My virgin ADV trip

I'm all packed up and ready to head out for the weekend. Me and 2 other inmates: adventuerik and therivermonster are heading to eastern Washington for a few days. No solid plan other than head to Vantage and hit some dirt roads. Might head towards Old Durr. I probably have to much stuff but it's my first trip, and i'll figure it out.

Yeah, it looks like you have too much stuff. And packed so you'll learn the hard way like I did.

Only takes a summer of trips and some $$$ to figure it out. Dry bags -- good, loaded up high -- bad.

Comfy to lean on like that, until you hit some sand or deep gravel and want to get further back on the seat. Or get a quality side wind.

That said, you'll have a blast regardless. Figuring it out is part of the fun! Still you've got a way better set up then my Beverly Hillbilly's load on my first ADV trip. Check the pics in my trip in the sig.

Have fun!

I knew I was top heavy, but don't have the $$$ for the saddle bags I want/need. So I go with what I have for now... And paid. My plan is to get some Ortlieb M22 saddle bags and a duffle and get rid of that trunk. keep it simple and the heavy stuff low.

When I have so real time to go through pics and load them up I'll add them to this RR.

So we meet up and head east.

On our way make a little Northern Exposure pit stop.

Just about to get our first dirt. About 7mi. west of Vantage.


didn't get a pic but at the bottom of the hill dump it for the first time. I think we deverted from our planned course, made our dirt trrip longer and more interesting.

The first drop for therivermonster.

Here's the second drop for therivermonster

Here's were I drop for the 2nd through 5th time. spun out in some soft stuff. I know i'm not good at all but I had some issues here.

After dropping the fourth time my luggage rack broke and off came the trunk. I had way to much stuff. I wanted to bring that I would need without going to the store,resturant or park. We didn't know where we were going to be staying or if we were going to be by water. Next time i'm paking like adveturerik bare essentials.

Just south of Vantage on the Columbia River took this.

So we find a place to stay for the night. Set up camp.

After the day I had needed to unwind.

Some parts got bent and broke, so need to fix that for tomorrow.


After a much needed swim, sat back and enjoyed the sunset. All in all I may suck at riding but it was still a good day. Nothing major broke

Thanks for sharing your pics and stories, looks like nice views from the camping area. It looks like fun to me

Damn that sucks! But like everyone else says it's the best way to learn.

Keep it coming

So Day 2 we pack up and it's just starting to get wet.

We're at Desert Aire and the grounds keep stops by give us a farewell and let us know about a fund raiser breakfast going on at the airport there. While there this landed.

After breakfast we head to my dirt route for the day.

The plan is to head up Old Durr and explore the area. Heading up this hill I eat it my two fuel tube bust off,broke the fairing and hyper extend my leg. I didn't get any pics of my bike down thought I did.:huh After long thought, I bitch out (I hurt too much to want to deal with what I dont know what ahead. I'm having a hard time just getting on my bike as it is.)

We head to Naches get some food.

Figure out our next plan.

We decide to head west on WA12 and find a place to camp.

We partake in some over price beverages.And filter some water. Thx to therivermonster for taking the time to do so.

Relax by the fire.

The next morning on the way home we head up to some ridge I can't remember the name of.

One last stop for gas, the last leg home.

Definitly have to go back to Old Durr with a lot less crap. I was sad it was over but I was tired and glad I was home too. Thx guys for make this trip memorable.

Nice write-up and pix. Just a plug for your KLR (I just released mine to new owner)... but your opportunities testing theory of gravity...might be lessened with better tire choice. Theres tons of opinions out there, so im not gonna tell you what the best tire is, as that is open to your style, what feels good to you in feedback, % of offroad, type of offroad etc. I cant really tell if you have factory skin or something else, but in either case, a different selection from whatever your running, may help.
I will tell you when i was riding all street...Avon gripsters were great. When i started riding more offroad, they sucked, so I went thru a lot of tires trying different brands/types. (not wanting to go full knobby due to still commuting many miles to work on pavement). Mefo tires (i think german, i think i ordered from klr650.com...who swear by them)...specifically the sport explorers, did very well off road, but still wore decent on road. just what i found i like, but i know the factory tires suck and you end up .

Thanks I'm running Shinko 705's for tires. They seem to work pretty good. My problem is my inexperience, when I was heading up the hill I was sitting on my seat just cruising up, I'm sure I should've been off the seat putting my weight forward. I think I would've made it up then.

I got lucky, my KLR came to me with 5000 miles on it and every farkle ever made. And TKC80's. I ran Shinko 700's last summer because I knew I was going to do a LOT of miles and I didn't want to wear out the expensive nobs on slab. The 700's are good but kinda small. At least they are cheap. But TKC80s are the shiznit. Super solid on the road and great in gravel and soft stuff. And that's where you fall down...so buy yourself some good rubber if you can...before you really hurt something! Plus they look totally bad ass.

Crash bars are nice and usually all that happens when the bike naps is that your ego gets scratched...

Final unsolicited n00b to n00b advice: I have a happy trails rack with Pelican boxes on it... If I had $500 I'd buy myself a GiantLoop bag. If you go to their site you can see my KLR in a little before/after shoot I did with them.
Keeps the weight to a minimum and down low.

Personally I laugh when I see CL ads for KLRs that have never been on dirt and don't have a scratch or more than a few miles on them. I almost dropped mine twice yesterday...those suckers are top heavy and just plain heavy. But eventually you'll be able to ride crazy stuff on it!

So congrats on getting out there!

Great stuff. Love camp shots, beer in the river. Brings back many memories. Thanks.

on your first trip & ride report.

