Zubb

Udo, come home. Go on the Noobs camp out with us, and tell the story around the campfire.

This looks like fun.

Fair enough question for anyone really. I don’t think it’s important to be exact because that’s impossible for most of us to judge ourselves. It’s all relative. I know that if I’m on a 1250 and others are on 300-500’s, they are going to be waiting for me if it’s technical. And vice versa if it’s highway. Stopping for pics is a GREAT descriptor as it speaks to your pace and frame of mind. Mixing a pic-taker with a mile eater doesn’t make for a happy couple.

I’ve created a monster.

I absolutely fricken will do no such thing. You wanna see the magic you gotta come to camp. just remember, less is more.

If anyone has gear needs, gear to loan, or gear to sell for this event, post up for it Here.

The sausage sounds a treat, but since this is an "intro to moto camp" event, I'll bring my super-simple moto travel kitchen and cookery kit and display feats of culinary majestery (I made that up).

@padu, is that the R80 or the R40 on your bike?

And that, my friend, is why I love the big bikes.

Here's the .gpx track Tom described. If you enjoy such things ... plop it into your unit and follow along as we eat Toms dust. Indian Flats Intro to Moto Camping.gpx

Tom, GREAT route and destination for this event. I've ridden through Indian Flats CG many times but never stayed there. Glad to see it open for us! Udo has a GREAT adventure story about that place . . . but I'm gonna let him tell it. DSM8 - me thinks you didn't follow Toms route with your Google-foo.

Me too. Ducati beat them to the punch. The germans should've had a 750/850 rally(ish) bike out years ago. Yami's T7 was a great step in the right direction, but still not a bike most ADV travelers want. I'm looking for long term reviews on your bike. I'm thinking it could be the (closest to) unicorn for 500+ mile days on pavement, to get to the good and dirty stuff.

Ducati is hitting the ADV world hot with that Desert X! I thought as of last year they were going to run hard at BMW with the Multi. I expected them to bullet proof it a little more and reinforce the subframe. This DesertX seems like a way better idea.

Or sometimes I’m just really in the mood for a hot tub.

That’s how I do it. Plan on camping and sometimes weather dictates a motel. I am not ashamed.

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??

Thought I'd finally write a quick RR from my Colorado trip last summer. So here goes . . . It was time for my son Adams and my Annual or semi-annual guys trip. With us it's always only 2 guys, just him and me. He left his home in Seattle when I did here in San Diego; at 10pm in the evening, for two reasons. Traffic avoidance, and to mitigate the heat by riding through the night. A good audio book interspersed with a playlist of hard driving '60's tunes can go along way toward making the next 10 hours endurable. We both tend to take 20 minute naps when needed on trips like this. He's a chip off the old block I guess. I would do hit the gas pump 5 times over the course of the night. Once and awhile we'd call each other through the Sena's and check up on each others progress and state of mind. The hottest part of my commute was 99 degrees near Las Vegas at around 1 or 2 am. And finally around 9am or so we met at a motel in Salt Lake city. Roughly 850 miles achieved for both of us. .... To be continued.