6 N.J. Guys Do The Ultimate Big Trailie Idaho Adventure

My first post........I had to say how much I enjoyed your report

If anyone would like some input on planning a trip like this in Idaho, just send me a PM and I'll try to assist.

Tony thanks for your books, great stuff.
Check your PM's

I would encourage anyone doing an ADV ride in Idaho or anywhere out west to contact Tony and buy his books. Tony helped us plan a fantastic route through Idaho was great help planning our TAT assault.

Well thank you!

John's too kind. To be honest about it, on the TAT, these terrific guys had to hold my hand every mile of the way ...

did it rain much?

Nope.

Geez Frank, you coulda given the guy a bit more info!!

We had one quick shower - maybe 30 minutes, and some we saw the evidence of a recent snowfall, but we did not actually get snowed on.

Key for this (and all our trips) is planning the trip for the best weather. Our leader Docking Pilot researches this extensively and we pin it down to the best couple of weeks to be as comfortable as possible.

Or he calls me.

The fish were probably steelhead, on a red (nest), focused on spawning, spent from their 9 month, 900 mile+ journey from the Pacific over 8 dams up the Columbia, Snake and Salmon Rivers to breed in a small tributary. I used to guide steelhead fishing on the Salmon River. Of course, they were out of season when you saw them (spawning) and the tributaries are closed to fishing anyway.

Great report, great ride. Done some of it out of Ketchum on my DRZ.

Thanks.

amazing how far those fish travel ! Thanks for the info. Cant wait to come back.................soon too

Amazing report! Thanks so much for the great report and pics! This is exactly the kind of trip I want to do once I move back to the NW.

Thanks again

Thankfully you plan a WAY better trip than you spell . I just found this site and this is your second RR I've read, you deservre even more recognition then you're getting, AWESOME pix, clips, etc., makes me want to move out of Jersey more than I already do!! Once again, great job, DK too, photog and chef, damn!

Frank, what an awesome RR. Long time rider and just now wanting to get back to my dirt days of the late 60's, this report just set me off!!! So I'm researching for the right bike, because I'll most likely ride to the area from Minnesota so I want some comfort but yet enough power to get me to the area. So the search begins, any opinions of the right bike. I'm really glad I found this RR.

Steve

Hope you can make it to Idaho someday soon, Bluesjammer!

You're asking a guy that rides a KTM for his opinion of which bike to get... A guy who rides a BMW 1150GS is answering.... Whatcha gonna get?!? A battle!

I've ridden my 1150GS all over creation and have enjoyed every mile of it. However, it really is a Big Pig weighing in at about 550 pounds wet without a load. With full adventure gear and my skinny (5'8" 150 pound) ass on it the weight is probably pushing 800 to 850 pounds. That's a lot for a small guy like me. If I were in the market for a new bike today that could be used for this type of riding (miles of asphalt plus mild dirt roads, occassional single-track and mud, sand, etc.) I would look very seriously at the BMW F800GS. I think that is a very good compromise. There are lots of similar bikes that are great machines, but I really like that one a lot. The KTMs are fabulous but way too tall for me.

It's great that this thread still lives! When I helped Frank et. al. with some planning way back before they took the trip I was living in Wyoming. I'm now in Virginia and loving the area, but I truly miss the wide open spaces out West. Everything is so small out here and there are people everywhere. I haven't been more than a couple miles from someone's house since I moved here. There's nothing like those wide open spaces with no one in them around here, even though this is fantastic riding country. Our farm is down there in the area behind my helmet.





The GS is perfect for this area which has a zillion miles of great asphalt back roads that turn to dirt for a while then back to asphalt. We are less than 20 miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway and the GS is fabulous there too. I got rid of my RT because it just wasn't getting ridden and used some of the proceeds to buy kayaks! Now that's a hoot with big rivers everywhere out here; never got into that sport in Wyoming because there just wasn't that much water.

Hi Frank, we're neighbors now!

Doug

Love these epic adventures. Sitting here reading in a snow storm, school is canceled for the kids. Thanks for keeping me entertained in this crap. Come on spring!

I'm now on a BMW F800 GS. Great bike.
Honestly, I think you could ride this route on almost any big duelie. But thet would depend on your experience and skill with it of course.
Yup, this route was a gem.

Hey Frank,

I finally got around to listening to your interview on Side Stands Up about your Northeast trip. Very nice to listen to after reading the thread! I'll be back in Maine in June and hope to investigate a lot of your route...

Good luck with your travels this summer! Looking forward to that RR for sure...


Lance