dirt dame

Holy Cow! I can't even get 4500 miles out of a set of tires on my street bike. Even at my small size and demure riding style, I can stretch about 1000 miles out of a rear dirt tire and double that on a front. I have already chewed through about half of my stock Michelin on the back of my TE 450 at about 500 miles and I think that is doing pretty good for a bike of that size, weight and power. I am thinking of dropping from the stock size 140 to a 110 or 120 so my li'l toesies can touch the ground better

There are a few easy trails and plenty of technical ones at Corral canyon, although at least half of the trail system is still closed from wildfire damage. If you want a fun easy one, try the spur meadow trail that connects from Corral Canyon campground up to the fire road just west of the fire lookout tower, then you can take the fire road back to 4 corners and try some of the other trails. The area also connects to Pine Valley via Kernan trail, but that trail can be some work since it is somewhat rocky and steep in places. I want to ride this weekend, but plans are still up in the air. Might see you guys out there.

Fine, take your li'l crf up over Bronco Peak. Not too bad going up the north east side from Bobcat meadows, but really wacky on the west side going into Corral Canyon campground. Be ready to really tear up your skid plate though. Well I have never riden there but 15 years ago I used to race there every year. Nothing was realy hard back then. I do remember some rocks. I love rocks. You will love this trail then. Don't mash your wifes bike up too bad

Fine, take your li'l crf up over Bronco Peak. Not too bad going up the north east side from Bobcat meadows, but really wacky on the west side going into Corral Canyon campground. Be ready to really tear up your skid plate though.

Yes, Corral Canyon is an OHV park for green sticker motorcycles... It is fun and has some challenging parts.... maybe I'll take my wife's KLR110... the only thing is that if you park your car in the park you need a forest adventure pass ($5.00 a day or $30.00 for one year). Where do I buy the pass, I think I might go there tommarow. You can buy a 5 dollar day pass or a 30 dollar yearly pass at any ranger station and most sporting goods stores like Big 5, Sports Authority or Turners Outdoorsman

I like barbequed farm fowl and ground bovine just fine. They both go perfectly with a serving of fresh summer day and mixed (but not tossed) trail bikes. Bon appetite, y'all. The grand dame of dirt will hopefully be able to make an appearance Uh....how do I get there?

Sorry, but I don't want to experience the effects of bad water(or food) while on a motorcycle. Been there, done that. Once is enough, and that was on a street touring trip-and I hadn't even left the U.S. It would be twice as bad on a dirt tour. I would have to get out my "just shoot me" sign

Welcome! While you are waiting to get your duallie machine, you may find some all ohv rides posted from time to time. We just went on one a couple of weeks ago up north of Lake Arrowhead and it was a certified hoot. I took my green sticker mini and had a blast. You would have probably loved it too

Any event on a Saturday night is good, as I have to work on Friday evenings usually. Any event with pizza is usually good too

Hey KTMrad, I spent a year in washington. Up there, you either ride in the rain or you dn't ride They have a say ing up there too, it goes "If you can see the top of Mount Ranier it means it will rain in 24 hours and if you can't see the top of Mount Ranier it means it's raining " And they weren't kidding. I don't remember the Wet Leather guys, maybe it was before their time. I belonged to a bunch of clubs up there, but my favorite one was Puget Sound Enduro Riders, also known as the"Pissers" for short We were all dirt, no street and we put on some crazy enduroes and poker runs through the forests of Western Washington. Good times! Hope to make some more good times here with the Adventure Riders. Whoops! Hijacked my own thread there....sorry about that. Just having fond memories Thanks for adding all the good ideas and tips on this forum, those who did. Now all I gotta do is start saving up the pennies and see who is gonna go and where, since a pretty solid when is already established.

