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The KAT -Part Deux AND Hatfield McCoy Buffalo Mountain 7/18 to 7/26/2020

Want to go for a DAMN Ride? So do we! :whoop:
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phoo
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Re: The KAT -Part Deux AND Hatfield McCoy Buffalo Mountain 7/18 to 7/26/2020

Post by phoo »

My drz died yesterday. I'm not looking forward to opening it up when I get home. A huge thanks to Wingfixer and Bill for going to the store(s) in search of a new spark plug, Junior for his mechanical know how and determination, Junior and Paul for getting me back to civilization (including the tow for the last two miles when my bike died again, for the last time), and everyone else for their help, support, and patience as I became "that guy" who caused a huge delay in the trip. I'm glad you guys were still able to do that sweet single track; listening to the various accounts last night was awesome!

Funny thing about that - after lunch, I walked 1.5 miles to the other end of town to get a uhaul truck. 20 feet long (!!!) , not by choice. So I put a single drz into a 20' long box truck, then consider options, given that everyone will be back to Matewan on Saturday, and my truck rental is actually due three days, as well. I start looking for hotels along the route, just for something to do, and I swear the exact inn we were scheduled to stay at was in the list, directly on the route back to Matewan! So, of course that's where I headed.

Add to the luck and surprise, I was still in the inn lobby when up rode Junior and Pat, followed shortly thereafter by Paul.

I'll add some photos to this post tonight,after I post them to Facebook so I can link them here. This is just a lunch break during the "drive of shame."


Patrick

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2003 Triumph Sprint ST :: 2004 Suzuki SV650R
2016 Beta 300RR :: 2006 Suzuki DRZ400SM
1975 Harley FXE1200
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phoo
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Re: The KAT -Part Deux AND Hatfield McCoy Buffalo Mountain 7/18 to 7/26/2020

Post by phoo »

Omg I meant to include a huge thanks to Paul for bringing a huge inventory of stuff, including spark plug wrenches for every bike every made, including Suzuki!


Patrick

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2003 Triumph Sprint ST :: 2004 Suzuki SV650R
2016 Beta 300RR :: 2006 Suzuki DRZ400SM
1975 Harley FXE1200
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Boom Boom
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Re: The KAT -Part Deux AND Hatfield McCoy Buffalo Mountain 7/18 to 7/26/2020

Post by Boom Boom »

That is all part of the "adventure"..
How many guys have plated bikes back at Hatfield? Humm...bum a bike and finish with the crew?? Something to ponder
2022 TRS 300 E-start

2021 Beta 300rr
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phoo
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Re: The KAT -Part Deux AND Hatfield McCoy Buffalo Mountain 7/18 to 7/26/2020

Post by phoo »

I do, and I considered riding the KAT backward tomorrow to run into them, but a 300 two stroke is no fun on pavement and I don't want to burn up my nearly new expensive tires on pavement so instead I'm going to do some more sweet riding at Hatfield McCoy. The day won't be lost. :-)


Patrick

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2003 Triumph Sprint ST :: 2004 Suzuki SV650R
2016 Beta 300RR :: 2006 Suzuki DRZ400SM
1975 Harley FXE1200
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Bucho
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Re: The KAT -Part Deux AND Hatfield McCoy Buffalo Mountain 7/18 to 7/26/2020

Post by Bucho »

Ill do a bit of a ride report when I get home. But it was a great trip.

I took a fair number of pics. A huge thanks to SkinnyJ for setting up and leading. Someday Ill buy a GPS and figure out how to use it. 11 guys was a lot. It also would have kept me on the route when I got lost/separated from the group for almost an hour.

I think we are all tired.
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repoe3
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Re: The KAT -Part Deux AND Hatfield McCoy Buffalo Mountain 7/18 to 7/26/2020

Post by repoe3 »

As the FNG on this trip, first and foremost thank you to everyone. When Bill originally called me about the trip, I was committed to go. Having never really ridden off-road my biggest concern was becoming a liability and ruining the fun for all. Really appreciated the sense that you all were looking out for me when things got interesting.

Things were a little rough on the RMZ on the trails, but the KTM was great...right up the very end with that electrical gremlin.

Learned a lot and each day my confidence went up a notch. There were several times I thought I had made a poor decision but in the end, the feeling of accomplishment was incredible.

Certainly look forward to future opportunities to ride with you again.

