MacDuncan

Great Video, Good living, well done, thanks for sharing 😃

That's good stuff, thanks.

I fully agree with CID, as a map and compass should always be taken when in the wilderness. That being said, each time I did the BDR CO, I rarely used the map except to look ahead 100-200 miles to see where towns and sleep/eat options might be. Often, I would be cruising along and see a fellow BDR rider(s) on the side of the road holding a map and wondering what to do next. In those scenarios, I would always stop and offer them the option to follow me until the roads and turns seemed more clear to them as I followed the digital route on my GPSMAP 78 downloaded track/route. Having both adds more security, and having to stop and unfold a map is a bit of a pain (Many riders use the BDR map along with a topo map and/or a city street map together). However, many sections are long enough to follow for a couple/few hours after a peek at the BDR map. It is those right left right, right left left sections within a couple miles where the digital guidance is sweet.

Wishing you the best, and thanks for your help over the years. I will look forward to you finding those good Idaho moto loops ahead of time (shorter than the Idaho BDR ) for when we all show up to ride from your house - haha. Be safe and keep in touch!

Thanks for sharing, and good luck on your search. Hmmm, I wonder how a non orange sport tourer might do from Lake Isabella to 395, up and over kennedy meadows, although a smaller bike might be more fun through the miles and miles of windy curves. There would still be the "want to pass big rigs now" issue that you are trying to address once you drop down onto 395. cheers.

Hey DSM8, tell us more (?) Your insights into motoland are appreciated given that, with my limited recall, didn't you just ride Death Valley, and a loop around Big Bear (from your garage?)? on a Africa twin or a 990? and enjoyed it. What are you looking for and why? I noticed that, while thinking about a big beamer for myself, that Motoworld el cajon had a seemingly nice 1190 and 1090 on sale in the 10 grand range. Seemed like a good price and seems like the only big bike deals happening just now.

Well done Dirt Dame, Nice Pics, with well staged moto pics navigating rocks and blind curves (I mean a typical bend :) at McCain.... which is why it can be fun and a bit more relaxing when there is nobody at the oak tree (except your riding buds).....and a Snazzy outfit to match the bike too

As I have done a thousand times, I used the wisdom offered by SDAR riders to find new lands to explore. Although my goal this summer was to ride Colorado, Utah, and/or Mammoth, these times have altered first choices. Dirt Dame recently posted pictures of her dual sport riding on dirt through trees..... which looked so nice, and not far from home...... , in an area I had not been, so I figured that I better get to it! I called a bud on Monday and asked if he could leave in 12 hours, and he said yes , even though I said we would drive separately and follow all safe protocols... his reply... "all good". A mid morning departure from San Diego to Heart Bar Campground, and Voila, an early afternoon arrival and sitting in the trees in a beautiful campground in a forest 👍 . I planned for 3 rides, a short Tuesday eve, a full day to ride up and over to Big Bear Lake (the main goal) , and a mini thursday morn before heading home. Right behind the campground , the dirt roads begin, so we rode out to Coon Creek Cabin, where there were 2 treats, a cool overlook to the desert valley below, and a smaller 2 track behind the cabin that lets you wander even more. Both very enjoyable! Here is the overlook, although all the windmills on the desert floor are just out of view behind tree: The next day we rode 1N04 to 2N06 as the primary roads to meet the goal of seeing the lake from above Snow Summit ski resort. A very rewarding ride! We then rode over to Baldwin Lake to sit by the water and enjoy our pre-made sandwiches..... but the joke was on us, as that isn't a lake with water. But it was nice to see where more trails start. There is some single track out that way, and from the north, you can work your way over to north of Fawnskin (where Ken knows about some trails! ;). In the afternoon, after wandering around some (and trying to avoid the crowded tourist areas), we zipped back to hiway 38 to take the 2N93 dirt shortcut back to camp. A very nice day in the saddle Basic map info: OH, and by the way, recreation.gov, to reserve camp sites, may have the wrong map to choose camp sites at Heart Bar. I will attach the campground copy, the spaces were nice and clean and some with nice space between sites. ( although I did see some "yellow post" ?? camping along roads out of the campground, but I do not know what that is at this moment). My riding bud at the top! We rode together, used masks as needed, and had all of our individual cookware, food and drink, each of us with our own truck to sleep in. We camped with distance...... Hey bud, stay on your own side of the fire, and make sure you use alcohol to kill any germs! ) haha. It was interesting how many times we crossed the PCT. I knew it drops down out of the Lagunas, through scissors crossing, up over idyllwild and down to the 10 hiway, and then climbed up the mountains, but we must have crossed it 10+ times in the short rides we did. I didn't know that it went so directly through the Big Bear area: On Thursday morning, a short spin behind the campground on 1N05 was pleasant and cool in the morning ,,,,,,, (AND, I had no issue with knowing that most of it could be done in a toyota corolla ) I was on my bike, riding on dirt, and through the trees: Bikes rode great (both with new batteries ) I didn't have to use my new tow strap. no bifs. All good. Discovered new lands, new roads, and it was a great wander through the trees near Big Bear. Hope you go soon!

