Tranks can last for weeks out in western OK. They can look fresh for a long time. Now, if they were in wet mud, well, I guess they were recent. No, it's not. Very true. And, I know exactly where this was taken. Great little valley. I think you guys tried to turn right (north) too soon. You wanted B036 Long Canyon Road which is 5.5 miles further west along Road 456. That would have taken you up onto the bluff and into Colorado near Branson. My old '97 DR6 never burned any oil. You may have rings on their way out or, perhaps valve guides. Does it smoke?
Yeah, you're right. Looks like they were turning too soon. Interesting that on Google Maps and an OSM NM Topo map I have, both B036 and B039 are labeled as Long Canyon Rd. My Garmin maps just use the county road numbers.
No smoke on start up at all and nothing noticeable while riding. I can't quite figure out where the oil is going but it doesn't bother me too much. As slo mo said, if mainly burns oil in the highway speeds but we are running g most of these roads around 50-60 mph. It has slowed down now that we have gotten into Colorado.
Getting into Colorado has been amazing. It finally feels like some challenging riding has come our way. If you are thinking about doing the full TAT, do it. I am happy that I did the east section although I'm not sure that I'd so it again. The ozarks were amazing and the feeling of traveling with everything you need on your bike is like nothing g else. Having said that, Oklahoma have me a sour taste towards the east. Perhaps a bigger bike would have helped. Onto the good stuff... Colorado started with some cow pastures and rolling hills. We were ripping these roads (and thought we were going to run out of gas) as we first entered Colorado. We got to Trinidad and realized it was going to piss rain so we got the motel that I posted the last report from. The next morning we headed out into 50 degree weather with overcast skies. It looked like it was going to open up all day. For rain gear, I had a waterproof shell under my water resistant riding jacket. Not ideal but it was that or buy rain gear. Pete and Nick were better prepared. The riding was great with lots if rolling cow pastures and some muddy national first roads. We stopped in Le Veta for gas and coffee. We have been taking any opportunity for a coffee break. We opted for a one room cabin the next night. Great choice for $55 with hot showers nearby. Some good Rocky Mountain roads. Crazy cows Misty mountain. Trusty DR Continental divide. Hancock pass was super rocky going up. I had some clutch fade by the end. Good times though. I have never ridden in rocks like that but I really enjoyed it. The DR had some trouble running at altitude and it wouldn't idle so I cranked the idle screw up and it fixed that. We were over 12,000 feet. Tomochi pass was cool too. It was a little more exposed but an easier ride. Here is Pete crossing a run off stream towards the end of tomochi pass. It was really incredible up there. And finally, we are at our favorite franchised rv park, the KOA. It's raining with thunder and lightening all around. I thought Colorado was supposed to be dry.... I got a new rear tire and will mount up new sprockets and a chain tomorrow. My old trak master was as worn as I've ever seen a tire. Here is the new one. Can't wait to ride it.
Interesting, I really liked Oklahoma on my DR3. However, I was by myself, so I purposely rode at a max speed of 45 mph. Looks like you're having a fun trip. The Colorado Rockies are known for afternoon thunderstorms, in the Summer. Be happy it isn't 90 degrees with 95% humidity. And, I had MT-21 tires on my DR for the TAT. Perfect tire.
Really enjoying your ride report and pictures. Stay safe and keep it coming. Subscribed and sent to my riding buddies.
+1 0n afternoon thunderstorms. Last time I rode there it rained every afternoon. nice report, I sign on everyday to read it.
