TAT-2016 Post 7 – 20 Sep 2015

Finally got over 600 miles on the bike (670 to be exact) so have bike in for it’s first oil change and the break-in period is now over. So far I’ve had no problems with the CRF250L and it is lots of fun to ride. Compared to the big bikes I’ve had in the last few years this is like riding a sports car; quick and responsive.

On Sunday, 20 Sep three of us took another ride into the Ouachita National Forest to ride the logging roads and anything else that we found interesting. Steve, Terry and I met at the Crystal Hills commuter lot at 7 am and headed out Hwy 10 with Lake Sylvia as our initial destination. See the map below for our route. Rode about 110 miles total, about a third on gravel roads.

We did find a very scenic overlook that gave a great view of the Ouachita Mountains and Lake Maumelle in the distance. Steve was taking the lead at first while Terry and I were sucking his dust. During one of our stops at an intersection, Terry and I were covered with dust and Steve and his bike looked freshly washed. We decided it was time to put Steve in the rear so he could appreciate the ride to the maximum. He got his share of eating dirt as a result.

During one of our side road explorations we were riding an up-hill rocky road with a pronounced slope to the right, Steve in the lead, Terry second and I in the rear. I was about 15 feet behind Terry when he came to a sudden stop and then fell over to the right. I immediately stopped and pulled out my camera while Terry just stared at his bike on the ground. I asked him what happen and he said he was riding slowly up the road when his front wheel hit a rock in the road, his engine stalled, he put his foot down on the right side but did not feel any earth. He just learned a valuable lesson about riding on sloped roads. On these tall bikes when you are usually on tiptoes during normal stops, a sloped road will be several inches lower so it’s worth knowing which foot is closest to the ground. No major damage, just a few scratches on his brand new bike. He also got to see how hard it would be to lift his bike when it is on a downhill slope.

Lots of gravel roads in this forest so we got some good practice. None of us are hard-core dirt bike riders so we have to learn the old fashion way; tires on dirt. I took a selfie at one stop in the middle of a thick forest. The new helmet does a great job keeping the dust out of my face while still being cool enough in the 90-degree heat.

TAT-2016 Post 6 – 13 Sep 2015

Still adding equipment to the bike getting it TAT ready. This week I’ve purchased/installed:

RotoPax – I installed the mounting plate for my RotoPax extra fuel tank and attached the tank. See the picture to see how and where the RotoPax is mounted. The rear rack (ManRack brand name) I had installed previously had the mounting plate already welded to the rack. It fit perfectly and now provides me with an extra gallon of fuel. This is the same RotoPax I used on the AK2 trip and used only once when I ran out of gas in Oklahoma after riding 7,000 miles with no fuel problems (operator stupidity). RotoPax actually makes a 2-gallon version and I may have to upgrade for the CO to Pacific leg of the TAT.

Helmet – I bought another BiLT Helmet from Cycle Gear (see picture for bright yellow object on motorcycle seat). I already have at least 10 helmets including a very expensive Shoei I used on AK2. So why did I have to buy another one you may ask and my wife DID ask? Because I have full coverage helmets, composite helmets, ¾ helmets, half helmets and even a motocross helmet but did not have a Dual-Sport helmet. I didn’t even know they made Dual-Sport helmets until I watched a You-Tube video on helmets recently. A Dual-Sport helmet has the same pointed shape as a motocross helmet but includes a pull down clear shield and this one also has a pull down sun shield behind the clear one. I tried using goggles with my motocross helmet but I wear glasses and it just didn’t work. I also rode last week with my full-face composite helmet but it was just too hot and heavy. Those are my excuses and I’m sticking with them. BTW I used it today and it worked great to keep the dust out while still being cool.

This week Woodrow finally took the written test and received his motorcycle learners permit. Up to now he could not ride with the rest of us on streets or highways so has been missing some valuable practice time. As a result, we planned on taking him out for his first ride on the road. Our original plan was to meet Sunday morning (today) at 6:30 a.m. and do a section of the Trans-America Trail (TAT) that runs through Arkansas. This would be from Beebe (Hwy 67/167) to Damascus (Hwy 65). This TAT section would be approximately 66 miles of 2-lane paved country roads plus a good number of gravel and dirt roads. Of the four of us, only Woodrow, Terry and myself were able to make the trip. We had a late departure due to unforeseen problems so didn’t get started until 9 a.m. but since the temperature at 6:30 was a bit cool, the 9 departure was perfect.

