Go figure-8 Oregon

[1Arm]

Wandering up any road that offers the slightest temptation without concern for what the road surface may become is a very pleasant way to bumble around the countryside. For me, all that was required was to find a motorcycle I was willing to take off-pavement and not wet my pants were it to tip over and get wallowed around in the rocks and gravel.
Enter the Versys, $5500 for a new '09, a little more suspension travel than street, relatively light, and I can touch the ground with both feet.  Not to mention the delightful motor, all day tourability and ample twisty capabilities.  Add some luggage and crash protection and it's ready to go exploring.

Having already done a multi-state back road tour earlfier this summer, I needed to make a few more changes too comfortably travel solo in the great wide open.  Little things like Rox risers and wider footpegs for long stints standing on the sometimes miles long washboard sections, an updated GPS for easier navigating, and better (lighter and smaller packing) camping gear...Big Agnes and Exped are the shit!

A roundabout trip to the Steens Mountains in SE Oregon coming up.



Day1
Portland to Prineville

Cold Camp Rd outside of Antelope Or


Gosner road




Cherry Creek ranch road. A small water crossing just up the road, even at 15 ft. wide and less than axle deep, I still almost missed the exit.




Camping on the Crooked River near Prineville reservoir


Hwy 27 (Crooked River road) is a nice paved road with lots of camping, a worthwhile side road for any bike.

[1Arm]

Day 2
Prineville to Frenchglen

Early morn at the Devil's Post Pile campground.  Once rolling, found the road closed at the dam so a little backtracking and rerouting to get to China Hat road became necessary.  Once bouncing down that most heinous bit of rough gravel, I realized that my original route would have placed me on sandy conditions that are way over my skill level.  A friendly reminder that I am pretty easily overmatched and the Versy is not a hardcore dualsport.  Not really a problem because I'm carrying extra gas and the Versys is averaging 60 mpg so I can turn back most places if necessary.


Ft. Rock. Interesting geology and a pioneer cemetery, has to be some interesting history here.


Somewhere between Christmas Valley and Wagontire, it doesn't get much more lonesome.


Jack Mountain road (I think). I wasn't very diligent about saving GPS tracks and a lot got overwritten.


Page Springs campground at the base of the Steens.  I rolled in about 6pm and got the last space.

[County Tar]

Nice.

Love bikes with long travel suspension.  

[1Arm]

Day 3
Steens Mountain Loop to Burns

Steens loop and vicinity, Alvord desert to the east


Gradual ascent doesn't indicate a 10,000 ft summit


Fault block mountain geology, glacial gorges etc.


Kiger gorge


Looking north from the summit


Looking east, 9700 ft elevation


Alvord desert remains Alvord lake, no camping on the playa as planned.


Big Indian gorge










Elevation profile of the Steens loop


Frenchglen


Trickery

[Mrs. DantesDame]

 

[bubba zanetti]

Really enjoying your ride report and pics with my sammich and cup of tea !!  

Do you have any comments on how the Versys performs in the Steens climb?  What tires are those?  Any comparisons in your offroad background between the Versys and another dual sport ?

Thanks  

[County Tar]

yea, what tyres/tires/tars?  They look about 90/10 or 80/20.  How are they on gravel?

[1Arm]

Thanks for the comments, afraid I don't have much to offer in the way of comparos, my experiences are pretty much limited to street riding.  The Versys has not left me wanting on the majority of non-paved roads I've ridden, the few exceptions have always involved deep, soft sand/silt or deep, loose gravel.  In those cases I suspect a narrower front wheel would enhance tracking, but I also suspect a more skilled rider would navigate said conditions more proficiently.

My first reaction to challenging conditions is to slow down, often the wrong thing to do

As far as handling the Steens loop goes, all easily done by the Versys.  The only hairball moments involved passing through construction zones, one area of freshly dumped and leveled sand and another intermediate layer of very deep crushed rock.  There was a lot of heavy equipment re-working the road and I suspect by next year the road will be a gravel superhighway.

The front tire is a Pirelli MT60 in stock size and the rear is 150/70-17 Shinko 705 radial.  They seem to offer plentiful traction on any dry roads and handle exceptionally well on pavement.  I have been fortunate to avoid any extended muddy roads so I can't comment there.  The tires are pushing 5000 miles and look like they'll be done by 6k.  That's a little more life than some get with the Pirelli but I run 36psi fr and 40 rear so that prolly helps.

[County Tar]

A 705 rear?  I need to get to an eye doctor.  Blew that one completely.  Probably a good choice for what you were doing.  

[1Arm]

Day 4
Burns to Mule Shoe

Scattered showers and high winds were a good enough excuse to stay in a motel, drink beer and dine on pizza.
The main roads aren't exactly burdened by high traffic volume around here but I still picked a road of unknown quality and headed out.  This type of random wandering is what makes having a SPOT worth the price.  Completely frees one from having a predetermined route or destination in mind to keep family informed as to whereabouts.  As typical with most of OR FS roads, starts paved but eventually goes to gravel.




Picture Gorge




Dick Creek or DickCrick locally










This bit of machinery adorned the entrance to this understated establishment -
http://www.landsinn.net/index.html






Sundown at Mule Shoe campground

[1Arm]

Day 5
Mule Shoe to PDX

Sunrise as viewed from the tent.  What a chilly night, utterly clear skies and the stargazing was, well...stellar  I am still kicking myself over my poor photographic skills as none of my night sky pics turned out worth poo  




Grass fires scrub clean the landscape around the John Day fossilbeds.  That explains the campfire prohibition at Mule Shoe






Happily the Versys is quite at home on this type of road.




Bakeoven road descends into Maupin and the Deschutes River

[R Doug]

Can I go with you next time?

[1Arm]

Can I go with you next time?

Absolutely.  But I've gotta warn ya, the last guy I travelled with on one of those big boyz did a fair amount of waiting



There here is, way down yonder