That's an easy part. Rent a van/truck from Uhaul, etc for a one way trip to the start point. Then you rent one for a one way trip to home. I have done 300+ mile days on the pavement on my DRZ and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Duh, why didn't I think of that? Thanks

Another problem, at least for me....is what to do at the end of the ride. Presumably we would end up on the beachfront in Oregon. I would be sitting there on a smaller bike with about 1000 miles between me and my house. As a matter of fact, I have to think about how I and my machine will appear at whatever the starting point of my ride will be. I have ridden 800 miles in one day on a BMW RT before, and I can tell you, that was an experience I never want to repeat! As for adventure riding, I have cleared around 200 miles in a day for a mix of dirt and pavement all on my little KLX 300, a machine so benign and berift of any discernable power that it can be ridden from dawn until dusk in broiling temperatures, plowed down backroads at unchanging RPMs, all while getting more than 100 miles on the stock 2.7 gallon tank before ever hitting reserve. I have considered getting a larger bike, but why bother? I'd just as well slap a desert tank on the little guy and throw a set of soft bags over the back for this trip. What ever I ride,I don't want to have much highway time on the clock

Back in the early 90s I got caught up in a little backpacking craze. Because of this, I still have a bunch of backpacking gear left, such as a tent that weighs about 3 pounds and a sleeping bag thats rated to 20 degrees yet smooshes into a package smaller than a half gallon jug, so I can tell you right now that there is camping gear out there that will pack small and light. I am not a fan of roughing it (one reason I don't like backpacking anymore) but would be caught between comfort and budget, because I'd like to spend every night between clean sheets after a hot shower, but that would be pretty expensive to do every single night, so I think a mix of camping and motelling would be the ticket. I suppose ther would be some campgrounds with showers out there along the way. Ideally, from the packing point, the less you drag along, the less for you to drop in a sand wash or a slimey creek crossing and the more energy you'll have for staying upright and enjoynig the ride.

Sounds good to me

I think mid June would be best. If you have a wet winter a lot of the high altitude passes have snow until then. I need to pick up a GPS and the maps before anything else. I suppose so. I remember now when I lived in Washington state and I wanted to ride a certain pass on Mount Ranier. I rode my sportbike up to the south end of the pass on July 4th and was suprised and dissappointed to find that the pass wasn't clear of snowpack at that date!

I'm thinkin' about next May, myself. It's too late and too hectic for me to schedule anything for this summer. The very earliest would be late September or early October. Weather would be restrictive at other times.

I have thought about doing the whole thing, but although I might come up with the resources, I couldn't get the time to do the whole thing. The most time I could be able to swing(and this would be stretching it) would be two weeks max. One week would be more acceptable (to my employers). That's why I was thinking of starting in Colorado and going west from there. I think late spring or very early summer would be the best time to do this, before "monsoon" season starts up in the four corners region and blasts the area with flash floods and lightening. I don't want to end up like that video of James getting struck by lightening while working on his bike at a motel in Colorado while filming "A Road Less Traveled". He was okay, but who needs that Anyway, it will already be quite warm at that time and I don't know the mileage for that stretch, but I calculate that I could get about 1000 miles in 7 days averaging about 150 miles a day....hmmm just kicking around some more thoughts.

certainly I am living the wrong life! I am jealous of all the neat photos. The only thing missing in them would be me on a bike, and maybe a couple of fishing rods

I have never met Hamster, but can anybody here picture the guy riding a CRF 150? :clapping:

I get around the problem a bit by only using Foamy Engine Brite, trying to keep it off the tires and using either an Armorall type product to redress the faded spots or Silkolene Pro Prep. Good luck!