In order to get to the start of the TAT section at Beebe we had to ride from North Little Rock on paved roads and highway. This being the first time Woodrow had been in traffic we took the back roads most of the way to Beebe. It took a while to get him to increase his speed from 35-40 mph to the 55-60 mph we needed to keep up with traffic. It’s hard to even think what must have been going through his head since I started riding scooters and then motorcycles at 13 years old; that would be 54 years ago. He finally started feeling a bit more confident and we made it to Beebe to begin our first ride on the TAT.

Attached are two maps of our ride today. One is a screen capture of the SPOT tracking web page I use for all my trips and the second is a screen capture of my GPS track. We rode a total of 162 miles including the 66 miles on the TAT. The ride to and from the TAT was uneventful and Woodrow did a great job considering it was his first time in traffic. We kept him in the middle and helped keep the traffic out of his way.

This ride had several goals:

1               Give Woodrow his first street/highway traffic exposure

2               Give Woodrow his first exposure to group riding and demonstrate hand signals and spacing

3               Ride a section of the TAT to see how well the maps and GPS tracks I had obtained would work

4               Use my Garmin GPSMap 64ST for the first time in the follow track mode

Items 1 and 2 were described previously and Woodrow picked up the skills quickly. By the end of the day he was keeping pace with Terry and I and only needs more practice to become proficient.

Item 3 – For the last week or so I have been studying the TAT maps I purchased from the official TAT web site and comparing them to the GPS track files I downloaded from GPSKevin’s web page. They match about 95% with only slight variations that don’t seem to be significant for Tenn, Miss and AR (only ones I’ve compared so far). For our ride today I carried the two AR TAT maps for the section we would be riding as back up but planned on using the downloaded GPS file for primary navigation. Once we reached Beebe the TAT track was displayed in my GPS display.

Item 4 – At first this did not go well. I’ve used Garmin GPS units for many years but this was the first time I had difficulty actually seeing the display clearly. Part of the problem was the 64ST is loaded from the factory with the USA Topo maps with lots of miscellaneous details. This made the display way to cluttered so I reduced much of this data so I could see the TAT track. Also the default color used from tracks did not provide enough contrast so I changed it to bright red. Another problem was that I had to look at the GPS through the clear shield on my helmet due to the dust on the TAT roads and this reduced the clarity of the display. Finally I had to experiment with the zoom on the GPS to get the right amount of data and still be able to see upcoming turns. After a few miles of stopping to adjust then riding to see if it worked I got where it all came together. One more item I encountered that I did not solve that caused problems a few times. When using the GPS to follow a track there is really no guidance provided like there is when navigating to a waypoint. You just keep the ownship triangle on the track line and turn when you see the track line turn. The problem was when we would stop at an intersection or turn point. If I did not pay attention before stopping as to which road we needed to take on departure, I could not tell by looking at the GPS. A couple of times we started off on a road then had to backtrack after I could see we were leaving the track line. I’m sure I’m probably not doing it right but this is an area I need to get sorted out because this was an easy stretch of TAT compared to what we will encounter on the long ride.

TAT – I know from watching many You-Tube videos and reading Blogs that you can expect many different road conditions on the TAT. On this stretch it was mostly 2-lane country roads with lots of gravel and dirt roads thrown in. I was curious how well Woodrow would do on gravel since this is definitely not an easy skill to learn for new riders. It took a few miles but he gradually got comfortable with the feel of the bike and eventually we were riding at 35-45 mph; except for turns where we would slow down significantly. Since I had the only GPS with the TAT track, I got to take lead. It is much nicer up front with no dust in your face. Woodrow got to eat my dust and poor Terry got the full blast of two bikes. Interesting that Terry immediately went to the store and bought a GPS after todays ride. The only “close call” we had today was on a gravel road. I was well out in front and stopped at the top of a hill to let Woodrow and Terry catch up. I was stopped next to some oil field equipment yard. I’m looking at my GPS when Woodrow went past my left side no more than inches from my handlebar and then skidded to a stop. I was startled and asked what he was doing. He said he didn’t see me until just before impact because he was looking at the oil field equipment. That would not have been a happy situation if he had hit me from behind. Of course I restrained my initial response and said to pay attention in the future. Note to self: don’t stop where there is anything along the road to distract the riders behind!!