Brett, If you have the time I would recommend you take a day off in Moab and ride the White Rim Trail that is just northwest of town. It's a ride with spectacular scenery. When I rode it a couple of years ago it was about 140 miles in length and there is no gas or anything else available on it. Gary and I are planning to do it this year when we get out there in about a week. Dave Z
On our final day in Colorado, we woke up to rain...again. I went to Sunsports in Gunnison, Colorado to pick up my sprockets. An employee at the shop and brought then from a suzuki shop in a town about 60 miles west. Nice overnight shipping! They let me borrow a stand and a space in their shop to install the chain and sprockets. They even cut the chain for me. I recommend this shop if you need parts in Colorado. It's about 20 miles off trail but also in a cool town worth checking out. Once that was completed the rain had slowed. We fueled up with subway and coffee and rode some pavement to reconnect to the trail toward lake city. This would be the start of Cinnamon Pass. Cinnamon pass wasn't too difficult but I did drop the bike once after taking a bad line thru some rocks. Had to kick it more than a few times despite me having done the t vent mod. 2 bikes on top of Cinnamon. We continued down the pass towards engineers. We intended to ride engineers as well but it had started raining pretty hard and visibility was low. Ophir pass was a good ride. Further on, we came into some muddy two track. It was a lot of fun. During this section I has tried to skirt around a big mud lake in the middle of the trail and ran into a rock on the side. This caused me to dump the bike in a puddle and explode some oats. Wet, muddy oats. This night we decided we were going to camp wild. Turns out it gets really cold at 9000 feet in the Rockies. Great site regardless.
Yesterday, we rode to the nearest town to get some big breakfast burritos and say goodbye to Pete. He was headed home to Southern California to do job things. He plans to finish the western tat soon. Nick and I continued on towards Moab. The rest of the riding for the day turned out to be pretty nice national forest roads. Fast and dusty. It was hot coming down from the Rockies and into the desert. I was wearing g 4 shirts and 2 jackets. The riding got increasingly better as we got closer to Moab. I had never seen desert landscape like this in person. On our first day in Colorado, we met a guy named Brendan at a gas station. He was riding the TAT solo in a DR650. I got his number and we loosely planned to meet in moab. He picked out one of the best campsites and we met him there. Nick and I did an oil change in town and then got in our tents and got smashed by the wind all night. The stars were really amazing. The next morning we set off for our Utah desert adventure. Equipped with 3L of water we headed out. It wasn't nearly as bad or as hot as we had expected. Some really fun riding. Watch out for barbed wire gates. That wouldn't feel good at 50mph. It wasn't marked at all. The black dragon wash was incredible. Some of the most technical riding yet although not impassable. A fully loaded bike made some parts challenging. Cool picture Brendan got of Nick coming thru the wash. We decided to bypass the next wash. It was marked as an optional go around on the maps and after riding the previous wash, we didn't really feel like doing one that is potentially worse. In hindsight, we should have done it but that is easy to say when you are not cooking in all your gear and not on an air cooled bike in the desert. Along i70 I managed to dump my bike on the shoulder while trying to get off it. I dropped my bike more today than the whole trip. Probably the heat. Getting rained on while riding some great trails. Rutted 2 track with awesome elevation changes and great views. Finally we made it to Kanosh and fueled up at an unmanned gas station. The gas station dog was there though. Tonight we have another great cabin. This one has a hot tub near by. Pretty luxury.
you guys probably made the right decision bypassing Eagle Canyon.....once you get down in there, there is no getting out, no bypasses (all washed out) and no escape. you ride it until you make the end and it's all sand wash & shale, no way to maintain speed. on a heavy bike its miserable.
Ah the wonderful TAT. Looks like your getting the whole experience. Oklahoma mud. Colorado thunderstorms. Primitive camping, and bike maintenance. Good for you! Enjoy. Q~
Here we are in Nevada. This state is the most gnarly and its wearing me down. We're in Eureka after re routing down the loneliest road in America in 55 degree pouring rain. Most hardcore thing. We were soaked thru for 80 miles. The riding yesterday has 4 foot rut/holes and washouts. It felt extremely desolate and remote and the sky looked like it would open up at any second. It did. I can't wait for Oregon. I may be wrong but I think nevada is one of the last big challenges of the TAT.
That's the wonderful thing about the TAT. Everyday the scenery changes. You can go swimming in Oregon! Q~
Enjoying yur trip. Brings back the memories of my DR350SE and the Arkansas part of the TAT in '99. Had to do TAT in sections due to work and did more of it on my 2000 KLR. Thanks for the memories and the work to share your ride.