numpty

Is this ride for the 28th? Depending on son's soccer schedule and my front brake condition I might like to tag along...noob level. Can I hitch carry my bike out to where the access point is and leave a car? I've ridden from pio pico to the top a couple of times but haven't seen what else is out there. edit: Just saw the invite for the 29th. edit #2: Found it on unread content, came back to edit this and now I can't even find the invite.

Hi all. I'm new to this sport so I'm asking here for some advice. I've been hauling my bike with a hitch hauler on the back of my 4runner lately. It's makes me a little nervous, but so far so good. Well, now our quiver has grown adding a couple of bikes for my kids and I"m trying to figure out how to get all three bikes to our destinations along with gear and everything to camp with as well. 4runners are surprisingly small once you put five people and a dog into it. While a pickup is out of the question right now due to the insane prices, I've started looking into bike trailers. I like the folding ones that fit inside a garage rather than a trailer permanently in my driveway, and Kendon seems to be the one to get. That being said, $3000 isn't chump change for me right now. I've looked on craigslist, etc. and it's slim pickings for these things. Are there any good trailer sites that I'm missing as it seems there would be more used ones available than I'm finding? Even a place I can rent one if I can't get ahold of something decent in time? I can pack my life up for a week in a backpack, but a family camping trip with three dirtbikes, potentially a couple of mountain bikes, gear, camping stuff, pop-ups and a cooler etc. seems darn near impossible. I'm hoping there is some veteran advice as I'm understanding now why toy haulers and 3/4 ton pickups are the way to go. But I need to get that lucky lottery ticket before I go down that road. Thanks for any helpful advice you can throw my way.

I have that tent and love it. It's been to Glacier Bay on a two week kayak trip to keep me housed and dry. Those little windows have failed on mine and caused me some heartache though. I need to repair them though, because even though I've since replaced the tent, I'm not ready to let her go.

Yes, this has been my plan for about a year and a half now. With three kid's active schedules, DMV/covid nonsense, etc. it just hasn't happened yet. I tried to convince myself I could at least get the the permit for this trip until I realized I have family coming into town that weekend, four soccer games, a water polo tournament, a trail meeting...and probably a couple of birthday parties...that I decided I'll just skip the stress of making this one happen and focus on a prerequisite. Ha! I have the 500 exc that I'd like to make sure is road worthy and learn how to pack up for this sort of outing, but I also have the stock 2 gallon tank so trucking it might be the way to go for me. At least for now anyway.

Correct. Dates and I still have to get around to getting my license, so that's kind of important too.

I hope this happens again.

Awesome pics! Thanks for sharing.

Dang Dress4Less, another one escapes. Appreciate meeting you and how you treated myself and my kids. You're a good guy, so wherever your dirt, tall trees and almost zero-peeps are, they will be blessed to have you there. Best to you!

Lol. Yeah Padu, that looks like a fricken advertisement for Ducati, or Italy for that matter. All matching jerseys and pants, gourmet snacks, beautiful countryside and architecture. Thanks for sharing. I'd like to do one of these with KTM, but I wouldn't feel comfortable riding in Lederhosen and singing Do Re Mi.

My spirited riding is probably closer to other's exploratory rides on this forum. That is a road that just looks fun to me. Not scary or even challenging, I just want to ride it to see where it goes. So cool, thanks for sharing. Now I gotta figure out where that is. [wink, wink]

OMG, that is an amazing shot. I want to go there. Actually, they're all great shots, but this one does something to me.

I had my DSLR on a kayak trip to Alaska and my buddy (retired professional photographer) had his Samsung phone. Needless to say I was ready to toss the DSLR in the trash because it ain't the camera that makes the photo. Awesome shot! Congrats.

Awesome! Looks like a good time with the new couple-to-be. Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

Nice photos. I have a friend that stole a concrete garden gnome (about 30 lbs) from his neighbor like 25 years ago. He carried that thing all over the world for at least a decade and would anonymously send photos to his neighbor of that gnome in various places. I personally was involved with photos of it in London and the Dominican Republic. His family was very unique in their humor.

I recently bought a trailer from on here and in exchange for a great deal on his trailer, Dress4Less only asked that I post some photos from our trip when we got to use it. So here are a couple randoms of our first time using the trailer so we all got to go together. We used it to carry the five-hundo (500exc), teeter (TTR-110) and pewter (PW50) out to Ocotillo Wells for a camping trip. (bike names courtesy of Dress4Less since my kids have only named mine "duck" so far) My bro-in-law met us out there with his DRZ400 so we got a few play rides in on our own, but got to take the littles out for their first "real" desert ride. I couldn't believe how well they did and my son finally got to go on a "big" ride with his Dad and uncle. He kept asking if we were going to have time to do another ride before we left...we did. Both the littles loved it and got plenty of ride time and aside from one dump, flooding the DRZ and waiting in the heat to get it restarted, we ended up with an awesome trip; dirty, tired and longing to return soon. Hopefully I posted these correctly and without using the server. And the story stinks, but they'll get better.