Safe travels back today; walked in the house around 1:15 AM. Finding more bruises by the minute.
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Firebolter
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Re: The KAT -Part Deux AND Hatfield McCoy Buffalo Mountain 7/18 to 7/26/2020

Post by Firebolter »

Dude, you killed it! You rode A level stuff and didn't have any issue any of the rest of us haven't had at times---

Jay, as usual, great job with the planning and execution. Even with you, me and WF and others having GPS' with the track, it was good to have counter checks cause quite a few times we would have different views/perspectives between us based on scale of the track we were looking at etc. and we would have to double check each other. Good Stuff. Considering we rode over a 1000 miles in 5 days, I think we did pretty good! Thanks again buddy!

Temps were mid 90's all week with ~80% humidity. If you stopped and weren't in the shade, you were pouring sweat and hating life. Moving was good, sun bad! Add in 10+ hours in the saddle, made for long physically challenging days.

Was a fun trip despite the heat. Here are some vid's I shot to try and show the diversity of what the KAT really is. It is a fair amount of awesome 2 and 1 lane sweet blacktop ribbons that made me want to have a SM setup to rage. I mean seriously great back roads with little traffic. Then the forest roads, some rockier than Shade Mtn and some sweet and groomed with gravel you could power slide in, or almost run off and overshoot the corner. I saw a few tires marks like that (WingFixer? :killingme: )

Then there were some sweet ass single track sections. It had rained hard for a while before we dropped in on Day 3, it was challenging to say the least! Lots of water crossings, some logs, lots of gnarly, rocky, muddy and loose up hills that were steep and long. And the last water crossing, well you'll see how we got across!

Some of the course is riding right through the middle of 2 active mining operations, that was cool. Doing the milage we did each day, it is kinda a blur today but here are the clips that shows the diversity,

The mighty 2020 500! Love that bike. Handles as good as the 300 and feels as lite.
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Early on Day 2 we were cruising on the trail and Phoo pushed Wingfixer into the pond :cheers: ! It was a little deep!
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Me crossing one of the many creeks. There were a few that were really deep as you'll see!
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One of about a hundred hill climbs. Some dry and dusty, some muddy and slick and some rocky with mud or rocky with dust! You got it all--
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Some of the many miles of sweet twisty backroads, MOTARD COUNTRY!
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start of the sweetness! it was deceiving as the deeper you got in the woods, the muddier and wetter it was. Then the sun starting dropping down, Glad we had 6 guys we would need them to get out.
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This was a deep little hole in the single track section. We didn't get to the hotel till about 815 that night. It was a long day but some seriously nice trail with some good obstacles that made us adapt! as the next couple of vids show
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Big ass tree on a hill side and it was wet and sloppy in the single track section. no way around, One at a time!
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The last obstacle to getting out of the wet single track before it got dark. A creek that had risen and was fast flowing stood in between us and a steak and beers. On the initial test, only a 1/4 way out it was 2 feet, so nope, no go. The out was barely visible on the other side, so , we look up to the right and voila! Suspension bridge! 1 by 1 to get them across and the stairs up and down were slippery AF! I was feeling very Italian that day apparently. Skinny Jay was perfect to "drive" across, my fat ass wouldn't have fit in there between the bike and the bridge!
Last edited by Firebolter on Tue Jul 28, 2020 9:50 am, edited 10 times in total.
Lots of cool bikes---
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Firebolter
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Re: The KAT -Part Deux AND Hatfield McCoy Buffalo Mountain 7/18 to 7/26/2020

Post by Firebolter »

The KAT Crew

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Love Kathy and Don's BBQ! Home smoked the night before, so tasty!

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Tubliss isn't so good when the rim bends! Put a tube in and go!
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Jay taking a moment to wash his bike
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Paw paw juice
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Lots of cool bikes---
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Re: The KAT -Part Deux AND Hatfield McCoy Buffalo Mountain 7/18 to 7/26/2020

Post by windyhill »

Great crew to spend a week on the trails with. Had a blast, looking forward to another one!
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repoe3
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Re: The KAT -Part Deux AND Hatfield McCoy Buffalo Mountain 7/18 to 7/26/2020

Post by repoe3 »

For the KTM/Husky riders, the starting issue was a result of the grounding wire loosening. Hence when Stephen touched it, she fired up. Re-tightened and all was good. Though I may use a self-tapper and put it straight to the frame member its currently attached. Had read about it on earlier forum threads on the model so not a surprise. Large bolt kit ordered as well. Amazing what vibrated off the bike.

Long list of take-a-ways from the trip. Could do it again with less gear as well. Hotelling it was the only way to go IMO. Hands appear to be the most jacked up at this point.
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