BigJon01

Got the opportunity to head into NV for 3 days of riding. We were on the NVBDR on the way up starting in Beatty, NV and ending in Diamond Valley. Day 1: Leaving with only 5 hours sleep from the long night before getting to Beatty from San Diego. Weather was perfect riding from Beatty. We made quick work of the section through to Gold Point. We had planned to get fuel in Gold Point (and even called a day ahead to be sure fuel was available), only to find no one there. Be aware of this issue. Pressed on into the mountains near Tule Summit where we found some deep nasty mud. Got lucky that we got out of the mud pretty easily (save this location for later in the story). Dropped down into Goldfield and visited the car museum. Pretty neat, I suppose. Arrived in Tonopah for lunch at Tonopah Brewing Company, good food and nice atmosphere. We pressed on, arriving in Belmont we were tired but the day was still early so we decided to keep moving. Above the Northumberland Mine We found snow covering the entire road from far above the road and off the edge. Decided to find a spot to camp nearby, we camped on the driveway to the mine from the valley floor (locked gate so no traffic). Asleep by 7:30pm... so tired. Day 2: Woke up at 5:30am; coffee breakfast and planning how to avoid the snow covering the road. We opted to backtrack and try a couple different trails that didn't work out. One ended in the mine with no escape. After 13 miles enduro riding loaded bikes through the mountains into the mine (a lot of weeds packing into the skidplate on the T7 caused some smoldering, scary, we put out with water) we decided to traverse the snow. This turned out to be a 15min process, stomp down the snow, pull the bags and ride across, lol. Now dangerously low on fuel on the 690 we decided not to chance the potential snow and reroute on Kingston pass. We took the highway to Austin. Dropped the T7 skidplate to clean out thoroughly and also made a fork seal hook to clean out the leaking seal. On the BDR map it shows 220mi from Austin to Elko, the 690 with the aux tank range is closer to 200mi. We decided to ride into Diamond valley and divert from there to Eureka NV. Hit a bit of strong wind and decided to hotel instead of camping (great choice you'll see why in a second). Day3: We woke up to snow and 25 degrees outside. Over breakfast we mapped our day south toward Tonopah. Decided on a route through Antelope Valley and Little Fish Lake Valley. Leaving Eureka, 25 degrees and windy. Stayed windy the entire 25 miles to Antelope Valley Rd. COLD. All through the valley we never crested 35 degrees but the ride was worth it. Amazing graded road that outdoes most San Diego paved roads. Heading West on 6, the wind was hideous all the way to Tonopah. Lunch buffet at Hometown Pizza was good. We lamented over the map trying not to reverse this section of the BDR back to Beatty... No luck. We rode the BDR north to south from Tonopah. Saw a few badgers in the desert between Goldfield and Tule Summit... who knew there were badgers in NV??? Pulling up on the mud stretch near Tule Summit, we had already planned our sick route around the mud on the hillside. T7 caught a heavy branch which pushed it back and to the ground, 690 made it around nicely. We decided to take a break just on the other side and help Baker Jim from Vermont get his 890 unburied from the abyss of the mud trap. He had been there for a few hours and managed to get in up to just below his seat. With some makeshift wood levers and a lot of hard work we got Jim out. He was very thankful and called off his SOS! Just as we finished another solo rider pulled up riding South to North, he was lucky to be able to stay clean a little while longer. We followed Jim for a little while on our way to Gold Point to make sure he wouldn't have any mud related issues with his 890. After a short stop again in vacant Gold Point we pressed on to Beatty finishing our ride at 788 miles. Loaded up and headed for home (rescuing Jim one more time with the makeshift fork seal tool to stop his leaky seals). Followed the maps through Death Valley and down 395, WTH, arriving in Temecula by midnight. Great weekend!

Had to convert my pic files...

Some pics... 2024-05-05_15-34-23_792.heic 2024-05-03_09-53-10_178.heic 2024-05-04_08-04-51_640.heic 2024-05-03_17-56-54_859.heic 2024-05-04_08-53-49_403.heic 2024-05-05_08-57-39_173.heic 2024-05-04_09-29-33_195.heic

How was the ride?

Preparing to ride several sections of NVBDR starting 5/3/24. Your photos are getting me pumped up to start. Any notable advice regarding the route?

The wife and I have a pair of Honda Ruckus' (Ruckai, IDK) that we "dual sport". We have done day trips only but are planning this weekend to venture out further on an overnight. Hoping Thomas Mtn. will be free of snow... probably not though. I camp up there often on the ADV bike to test gear and hoping to show her one of my favorite campsites. We'll see how far we get, I'll report back. Thought you guys might enjoy seeing the lightest version of Dual Sport I can think of, lol.

Great pic!

Well... weather delayed the scooter adventure for this weekend. Instead we hopped in the van and headed up to Joshua Tree, then out through box canyon, dinner at TKB and camped in Anza Borrego. Hopefully this weather will dry up soon.

Had my final physical therapy session for a separated shoulder on Thursday so I put together a ride, of course. We started with a meticulously planned route downloaded into our GPS'. Leaving Ramona, heading out through Mesa Grande, into Warner Spring then up into Los Coyotes Reservation. From there up around the old Scout Camp, down through Lost Valley. We would travers up into the Palomar Divide, make our way through the Observatory and off into the canyon... Started our Saturday at Farmhouse 78. Perfect way to start a ride. So Los Coyotes is closed. We rode our through Lost Valley to attempt to see the old Scout Camp, closed... Then began the improvisation. We got back onto the Lost Valley route and headed into Anza. Paused for a moment to look at satellite images so we could find our next trail. Coyote Canyon was a natural choice, we'd take it down into Borrego and camp. The riverbed at the bottom although appearing wet from above (which would have made it firm enough to get the big bikes through) was bone dry and soft. So we turned around and rode back up to the top. Out through the sketchy neighborhoods in Anza, out through Palm Springs and into Borrego via Salton Seaway. Camped in Borrego then took Grapevine Canyon from the Narrows up into Ranchita. It was a fun ride to say the least and the shoulder held up great!

Hopefully I'll be posting more pics on here of camps like this, lol. Keep telling myself I'm going to post more but then I always find an excuse not to, lol. Hoping to do some video as well. Thank you!

Are you guys in Ramona? Or just headed up that way to ride?

Where all did you guys find locked gates? 690 and 701?

Same here, 3rd degree separation and managed to pull the arm out of socket. Surgeon said that surgery would not provide anything more than aesthetic change. I just finished 4 weeks of PT 3 times a week. Still having soreness and discomfort but what can you do...

Mapping a local ride and wondering if anyone has ridden from Warner springs southeast into Los Coyotes and up to the Scout campground lately. Hoping to hear its open and ADV friendly.

Well... It's confirmed... Los Coyotes is no vehicle traffic past the guard shack. You can however hike apparently.

We'll see this weekend. If it looks or gets sketchy, we will loop around through Lost Valley instead.

That's what I was thinking. I'll be on a street licensed motorcycle so not too obnoxious... Fingers crossed. I want to ride in on the Los Coyote side and out on the Lost Valley side. Then back over to Palomar Divide.

Looks like we missed each other by a couple weeks. I was there in August.

Who here is already starting to plan their NorCal BDR trip (other than me of course)?

Looks like some fun riding! Can't wait to hit it...

I ride a 690 so probably ok but the guys I ride with are on big bikes... I think we'll skip this one. Thank you for the info!!

Looking through past photos and video from this event, it doesn't necessarily look "Big Bike" friendly. Have you guys done this rally in the past? If so, was it big bike friendly?

I use a 15* Big Agnes bag. I own several others but this is the one use nearly every trip. I can unzip if I'm too warm and I bring a liner in case it gets too cold. The bigger issue IMO is to make sure your sleeping pad is insulated and carries an R-value that you sleep comfortably on. My $.02

I'm at the Escondido store right now having some atc tires mounted. Trevor is asking for whom ever is in charge of club discounts from SDAR to please reach out to him as he'd like to work something out with us. Contact Trevor directly trevor@8ball.tires