Thanks Mimi, the clouds in your pics, especially the dark ones that look like rain, are like a magnet to get out of the heat , and likely better air up there than the smoke from the navy ship this afternoon. A weekday may be best for possible open camp sites. Glad you had a nice ride and thanks for the info.

Well done Mimi, given the heat, that seems like a good choice. Does it seem that anyone could cruise up there (Heart bar or ?) and find a campsite without reservation? I saw in your pic that you rode "2N01" , are there a couple others that you might suggest for a casual wander through the trees? (2N93, 2N83?) Thanks, Mac

4 of us planned a Big Bear trip for last Tuesday to ride and camp a couple days, and then it fell apart. Grrr, had a lot of "no gos" in the last few months given all that has taken place, so we jumped to a back-up plan. 3 of us decided to ride McCain last Friday. Leave San Diego at 6 am, ride McCain "kick stands up" at 7:30. Separate cars for social distancing, and we planned to each have our own picnic bench under the oak tree for 6 foot distance . It was warm by 7:30 am, so desert gear only. We were the only vehicles there, which I like because of all of the blind corners when weaving through the shrubbery. I am often guilty of over-packing gear, mostly because I like to ride far into remote areas, and often alone, so this time, knowing McCain has tight corners and some steep little rock sections, and we wouldn't be too far from the truck, and 3 of us, I decided to leave my tool bag in the truck so my 525 could ride a little lighter...., as the tools weigh about 15 lbs on the back of bike. We rode about 3 hours, it was glorious, never more than about 30 yards apart, nice breeze to clear dust quickly, we took turns leading even though none of us ever really knew where we were going...... just winding around through rock and brush and turning whenever, and where ever. We eventually exited the single track to the big road and zipped back to the trucks as we had our ride "fix" and we were gonna head home. As we rested, we changed plans because we were sharing how nice the riding was, and because we were still the only trucks there...... lets do another 30-40 minutes. It was around 11:00, warming up to the 90's, but a nice breeze still. As we left on round 2, we hit more technical stuff, but none of us is much more than a casual rider, so the steeper technical stuff was putting us beyond our ability, but we were hanging in there, occasionally helping each other lift bikes out of bushes and ditches. Then ...... my buddy's bike started running terribly and gas started randomly pouring from overflow hose, it seemed like a stuck float or???, his bike stalled regularly and often, sometimes in very bad spots. He had to re-start it about 20-30 times, and eventually it wouldn't start, and then the battery went dead. In my saddle bags, I had with me some casual straps, but It was too steep and rocky to tow from where we were. So 2 of us would ride about 20 yds ahead, park, take off all gear, and walk back to muscle out and drag and lift the bike from each ravine, then gear up, ride ahead, ungear, etc... . It seemed hotter then (Note to self, always carry a ball cap/sun hat for when the helmet is off!). So, for about an hour, ....... all gear on, ride 20 yds, all gear off, wrestle with a bike, rest under a shrubbery, repeat..... It seemed like it was going ok, as good as that could go.... but then, ..... my battery went dead! Heck, it was a Ytz7s, and only 18 months old. Could it be because I only rode it a couple miles every 2 weeks for the last 4 months, even though I had put it on a battery tender every 2-3 weeks?? heck, each time I started it in the last 4 months it started in one second. So, was the battery actually done after 18 months, or did I drain it from starting so often back in the shrubbery, or was it due to my cooling fan seemed to be on the whole time going 2-3 mph in 95 degree heat, or did I forget to turn key off and headlight stayed on during one of our bike wrestling sessions, or did the stator get too hot and didn't recharge the battery (if that's even a thing)??? I didn't know, but now we had 2 dead bikes and the trail was still not smooth. I could walk over to the trucks and get my toolbox, maybe a couple miles, maybe a couple hours, to get jump starter, but heck, I had a kick starter. True confessions story for sure.... I had never kick started my bike since owning it, because there seemed to be something very funky about it when I bought it used (which is why I often carry a mini charger). Half way through the kickstart rotation, the kicker hits the right foot peg. I have looked at that many times and wondered what has created that scenario, but still don't know. And at that moment, I was paying the price for not finding out why. So we left the blue bike, and muscled out my bike to a small area where we could strap it to the only bike running and bump start it. I got it going using 3rd and 4th gear and looking for rocks to get the rear tire on to add friction to get the motor rotating, but my bike couldn't be turned off from that moment on without having to bump start it again. It is often quite hard to find neutral with the bike running, but did find it enough to help with the other bike. I also rode ahead a couple times to find smoother trails, actually away from the truck, a little more westward, and then going north paralleling the windmill ridge, but a little nerve racking that if I stalled, it would make things worse being apart. I was trying to be alert to the "dumb" things that we might do in this scenario, and avoid them, but we likely had done some already.... Luckily, I bought a couple radios for my buds last year, and told them that they had to pay me for the radios to ride with me and that paid off, we had some communications, and randomly even cell service, but not to be counted on..... but neither one of them thought that they could take my GPSMap 78 and go to truck and find the way back, but I could. With my bike idling while I helped muscle other bike, it started to overheat, and the strap I had brought to tow with began to break regularly and therefore, was getting shorter and shorter....... So I decided to go solo to get to truck, hopeful not to stall the bike, to get truck, trailer, water, and bigger rope, etc.... As I left them, I tried to make very clear tracks from my bike's tires so it was clear which way I went and that they should follow that line. I made it to the truck, loaded all, and headed back. Radioed my buddy when I got to the single track, and he then left 3rd member where easily findable, still along the tracks that I had purposefully left with my tires spinning at intersections. We met, and he took the new water, rope, charger, etc... back to our 3rd rider and towed him out to truck. I had the AC in the truck running full at that time, so I put my buddy in truck with water as he looked a bit heat exhausted, I then told the running bike rider to get to his truck and hydrate, and I then loaded the broke bike and headed back to oak tree. Still the only trucks at the Oak tree. So much for a 30-40 minute extra spin, as it was hours later now. We got back to our individual picnic benches and laughed at ourselves, as we certainly broke social distance protocol working side by side muscling bikes out of ravines, and it was hard, and hot, and we should have had more tools, and had hats, and we made mistakes, but maybe not too many, but it was a mini adventure, and we hopefully learned a lesson or 2. And, likely better there than at Big Bear. Now looking forward to the next adventure , after I check out my charging system of course, even though I may just have a dead battery (and yep, the 18 month old warrant expired one day ago, go figure :) That evening, still unable to start bike, my battery read 11.8 volts. I put it on battery tender expecting it to remain red, but it charged by the morning to 12.5, the bike started, and during running, it only read 12.8 (although I was expecting a 14 volt reading). I wasn't able to find a web site that stated clearly how much voltage should be seen with bike running and bike reved up. I would have thought 13's and 14's, but some sites state that the 07 525 has a very low recharge system that would only read high 12's. So I have more research to do (or C&D does ) Oh, and the lost n found item, we found a bike stand for a dirt only bike likely (small metal triangle), in case one of our sdar buds lost one there. Cheers.

