The Officially Unofficial Motorcycle Thread

[RyanR]

Taking a 4 day weekend over Labor Day. Was planning on a San Juans ride and may still do that but I've been down there 4 times already this summer. Anyone have any brilliant suggestions for a 4 day ride? I don't care if it's a loop, a straight shot or 4 days of riding out of a basecamp. All bikes involved are plated and highway capable though the more dirt the merrier. I also have a trailer so towing the bikes some where to kick off the trip is also an option. I know there is a ton of this state I haven't explored yet but I'm not sure where to look. Help!!

 

[DAGORED]

Ryan,

Have you ever ridden around the Rico area? Lots of multi- use single track trails around there that looks interesting to me.

 

[RyanR]

Ryan,

Have you ever ridden around the Rico area? Lots of multi- use single track trails around there that looks interesting to me.

I have not, I will start looking into that. My other thought was to start in Lake City and explore south. Looks like there are lots of Lakes and Peaks in that area and I really haven't been down there at all.

 

[jonharis]

If you do end up going to the LC, Gunnison, CB area let me know. I'll probably bring my bike with me to my camping trip at Blue Mesa.

 

[RyanR]

If you do end up going to the LC, Gunnison, CB area let me know. I'll probably bring my bike with me to my camping trip at Blue Mesa.

Well it sounds like that is the plan. It's about the one area of CO that none of us on the trip have explored much. Any recommendations for stuff to see and ride around Lake City and the South Eastern parts of San Juan National Forest?

I am trying to decide where we should start our ride. We could always ride down from Glenwood but I am more inclined to tow the bikes down and leave the FJ loaded up with tools and spare's just in-case. Is there any secure place to leave it at Blue Mesa? That ride down from the reservoir is pretty cool and we have a new guy with us so getting some time on the pavement and working our way up to dirt and trails might be a good idea for him.

Also Jonathan, I saw this and thought you might be interested. It's basically an egg-timer with a threaded post on top for doing panning time-lapse videos

http://photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/camalapse/

 

[jonharis]

Well it sounds like that is the plan. It's about the one area of CO that none of us on the trip have explored much. Any recommendations for stuff to see and ride around Lake City and the South Eastern parts of San Juan National Forest?

I am trying to decide where we should start our ride. We could always ride down from Glenwood but I am more inclined to tow the bikes down and leave the FJ loaded up with tools and spare's just in-case. Is there any secure place to leave it at Blue Mesa? That ride down from the reservoir is pretty cool and we have a new guy with us so getting some time on the pavement and working our way up to dirt and trails might be a good idea for him.

Also Jonathan, I saw this and thought you might be interested. It's basically an egg-timer with a threaded post on top for doing panning time-lapse videos

http://photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/camalapse/

Cool, thanks for the reply. If it is in the right area you could leave it with us. We will have people at camp every day/all day. We are caming here. http://goo.gl/maps/HPwJl.

That little device is pretty cool. My plans are a bit more ambitious, I'm thinking something more like this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-uVpb8wpNU

 

[RyanR]

Cool, thanks for the reply. If it is in the right area you could leave it with us. We will have people at camp every day/all day. We are caming here. http://goo.gl/maps/HPwJl.

That little device is pretty cool. My plans are a bit more ambitious, I'm thinking something more like this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-uVpb8wpNU

Awesome, we might take you up on that, when do you plan to head down? I think we are going to leave Thursday night. Camp and then start our ride Friday morning.

That time lapse dolly is freakin awesome. $800 for the 6' model seems really cheap.

 

[jonharis]

Awesome, we might take you up on that, when do you plan to head down? I think we are going to leave Thursday night. Camp and then start our ride Friday morning.

That time lapse dolly is freakin awesome. $800 for the 6' model seems really cheap.

I sense the sarcasm in your post.

We are not leaving until Friday afternoon....

 

[RyanR]

I sense the sarcasm in your post.

We are not leaving until Friday afternoon....

No sarcasm, I had looked into similar dolly's a couple years ago and all the popular "Entry Level" models were around $4k. Hell people want $1,000 for a regular push it yourself track with no automation.

