort of thing. I enjoy the thrill factor and I'm still weighing this one. I'd hate to reach the end and have it be blah for all the time and money it takes to do it. For this cost, I could fly to Iran and and attempt jogging across the Country... Ya know; decisions.

Beater shipping... I was thinking the same thing. I was looking for used bikes over in that area but if you did buy one; how do you get it setup and how do you know it would be worthy to make the trip. I decided to ship for peace of mind. No promise my bike will make it either but at least it will be geared the way I want.(not that it matters when I have to leave it in a ditch and fly back home) I'll keep an eye open for your questions.

*Bump* Calling out to those of you thinking about doing this. I got shipping quotes today from a carrier that has super positive feedback for moto transporting. Cost is $568. Picked up at your home and delivered to a Moto shop in Jacksonville NC. (where I would be starting) Time frame is mid July/first week of Aug. Does anyone else want in on this? Might be able to haggle the price some with more rigs. Ya aint gotta ride with me and you can have the bike dropped off anywhere along the way. Anyone??? Post up here or PM. Also listening if you know of better deals. SV

Everyone will have a recommendation or someone they trust to do work. I'm only pointing out how my experience went so others can use the information when they need it. One other note I'd like to add. He does not JUST work on racers bikes. When I sent him mine, I told him that I was not looking for any additional power; only longevity. I'm just a guy who rides along and I feel like he took care of me like I was a premier rider atop the Blais Racing Team. Good things; start to finish. Glad ya'll enjoyed the write up.

Let's start in. KTM with 650hrs and 16,500 miles. I was 100hrs into the 4th top end and everything was working fine. No trans/clutch issues but it was noisy on start up; quieting some when it warmed. Lots of reports out there making mention of the same noise for this model of bike. (timing chain noise) Almost the norm as they get older. Anyways, it was doing great. With ideas of doing the TAT I figured I'd better have her gone through. A lot of advice out there about who to use but I decided on Blais. I had orderd parts from them in the past. Two things that impressed me; most times next day arrival and some of the lowest prices listed for the parts I was purchasing. I decided it was time so I called. Left a mgs and he returned my call the next day. I had a few questions that I had written down and asked if he had time to answer them. He would. Of course the "short" questions I had turned out somewhat long. At no time did he sound like I was wasting his time. He was professional and gave several options for each question. We ended the conversation with a generic; ok, well I'll get that out to ya reply from me. I'm guessing he hears that 5 times a week and was not holding his breath at all. I pulled the engine, packaged and shipped it following his instructions on Monday the 13th. I bought a plastic cooler icechest from Walworld (60qt) and insured it to $5000 as he instructed. Shipped UPS for $112.00 The next day at noon he mailed me that it arrived in good condition and he would get it tore down over the next couple days. His mail on the 15th: Hey Vic, This should be everything for your engine. Tranny looks amazing, good job on not hammering it. Not 100% sure on the cylinder yet, it looks ok but not great. Let me know if I can get these parts on order. Along with this was a PDF of all the parts with cost and labor listed so it was easy to ready and verify. You could even use it to shop around to compare the prices he was charging if you wanted. I didn't need to because having done the top end so many times I know exactly what all that stuff costs. I was very happy with what his charges were. I returned his msg with the ok for the work. 1/21/14 Mail I have your engine ready to go. Packing it up today and it can ship out tomorrow. I can send a Paypal request by email, or I can accept Visa/ Mastercard over the phone. I called and left a msg. He called back and I paid up. Engine arrived the next day, shipped back in the same container. No problems. All this in 10 days without any issues. He answered all my questions, delivered faster than promised, priced fairly and kept me informed. I'm going to paste what went into the build. It will make this report long but I think It's important to show all that he did. The cylinder plating has a lifetime on it also. Ready for millions of piston replacements. lol GASKET SET 450/530 VERTEX PISTON KIT, 08-11 KTM 450 EXC/XCW 11.9:1 CRANKSHAFT BEARINGS TITANIUM INTAKE VALVE 2 EXHAUST VALVE 2 TIMING CHAIN 110T TIMING CHAIN TENSIONER RAIL GUIDE RAIL TAB WASHER CLIP 2 OIL SCREEN 1 SCREW M5X12 ALLEN 2 MAINSHAFT BEARING 6203 BALL BEARING COUNTERSHAFT BALL BEARING TRANS R&R ROD KIT LABOR INSTALL NEW EX VALVE GUIDES 2 SHIPPING CHARGES WITH INSURANCE COUNTERSHAFT BEARING OIL FILTER 530/450 IRIDIUM SPARK PLUG OIL PUMP COVER O-RING OIL PUMP COVER REPLATED KTM 450 EXC CYLINDER GEARS BLAIS RACING ALUMINUM OIL PUMP DRIVE GEARS PROX ROD KIT, KTM 450 EXC/XCW 08-11 SHAFT SEAL RING RIGHT COVER LABOR FLY CUT CYLINDER HEAT SURFACE R&R COMPLETE ENG... VALVE JOB 3 ANGLE VALVE JOB Lastly I'd like to mention some things that are above the norm that I like to see. 1. All small parts that I left attached to the engine were still there when I got it back. (not lost, missing or removed) 2. I left the exhaust manifold attached when I shipped it. Under that there is a gasket. No reason for him to remove that minifold to do any work. He took it off only to replace the gasket then re-installed. Good stuff right there. 3. The clutch slave gets removed from the engine and just kinda hangs there while the engines out. It requires a gasket to reattach it once the engine is back in. He mailed that gasket along in the shipping container so I would have it when the assembly took place. Thinking ahead. Well done. 4. He returned all the replaced parts in a sealed bag. Nice mechanics touch. Installation went quickly and it started instantly! No noise, no leaks, didn't even idle strange. Did have some smoke billowing up from I'm guessing the grease he used to lubricate the valve guides during install and to insure they had lubrication prior to the oil cycling through. Lasted for about 2 minutes and all good. I can't even make something up negative to say about the entire experience. It was crazy good. You all know I enjoy doing my own work but I feel really good about him going through it all. I like that he replaced the parts that are known to fail with upgraded ones. Do it yourselfers may not be privy to this information till It's too late I did get kudos for how the internals looked upon teardown. He mentined generaly seeing much worse condtions with the hours it has. I'd hope so.... I've that thing apart more than I ride it! Impressive work Mr.Chris Blais Sickness

