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It's good to see you ride, these big bikes just beg to go into the trails! a few notes on your comments: My right foot heel touched the rear brake cylinder, so I moved the cylinder inwards slightly with a few SS spacers (same problem on all 990 models, I did the same mod on ADV and SMT) I had to cut the fork protectors to leave space for the ABS+speedo sensor, image below (before and after!). You really should protect the engine case with the R&G plastics, because it wont be long before the SS teeth on the rubber-like Al brake pedal dig into the engine case... or worse. The radiator guards are a must if you are at risk of landing the bike hard... as are the rubber inserts in the rider's pants! The R front suspension upgrade (with an extra strong spring) is the best money I spent on the bike. It's tall now, so for my height I had to drop the forks ~1cm on the front (and I have tried ~3cm but I lost too much ground clearance so I raised them back to 1cm, perfect for me) The OEM gearing 17x41 is too long for trails, so I am now at 16x45 and that is comfortable. I used TuneECU to smoothen the throttle, because it is very touchy and the rear spins easily with OEM map.

Lets see if this works.

The weekend of April 24th, 2015, eight riders from various parts of southern California set out to explore a few places off the beaten track. Seven of us started out in Irvine, California at the appropriate Starbucks and headed up Interstate 15 towards Hesperia, Ca, where we stopped at the intersection of I-15 and I-395 for breakfast and met up with our 8th rider from Los Angeles, Roger. After breakfast we rode north along I-395 and then east on HWY 178 to Trona Pinnacles, which is about 20 miles due east of Ridgecrest, California. Trona Pinnacles is an amazing geologic formation of spires, cones, and towers from a long dead inland sea rising straight out of the desert, formed by calcium carbonate in springs billowing out of the ancient lake, perhaps as deep as 400 ft during certain ice ages. More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trona_Pinnacles Day 1 Our route, more or less... The approach to Trona Roger, Jon, Mark B, Gregory, Josh, Ron, Carter, Mark S. Me with Trona's ancient spires in the background Carter, exploring some of shallow Trona caves Resting and rehydration time After Trona Pinnacles we rode north along Highway 178 through the town of Trona and arrived at Ballarat, in Death Valley. Ballarat is a small collection of trailers, old wood buildings, and rusted out trucks, one of which is rumored to have been used by Charles Manson. More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballarat,_California Supposedly a truck used by Charles Manson... The Ballarat Trading Post. Cold soft drinks and nothing else. Pee around the back. There are a few trucks, pieces of mining equipment, and unknown objects to explore around Ballarat. Mind the snakes! The awesome approach to Ballarat across a well paved road bisecting salted flats. Make sure to take time to rest and re-hydrate. There's no need to rush things in Death Valley. After Ballarat we headed up 178 towards Panamint Springs, which due to its location has about the most expensive gasoline within a few hundred miles (regular unleaded only). We fueled up the bikes and our stomachs and rode west on Highway 190 over Father Crowley Pass, where you really should stop and enjoy the vistas, which are not to be missed. This is also a great spot for cell phone coverage so you can check in, as the Searles Valley to the west and Death Valley to the east are almost without coverage anywhere. A word about wind - We experienced a lot of wind going up and down this pass to the west and it is worth noting that between the peaks of this road the wind can shift radically. Committing to a lean angle in the twisties can be downright dangerous. Take it conservatively and be safe. We stopped at Father Crowley not for the view, but from fatigue fighting the wind up that hill. Continuing on Highway 190 west we turned right onto Highway 136 towards Owens Lake and the cutoff up to Cerro Gordo. The well maintained dirt road is a 9 mile switchback ascent up to 8,000 ft. The views are awesome, of course. Now Cerro Gordo is privately owned and you have to call ahead for permission to stay in the bunkhouse there. The caretaker, Robert, lives there with his wife about 9 months of the year and double rooms in the haunted bunkhouse cost about $50 a night. Bring your sleeping bag as no linens are provided. There is no running water for showers, but jugs are available to fill your camelbaks and for washing faces and hands. Outhouse facilities are glorious one-holers with a door and a great view of Owens Valley. The town has an old unoccupied hotel with a saloon with period photos, furniture, and even a card table next to a wall with bullet holes. The best thing about Cerro Gordo was the firepit (wood included with the nightly fee). We enjoyed it both that night and again the next morning. Arrived at Cerro Gordo. Every building you see is abandoned. The bunkhouse. Bring your own sleeping bag and don't listen to the ghost stories. Night falls on this amazing place. Great for a drink and a cigar, but be careful, the temperature drops quickly. Carter was the master firestarter. On the way down - 8 miles and 8,000 ft to Owens Lake. Spectacular views and drops. Mark S., and the Carro Gordo caretaker, Robert, who was a gracious and entertaining host! Day 2 Our route for the first part of Day 2 After coffee and passing the hat around for a tip for Robert and his hospitality, we rode back down to Owens Lake and headed up Hwy 136 towards Hwy 395 and into Big Pine, where we fueled up again, before heading west on Hwy 168 up to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Visitor Center, where it started to snow on us. These roads are paved but can be crumbly on the shoulders, with some gravel and small rocks in the turns, so again, ride conservatively and enjoy the views. http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/home/?cid=stelprdb5138621 The oldest single tree in the world is somewhere up in this area but the National Park Service wisely does not identify its location. After a few trail bars and hydration we debated the weather. In April the weather was sketchy and it was already snowing on us. We could go back the way we came and spend the night in Lone Pine or slug it out with the cold front to the east, for our ride through Titus Canyon, on the east side of Death Valley, starting on the Nevada side of the border. Let’s just say we made the wrong decision. We fought wind and rain for the rest of the day heading east to Beatty, Nevada, only to decide that Titus could be dangerous in placed with the heavy rains. We were all exhausted and this was the right decision for us at that time. I’ve been through Titus canyon a few times before, twice on my R1200GS. Based on the weather and the fatigue we were all feeling we collectively voted no and feel good about the call. Other riders might have made a different decision, but this was ours. Heading back to Lone Pine with 60 knot gusts of exhausting riding west across Death Valley again. So after fueling up the bikes and warming our hands in Beatty, we looped back across Death Valley again all the way to Lone Pine and the warm showers of the Dow Villa Motel. A half dozen of the guys jumped into the hot tub to relax and I’m told that a couple ladies came buy and yelled “Man Stew!” But I don’t believe that for a second. So Sunday morning we pack it up for Kelso Valley, riding up above the wind farm north Hwy 14, and exiting onto Hwy 14 at Jawbone Canyon. Then a straight shot home. No injuries, no breakdowns, and great memories. Home down through Kelso Valley for some scenic rides above the wind turbine farm. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRy4GjR8HPk

