@AJxr - sincere thanks for taking the time to capture images, document, and craft this report - by far one of the most enjoyable I've perused here and that's something as this is the only form of social media I do and I like to read lots of reports as it's an outlet for me (if we can call this asylum social media ). I enjoyed your matter of fact writing style and the wit you sprinkled throughout the report; also admire you taking an old XR on some remote, tough crap. If your planning involves heading further west and you enjoy desolation and rugged beauty, I'd suggest Nevada, SE Oregon, Eastern Washington, and Idaho. I have tracks for SE Oregon and northern NV, the Nevada BDR route is supposed to be fantastic, as is the the WA BDR and I believe the Idaho BDR is good too. I spent 7 days riding solo through SE Oregon back in June and it was my 4th trek out that way, I love it there. Wish I could take a 4-6 weeks and just ride the western BDRs, especially Nevada over to Idaho and then back through OR. In any event, glad you were able to get the ride back to your rig in CO sorted and didn't have to take the XR apart doing so. Nothing like that small twist to end the adventure...lol. Keep the knobby side down in your future endeavors and thanks again for the report.
thanks for the kind words and thanks for following along! well said. it only takes a week or so with the bare essentials to remind us how complicated we make our normal lives. also i was born in 86 so that means i make the cut for millennial hahaha! my first bikes were 80s XRs so it seems only right to keep on keepin on. i like your style! glad you enjoyed my report.
thank you again. i enjoyed keeping a journal along the way so i could make this report as accurate as possible. to share my experience with others and also for myself so i can go back and remind myself what a good time it was. i started reading your latest oregon report. definitely sparking interest to do another western trip in the near future. the gears are turning!
From the west side.... https://advrider.com/f/threads/third-times-the-charm-i-guess-ill-social-distance-too.1463914/
the trip home. 8/6/2020 woke up in the crusty hotel. 5am or so. time to head south again. stopped at a truckstop for a coffee before getting on the highway. coffee was old and burnt. cashier must have saw my face when i gave it the taste test after adding a little more cream/sugar than i normally do. they gave it to me for free. hit the interstate. kept my foot to the firewall all day. gonna miss ya montana literally nothing to report. i made it from missoula to cheyenne that day. want to say 800 miles or so. 8/7/2020 not far from colorado now. hit the road early again. 2020 miles on the uhaul. i was waiting for it to explode or turn into a spaceship. rolled into the storage place in colorado springs around 9am. reunited with my old volkswagen tdi. transfer all my crap and the xr from the box truck to my VW. luckily nature gave me some company in the form a freshly constructed bees nest in the door jamb of my car. new friends. nature really looked out for me on this trip! returned the uhaul 2 blocks from where my car was parked. getting that uhaul really made things easy logistic wise. the rental car would have been a better story though. so now all that was left was the drive home to ny. everything was finalized and it was time to hit the road. left colorado springs on friday at 10:30am. got home to saturday night right around midnight. greeted by a happy pup. man what a trip. such a treat to get back to my "adv self" even if for only a couple weeks. grand totals 2432 miles traveled by XR250R (60mpg avg) 989 miles traveled by uhaul 10ft box truck (13.2mpg avg) ~3900 miles traveled by volkswagen (f it avg) would i do it again? hell yes. would i plan differently? yes. mainly what i would do next time is ship the bike one way. fly out. ride. penske rental van from wherever i am to home. for western trips i mean. the backtracking killed me. unless somehow one day i win the lottery and then id have the time to ride out and back! also want to say that covid nonsense left me with no confidence in commercial travel. for this trip. not for getting sick but for getting delayed or even turned around. avoiding that was worth the drive out and back. as far as the bike i would run different gearing. started with the stock 13/48 which was great in the tight mountain trail but painful on the slab. that gearing was low enough i hardly used first in the trails so i could have easily gotten away with something a little more highway friendly. i also learned that you cant put a bigger front sprocket on the xr unless you want to ditch the chain guard. i learned that when i installed the 14t. also doesnt look possible to even fit a 15t. i would probably say id do a 13/42 next time around. and id bring the 14t in case i need to log some serious highway miles. again this bike is an XRR and while being 6spd it doesnt really have a "wide" ratio gearbox. might look into running synthetic oil as well. to make changes less frequent. handle bar risers (actually just installed those this morning.) also an actual mounting point for my MSR fuel cans. a horn would by nice too as my middle finger is overused as it is. also i could use a tiny bit more storage. just for all the spare parts i carry. my minimal setup worked but it was sort of busting at the seams. one of my saddlebags was literally all parts and tools. im thinking maybe a small box to put on my rear rack under the tent/sleeping bag, a handle bar rack, or some type of pvc pipe tube setup to mount on the front of the skid plate. for most of the trip i was second guessing my choice to run kenda trackmaster 2s. the rear wore quickly but once it got to a certain point it just stopped. still has enough tread to make it through light mud and more than enough for anything else. its actually still on the bike. want to say it has close to 3k on it now. the front is still at least 50-60%. i may run them again but im also looking at the SR700 shinko. depending on the trip of course. reduced to commuter bike now.. but i know damn well it has another big trip in it. ..and that concludes The Stand: Breaking out of the Outbreak.
acerbis makes number plate gas cans, handle bar gas cans. I need a 86-87 xr250r frame , ours is crushed below the engine , otherwise in great shape.
I enjoyed this very much sir. I read the build and then the ride report. I retire next year at 62 and hope to go on a few more adventures. I just bought and fixed up xr250 #6. Thanks for the report. Well written.
Great ride report! Thanks for taking the time to share your adventure. Can't wait to read your next one!
Very good report! You were really covering some ground, even on the bad days. 'Think I've been on almost all of those trails but at a Much More Relaxed pace; retirement equals good! But, Black Bear in those conditions!!! That's putting your head down, and congratulations!
AJ, Great trip and RR! I too have been through all of these places, however mostly on the asphalt roads, except in CO. Your photos and vids were just like being on the trails. . You are giving millennials a “GOOD” example of a life well lived! Cheers Sir!
AJ, Just finished up reading your fantastic report. Glad the XR performed well for you. Looking forward to the next RR. Inspiring me to get my sh!t together and get out west (fellow NYer).