Riding the Rim!

It's been said many times, but thanks for documenting your trip with great pictures and story-telling. I will have to add this route to my bucket list. I ride a 990 Dakar also and was wondering whether your bike ran hot during your trip.

Ride safe!

First, thank you so much for reading and commenting! It was a great trip and I love riding out there.

I think there was only one incident where the bike got really close to running at maximum hotness. Lots of stop and go and slow moving off road; once I got up to speed, it cooled down. I will tell you, however, that my experience with this bike is similar to other 990 owners; it is just a hot running bike. I've installed the second fan and I intend to install the lower temp thermostat. I've quit being hyper concerned about the temp gauge being just a few clicks from the max. I do have a slow coolant leak; my bike is in the shop now to fix that and I hope it is a warranty item. Once I find out what's up with it, I may post that info in Orange Crush.

So, the short of it is, no, it didn't seem to run any hotter out there than it does here!

Great read! Thanks!

Day 11: Point Sublime and beyond


The next morning I packed my gear and was rolling pretty early. My route would take me up Mt. Trumbull Road back to Highway 389 and then Highway 67 to the North Rim.
Pictures leaving Toroweap from the back of the point:









Just a few shots of Mt. Trumbull Road:





These clouds are pretty cool:




Making tracks:



One cannot escape the beauty:



I believe I stopped in Fredonia for re-hydration. I should take this opportunity to tell you that no matter how much water you think you have, you probably don’t have enough. I was carrying three camelbacks of different sizes, plus a one liter bottle of water plus a Vitamin Water. In all, I had about six or seven liters of water to make the 120 mile or so trip from the highway down to Toroweap and back. By the time I made it to Fredonia, I was nearly depleted of all my water and I could have easily drank more water. So please be careful when travelling in the Southwest; it’s easy to not realize that you need more water because of the low humidity and you should constantly be drinking!


My beloved KTM needed a drink too:



While I was at this store filling up with fuel, a herd of Hardley’s attacked:



Turns out, these riders are from Brazil and they were touring the area utilizing a tour company. They had a support van body truck and a couple of cars. I tried to strike up a conversation with some of them, but since I do not speak Portuguese, we mostly pointed to the bikes and gave thumbs up’s! They sure looked like they were having a blast! And I noticed that the there was a lot of throttle blipping going on as they left; it’s a universal Hardley thing I guess. (And before anyone blasts me for that statement, I have a Hardley and I do it too!)




Highway 67 is a beautiful ride. There are miles of burnt forest from a fire in 2006. The terrain even includes huge meadows. Look for the animals in some of these pics:











Hydration stop near the beginning of Point Sublime Road:



Going forward:










Mule deer:





More two track:




Getting closer:



A little more of this:



And finally, Point Sublime:




The view from left to right:








This turned out to be the only time I had more than just a few minutes to view the Grand Canyon alone. How lucky was I that no one else was there and I had a few moments to just be? I have a tough time being introspective, but I feel certain that with enough time, I could have had a Zen moment here:




As discussed previously, I felt compelled to keep moving now that I had begun the winding down process. I began to plan my next move when it occurred to me to look at my tires:




Looks good to me! I like the Mefo Super Explorer; it’s a little squirrely on the road, but overall, I think it has been pretty good. I certainly have not done it any favors with the terrain I’ve been riding. I think in this picture it’s got about 4,000 miles on it, but to be sure, I would have to check my records.


The road to Point Sublime starts off very easy, but then, for a couple hundred yards, there is deep sand. After that, there are about three uphill sections and subsequent downhill sections, that have pretty good sized, loose rocks littered about and sometimes fully covering the road. Not quite the most technical riding I have done, but pretty intense in some sections. There is one particular spot where the grade just goes up and up. If some of my at home friends are reading this, think about that trail that turned into single track in North Carolina; about a third as long as that trail! I have forgotten the name of the inmate who wrote a ride report about riding to Point Sublime with his son on a fully loaded 990, but my hat is off to you sir!


A happy me at the end of the road!:



Anyway, knowing I had to go back the way I came, I was ready to tackle the road and figure out where I would stay for the night. I made my way to the lodges at the North Rim and inquired about availability. I really would have liked to stay there and eaten dinner in the restaurant and then sipped a whiskey on the porch overlooking the Grand Canyon. Alas, it was not to be; all of the lodging and camping were full. So, I decided the next day would be the last on the bike. Knowing I had a long day of riding the next day to get back to my truck, I decided to truck on up to Page to seek lodging.


The road home begins here:










The next several pictures were taken as I traveled along Highway 89-A up through Marble Canyon. Some of these shots are the reverse of several days prior. I was treated to a superb view of the landscape as the sun got low in the sky and painted a masterpiece for me. I said in another Ride Report of a sort of similar ride one evening in Utah that it felt like I was “drinking warm sunshine.” That seems appropriate here as well:


















































Shadow pic:















Another shadow pic:









I easily found lodging in Page. My room was next to a couple, who with another couple, were travelling on Hardley’s through the Southwest. Unremarkable, except that they were all from Austria! Thankfully, my podunk, no German speaking ass, was able to communicate somewhat effectively with them (not without the help of the iphone and google). The two men were both named Frank. My neighbor Frank and I drank a couple of beers together and talked bikes and routes. He was very excited about me riding an Austrian bike and I told him the bike was as good as his company; well, in so many words. There was a restaurant close by and after dinner, we enjoyed a couple of beverages together, said our goodnights and went to bed.