All in all it was a great days ride and we accomplished the 4 goals we had planned. I’ve included a few pictures we took along the way. A couple are at Romance, AR. where we stopped and were taking a break. We were all talking about not having any idea where we actually were since just watching a little GPS and following a track line doesn’t provide the big picture. We heard a voice from the trees saying “Your in Romance and Hwy 5 is 1 mile That-a-way!” We looked around and finally saw a woman setting under a tree by a trailer house about 30 feet away. Very funny and we thanked her for the information. I also included a couple pictures in front of a house that had all kinds of crazy stuff in the front yard to include a full size model of a giraffe with a baby next to it, a 15+ foot snow man and a flying horse on a pole. There was much more but I didn’t want to get to close to the place. Taking these back roads through America I think we will see lots of these strange places.

Post-5 map

TAT-2016 Post-5 09-06-15

TAT-2016 Post 5 – 6 Sep 2015

Still adding equipment to the bike getting it TAT ready. This week I’ve installed:

30mm Risers (see picture) – This mod raises the handlebars to make riding while standing on the foot pegs a bit easier. For the non-dirt bike folks, the rider stands while riding through difficult terrain because this significantly lowers the overall center of gravity (CG) of bike and rider. A lower CG lets the bike move around while the rider remains in the optimum position. This doesn’t sound logical, I know, but it works even though the riders body is now higher, the CG impact is at the foot pegs; magic. I had to bend over to far with the stock arrangement but with the risers it’s perfect.

Skid-Plate (see picture) – It’s interesting how many rocks and logs are encountered while riding through the woods and streams. The Skid-Plate protects the engine and several critical components such as the oil pan and water pump. The stock plate is plastic and worthless. The new one is heavy aluminum plate and provides much more coverage.

Radiator Grill (see picture) – This is my first dirt bike that is water-cooled rather than air-cooled. Water-cooled has lots of advantages except that it puts a delicate component right behind the front wheel where rocks, etc. can be thrown into the radiator and punching a hole. A leaking radiator can quickly disable the bike a long way from help. I added a heavy aluminum grill in front of the radiator for much better protection.

With all this new gear installed it was time to take the bike to ride some trails. Steve, Terry and I decided to ride (Woodrow unable to go and probably a good thing as it turns out). We decided to ride West of Little Rock about 30 miles into the Ouachita National Forest. Lots of logging roads through this area and we expected to get some gravel road and maybe river crossing practice. After passing Paron, AR we headed North on highway 9 until we found a road heading West into the forest. The gravel road we selected was well used and we were making good progress climbing/descending through the  hills and valleys; until we came to a locked gate. We found no signs on or near the gate plus there was an obvious path around the gate so we decided to continue on the dirt road; big mistake. The road continued to climb and no major issues for a while. We started realizing this road had not been used in a while and was grown up almost across the road in places. Both Steve and I had GPS on our bike and they indicated better roads ahead. The end result was we kept going, the road kept getting worse and we finally reached, what I first considered, a complete blockage.

We had come down a long stretch of twisting, bad road until we came to a rocky stretch then a rocky stream crossing. The water wasn’t deep but the rocks were slippery and then we had to immediately climb up a rutted road for a short stretch where the road was blocked by several large fallen trees. To make it even worse, the road and trees were in a deep cut that had been washed out by lots of moving water.  The road climbed steeply past the trees through a very rocky stretch for about 40 feet until it resembled a normal road again.

We all shed out riding jackets and helmets to scout for a possible detour around this mess. No luck, both sides were too rocky or steep. It was hot and the humidity was so high we all were sweating like racehorses. Both Steve and my glasses fogged over so bad we had to take them off to see. Steve’s glasses were broken during this incident; how we don’t know but they were found broken in the middle of the road.