Love this story! Good pictures!

Keep riding and bring more reports!

Excellent work, zoomzu! Keep at it- it takes a while to get stuff sorted out. Glad you had a good time- thanks for sharing.

I have yet to chime in on Zoom's RR here, (thanks for posting this btw, Mike!)


Out there in the desert we had a BMW X Challenge, my DR which has proven to be a great bike, and Zoom's KLR which is also a great bike and used to look good too (I think the scratches, cracks, and dents look good).
The drop ratio went as follows: X650 - 0, DR - probably around 5 times: bent handle bars, bent shift lever, twisted forks, KLR - probably around 9 or 10 times: bent hand guard, bent clutch lever, broken rack, broken tool/fuel tubs, broken fairings, and more?. Does that sound about right, Mike? You get tired after picking up overly packed, overly heavy bikes after a while.
At any rate, Mike and his KLR took the brunt of the punishment that weekend, with the only resolution being beautiful scenery, a cold beer, and a couple of riding buddies that wouldn't stop bitching at each other like a couple of little girls. Sorry, Mike!
The ideas and thoughts that I take away from this trip are as follows (get ready because I'm really going to lay it all out here):
- I need to loose some weight and get in better shape. This would be an all around improvement to my life and lifestyle.
- I need to learn to be more tolerant of my riding buddies and their personalities. I found that I would begin to become agitated or annoyed by little things. And when things would go wrong on the trail, I would work myself up because things weren't going as planned. I really need to learn to go with the flow in whatever direction that flow might go. That's how MC trips are supposed to go, right? I believe that a high level of tolerance and flexibility are very important personality traits for the members of any riding group.
- I need to continue to ride challenging terrain, and seek out ways to learn how to improve my riding skills.
- I want to further develop my eye for photos, especially ones that would help tell a story in a RR. A big thanks to mike for the great photos that he shared in this RR. They do a good job telling the story.
- To be honest, I completely enjoyed the silence that really only occuored when we hit a tough patch of terain and bikes started napping and shutting off. The beauty of such a place was something that most of us rarely get to enjoy and the three of us never really took the time to shut the bikes down and enjoy the silence and scenery all together. I wish we had done this a few times.
- I need to learn how to pack lighter.
- I love me some Kermit chair at the end of a good day of riding.
- I need to learn how to eat better as a whole, but especially while on trips. Either freeze dried meals, or an overdose of homemade beef jerky does not make for a fresh tent.

That's pretty much it. I wish Mike's leg didn't get hurt, but what are you gonna do. Heal up, buddy.

Right now we are planning on going to Wetfest, so hopefully we'll get schooled by some of you people down there - maybe learn a thing or two.

I'll post some of my pics when I get the chance.

Looks like a good time was had by all! Drops aside, I'll bet the whole trip was a blast.

Unsolicted product advice follows:

I've got the Giant Loop Coyote and it will hold a surprising amount of kit, but it does require thoughtful packing and gear selection. I also have Wolfman Expedition bags as well as a set of metal panniers for the DR650. What I use depends on the trip. Coyote is used most often on the XT225.

I tried dirtbagz and while they are a quality product, they are pretty minimalist for carrying gear, but what killed it for me was riding in dirt and zippers. The two don't get along it seems. Oddly, I don't have problems with the zipper on the coyote bag.

Thank for the words Blane,

I only dropped my bike 6 times. I did stop a couple of times to take it in, but then you two got too far ahead. It did seem like the the trip was in a big hurry to get to the next spot. It would've been nice to taken it a bit slower and taken it in. We should've taken a well need lunch that first day in the hills.

It does suck that my leg hurts. The wierd thing about this pic is it doesn't hurt where the bruise is.

Day 1 June 17th 2011

I started early with my drops when I let the DR down from the stand without the side stand down. Even though I was morning fresh, the bike was tough to get back up. Looking back on it now, this should have been a sign.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

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Erik out front. We zipped right by this rig like it was going backwards.<o></o>

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We crested the Snoqualmie pass and were now on the east side of the Cascade Mountains. The weather improved and we began to see lots more bikes. I liked the looks of this one for some reason.<o></o>

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Our stop in Roslyn was a nice point to get off the bikes and enjoy some small town coal mining history. We saw what we decided to be a group of fire jumpers there as well.<o></o>



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Back on the road we started to enjoy the great vistas of Eastern Washington. The rivers over there are beautiful.<o></o>


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I also really enjoyed the big wind turbines. As far as I can remember this is the first time that I have seen one fully erected and operating.<o></o>


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We pulled off the highway at the trailhead that would take us down into Vantage, WA. We were all obviously excited, but I could feel a sense of apprehension from the guys, and admittedly myself. You just don&#8217;t know what challenges lie up in those hills, and we were about to realize why we felt some of those feelings. We would be tested, laugh a little, yell a little, sweat a lot, and smile the whole time&#8230;<o></o>
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Here is the DR packed for the trail. I am using the Wolfman Expo sidebags and medium duffel, Wolfman enduro tank bag, Pelican 1450 tail box, and a regular dry bag for my sleeping pad. I&#8217;ll write more thoughts on this setup at the end of this ride report.<o></o>
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We rode into this. The roads at first were very rideable, but I must not have been paying close attention to the GPS track because we quickly lost it and headed off into the unknown.<o></o>
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This would be the hill where all the excitement would begin. More to come soon&#8230;<o></o>
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Keep the reports coming! Laying over sucks, but no better way to learn... Unless Neduro is still doing classes(have been away from here for a while)...
Nuthin a little scotch won't fix.