Re: Overnight/camping ride suggestion
Posted: Mon May 18, 2015 10:03 am
Hey guys!
I'd like to pass along my appreciation for the suggestions about venturing off into the Peter's Mill / Tasker Gap area. I finally got out there this past weekend to test out my TAT assault vehicle which I had fully loaded with everything I'm taking on the TAT:
It went from pouring on me Saturday to a light drizzle most of the day Sunday which had me questioning my plan on the stock OEM tires. I decided to try it with the mind set that I'd turn around if it ever got too sketchy. There was lots of mud and wet rocky trail but if it looked like I could reverse my course back out the way I came, I pushed on. It was good for building my confidence on the mule and it was about as challenging as I'd want to tackle on a fully ladened KLR. It climbs rocky hills like a goat - slow and steady - but going downhill it was sometimes hard to get that big rig slowed down. I had everything with me for camping/cooking, tools/supplies/spares for field stripping a KLR, and packed enough base layer gear to support me for an endless trip. I even took a break and made myself a steamy cup of french pressed espresso roast coffee.
I had the thought it could benefit from a steering dampener but I'm thinking that if I'm riding much more challenging stuff than this place I need more than a dampener, I need a different bike. A 250 would be more fun than a hot tub full of swim suit models out there on those trails. I think I'm going with a D606 on the rear and an MT21 on the front for the TAT. The OEM type adventure tires would probably be fine for most of the ride but there's going to be some muddy sections that I'm worried won't be possible without better grip.
Here's a little bit of video that I got before my GoPro died (forgot to charge it the night before:
Twist
I'd like to pass along my appreciation for the suggestions about venturing off into the Peter's Mill / Tasker Gap area. I finally got out there this past weekend to test out my TAT assault vehicle which I had fully loaded with everything I'm taking on the TAT:
It went from pouring on me Saturday to a light drizzle most of the day Sunday which had me questioning my plan on the stock OEM tires. I decided to try it with the mind set that I'd turn around if it ever got too sketchy. There was lots of mud and wet rocky trail but if it looked like I could reverse my course back out the way I came, I pushed on. It was good for building my confidence on the mule and it was about as challenging as I'd want to tackle on a fully ladened KLR. It climbs rocky hills like a goat - slow and steady - but going downhill it was sometimes hard to get that big rig slowed down. I had everything with me for camping/cooking, tools/supplies/spares for field stripping a KLR, and packed enough base layer gear to support me for an endless trip. I even took a break and made myself a steamy cup of french pressed espresso roast coffee.
I had the thought it could benefit from a steering dampener but I'm thinking that if I'm riding much more challenging stuff than this place I need more than a dampener, I need a different bike. A 250 would be more fun than a hot tub full of swim suit models out there on those trails. I think I'm going with a D606 on the rear and an MT21 on the front for the TAT. The OEM type adventure tires would probably be fine for most of the ride but there's going to be some muddy sections that I'm worried won't be possible without better grip.
Here's a little bit of video that I got before my GoPro died (forgot to charge it the night before:
Twist