Solo on the Carrizo

[ScorpioVI]

Forgot to post these last night. I had turned on SPOT Tracking for this route before I left the motel. So it should have been tracking from 9:50 (when I left) to 6:50 (back at Motel 6) giving me 9 hours worth of tracking. 10 minutes per track, so I should have 54 tracks instead of the 39 it sent out, a 72% success rate.

As you can see the unit itself is mounted/zip-tied on the tail rack, that's about as good as it gets without mounting the damn thing on top of my helmet.

Here are the track comparisons, top one for the SPOT tracking feature, and bottom images is from my Garmin Zumo, via Mapsource. I was going clockwise by the way, don't know why it's numbering the tracks high to low.

And here they're overlayed one on top of the other. Yellow line is the GPS track from the Zumo.

It worked well enough where I really needed it though. That 56 mile stretch of dirt in the Carrizo Plain National Monument. That's where I would've been really screwed if I had a mishap, since there wasn't any help for at least 20 miles. I didn't see a single other human being since I went onto the dirt section. Worse come to worse and I fell down, badly injured, and unable to hit the 911 button, the folks watching my progress would've seen where my last track point was and get rescuers pretty damn close to my location.

 

[luckett]

I've got the Kenda K270s. They're wonderful on dirt, had no issues at all on the Carrizo, even through some of the deeper sand sections. They dig in and track nicely.

Don't ride those down in baja. The sidewalls are too soft for the rocky terrain down there. You'll be pinch flatting all over the place.

I ran those (not in baja) and thought they sucked on dirt and street. But they were cheap... YMMV.

 

[NoGall]

Niiiiice! :thumbup

 

[ScorpioVI]

I ran those (not in baja) and thought they sucked on dirt and street. But they were cheap...

I'm probably nowhere near as close to pushing these tires as you are though. These definitely aren't going to last until Baja though, they're just shy of 1000 miles and it doesn't look like I'll hit 5000 on them.

Any recommendations for Baja treads?

 

[luckett]

You don't have to be pushing it to pinch flat down there. You may chilling be on a well graded dirt road at 40mph and then a half buried undercut baby head will pop up out of nowhere.

Tire choice depends on where you plan on riding. D606 or MT21 will get you thru just about anything that you can ride on a KLR. You could go with a more conservative choice, but then you may regret it when you find some good terrain to ride and you're limited by your tires.

I took my 270s off before they even wore out because they sucked so badly.

 

[HiggyB]

Great write up, that may serve as inspiration for a ride soon enough. :ride

Oh, that squirrel bit was hilarious!

 

[asurfer11]

Dude - nice write up and pics. I met you briefly Saturday night at buds bbq. You showed me your GPS set up. I'm looking at getting one now, with the sweet bluetooth set up. Cheers!
-Ron

 

[Rambeezi]

Excellent!!! :cool Inspires me to do these type of solo trips!!

 

[ScorpioVI]

Dude - nice write up and pics. I met you briefly Saturday night at buds bbq. You showed me your GPS set up. I'm looking at getting one now, with the sweet bluetooth set up. Cheers!
-Ron

Heh. By the way, the new Zumo 660 just came out last month, and that thing is sweet! Much larger screen than my 550.

Excellent!!! :cool Inspires me to do these type of solo trips!!

You should check out ADVrider.com bro. That forum totally redefined my idea of what riding is.

 

[HiggyB]

You should check out ADVrider.com bro. That forum totally redefined my idea of what riding is.

+1

I'm now trying to plan either a GDR or a TAT ride for next year. I dare say I've actually pondered selling my track bikes... :wow :wtf

 

[Pinky]

wait, so where's the part where you run out of gas??? On a d/s, I'd think you wouldn't be able to roam around there so much without running out. I never ventured down to Soda Lake because it would've meant I'd have to double back to 33 to get gas before heading to 101. But 58 is my absolute favorite road in CA! So much fun! Thanks for telling us about the dirty bits.

 

[ScorpioVI]

wait, so where's the part where you run out of gas??? On a d/s, I'd think you wouldn't be able to roam around there so much without running out. I never ventured down to Soda Lake because it would've meant I'd have to double back to 33 to get gas before heading to 101. But 58 is my absolute favorite road in CA! So much fun! Thanks for telling us about the dirty bits.

That's the route that I took. I did go into 33, but only after doubling back through the plain again via Elkhorn then out east to 33 via Hurricane Road. That gave me 55 miles of dirt to ride, instead of the 23 something if you just took Soda Lake out to 166/33, then take the 12 miles of pave back into Maricopa.

You can see my gas stop at Taft marked 139 326 (139 miles and put in 3.26 gallons). I still had at least another 80 miles to play with before running dry. The KLR according to the factory has a 6.1 gallon tank, although I've never been able to stuff more than 5.4 in there.

 

[Pinky]

That's the route that I took. I did go into 33, but only after doubling back through the plain again via Elkhorn then out east to 33 via Hurricane Road. That gave me 55 miles of dirt to ride, instead of the 23 something if you just took Soda Lake out to 166/33, then take the 12 miles of pave back into Maricopa.

You can see my gas stop at Taft marked 139 326 (139 miles and put in 3.26 gallons). I still had at least another 80 miles to play with before running dry. The KLR according to the factory has a 6.1 gallon tank, although I've never been able to stuff more than 5.4 in there.

man, I gotta get me a more fuel-efficient bike!

 

[Nemo Brinker]

Awesome route--nothing like pushing yourself in a new direction solo.

 

[bicyclekid]

hhhhmmmm remember me .... :thumbup arty:teeth:ride looks like good times man a lil taste of what to expect up north ..... :thumbup

 

[Lupin]

Thats a great ride! Amazing pictures and well done write up! I'm not sure I'd have had the cajones to do it alone.

 

[Double-D]

Dig the RR! I beleive you just read my RR on ADV, where Luckett and I went over to Bodie. If you ever want to go exploring let me know. I've been down there to California Valley and need to explore some of the side roads a bit more.

Oh, and 58 gets really fun if instead of turning to go to Soda Lake you keep on it. The road turns into a roller coaster, you'll see what I mean if you ever take that few mile section.

Cheers!

 

[Marlowe]

wait, so where's the part where you run out of gas???

KLRs have huge tanks...and there are even bigger aftermarket tanks available.

Particularly at 40 mph on gravel, you can go a looong way on one of those bikes.

 

[budman]

Congrats Scorp!

Best write up of the rally :applause

You rocked the ride.. you rocked the :barf

:thumbup

:smoking

 

[ScorpioVI]

Congrats Scorp!

Best write up of the rally :applause

You rocked the ride.. you rocked the :barf

:thumbup

:smoking

Eh? Do I win anything? :laughing

Thanks Budman, sorry it took a while to get back, been laid up in the hospital the last 4 days with a kidney infection.