Glad you are ok Adv Bum, that report was going well, but sure got quite scary at the end.

Don't sell them both Paul, you will need one when you go to your next renaissance faire

ok, thanks, looks like I will will need to shift my strategy and take it apart to find correct sizing, and then order some things. I thought it was all 1/4 ID, but I have a sneaking idea that I originally messed up by ordering wrong size parts years ago (or I simply got wrong size parts when I bought it used), assuming all was 1/4 inch. Currently, the barb on acerbis petcock, through the purple hose, looks to be 5/16, Unless I need to be attentive to metric sizes......and the T, and the fuel line filter look to be 1/4 inch, which might explain why the purple hose is so tough to use. I will likely go 5/16 throughout (if carb connector is 5/16 too). So, a couple quick connects, a fuel filter, a T, and some line. I better measure the small tank while I am at it And, this may be a goofy idea, but does anyone actually run a fuel line through a bigger fuel line to protect it from abrasion on parts it might rub on, and from excessive heat if it drifts towards head/engine. That petcock angles toward engine, so wondering about best fuel line protection. Thanks.

Thanks Bags, yep, I read that a few times. Kinda reminds me of that old joke when somebody rolls up to Burger land to order a cheese burger and gets asked 37 more questions when all he needs is a cheeseburger - haha. However, there were some cool pieces of info in there. My lack of experience is still wondering about..... Does anybody really measure the diameter of the barbs, and buys specific hoses dependent upon that measurement? I had never heard of that, I thought that fuel lines had a one to one relationship between exterior and interior circumferences as a default .....like when you drop by autozone and buy a couple feet.... as that could relate to my "purple" hose challenges and concerns (I liked that there were choices of clamps due to the exterior circumference measurements though!) Along those same lines (haha) that would mean that I need to be attentive to the petcock barb, the T barb, the fuel flow on other side of tank barb, both ends of the in-line fuel filter barb, and the barb coming out of the carburetor (black hose, which I think is a different size barb altogether). For someone who does change tanks on occasion, does my scenario require 2 quick release connectors, or one (and if one, it would have to be on the cross over tube, so wondered if one side or the other is best, or a better route, as I am concerned about the sharp edges on some clamps as it goes over the carb. Also, placement should contribute to easy filling of a container to offer gas to riding buddies.... and that if unsnapped a few times.... IT DOESN'T start leaking.... Its an '07, so I would like to build 2 new sets of connections, one for each tank... so it is easy to quickly change based upon adventure... Thanks again, all of the info on those threads were cool to read! I can call some of those company sites for more info, but thought I would narrow down my decisions here. Cheers. (and keep me in the loop regarding snow melt progress in the San Juans : ).