The TAT Preparation Thread-the logistical side of it

[leftystrat62]

Originally Posted by DockingPilot

Yea, dump all that stuff. Way too much. But here is where I differ my opinion with OneLess, and that doesnt mean I'm right.

Take your riding shirt, whatever it may be, say a Under Armour, and jacket, then just take a Gerbing liner. It has a wide range of warmth comfort. Leave all the layering home.

Yea that works if your not camping when it's cold. Unless I'm mistaken, I'll be camping in 30F or less when I get farther out West in Sept. I do it all the time here in New England with my bike and I find riding below 55F without heated jacket/gloves-I'm really bumming-even with heated grips. Strange because I can ice climb all day in 5F with much less clothing,but I'm almost always moving so I'm sure that's the difference.
I'm not trying to be argumentative, I just don't want you guys to think I want to take stuff "just in case",I really do want to only carry what I'll need so keep that comments coming.

[DockingPilot]

I can tell you after sunset and in the mornings in Sept. west of the front range it was frikin freezin ! Lol


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[One Less Harley]

not sure why you have seven water bottles, that's a whole lotta space!!!, but a camel back and the bladder will be plenty. Great thing about the bladder is that it rolls up when not needed. I only had mine filled up in Nevada.

You should be able to pack what yo need int eh wolfman saddle bags, a medium tank bag and medium duffel.

Biggest things for me were, the netbook (better options now), small stove, sleeping bag. and food/snakcs.

I really liked the Big agnes seedhouse 2 tent and the air mattress.

One handy item was the camp saw (Sven), used it twice and was glad to have it.







Plus this Trail stand is nice to have and packs up small.





Going in Sept, yeah it might be pretty cold at those higher elevations. I only needed cold weather gear in CO and Oregon, but was glad to have it, but yeah adds a lot of weight and space.

Go through all the bearing on the bike, wheel bearings, head set and swing arm.

Here's my camp and clothing list

[rufus]

A tire mousse may not survive at high speeds. I have seen guys scooping rubber chunks out of their tire so they could put a tube in. Heat, speed and rough ground can destroy a mousse. Tire balls will melt. I have seen it happen in 20 miles of road riding.

[leftystrat62]

Originally Posted by rufus

A tire mousse may not survive at high speeds. I have seen guys scooping rubber chunks out of their tire so they could put a tube in. Heat, speed and rough ground can destroy a mousse. Tire balls will melt. I have seen it happen in 20 miles of road riding.

I know,I'm up,I'm down ,I'm in , I'm out on the Mousse-wish I had a crystal ball to see how it would hold up on the 3 days at 65 mph on the highway. I've been watching this thread: http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=740763
it's about using Mousse for a dual sport. Neduro and a few others seem to think it can do the TAT and some highway as long as you stay below 65 mph. Honestly I've got no tire changing experience except for the set that's on there now,and boy I know I'll be nervous on my first flat by myself. Was hoping the Mousse might make that problem go away. Denial-that's the best preparation

[leftystrat62]

Originally Posted by One Less Harley

not sure why you have seven water bottles, that's a whole lotta space!!!, but a camel back and the bladder will be plenty. Great thing about the bladder is that it rolls up when not needed. I only had mine filled up in Nevada
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Maybe I should scrap the water bottles? If I do carry then they're al strapped to the outside of my saddle bags in holders so I don't use up any valuable space. That was one of the reasons I thought of carrying my water that way.I remember reading that one will need 2 gal of water a day when in the desert-maybe that's too much?
what do I know, I've never been more than 2 blocks from a store that sells water,lol. My reasoning for the water bottles being carried that way(as opposed to just a dromedary) is because the weight would be down lower than if I carry the bladder which would be up high. I was thinking of carrying the bladder empty and only fill it at the very end of the day if I had a chance as extra insurance while in the desert,but maybe I should do one or the other.
There's a few things that I think about that make me anxious doing this trip solo:
too much weight,running out of fuel,getting lost,breaking down,and running out of water-and I think fuel & water are at the top.

[leftystrat62]

Originally Posted by One Less Harley

You should be able to pack what yo need int eh wolfman saddle bags, a medium tank bag and medium duffel

Go through all the bearing on the bike, wheel bearings, head set and swing arm.
]

I actually can pack everything in my wolfman saddlebags,tank bag,and med wolfman duffel-I've done 2 four day shake down trips like that with all my tat gear; I just wasn't crazy how there was so much weight on the back tail and up so high. That's why I tried the giant loop bag,but it can only fit about 2/3rds of the gear the med duffel can. I can feel the difference with the weight down lower when I used the GL ,but it's not really meant to be used the way I'm trying to use it.
I have gone through my wheel and swing arm bearings and will do it again before I leave,just don't have a clue how to do the head set. What are you doing this weekend

[leftystrat62]

Originally Posted by DockingPilot

I can tell you after sunset and in the mornings in Sept. west of the front range it was frikin freezin ! Lol


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you mean like this while out last month- note the 23F displayed
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[One Less Harley]

"Neduro and a few others seem to think it can do the TAT and some highway as long as you stay below 65 mph"

stick to tubes, don't take the word from others,,"seem to think," unacceptable.