Figured I'd better add this disclaimer to the above "racers are lame" statement. Rob and I have a strange way of showing support toward each other; we are friends. The comment was issued to poke a little fun at him. He races; I've raced. If you are angry about it; you're just gerenally lame. My therapist will be so happy to see I've working on my people skills!

Racers are lame! HA Another fun fact aside from the one mentioned above.... He sponsors younger mini groms too. That's really cool. They are like you but 47 years younger. You can handle it Rob... Blood makes the grass grow!

WARNING****** Do NOT read Goofs 90s attachment!!! I made the mistake and I'm on my bike riding EAST right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO AWESOME!

This is not an exact but I'm pinning it to be right near 6000 miles. OR to TN is 5000 miles. A fast time is about 3 weeks to complete. (over 200 a day for 5000 miles) The challenge of the whole ride aside from that many miles everyday is just dumb luck and odds. That distance and that amount of time; something is going to happen. The amount of luck you have when it does happen seems to be the deciding factor for most. One vid; dude hits rock, drives off cliff....done. Another report; shallow stream crossing over road covered in slime. Rider wads up; broken hand, ride done. Engines explode, huge re-route due to nature, list goes on. How many pictures have we posted on SDAR where you're "just" riding down a open dirt road when BOOOYA happens???? Billions! So much time for so much to happen. That said: Shipping bike to Fayetteville NC about $900. This is the closest KTM dealer to the start of the trail in NC. Flight from SD to Fayetteville is $202.00. The airport is near the shop so upon arrival just go to the shop and assemble the bike. I've decided on the NC route cause I have zero desires to see NY. Hard call on the way back. Continue to OR or take the split South across the Des.... keeping it open. I really like the mountains to the North but that will just keep adding the miles. Goof, you down or what?

So I'm reading this report and I'm on Day 8 right now.(out of like 30) They started with 6 guys and as of day 8, 3 of the guys are already out due to broken bones. This report is awesome!

http://transamericatrail2010.wordpress.com/ Endless viewing pleasure. They are talking that the old route was 5000 miles. OR to TN. It's gonna be a long ride with the extra thrown in. I don't know about 400 miles a day...??? The best avg I could pull in Idaho was about 25mph. A 250 mile day was putting most people over 12 hours a day. Start in the dark; finish in the dark. Will not stop me from trying though.

Goof, I'll try to get some links together. Did you read GPSKEVINS yet? Him and his boy did it and he has tons of information and videos. Good info and pics on packing and shipping the moto too. Also prices and recommendations for that. Now with the CA/NY edition posted you can go from here to either NY or North Carolina using the tracks. I think the split is in TN.

No, I have not found anything where someone has set out to do it for "time". Very few do it all in one sitting. Sections over several years is the norm I guess. Most go into it with a open schedule and just go with the flow. 200 miles per day seems to be a good push depending on your route choice. The route is posted but there are re-routes everywhere in case you want something eaiser or faster. It's hard to find an exact number for anything. One report shows a CBR then another shows a 250 floating down a strem. lol The ride is so huge with so many factors you have no idea whats gonna happen.

Mentioned in a lot of reports I've already read; it seems to come down to luck in the Eastern States. So many reports show roads covered in water. (no pun) Just riding along and then a segment of trail/road underwater for a half mile. With shorter rides you can kinda pick a good weather window. The duration of this one really leaves you out there to the enexpected. Love the idea of going out to crush it but speed, offroad, absence of sleep and the unknown really make me teeter on the side of caution. I've goosebumps already!

It does sound much easier when you put it like that. If we break it down into seconds we would have so much extra time! This thing is right up your alley Tim... a MEGA adventure for sure.

I've been researching this like a mad man and time frames range from about 1 to 3 months. A lot of people tend to do some of it one year then go back later to finish up the rest. Reasons being the climate. If you go for it all in one sitting there is no "perfect" time. Go early to beat the Des heat in Utah and you hit snow in Co. Go later and you suffer in the heat then get ruined by rain and humidity in the Eastern States. Conditions vary depending on whos report you read. I found one report where a Women riding a CBR did a majority of it. The potential for re-routing is so huge on a ride like this. I can understand if a trail is no longer there but I would want to try and stick to the posted off road route as much as possible. How serious are you about this???? Are you searching Craigslist as we speak or was the post up under the influence of a sixer??? My bike is sitting out there awaiting a departure date...

Two and a half should cover it.