Wow not only did we have an awsome ride, but we might just have the most awsome photo-journal write up, too! What a bunch of great photos Thanks to all who took the time to click all the wonderful pics. As for me, it was a good day on a minibike It's hard to beat for chugging up anything and getting your feet on the ground and handles tight single tracks like nobodys business, but that short wheel base and miserable suspension isn't the ticket for fire roads or whoop-de-does The next time we go, I think I will take my TE 450, but I am going to spend alot more time preparing to ride technical stuff with it, not that I haven't ridden any yet, I have, but I need to do alot more. I noticed that it was mostly uh...well...the shorter people on the full sized bikes that had most of the crash shots and guys with long legs didn't seem to be in any of those I get the idea that I probably would have beat everybody in crash pics if I had been on the tall Italian machine and maybe a snorkeling shot at the creek Anyway, thanks to all the great guys for having me along

Fun in the mountains As usual, it was a dust ball, but the weather was fair and breezy and there was good scenery. Alot of fire road in the morning, but with a couple of technical spots. Then around noon the group decided to hit a black diamond trail. I'd brought along my mini bike just for the single track riding, but decided to opt out of this one, seeing as how the ride was starting to look like it was going to go alot longer than originally anticipated. Besides, there was going to be another single track later in the day, so I wanted to save my bike and energy for that one. That being said, a small group of us took the easy way to the other end of the black diamond trail and waited, then took a scenic ride and waited, then went part way up the B.D. trail, came back down and waited some more. "Wow", I thought to myself, "That must be one heck of a trail they went on." I calculated that they were making progress at somewhat less than 3 miles per hour, which is pretty darn grueling in my book. Finally around 2:30, we heard the sound of thumpers coming over the ridge and one by one, all appeared. If any of them didn't have a ripped jersey or broken turn signal or other bike part before the start of that trail, they probably did now After tanking up on water from the local camp ground, the group booked down a fire road to our next wide trail that went for a few miles and abruptly turned into a single track that went over hill and dale and finally along a very steep canyon. I am not sure of the scenery at this point, as I am afraid of heights and never took my eyes of the thin ribbon of decomposed granite in front of my spindly front tire. One lapse or misstep and....around the corner I came and the riders ahead of me were stopped. It turned out that Joliet hit a soft spot on the low side of the trail, and over he went. Quick thinking and an aversion to sliding to the bottom of canyons made him dig his handle bar into the hillside, so he did't go far. Riders were on it to help push the bike back up and take pictures, of course. Not long after that we were at Devils Hole, a creek crossing (more of a non-crossing) littered with boulders of all shapes and sizes and water that was about a couple inches above my knees. Digdug and Ride Orange, being among the biggest riders out there, helped everybody get their machines across safely. A big thankyou for that. I sat on rock on the other side, drank the rest of the water in my canteen and poured all the water out of my boots while the group assembled for our last leg back to the trucks. By the time we got back, it was after 5:00 pm. It was quite a day

Actually, I was looking forward to the extra 1/2 hour of sleep... No problem at all. On another note, Ride-Orange's PM reminded of something I wanted to mention. This shouldn't be an issue since we're all good - but Pinnacles is the ONLY staging area I've ever had a Park Service Ranger check my bikes. Make sure everyone is good with registration, spark-arrestor, sound, etc... The time we were checked it was a quick "let me see your registration", stuck a stick up my exhaust , and "be careful out there". That's anothe reason I was thinking of the little crf What originally came to mind for those trails was my KTM exc 250, but I checked the carb list and discovered that two stroke season ended up there at the end of last month. I don't want mister ranger telling me to go home after a two hour drive to get there

hmmmm, I'd like to see these trails too, but like on the Otay ride posting, I am not sure of my work schedule this weekend. And if it's all green sticker, I might bring a green sticker bike along, like my little crf 150 :bomb: It can be a hoot to ride and it's lonesome since I have been paying all my attention to the TE lately. Anyway, if I can, I'll be there at Deersprings by 7 a.m. with something two wheeled tied to the baack of my jeep

Maybe the rest of you are tired of Otay, etc. but I've never been riding in that area' so I'd like to see it. Howver, weird things have been happening at work, so I am not sure what days (or day) I have off besides Memorial day. If I get to have the same day off as the ride, I'd like to go. I just don't know how to get there :pioneer_smoke: