Quit our jobs, sold our home, gone riding...

Yes, here in the Okanagan, we get 300 days of sunshine a year.

It's as if There Is A Light That Never Goes Out.

LOL!

Going from the F650GS to the 500 EXC-F and then to a XR650L is like those crazy TV diet shows where the contestant loses 200 lbs, wins the competition, and then they catch up with him 2 months later and he's gained back 150 lbs...

While we were shopping around, Neda was actually considering this sleeker and more svelte Honda model:



But she felt it was too boring... So funny that this exact reaction was captured on camera...

Nice specs on paper, but cable clutch, snatchy throttle off idle and >30lbs heavier than the White KTM.

OMG, look at you two in that photo! Step a-way from the motorcycle!

Yeah, I've read reports of guys going 20-25 hours between oil changes.

We took the Husky in for warranty work a few weeks ago. When we picked it up, the shop told us they also performed an oil change for us. It was only less than 10 hours since the last change, but the service guy said the oil was looking pretty black already. And he said it in a tsk-tsk-don't-you-guys-keep-up-with-maintenance? kinda way.

Basically lube-shamed us.

At <10 hours.

DF?

Nice! My first dirt bike was a 250 XCF-W.



You'll love it!

That's awesome! Thanks for the first-hand account.

I'm *exactly* like this guy:



'Cause they call me Two-Pack as well. Although now, I'm probably down to a One-Pack...

Yep.

So very on-brand for 2020.

The 701 Enduro is an awesome Adventure Tourer. But it is 100 lbs heavier than the FE 501, which would be very noticeable on gnarly single-track trails. Also, when you're picking the bike up over and over again, that 100 lbs adds up. :)

During our travels, there have been a few smaller trails that we've peered down but ultimately decided not to pursue for fear of getting our 500+lb Beemers stuck. So now that we have dirt bikes, we didn't want to give ourselves any excuses!

Due to the COVID lockdown, we're finding we're doing more trails than traveling, so this suits us perfectly. We'll figure out the touring aspect of it once the borders open again. Looks like it will be awhile.

Speaking of the 701, there's a local guy that rips up the trails on one of those, so it is possible. We're just not that good.

Found the video:



#goals

So awesome! Shows you what the bike is capable of when a good rider is on it! Those trails are about an hour north of where we live and is bookmarked as a must-do.

We actually ran into the guy that filmed the video above while we were out riding a few weeks ago. Small world. He organizes an annual ADV rally in September, we're thinking of checking it out.

edit: oops, video of a 790 ADV R, not 701 Enduro. But you get the idea!

Caught up on your blog. So have you guys settled in back in Canada and the epic journey is finished?

I also keep getting the feeling that going to dirt bikes from the BMWs you had is almost like going to snowboarding from skiing. Do you still have your BMWs from the big trip before Japan?

Aren't there big ol' grizzly bears in BC? What you gonna do if you run into one of them? Do you carry bear spray?

IMHO Stuff: Put a slower throttle on the 500's.
Sooner or later you will get some 'whiskey throttle'... and will end up somewhere off the trail.
(Don't ask how I know this.)

Tires: Pirelli MT21 on front. Shinko 244 Golden Boy 5.10 on the back.
Shinko will (likely) do fine for they riding you do. Shinko is not bad on the street either.
Cheaper tire... you can replace it often.

Vibration dampening bars mounts will do those 500's good too.
Mosko or Giant Loop bags.

Big 5 gallon tank... you can ride 250 (+) miles.
Will be nice if you ever come down to ride eastern Orygun or Nevada... or...

Yup, Den darn dirty bikes are selling...

https://advrider.com/dirt-bikes-dom...utm_campaign=editorial&utm_content=08_19_2020

lol inorite? Here's a happier Honda pic:



Looks like Neda likes this one better.

As usual, we don't really have any concrete long-term plans. Stuff changes all the time.

We were on a snowboard vacation last winter at Whistler, BC, and at that time the idea that we hatched was to set up a base in the Okanagan so we could make forays into the US and Mexico - basically hit all the nooks and crannies we missed the first time round in North America. Just on smaller and lighter bikes this time.

And then the Coronavirus hit, so those plans got kiboshed. We still went ahead with our original intentions to move here, and we did get the dirt bikes as well. However, all thought of ADVenturizing them has been put off until the travel and border situation becomes clearer.

As of now, we're just enjoying the trails in the area in the meantime. Still lots to see and do right here in this very expansive province!

Taking life one day at a time!

Haha, that's a good analogy.

All winter long, while boarding the slopes, I was thinking that there are so many parallels between snowboarding and motorcycling. There's something very similar and familiar about the G-forces you feel when you're in the middle of a turn/carve.


Extreme lean!!!

In snowboarding, there's this feeling of weightlessness when you transition between heelside and toeside edges, just like a chicane on the track, when you transition your weight from side-to-side.

And then other similarities hit me.

Like when your heel edge slides out from underneath you and you slide on your ass down the hill? That's a lowside in the motorcycle world.

And when you catch your toe edge and get ejected into the air, tumbling head over heels? Highside.

Body positioning is also so important. On the snowboard - butt over the heel-side edge, not behind it. On a motorcycle, body on the inside of the turn, not on the outside (on the track - opposite for dirt bikes). The goal is the same - make sure you have as much grip as possible on the edge/tire.


Snow ghosts at Big White

When you're boarding heavy pow, you lean back on the board and steer mainly using your rear. Exact same when you're riding deep sand, trying to keep the front end light so it doesn't dig in and pitch you into the soft stuff.

Speaking of which, when you do fall in deep powder, trying to get back on the board when you're waist deep in the white stuff is like when your dirt bike goes over the edge of trail and lands wheels-up in the ditch... Good f-ing luck!

Other surfaces: Freshly groomed corduroy is exactly like freshly paved asphalt. Insane grip and super confidence in your edge/tire.

Boarding the glades is so much like riding tight single track, watching the trees whiz pass you.

And then when you're stuck on a cat track behind the skiers doing the erratic slalom, like being held up on the track by slower riders who park it in the corners. Gotta time your pass just right.

Or maybe just stuff'em in the corners...

One of the Beemers made it back in one piece. The other one is on another continent, possibly in many small pieces...

Haven't seen a grizzly yet. Seen a lot of black bears though. They outnumber the grizzlies 10-to-1.

For the most part bears are scared of humans, especially when we make lots of noise, like when we zoom by on a motorcycle.

We've seen a couple of bears out on the trails, but mostly it's the first rider that comes upon one. By the time the second rider gets there, the bear has already run off.

The one bear to fear are cubs. If you see one, you head the other direction, because mama bear will be close by and they are fiercely protective of their young. Most bear attacks on humans are mother bears protecting their cubs.

We have an interesting bear story while we were in Squamish.

Over the winter, Neda put out a bird feeder in our back yard to feed the birds who didn't fly south for the winter.

When COVID-19 hit, the province went into lockdown. Which meant no cars and no people in town and on the streets.

This emboldened a lot of wildlife to roam around areas which were previously populated by humans.

One morning, we found Neda's birdfeeder on the ground, the heavy pole that it was perched on was knocked down by a bear who presumably woke up from hibernation, hungry and prowling for food.

Glad this happened in the night while we were asleep...