Up next-Day 12: Blowing sand sucks; ok, well, it doesn’t suck since it blows, but it still sucks; AKA Riding the storm out.

I have really enjoyed reading your report. Solo is the only way to go. You get to meet so many more people that way and the people are the highlight of the trip.

I agree!

You crack me up! I may steal this for my sig line...

Great pics and story! me and the gang (Mild Hogs) love this part of the country. you've now shown us that there are more, great dirt roads to do

Feel free to use what you like!

You know, the whole trip was kind of Zen, really. It's hard to not get immersed in the terrain and the feeling of freedom out there.

Thank you so much for reading and posting! I'm not sure how many years it would take for one to explore all there is to see! You are lucky to live near there!

Anti, I really am intent upon finishing this, this week. Probably not tomorrow but hopefully the next day.

Supah,

I happened across this by chance, just browsing.

incredible!

thanks for taking the time to post the pics, and fill in the text.

may I ask what gear you took, and how it performed?
( no hurry, just curious)


great pics, great vibe, and enjoying reading your thoughts.

Great Pics. I was planning on riding to Las Vegas via the north rime a few weeks ago. Life got in the way.I was able to ride to Albuquerque for a test and decided to take a different route. I know better and just didnt drink as much as I should of. Your advice to stay hydrated is very important I'm still feeling it. Do you just take frequent stops or just use the camelback and keep refilling it? I've got to figure something out or i will end up with heat exhaustion ( again) or worse heat stroke. You feel the heat but dont realize how much your sweating because its gone as soon as you make it. Thanks for taking us along on your ride.

Absolutely I will! I appreciate you letting me off the hook for a day or two.

Man, I'm sorry to hear that. I am bound and determined to be able to utilize the hose on a Camelback to drink while I ride so I don't have to stop. I do not want to carry water on my bike, so I've been through all kinds of crazy setups.

I few weeks ago, I found a large and a small Camelback on sale and bought them. For this trip, I strapped the small Camelback to my big Wolfman bag right behind my back. I ran the hose between the Thermarest and the Wolfman bag so it wouldn't flop everywhere. It worked pretty well and it carried enough water to usually last fill up to fill up. I think it holds a little more than a liter of water. In all, I had the one liter, a two liter and a three liter Camelback strapped to the bike.

Maybe when I finish the report, I'll post some picks at my various setups; very comical!

And thanks to you both for reading and posting!

Another thing to try is to swap out your radiator guard to the perforated metal type or drill holes in the plastic one. I've found that makes a big difference. The stock one seems to block a lot of air

Supah! Supah! Report Shawn. That was quite an adventure in more ways than one. The photos were, what can I say just Supah! It seemed each photo was in a different terrain. You must have gotten home about the time Bo and I headed out to Colorado! I'd like to hook up with you'se guys some time when you head off on your wide eyed adventures. Two weeks is too much for me at this point. Five days of riding is about right for me. I see you have about as much luck in the sand as I do. You had a good excuse tho as loaded down as you were. I just suck in sand. At least you knew enough to bail before the bike hit the deck. Take care!

Ummmm... WTF? Where is the conclusion to this ride report? Don't make me come down there and kick your ass!

Thanks OLEARY! I appreciate the kind words. I have been keeping tabs on your RR too!

No, please don't whoop me! I've uploaded all the pics for the last installment and written the narrative, so all I have to do is get on to ADVrider! I am trying to get it done this weekend, but I have family here this weekend and I am on full time cooking duty!!!!!

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The last day on the bike. I grabbed a bite to eat and on my way back ran in to the Franks and their wives. They were doing some route planning, so I showed them some roads they might enjoy and advised about some roads that they probably shouldn’t be riding on Hardleys.


I was eager to get going to I broke away and started packing the bike. Soon, neighbor Frank was doing the same.




I made quick work of packing and headed out myself. My route was as straight a shot to northeast New Mexico as I could get.















Anyone know what this is?




The terrain keeps changing:














It was so terribly windy this day. The haze in the next several pictures is dust and sand and I was about to ride into it!:















I hadn’t spoken to my mother in a few days, so I called to tell her I was ok and that I was on my way back to my truck. While I was doing so, standing in the parking lot at a convenience store, I spied this tire graveyard and realized my own tires would soon see the same fate:


Just a little tear:



Nothing to break the wind:





















Elevation going up:














These fellas were singing a song and I was watering their tree:



These are nice pictures, but I remember thinking how much I was ready to be done with this day. I was really exhausted from the wind and I knew that by the time I got to my truck I would have ridden 400 miles:










Relieved, I finally made it to my buddy’s house. I loaded the bike, packed my riding gear, showered, was served a great dinner and went to bed. I was glad the riding was complete but a little sad that it was over and already thinking about the next trip!!!!!!


According to the odo I had ridden almost 3,000 miles in twelve days.



The drive home was uneventful. I took a few shots leaving NM:






Finally, I made it home to this:



And this:

Dude! I love fresh poultry.

Thanks for taking us all on a Supah trip. Wow, just one of those long straight roads out there seems like it would go clear across out little state.

Thanks again Supah! Looks like it was a great trip!

Thanks Supahflid! I enjoyed your report. It is great to see another rider taking in the view at Point Sublime.