Blackwater 400 Adventure Ride (Sept 26/27)

[forester]

Garry didn't want to continue solo (which would not be recommended),

 

[Mrs. DantesDame]

 

 

[R Doug]

I'm not trying to give you grief about it.

You're doing a shitty job of it.  

I've carried tire irons/tubes/air in the past in the case I had to use them.  Like Garry, I'm not very proficient using them at all.  I took a gamble on today's ride and it didn't pay off.  Garry and Greg had 7 more hours of riding to go and I wasn't going to hold them up (period).  If this were a bigger trip, perhaps I would have been more prepared.  I'm just trying to laugh at myself today and I still think it's funny to see my bike put in the back of a flatbad.  

You Boy Scouts are such studs.  

[R.Markus]

I'm just trying to laugh at myself today and I still think it's funny to see my bike put in the back of a flatbad.  

I apologize if I sounded like an asshole, I just hate to see a ride end over something kind of small. I've been there and it sucks (on a tubeless tire even).

[forester]

You Boy Scouts are such studs.  

This thread is the reason they are laughing at ADVrider.  Those fuckers would have taken the nail out, patched the hole with a chunk of pine sap, taken the clutch cable off and used it as a siphon between the rear and front tires to make it to the gas station half inflated at both ends to have it patched up proper.  All in 5 minutes flat.

"Boo hoo, a nail stopped my ride" = Jo momma fodder.  

Hey RDoug, skip the tools, sell the KTM and buy this instead:



 

[DuckWV]

You guys are just trying to make me feel better about not making it, and not riding to PA to have to ride back in the rain without going on the ride that I started out to go on, but didn't make it...  
Anyway, what I was trying to say is, sorry you guys didn't get to make the ride.  I kept looking out the window at the rain from our office today thinking about you guys having all that fun riding   and actually still wishing I was with you.

Save the routes, I would still like a chance to go on this one some day.

Michael

[forester]

I apologize if I sounded like an asshole,

You are truly a nice guy Markus.  I mean that.  You would never get an apology like that from me.

My bitterness stems from having to pay $1k to rent a U-haul to haul my bike back 1000+ miles  because of shot bearings that ruined both the rear wheel, drive axle and drum brake assembly.  Broke down on a Saturday evening, no M/C shops opened 'til Tuesday and I had a business meeting Tuesday 240 miles from my house.

Special order parts for 10 year old bike = no work around possible. = truly fucked.

The fuel and extra costs due to the extra axles on the turnpike sucked even worse.

If you ever get in a real jam you will realize just how petty a puncture is and you will appreciate the view from there.  

[forester]

 

Meow.  

[SamM]

That's why my 950 Adventure is sitting in my shop and I no longer ride it. Too many ruined adventures. Never had a flat though. Dropped it once and it didn't run again for a week. Some adventure bike! I feel your pain R Doug. Broom it fast while you still can! Get yourself a new KLR.

SamM

[DogBoy]

This thread is the reason they are laughing at ADVrider.  Those fuckers would have taken the nail out, patched the hole with a chunk of pine sap, taken the clutch cable off and used it as a siphon between the rear and front tires to make it to the gas station half inflated at both ends to have it patched up proper.  All in 5 minutes flat.

Ha! You must be talking about ADV rookies. Real ADV riders would fashion a tube patch from fresh Grizzly Bear placenta, Bald Eagle egg yolk and some Jack Daniels. And it wouldn't take five cotton pickin' minutes unless one arm was tied behind his or her back.

[R.Markus]

Get yourself a new KLR.

SamM

You've got to be joking.

[R Doug]

In all seriousness, I've never changed a tube on anything other than my mountain bike.  I carried the tools w/ me on the DR just in case, but it would have been an adventure trying to figure it out.  

Even if I had the tools to do the change yesterday at the location I was at, I still would have used my AAA to get the bike home in the fear I would be out $300+ because I ruined my rear wheel.  My location at the time was near one of the only pockets of civilization we would be near all day.  However, if we were in one of the remote areas, I would have changed it w/o question because that would have been my only option.

QUESTION to R.Marcus, forester, et. al.

When I change the tube this week, should I put a plug in the tire too?

[R Doug]

Hey RDoug, skip the tools, sell the KTM and buy this instead:



 

Cute, does it come in John Deere Green?  Looking at the road you were on w/ the V-strom, I think you would have been better off on this bike.  I suppose taking the wrong bike on a ride w/ the right tools makes you a stud?  Or, are you just compensating for something?

 

[forester]

 Looking at the road you were on w/ the V-strom, I think you would have been better off on this bike.  
 

Actually, you are absolutely RIGHT - I would have been better off with that pink bike, because I stalled that damned strom about a dozen times when it wouldn't idle slow enough at times, and at others, I just could not get the traction with the rear tire to get up the steep grade/loose gravel with it.

The training wheels would probably get stuck on some of the bigger rocks, but don't think for a second I'm too much of a macho man to ride that bike.  Fuck, I will take tampons and sewing machines with me if it will help me accomplish the job.

[R Doug]

I stalled the KTM yesterday on a similar section of road after coming around a corner and picking the wrong line.  With a combination of wet large lose rocks beneath me and nearly worn Scorpion tires, I couldn't get the bike going, it just wanted to spin.  Garry and Greg had to give me a push start so I could gain momentum.  

(note to self... next time use the right tires and carry a tube and tire irons)    


Here's the section where I lost momentum and couldn't get the bike going w/o spinning the rear.

[Mrs. DantesDame]

QUESTION to R.Marcus, forester, et. al.

When I change the tube this week, should I put a plug in the tire too?

I've never plugged the tire when the tube has been taken care of. Just make sure that there's nothing in the tire itself to re-puncture the tube  

[R.Markus]

I've never plugged the tire when the tube has been taken care of. Just make sure that there's nothing in the tire itself to re-puncture the tube  

 

[R Doug]

Cool, thanks!

[Sandbag]

The first time I tried to change tires on my XRL I was so pissed off & destroyed a new tube.  I took the tire to my buddy who raced MX for about 10 years & he was done in 4-5 minutes.  The next set I made him watch me change it & only stop me when I was about to screw somthin up.  Now I can charge a tube in no time flat & if the tire isn't too stiff I can change a tire by myself in about 10 minutes.  I do need to care a patch kit though.

[R.Markus]

I just put a new rear tire on the 300. The heavy duty tube in it is a Michelin and it's the thickest tube I've ever seen. I would recommend putting them in your 950 next time you have the tires changed.

I was going to recommend it earlier, but I couldn't remember what brand it was.

I also have a lot of friends that ride dual sport that use Slime in their tires and swear by it. I've seen them pull out some pretty good size nails and the tube just seals back up after they're pulled out. I haven't tried it out of laziness.