 

[jonharis]

No sarcasm, I had looked into similar dolly's a couple years ago and all the popular "Entry Level" models were around $4k. Hell people want $1,000 for a regular push it yourself track with no automation.

Yeah, considering the need to add in a descent quality extra tripod/head and some other bits and pieces I think this could be had for ~$1,200-$1,400 out the door. I like that it is fast enough to do video as is without swapping drive mechanisms.

 

[RyanR]

Awesome, we might take you up on that, when do you plan to head down? I think we are going to leave Thursday night. Camp and then start our ride Friday morning.

Well that plan fell apart for me. I got screwed out of the trip by work at the last minute but it sounds like the other guys had a fantastic time and they took lots of photo and videos to rub it in! Bastards!!

Planning another trip for next month however. Looking at the second weekend in October 13th - 14th. We could do a long day ride on Saturday or do an over-night trip depending on the desires of the group. So far we have Jonathan, Alpendubber and myself attending. I have gear to camp comfortably in the chilly overnight temps we are sure to see, but if others don't and we still want more riding in we could look into a condo or hotel for a night, I am open to any and all suggestions.

The plan is to start in Glenwood Springs and head up 4-Mile road towards Ski Sunlight. From there we will work our way up through 4-Mile park and over to Electric Mountain Lodge and down into Paonia. This will be a mix of pavement, county roads and some BLM/Forest service tracks. It is all mellow stuff and suited nicely to the bigger dual sports, we won't be doing any gnarly single track work.

That's about as far as my planned route goes. Jonathan and I saw some promising looking Forest Service roads on our way back from Silverton and the thought was to explore the Paonia area for a while. If we wanted we could camp in that area or we could pop over Kebler Pass into Crested Butte, grab a hotel and explore the Taylor Park area a bit on Sunday before cruising back. I am also completely OK with winging it. I try to have a defined route and let people know where I am going when I ride solo but if we have a good sized group I am comfortable with some aimless exploration riding.

If you think you can make it out or have some route suggestions post it up!

 

[jonharis]

Can't wait. Mission now. Fit all of my backpacking gear into one medium north-face bag. I'm not really one for plans so what ever works works. I'm perfectly happy being a lemming.

 

[RyanR]

Can't wait. Mission now. Fit all of my backpacking gear into one medium north-face bag. I'm not really one for plans so what ever works works. I'm perfectly happy being a lemming.

I thought you had panniers on the KLR?

Got another little farkle for the CRF in last night, a rear tail rack. Installation was a bit of a PITA. Had to trim some plastic and it makes taking the seat off a bit more work. I'm going to look for a small Pelican case to mount to it for the Tablet, Cameras, etc.

 

[jonharis]

Nope. I think we were talking about them at one time but I don't have em. At this point I need a seat. Mine just exploded at the seam. All this non use is making it fatter.

 

[RyanR]

Nope. I think we were talking about them at one time but I don't have em. At this point I need a seat. Mine just exploded at the seam. All this non use is making it fatter.

If you trailer the bike down and plan on coming back through Glenwood at the end of the ride we can swap seats and you can use my Sargent seat for the trip since I'll be on the CRF. I have to warn you though, it is obscenely comfortable.

I can also whole heartedly recommend SeatConcepts as a more affordable alternative. They just ship you the foam and seat cover and you re-use the stock seat pan and staple the new setup on yourself. You can ebay your stock seat and recoup some of that difference or keep it for trail work, though I don't find the Sargent saddle bothersome when I am standing. I tried a Corbin before the Sargent and the Sargent is worlds better IMO.

 

[jonharis]

That would be sweet. It's a KLR. No way in hell I'm trailering it.

 

[alpendubber]

Heya creeps! Took the stock tires off the DR after work today. Also removed the countershaft, chain and rear sprocket. Hopefully my new parts come in tomorrow. I plan on ordering a new tail rack, bars, risers and other goodies on Friday. Can't wait to rally the Zuk.

 

[alpendubber]

 

[RyanR]

That would be sweet. It's a KLR. No way in hell I'm trailering it.

Good answer!

 

[RyanR]

Sweet Rocket Box!