Leaderboard

Since I got back from Mexico, the poor 990 has been waiting patiently in the garage for another shining moment. That shining moment came again on Sunday, March 29th. My originally planned trip started out as a huge day ride with another 990 buddy through DV, but plans changed when I needed to be in SF on the following Tuesday. So I changed some plans and decided to make a little loop through California and WOW....This is a golden state just like Huell Howser always said. Day One: Orange County to Mammoth Lakes. I went through the Pinnacles/Trona and up Wildrose to access Emigrant Canyon. Mostly slab but a few choice spots of high speed dirt thrown in to break it up. Then over to Panamint Springs for a burger. Then out to Lone Pine to catch 395 all the way to Mammoth. A cold beer at Mammoth Brewing Co. and a warm bed capped off day one. Any good Ride Report should Start with a beer. And this one was tasty! The trusty 990 parked at the fabulous Motel 6 in Mammoth Lakes. Day Two: Mammoth Lakes to San Francisco. I left Mammoth and headed over to Schats for a delicious pastry but 18 gapers in line staring at me in my Badlands was slightly awkward. So I headed over to the trusty Starburnt and enjoyed my grande non fat caramel triple latte. Yeah, you heard me. I ran into some like minded guys and we shot the shit and I helped him start his brand new 350 exc. Ok, onto the pics. Inyo Craters road off the Mammoth escape route. Spider web of trails for hundreds of miles. Lots of this. Can I get a hell yeah?? Bodie State Park. Really cool, take the back way in, no pun intended. Then more of this: I went over Monitor Pass (Badass) and Hwy 88 to get over the Sierras. I stopped in Markleeville and had some of the best Carnitas tacos ever. It was at a place called Ali's. I highly recommend this place and you will know why when you go there for lunch. Hwy 88 is a really good road. Day Three: SF to SF. I had to see a client most of day three but let me tell you about old La Honda road. Holy crap....Just make an appointment to have lunch at this place and you will be very happy you did. I have never explore this area and I could have died and gone to heaven. Makes me want to relocate. Day Four: SF to Orange County. My wife was starting to wonder if I was on another motorcycle trip or I was actually seeing customers so I jammed home. I did take the scenic route though. I rode back through Old La Honda because it was so badass and then over to the coast. Here is my 990 glamour shot. No bust must plus needed. The south to Pigeon Point Lighthouse. Yep, every bit as awesome in person. At this point, I think I was singing in my helmet. More lighthouse action I was running low on carbs so i made a quick stop in Los Olivos to fuel up. And the Tavern: After Los Olivos, I made my way back to the concrete jungle. Total was around 1400 miles and many smiles. Good food, good beer and maybe a little adventure thrown in....yes, sign me up again please.

I've run the switches, as well as a gauntlet of Highway Dirtbike's other products. Great stuff, absolutely bullet proof. Here's my current dash setup on my DR650. Excuse the dirt, it gets used. Just added one of their top clamps/hand guard set ups to my 1190 with two switches and a powerlet outlet. I'll get some pics one of these days.

What do I hate about Facebook? I’ll tell you what I hate about Facebook! I hate the vague-bookers, braggers, candy crush gamers, etc… That’s not really what I’m going to blog here about though. I’d rather focus on where Facebook falls short for us big bike adventure riders. The biggest gripe I have is probably how temporary, fleeting and unorganized everything is. You see a really good set of photos from an event or special trip and then a few days later, they’re essentially gone. And forget any kind of in-depth ride report. Mostly it’s just a photo and a short commentary if you’re lucky. And then when you go to try and find something you’ve seen before or from a particular event, good luck! It’s not really that easy to search for it. Another gripe is how damn repetitive it is! How many tire and oil threads per week can one person possibly read?!!! The same questions get asked/answered over and over and over again. Information isn’t catalogued or organized in any fashion. People just don’t seem as nice or helpful either. Smart ass replies, thread hijacking, pissing matches, questions regarding factors already answered by the original post or a subsequent reply, etc... can really get annoying after awhile. That’s when that “stop notifications” feature really comes in handy! These are all part of why XLADV was created in the first place. Facebook can be fun and enjoyable, but it’s like cotton candy; fun at first and then it’s gone (and not particularly good for you). Park that special ride report here! Start a discussion on what types of panniers you’d like to buy. Peruse the product reviews to see which tire is going to work best for your next trip. Find ADV rides in your area and/or list your own. Check out our fabulous photo gallery and upload your own favorites. XLADV: Size matters

I switched out from the OEM Conti trail attacks to TKC 80's at my 1st service, approximately 600 miles, as i had the Altrider Hoh Rainforest Rally coming up. I like em a lot with the exception of two things. One, my rear is garbage at 2000ish miles. Two, the front tire on the 1190R is a 21" that is maybe slightly to wide, so the profile is way to flat. As sticky as it is, it does no good if your going past the edge. Ive pushed the front a couple times... Had to scrape out my britches. Tires... The constant hunt for the ultimate compromise... We all want knobby traction in the dirt, race tire traction in the twisties, and 20,000 miles out of a hundred dollar tire... The search continues.

Money sent! Gotta represent!

Eric, Monitor pass was an excellent road ride. I suspect 120 will be open in the next 2-3 weeks.

Over-rated!

Preach it brutha! Com on! What Eric is saying is that if you're an XLADV facebook "fan" and reading this, click the "Create Account" button in the upper right and help us build something special, a place of our own! 👍 Our vision is a community that is fun, interesting, inspiring, and full of valuable info. But, with a commitment to keeping the place respectful, classy, and devoid of Internet pissing matches, defending our choice of what we ride. That is just useless "noise" and if you're like us, you want something better. We've created tools, features, and organization that make it easier to find and consume only what you're most interested in. And, we've also created things like the "Garage" where you can showcase your rides, your mods, and others can learn from what you've done. You can even rate your bike and each mod, again, helping those around you learn from your experience. When they do the same, it benefits you and so on.

I placed a descent order with them today. Cant wait to get it in and check em out. Seems like some good designs.

Didn't know about the Ballarat Bandit. Interesting story.

That's really cool. I hobbled through the LA Marathon a couple of weeks ago. I hurt my ankle in a motorcycle accident a few years ago. It started to bother me around mile 3... I managed to complete the race, but it was a long day... I passed some of the offical motorcycles along the course. Next time, maybe I'll look for you.

Thx for the welcome. I been adding stuff all winter long lol I'll get some new pics soon. Bryan got the rox risers helped a bunch. Everything else been mainly OEM accessories Engine crash bars Center stand Fog lights Heated grips Panniers Shorty levers Taller screen Pivotpegz I spent enough for a while lol time to ride

Kinda dig the 8-bit. Appeals to the nerd in me.