I'm new to the Colorado area and this forum, looking for someone to adventure ride with. I'm not opposed to going it alone and have already, but a partner or two is a good thing to have off road. I'm in Westminster, I'm not looking too desperate am I Bosch!!

This site is cool too. You can upload nearly any kind of find and then not only translate it into another type of gps file, but view it in a map as well. I use it for converting gpx/gdb to Google's kmz/kml or vice versa

Just like TT, you have to click, the "more reply options" button to see the image uploader. Glad to have you!

Shakedown day! I was getting antsy and wanted to take the bike out for a shakedown ride. Yep, it was AWESOME! Really great sound, power, suspension, control, etc... Observations: I noticed my left foot kept touching the side stand and the motor would cut out, so I have to address that. I had removed the ABS sensor to make room for the left side fork protector but that means I have no speedo/odo! I will get that right back on! These pegs from Black Dog Cycle works are amazing. Now that I have a bit more room for my feet, I'm actually weighting the pegs more now (and loving the response) but that meant I also got a blister on the ball of my foot just because I'm not used to having that much control! It used to be just me on my arches but now I have more room to use the pegs as they are intended now. Have to tighten down the handlebars a bit because they moved down a little. Have to really watch that throttle because the rear wheel just loves to be spun! This bike has a higher center of gravity and that's especially so now that I have the R spec higher suspension. That means I really have to watch my front braking because I low-sided and it was especially painful. A good tip is to not forget your knee/shin guards at home AS WELL AS the D30 armor inserts in your pants you were supposed to replace the last time you washed your pants! Got a proper start to the day I realized this is the first time I've ridden on an all-orange team too! We had my 990, a 640, 530 and 1190! Alan on his 1190 R We finished at Hells Kitchen and I nursed my wounds over a nice cold beer. And got some video!

This will be my first attempt at a ride report so if my ramble doesn't make any sense or I can't hold a story line for any length of time, that would be entirely accurate of my personality....Squirrel! First let me give you a little background about myself. I have been riding motorcycles my whole life. I started in a dirt at four years old on an Indian 50cc. I have ridden street bikes, atv's side by sides but I keep coming back to dirt bikes. When I bought my 2008 Husky Te450 I was excited to be back on a dirt bike but I was a little disappointed by how horrible is was on the road. Over the last few years my dirt biking has mostly consisted of chasing my kids around on their dirt bikes. I figured that I should try an adventure bike as I surely could keep up with them on it and it should be better on road. About three months ago I purchased a 2015 KTM 1190 Adventure R. My first few miles off road scared the crap out of me. I quickly overcame this fear and found that I forgot that I was on a 500lb bike. I found out about the Tourtech rally on another forum, I tried to find people to travel with but it seemed like everything fell through. I chose to trailer my bike down as i hadn't gotten around to figuring out luggage for my bike and i had plans the following week and I wasn't going home in between. The rally was in Plain Washington which for me coming from Canada is an hour south and about two hours east through Stevens Pass. Stevens Pass is a very scenic drive through the Cascade mountains if I'm not mistaken it reaches altitudes of about 6000 ft. A very nice drive on a motorcycle. Plain Washington is a tiny little town about 15 miles from Leavenworth. The Rally it self was really quite impressive and Touratech did a great job of organizing the whole thing. The weather forecast was ridiculously hot(for us Canadian folk). Tourtech gave out water, Gatorade and drove around camp to make sure everyone was hydrated. They had over 500 motorcycle rides in addition to the overland people, I would estimate there were over 800 people in attendance. There were 88 vendors, a mixture of motorcycle and truck people. Touratech sent out all the GPS routes a few days ahead so everyone would have the opportunity to load them before attending the event. I Thought I would meet up with others from XLADV and i kept a sharp lookout for Rainer runner's 1190 but there were so many people there it was impossible. Since I'm a big baby when it comes to the heat i quickly befriended a local KTM 990 rider who brought his air conditioned trailer. Touratech did a great job of arranging clinics and providing great visuals so that riders could talk to ride leaders about the terrain they would be facing when they signed up for the organized rides. Since I mentioned before that I am a big baby when it comes to the heat my new found friend, his wife and i came up with the plan that we were going to get up extra early and follow some of the GPS tracks to get a head start on the rides before the heat and the dust. It didn't also hurt that they were loacl and had ridden the area many times. Did I mention it was HOT! The first day we polished off three of the rides, I was not positive of the route numbers as I color coded them in my GPS when I loaded them and I didn't know the route numbers would be so important. We found that we had little difficulty riding the intermediate and advanced trails. There were so many people out riding that it was virtually impossible to get lost but it wasn't overcrowded. This event is definitely Big Bike friendly as i would estimate 60 percent of the bikes were 1200cc. But there were also a few DRZ400 and XT250's. The campfire was an impressive sight to see up to 300 people sitting around the pit. On Friday night they had an obstacle course which proved challenging and entertaining but it didn't stop people from trying it two up and even two hacks rode the teeter todder! We found some fellow Canadians and retired to our camp and mixed up some Belini's to combat the heat but it wrote off the night! I will be going back next year as it was a great event with some great sights and it was impossible to fit it all in.

Franco, I will gladly volunteer for all meal service and clean up. Thanks so much for putting so much into this. It's a great cause and we all do appreciate that very much.

Big Bikes in Baja!

I am looking for volunteers to prep the Breakfast for Saturday and Sunday. I will bring the Eggs and bacon, bread, & rolls. I am also looking for volunteers to help me with serving dinner and clean up. This will be as fun as it was last yr. Unfortunately, Stefano cannot join us this year due to his new restaurant opening. The menu is: Friday dinner: Homemade Pasta al forno and salad Saturday dinner: Grilled Tri-tip and homemade chili Everyone will be responsible for their own drinks Thank you for helping

Thanks for sharing! Great report! I enjoyed..... Squirrel! Love this photo: My wife doesn't understand my love for the mountains... How she got me to move to FL, I'll never know!

I ride with a small enduro group thats basically out of Auburn California, we'll do some trips out of the area from time to time. For this meet, we met up in Truckee California around 10:00AM. The plan was for a 4 to 6 hour ride with a lunch stop. The ride consisted of water crossings, hill climbs, long large deep tunnels, and good views. Only one incident that day, a guy on a DRZ 400 in front of me launch himself off a cliff. It was a steep hill with large rocks covering the whole trail, what I'm guessing is his rear tire hit a rock funny and that caused him to goose the throttle then it launched him and his bike right off the trail. Video of the recovery below https://youtu.be/fOYOa6dzzHE I had the only big adventure bike that day! I kept up with them all day!