Zubb

She is a GREAT videographer and story teller. It's particularly fun to watch as she goes through areas I've been to.

..... , me too. 😁

Oh I know I would, to the point of being $5k poorer after the ordeal because I'd want one.

On the modern GS/GSA's, (beginning in the liquid cooled era) there are 3 preload settings. There is MIN, and then AUTO and then MAX. Auto finds your proper sag regardless of passenger, camp gear, or the extra Pizza you just ate. Pretty cool feature. It would take a small book to go into detail here, but Sag is easy to choose on these bikes. Compression/rebound can also be overidden if you like from very soft (rain mode) to very firm (dynamic pro, and enduro pro). Engine management, throttle response and abs intervention are all pregrammed differently for each mode but can be user programmed to your liking. It's a new world. Ted Porter up north of L.A. is the acknowledged guru of BMW suspension.

I'm not surprised. There's a new model coming out everyday it seems. Even though I spent the big bucks on my last bike to go top end / fully manual on my 1200, I never did find nirvana as my riding style encompassed so many variables.. Riding "trials like" stuff for awhile, or general trail riding ... I could find some magic for that, but I needed a freekin' notebook for settings on sand, on colorado high traction rocky ledgy, and again for pavement. And all that divided by 2. One for just me riding light and fast, another for fully loaded with camp gear. Granted, that was for optimizing the bike to me, but frankly the engineers at BMW (and others I presume) do a dam-good job of pre-setting suspension for the ride modes that come standard. Enough so, that I no longer want to fiddle with a manual system, ON MY GS. I'm sure I'd feel differently for a midsize on-down bike. For modern adventure bikes, about 99% of riders just accept factory settings because they are pretty good-nuff, with the weak parts being big hits and hard landings.

Brody's is classic, end of ride lunch or dinner spot. You may even see Keanu Reeves there on one of his custom bikes. Good family run business.

The first 4:50 of this video, the guy talks about what I call Noob issues with camping/sleeping. He doesn't come out and state it . .. . the problem is the pad. You need an insulated pad so mother earth doesn't suck the warmth out of you like a vampire. One can easily spend $200 on a super comfy insulated pad but there's no need when getting started. The key is insulation, so the foam pads work a treat for keeping you warm. Do you have a pad? Even on cool summer nights, it's more important than your sleeping bag for comfort/warmth. He had a zero degree bag and still froze.

S. Carrizo Rd. . . . you mean Carrozo Creek Rd just past Jacumba? I really like the concept of testing over the same track like this. I'd bet 99% of us never do this. Self included. A big ADV bike setup is likely going to be different from, say a 500KTM setup as my GS for example is really more of a 50/50 bike. So railing twisty mountain passes is important, as well as sandy dirt tracks. And I expect it to handle both well. The GS suspension is quite different than the KTM's, but regardless, I've run miles and days in all the different electronic modes on all terrains just so I know what they all do, but running the same track is now on my to-do list, thanks to you. The customizable settings on todays big bikes is almost astounding. To push a button and have it change sag, compression/rebound, abs, throttle response, engine management . . . is truly dizzying. I'd venture most of us trust the 3-6 mode settings by the engineers. But there's a new science to suspension out there and I'm impressed playing with it all and making some of my own adjustments as I go.

Sounds like an awesome day. Is Mothers open now??

Thanks @IanT, It was fun for me to look through again myself!

Hy——dro—— flask!

... and a good time was had by all. Sharing truly adventurous days with strangers makes for fast friends. And there are all types of folks who's common bond is a love for bikes and adventure travel. There's always cool things to see and experience ... It was pretty special that Adam and I could put together a COBDR trip, bookended with classes. Adam was running out of time though and had a job, wife and three daughters waiting back in Seattle for him. He loaded up his bike and we all went out for a nice dinner in Ouray, and Adam rolled out from there hoping to knock out a couple hundred miles before hitting a motel. That's the worst part of every trip for me. Watching my son ride off knowing it'll be quite awhile before we see each other again. Leaves a lump in my throat every time. Fortunately, I always seem to have a couple of days in the saddle ahead to cheer me up. An early start the next morning took me through another one of Americas best roads south out of Ouray. But before long it spits you out onto the high desert we all know so well. I thought about paying the fee to go stand on the 4 Corners marker . . . . but there was a crowd of vehicles at the entrance and I was in the prime part of the day to get some miles done. So I snapped this pic and called it good. Rolling west from 4 Corners to Flagstaff I saw miles and miles of these massive Monoliths to the north of the freeway. I didn't stop for pics so this is a stock photo from the net. The size of these things jutting out of the earth is astounding. For scale, you'd look like an ant if you were standing next to one. Notice also the sandstone hills behind it. There are miles and miles and miles of this stuff and I imagine the next Star Wars movie will be filmed here. It should be. In my next life I want to just explore all over this stuff. If anyone here knows more about that area, I'd love to hear about it. Near Flagstaff my horse started pulling toward an exit, reminding me we hadn't fed the GS stereotype for quite awhile. We were surrounded by heavy weather so I acquiesced and ordered coffee. I don't think we fit in, but I'm cool with that. I was beginning to think I might have to wash it when I got home... hmmmm. That rascal Tom. I'm gonna get him back good some day. Well, once you hit Flagstaff you're practically home, so I cranked up the tunes, opened MyRadar on the phone and cranked out the remaining miles. There were storm clouds and flash flood warnings all around me through central AZ, but I managed to ride between all of it. So much so that the beast still needed a bath. And the bags ... It's truly over though once I jump in the pool and ol' Charlie comes out as if to say "where ya been, dad?" Thanks for hangin' out with me through my reminiscing. It's been fun.

Plexiglass, so's you can still see ''um.

If loving this is wrong, I don't want to be right. (Que music).

Just testing...