Kernan on a Big Bike...

[Bub_Hannah 174]

SanRider Mike and I took off for an early Sunday morning ride and headed out to Pine Valley before the heat really kicked in and I only had a few hours to kill.    I think he tricked me into thinking we were just going to do the loop...ha ha.     Mike was on his Katoom 690.

We took the Kernan Cycle Trail down toward Corral Canyon...Mike kept saying at little stops along the way "lets just go a little further...we can always turn around".   ha ha!       Well...made it to the bottom unscathed!  

This is definitely the roughest and most technical trail I've been on with my bike by far....not a full size "Big Bike" but 450  pounds worth of Triumph 900.    She did amazingly well considering this being my virgin run of single track on a bike of this size.       Though, some places felt more like a "controlled crash" and I nearly dumped a couple of times....this trail definitely worked me....tested me.

After that, we leisurely rode up to the lookout tower before heading back toward home.    Another awesome adventure.

 Had a total blast.  Thanks Mike!   

As always... my videos are raw and long.   I usually like to share the whole trail/ experience for those willing to spend the time to watch if they haven't been on a particular trail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KTMrad 448]

Yeah, it's fun on a big bike. Good job !

When I first got my 950 Adventure,  the first ride out I went and did Kiernan Cycle Trail on street oriented tires...was fun !  Made it unscathed, but I had done it many times before on my Ducati E900 Elefant. 

[Bub_Hannah 174]

Man...I bet that WAS fun on street'ish tires!   

[robertaccio 357]

that kernan was, way back just a tight single track trail . I kinda remember when they bobcatted it

[dirt dame 452]

12 minutes ago, robertaccio said:

that kernan was, way back just a tight single track trail . I kinda remember when they bobcatted it

I remember when the top side end came out in a different area.  That was a loooooong time ago!

[SANRider 61]

Maybe next time we'll go up Kernan. If it gets too tough we can always just turn around. 😂

[Bub_Hannah 174]

😂 

[KTMrad 448]

51 minutes ago, SANRider said:

Maybe next time we'll go up Kernan. If it gets too tough we can always just turn around. 😂

Up is more challenging and fun !

[tntmo 836]

I remember several years ago a Navy buddy of mine took his BMW 1200 on that trail.  He was a helicopter pilot, so pretty used to making poor decisions.  😂

[Ptkatoomer 106]

Well done. I wouldn't want to tackle that trail with such a big bike. Even though you say it's "only" 450lbs LOL! All that loose rock with such weight sounds pretty sketchy.

[robertaccio 357]

it's all about skill level. 

 

[350thumper 323]

Great job bub,  I'm glad to see you level up like that .  Your skills have came a long way since I saw you last.. Mike is a great leader too, real calm and knowledgeable. 

I know it's hard to put a whole video, but the whole trail experience is nice. Thanks for sharing this. 

[ADV Bum 205]

Nice job. Looked liked fun.

[Bub_Hannah 174]

13 hours ago, KTMrad said:

Up is more challenging and fun !

Maybe when I have tires that are a little more than 50/50.  😁

4 hours ago, tntmo said:

I remember several years ago a Navy buddy of mine took his BMW 1200 on that trail.  He was a helicopter pilot, so pretty used to making poor decisions.  😂

I remember seeing a vid on this site with folks on 1200s doing much tougher than this trail (at least from the videos).    Definitely a skill level up

14 hours ago, robertaccio said:

that kernan was, way back just a tight single track trail . I kinda remember when they bobcatted it

Man, hard to imagine much tighter that it was in some places...   

3 hours ago, Ptkatoomer said:

Well done. I wouldn't want to tackle that trail with such a big bike. Even though you say it's "only" 450lbs LOL! All that loose rock with such weight sounds pretty sketchy.

Yeah...a few times I was nervous.   Key was to settle down and just take your time.    I stopped a few times to just shake off the jitters...and to remind myself to drop the death grip.

3 hours ago, robertaccio said:

it's all about skill level. 

 

....think I had a little bit of luck on my side too.

3 hours ago, 350thumper said:

Great job bub,  I'm glad to see you level up like that .  Your skills have came a long way since I saw you last.. Mike is a great leader too, real calm and knowledgeable. 

I know it's hard to put a whole video, but the whole trail experience is nice. Thanks for sharing this. 

Thanks Darrin! 😎

1 hour ago, ADV Bum said:

Nice job. Looked liked fun.

Definitely was fun....I really enjoyed the tight twisty turns and duckin thru the vegetation.

[MacDuncan 127]

Super cool effort Bub, Very impressive!   

[Zubb 965]

Well done Pete!

id be happy to talk about big bike tires with you anytime. 

[TexasDualler 32]

I did this once on my 950 Adv. It sure is a lot of work to control that much weight going downhill! Kudos! 

[paulmbowers 233]

I've forgotten who it was that was chasing me through Kernan when I was on the 990. That was fun.

[thecerver 6]

That was an awesome video. I did that trail (opposite direction) on my KTM 350 and HATED the section around the 14-17 minute mark on your video. Steep and loose softball sized rocks. I'm a low intermediate rider and my bike took a few dirt naps in that section! 

I couldn't imagine doing that on a 900. 

[Ken S 156]

Rode up and down on my 1090 a few years ago. 
For me up was a bit less stressful. Point it and gas it. I did have proper MotoZ tires. 
Down hill it’s a lot of weight to control. 

[kkug 123]

This video gave me a Heart Attack. 

[cj54x 44]

On 8/10/2021 at 1:57 PM, paulmbowers said:

I've forgotten who it was that was chasing me through Kernan when I was on the 990. That was fun.

That was me on my KTM 530. I could not believe how fast you were that day

[paulmbowers 233]

On 8/13/2021 at 8:46 AM, cj54x said:

That was me on my KTM 530. I could not believe how fast you were that day

Yeah. Before I got old ;  )

[padu 239]

Wow! Just watched and got inspired. I did the loop this weekend and was very tempted to take this trail down to Corral Canyon, but some people had advised against. I see now that it is very challenging but doable. I’d love to take that trail one of these days. 

[Bub_Hannah 174]

12 hours ago, padu said:

Wow! Just watched and got inspired. I did the loop this weekend and was very tempted to take this trail down to Corral Canyon, but some people had advised against. I see now that it is very challenging but doable. I’d love to take that trail one of these days. 

Enjoyed your video on that.    I dig when people post of videos of their rides.

There were a number of tricky spots for a big bike on Kernan (for me anyway)...but otherwise very doable.       I could have easily dumped in a couple places.  Just don't go alone.