Yep! Thanks man. Our first trip with the trailer went without a hitch (not literally). 😄 The 4runner certainly isn't a strong vehicle to tow with but it did pretty well despite the trailer, four humans, our oversized golden retriever and way too much gear. It took me a couple of tries to figure out how to arrange everything and secure it, but got the pewter, teeter and the 5-hundo as well as my big cooler and camp box all secured onto the trailer. We made it out and back without event. It also turned out to be one of the most fun trips we've taken as a family despite my oldest having to stay home for a prior engagement, so I'll have to thin the load in order to fit her in next time. Ha. All in all, I wish I had done this years ago but am already planning our next trip. My two littles keep asking, "Daddy, when can we go to the desert again?" It was a hit! Thanks again for the killer deal and all of your advice. We ended up at the hidden valley campground east of where we went last time and the ground was perfect for the two little ones to be able to play around all day on their little bikes. We also did Sunday through Tuesday in lieu of the weekend and there was only one other campsite taken. It felt like we had the entire desert to ourselves. Can't wait for the next one!

I didn't know all of the history/struggles on this forum as of late but another member directed me to this forum from another one we're both on. That's how I found it. I'll do my best to send traffic here as well and share my beginner content as well. This is a good group and I've already benefited in multiple ways from a few on here. I've found a couple of great deals on here from guys who genuinely seemed happy to see another get into the sport. I've been given time from a few to genuinely teach me how to work on my bike which has allowed me the confidence to try some things on my own. This is a good group and have enjoyed the time I've shared with the few I've met so far. It's definitely worth the investment for me. Donation sent.

Well, thanks for all the feedback. I'm glad it was well received. I'll certainly add more as we continue our little offroad saga. I've ridden borrowed bikes for several years and at the tender young age of 48 finally got my own. Within a year my two littles had their own too. I have to say it was one of the most rewarding things to see my little guy venture out with us on his first "ride". Following him around as he explored and felt the freedom of just pointing and going wherever he wanted gave me a deep joy that won't be forgotten. Everyone I've met on here has been so encouraging and helpful too. SDAR is a great group and I hope it endures far into the future.

Yeah, we had talked a bit about his work and how we could have possibly overlapped at some point in the past. There's something about a photographer's "eye" that's amazes me. Was I speaking with you that day about suspension? I see it in your signature and I met a Kelly that I think I was discussing suspension with, but he had hair. Lol. If it was, you were supposed to bring the big wrench and show me how to shear some bolts off.

Nice! Looks like a professional photograph. 😉 [wink]

Thanks for hosting this Dave, it was a great learning experience, comedy show and grill-out all rolled into one. And I'm not afraid to rip into completely corroded away electronics now. 😜 It was great putting some faces and names to folks on here. Although I have to admit, I have a hard time remembering everyone so don't take it personally when I screw it up. Hopefully I'll get out on some noob rides with you all soon and the next tech day I'll bring a bunch more problems to fix. Ha. Everyone I've met on this board is so nice and helpful. You are all a great group of folks. Thanks.

Awesome, thanks. I'll bring everything ive got and get advice/help on whatever there's time for. Excited to learn and meet some of you all on this forum.

DSM8, yes I'm planning on being there and meeting some of you. Should I bring anything to contribute to the grill or snacks? I've got a bunch of plans of things to do...with limited knowledge. I'm fairly mechanically inclined, just no experience on working on motorcycles particularly. Some of the things I've been wanting to do: 1. I've got to install new front and rear turn signals and rear brake light (w/ included fender). I have all the parts (including led switch/wiring harness) but have no idea how long it will take. The guy I bought my bike from said all the wires are still in there. The lights I bought are supposed to be plug and play (sicass). 2. I have to order parts, but perhaps front/rear disk brakes and pads. I'd like input before I purchase this stuff though as it seems there are lots of options. 3. Set the sag. I've never touched the suspension since I bought it. I know zero about all of that but intend on taking it to Suspension 101 per all the posts on here about them. 4. I also have general noobie questions about suspension, fluids, gearing, etc. that I'd like to learn about from you all. Any or none of this that can or can't be completed isn't critical since I'll be hauling it there vs. riding it anyway, so I don't have to depend on it to get home. Also, since I don't really have any reference point, if someone can ride it around just to see if everything feels right. Brakes, suspension, etc. or if there are any glaring, "you're going to die if you don't fix this" type things that need to be done. I want to learn to wrench on this myself, but would appreciate some guidance on how to "sheer off my own bolts". 🙂 Anyway, looking forward to it.

Awesome, thanks for the invite DSM8. And you guys are funny. This is something I would love to attend as I am so new to all of this and have lots of questions/anxiety/ignorance with bike maintenance/repairs/projects etc. that I would surely benefit from this. I have a couple kid's soccer games and the wife's working at a wedding that day, so if I can work out those details I'll definitely attend to rub shoulders with you knowledgeable folks and pick up some motorcycle knowledge. I'm not an idiot (if you don't ask my wife) and am fairly mechanically inclined, but I'm new to motorcycles and a little intimidated by it all. But I want to learn. I'll get into as little or as much as there's time for provided there's still space.