Utards whos riding what

[HickOnACrick]

I tried to make up some miles, but needed to stop frequently to check the maps and GPS. My gazetteer lists the road as FR 058, but when I was on the road, the signs were always changing - too many numbered fire roads to remember.

I made it to the halfway point about the time I reached this ominous sign:


It was September 4th.


I was able to ride up the road and do a wet river crossing. All was well until I got about 2/3 of the way over the river, then encountered a bunch of slick, mossy rocks. I had one hand holding the bike up and the other reaching down and clearing rocks. The water was up to my shins. I would go 2 or 3 feet, then start spinning as I shot out a wet rooster tail 15 feet high and 30 feet long. I was going nowhere fast.

Finally one of the bridge builders graciously came upriver and gave me a shove. I was up the far bank, back to the road, and on my way again.
Shadows growing longer, and now I am wet. Elevation 8000 feet.



I pinned it for the next 20 minutes or so, then ran out of gas. I was at 140-150 miles on 3.9 gallon tank. Not too shabby. You can't even tell that I had ridden almost 100 miles of dirt:

Near Hole-In-The-Rock guard station.

There was not enough time to take any more pictures that night. Needless to say, I made it to Hwy 44 near Sheep Creek.

I slabbed it in the dark to the next gas stop at Flaming Gorge Lodge. Just as I was slowing to turn into the lodge, a deer darted in front of me. I hit the deer with the right shroud and my right boot, managed to keep the bike upright, but killed the deer. I felt really bad :(

It was 160 miles between the gas in Kamas, and the Gas at Flaming Gorge. The ride took me about 5 hours to that point, then another hour into Vernal. Needless to say I was riding about as fast as I could given the falling light and knowing the headlamp on the SE sucks ass.

Got into Vernal in time to have dinner with the family. I was 6 hours door-to-door.

[HickOnACrick]

The next day I got a call from Ryman at 7AM. He was amped and ready to go. I threw some coffee down my throat and headed to his house.

We left his house and were almost immediately on a trail that meandered over some hills, through some washes and hit some great double track as well. Lots of really good double track:


Ryman rides a KTM 530...very well


His front wheel is constantly stargazing:


More stargazing:


The trails he took me on were neither the most challenging or the longest I have ever done, but the length combined with the difficulty had me sloppy toward the end. I started dumping the bike...lots. Mostly in deep sand. At one point we were in a wash without a trail and throwing the orange pig around plain tuckered me out.

Ryman was real patient, has great knowledge of fantastic riding in the area, and even helped me fix my handguard when the day was done.

We logged 200 miles, 2 tanks of gas, one handguard, one tweaked ankle, two dehydrated humans, very little slab, lots of dust, one meatloaf and one turkey sam-ich, one challenging railroad crossing, and I snapped my subframe.

Turns out that the rear rack area of the SE is not beefy enough to handle a 2 gallon Kolpin...at least not when you are practicing throttle technique over nice rollers

I need an aluminum welder on Tuesday. Anyone available?

[GISkev]

riding monday, leaving early-ish, depending on whether i'm solo our riding with anyone... I'll be on my plated 650

call me if interested, ateOhWon AteAteSicks WonAteSvnNien


GREAT RR HICK!

[Ryman]

Yo Hick

Had an awsome time riding with you. Thanks for letting me show you around. Hope we can meet up again sometime soon. You suprised me by politely riding in my dust all day long. I know you were itching to open that beast up. Sorry the ride was so tough on the bike. I really needed a day like that.

Cheers
Ryman

[trackhead]

Did a fun 65 mile loop with my wife today.

She was riding her 900. Ooops, added an extra zero, I meant her 90.


I was on my mini-bike too.


She set a new land speed moto record on the Trail 90.


The mind struggles with the vastness of the west desert.




Weee.....

[dakardad]

Originally Posted by HickOnACrick

I rode Hwy 150 past Xmas meadows, then took FR 058 headed East. I believe the signs say Elizabeth Mountain Pass. Pretty fast, easy hardpacked dirt road until I reached the summit.

HOC-That is one of the roads I took after you left me the other day. A decent ride along the ridge with great views. I did it on the way back after I rode those ATV trails. Looks like you had fun.

Lots of roads like this:



As you can see, the shadows were getting long, I was nowhere near halfway, and I still didn't even know if I could make it all the way across.

Lots of pretty meadows, but not many pictures as I was running low on time.


Getting darker

Wus! Hellen Keller woulda made it.

[quota]

Originally Posted by HickOnACrick

It was 160 miles between the gas in Kamas, and the Gas at Flaming Gorge.

Bear River Service does have fuel available in case anyone wants to do the same ride and had concerns. The pump is labeled "diesel" but it is regular gasoline. My bike went from Bear River Service to Vernal without needed fuel. Seems like it was about 160 miles as well and we did an out and back to Spirit Lake as well.

I did see a lot of signage mention bridges being out when I rode that 2 weeks ago.

Sorry to hear about the deer but glad you and the bike are OK. I still have a bike that wished a deer would not have hit it.

[HickOnACrick]

Originally Posted by quota

Bear River Service does have fuel available in case anyone wants to do the same ride and had concerns. The pump is labeled "diesel" but it is regular gasoline. My bike went from Bear River Service to Vernal without needed fuel. Seems like it was about 160 miles as well and we did an out and back to Spirit Lake as well.

I did see a lot of signage mention bridges being out when I rode that 2 weeks ago.

Sorry to hear about the deer but glad you and the bike are OK. I still have a bike that wished a deer would not have hit it.

Yeah I figured there is probably not a ride in the state that you haven't already mapped out and ridden...twice.

Thanks for the info on the gas.

Slabbing it back to SLC today as my bike is broken and I don't want to make it worse. I still need recommendations on an aluminum welder. I can pull the subframe today and have it ready in the morning. It needs to have the broken piece welded, then the frame itself reinforced so I can carry small loads off big jumps!

[GISkev]

leaving by 9... my # is on a previous post

[HickOnACrick]

Here is where the subframe broke:



One weekend and the bike goes from this:


To this:


Need to find a welder tomorrow. I will have them reinforce the subframe at the same time - shitty design.

[trackhead]

Late notice:

I'm doing a 100 mile loop through the Lake Mtns and Tintic Mountains tomorrow if anyone wants to go.

Leaving from Lehi.

[HickOnACrick]

Originally Posted by trackhead

Awesome shot.

I vote front page material!

[Ryman]

New farkles for the 530. Unesessary bling.....or kick ass platforms! I must ride and decide.


Killer wash. I always wonderd where this went. Damn the bike stopped running. Shit I'm missin a key tool. Fumble around for a while trying to get the seat off. Cuss words fly. Hike to top of hill. Cell phone call. Shame.



And so I trudge, and trudge, and trudge, 3 miles back to the highway in my riding boots. Blisters.



FJ to the rescue!!



Retrieve tools......drive the FJ as far as possible. Trudge, Trudge, Trudge.
Remove seat, blown fuse. Vroooooom! Back to the garage in the dark.




And the verdict................Kick Ass Platforms!

[Ryman]

Originally Posted by HickOnACrick

Poor 950 went to Vernal and got Vernereal disease!!!

[HickOnACrick]

Originally Posted by Ryman

And the verdict................Kick Ass Platforms!

Those shure are purdy.