As far as water goes, only place it is an issue would be Nevada and Black Dragon/Eagle and Cat Canyons in Utah.

I found the only place I needed water was in Black dragon Canyon, I drained the camel back but was with two other riders. I didn't have the bladder filled, but carried a 24oz water bottle on the side strap thingies on the Wolfman. The wolfman has those water bottle holders, I used them one for oil, chain lube, air filter oil and 24oz water bottle.

Most days the camel back alone will be plenty as there are places to fill up during the day. I used lunch stops to restock toilet paper too. If camping figure some sort of lunch stop which won't be hard to find. Our group ate out 90% of the time, so food isn't an issue, plus we usually enjoyed imported beer every night!!! It's good to have some food just in case or the evening meal at camp. Dehydrated stuff is small and not to bad to eat.

You're going later in the year so I suspect water will be less of an issue, except would want to fill the bladder up for night time cooking and camping for personal hygiene.

Really you need to get comfortable doing tire changes it will take 3-4 changes to get your technique down. A small can of WD40 for tire tube is quite helpful. You need someone to show you what to look out for as not to pinch a tube!!! Plus how to patch a tube.

I never went below 18 psi, and never had a flat and hit some pretty good stuff in Utah. 4mil tube front and 3mil rear.

a little item I forgot and was quite glad to have later was a bandana to cover my neck from the 4weeks in the sun.

Make sure your boots and seat are comfortable, I had few miles on a Corbin and it was pure hell for 4 of 5 weeks, boots wore blisters on my heels after much walking in Black Dragon Canyon. Even w/ band aids and mole skin it was painful...and nothing helped my ass!!!!

[One Less Harley]

One of the many great things about the TAT, is the great memories you'll have after doing the trip. It ranks up there with the top 2-3 things I've ever done. Doing a RR with pictures is a great way to remember the adventure. I did a short TAT, TN, MS and Ar, and found out I had forgotten a lot of the roads and sights.

Ride within your ability, as it's a long trip and crashing out by being stupid isn't something you'll want to experience. The goal is to finish speed isn't worth it...especially solo.

I'll tell you, one minute you can be moving right along all happy and content, but then wham someting can happen to change then whole trip. I had just gone over Marshal Pass, the 1st mountain pass...and just got on a short highway section then pow....the motor died and I coasted to a stop.......I'll tell you a lot of things go through your mind in a hurry..trip over....long way from home.....this is gonna be costly....etc. Luckily it was a relatively simple fix, noting a 20 mile tow and a day and 1/2 layover wouldn't cure. Now we really enjoyed the riding, but also usually had one day off per week of relaxing in some hole in the wall place. This was nice to look over the bikes, do laundry and suck down some nice cold beer. we had about 3 days off due to, broken shift lever, lost contact lens and one other day for some reason. Going solo give you the freedom to go at your own pace, but might get a little boring. I was lucky to find two old dues...(I hope you guys are reading this) to ride with. For guys who had never met before things went pretty well for 4 weeks, a few small differences, but I still have fond memories of the trip and both guys.

[leftystrat62]

I appreciate all your input. I read your RR last year and asked you quite a few questions as I thought I was going to be able to ride it this past Sept. There's so many ways to skin "this " cat, lot of things to think about.

[leftystrat62]

I'd love to hear what people used to maintain their chain on the TAT? I read some good stuff about this teflon lub for chain use and thought it would work well because of it's size
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I just don't know what to use or how to take care of a chain if your unable to clean it properly first before it gets lubed? I think it was Docking pilot who said he only used WD-40 for the chain-but if your still out there Frank feel free to chime in.

[xathor]

EDIT: OP asked me to remove my post.

[One Less Harley]

I used two cans of chain lube on the trip, probably 4 cans between three bikes. Like I said oiled every morning, but should have oiled it at the end of the ride while warm. I never cleaned the chain.

Only cleaned air filter once, and it wasn't too terribly bad, but that all depends on where the intake is located plus, you're going solo, so there will be less dust.

[xathor]

Originally Posted by leftystrat62

What are KML's?

They are pre-made routes in Google Earth.