We first considered turning around and riding the long road back to the gate. None of us were keen to ride through some of the stuff on that road again (see picture of me and my bike on the ground during one section). 

We decided to hike past the tree blockage to the top of the hill to see what was there. About 100 yards up the rocky road was another gate and then a beautiful gravel road. We went back to the trees and decided we would try to move what we could then manhandle the bikes up this section. Several of the trees were too big to move but we cleared a path but it would require a couple of tight turns and taking the bikes over several smaller logs. For some reason Steve and Terry felt the lighter bike should go first; mine. I’ve named this section the Devil’s Cut due to the deep washed out section of road with the jumble of trees making any progress hell.

There was no way to ride through the jumble of trees, rocks, rutted rocky road, etc. I agreed to go first but said Steve and Terry needed to help hold the bike up and push while I walked beside the bike operating the throttle and clutch. With my lighter bike (300 lbs) we were able to push, pull, lift and tug the bike past the trees and up the rocky stretch of road. We had to take breaks several times due to the heat and humidity plus the exertion required. I was not looking forward to doing the same thing for the 2 heavier KLR650’s.

With lots of sweat and sore muscles we got all the bikes past Devil’s Cut. Once we got to the gate we had to squeeze our bikes through a narrow gap in the gate but we finally were back on a decent gravel road.

Summary – We rode exactly 100 miles, mostly paved 2-lane and good gravel roads. We rode maybe 5 miles on some terrible road and trails. The 5 miles by far took the most out of us. I left the house at 6:30 a.m. and returned at noon. We all agreed that the conditions on the 5 miles was good practice but not something we would expect to encounter on the TAT (we could be wrong). I’ve included several pictures, mostly at Devil’s Cut. I’ve also included a map of the section around Devil’s Cut.

BTW – We all agreed we should have stopped at the first gate. Especially when we saw a sign on the second gate stating no motorized vehicles allowed.

TAT-2016 Post 4 – 27 Aug 2015

We finally accomplished our first joint ride on the dirt. We decided to stay close to Little Rock so agreed to meet at Ott ATV Park, next to the Arkansas River just off I-440. Steve and Terry rode to Ott on their bikes. Woodrow still doesn’t have his learners permit so I loaded my bike on my trailer and then picked Woodrow and his bike up at his house. We all arrive at Ott about the same time on Saturday around 1:00 p.m.

Steve and I being the more experienced riders had gone to Ott the day before to scout the trails and to determine if Terry and Woodrow could actually do these trails. We decided they could but some of the trails were even tough for Steve and I. Steve even laid his bike down while trying to ride through a deep rut caused by some big ATV.

Woodrow and I unloaded our bikes and everyone geared up for the ride. Ott is a maze of dirt roads, trails, sand pits, deep trenches and ponds. We started by just going down the main dirt roads but even they have spots of sand, rocks and an occasional deep rut. Woodrow and Terry did exceptionally well on these areas and in fact the only thing that caused them any issues was when we would hit stretches of sand about 6 to 10 inches deep.

We then stepped it up a bit by taking a few sidetracks that were heavily rutted requiring slow maneuvering and some bushwhacking through the tangle of vines. Several bikes were dropped and in one case it took a couple of us to push a bike out of a deep rut.

We all laid our bikes down at least once, a couple more than once; mine while riding through some sand. No damage and no injuries since most of our riding was less than 25 mph. I did overhear someone on a heavy KLR650 say a lighter bike would be nice. It was all I could do to not say, “I told you so”. Our CRF250Ls were just right; enough power but easy to pick up off the ground.

The only real excitement was by Woodrow while attempting to take a side trail by going over a small sand hill. I was right behind him and all I could see was the bike swerving and his legs out to each side trying to recover. The problem was there was a sign at the intersection and I was sure he was going to take the sign out but he managed to miss it at the last moment.

We did go into one section that is almost all-deep sand and we all had a very difficult time getting back out. We all agreed WE DON’T LIKE SAND!

Other than being hot with helmets and riding jackets we had a great first ride and everyone is looking forward to doing it again soon. It is obvious Terry and Woodrow will have the skills needed for TAT-2016 by next March.

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