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May 17 Day 19 This morning I headed out from the furnace creek ranch, which is awesome btw. Expensive but super cool with nice cabins, stores, gas, a saloon, a steak house and a spring pool. I headed out north up 190 to daylight pass road/374 across the Cali Nevada border towards Ryolite. It was pretty cool accept for the barbed wire fences all over keeping you from exploring the ruins. I thought the Union Pacific rail car was the best thing there by far. So cool to think that rail car may have also traveled coast to coast over 100 years ago I left Ryolite and went a couple miles back the way I came on 374 and hung a right on to Titus canyon road. It was a pretty good surface, and gave me no trouble at all. As I rode storm clouds slowly followed me through the canyon but did not let loose until I was back on pavement. Keeping my eyes on the path was the main problem I came out of the west end of Titus Canyon and headed south on 190 toward furnace creek for gas and to re- assess my direction from there. On the way I rode between mountains being showered in rain to my east/left and playa with twin dancing dust devils to my west/right. I got sprinkled with droplets of freezing rain that actually dried from my clothing in seconds. I rode through a dust devil as it crossed 190 west to east. My dash cluster showed temperature swings from 63 to 91 in less than 15 mins/miles. 3000 + foot elevation down to -200 +. The strongest wind I've ever felt in my life hands down. No idea how strong actually but blow you off the road strong is what I'll call it. I feel so lucky to have experienced such an amazing series of natural events in one day. At the furnace creek fuel station I bumped into a fellow adv rider on a tiger 800 outfitted with some pretty sweet pelican luggage, Shane out from Maryland. Really nice guy, veteran, and hardcore adventurer; we talked of routes, camps, gear and farkles for 10 or so minutes then parted ways. Turned out he had stopped to help a Harley rider who had struck a deer and went badly in to a ditch. He told me the rider was ok and that he waited with him until a police officer arrived. Meeting nice people is still the best part of the journey and I'm comforted to know that even in one of the harshest and most desolate landscapes in the USA there are likeminded people who would come to your aid. The reason I carry a trauma pack and med kit is not only for if I injure or crash to attempt to patch myself up but more for the event that I come across another person who is in trouble. I thought it was really awesome he had the opportunity to help someone like that, but at the same time glad I haven't yet seen someone injured or in trouble on the journey. From there I headed out on 190 west which was one of the most beautiful rides of the trip. South on 395 and west on 178 has taken me here to the Isabella lake KOA. Tomorrow I'll head out north in search of really big trees.

Welcome Shane, im also in the Western Cape. Good tonsee other SA boys here

Looking forward to trying these new Rally pegs from IMS Racing I got from Rottweiler Performance. IMS is also know for their aftermarket gas tanks (smaller bikes) as well as shift levers and more. I'll do a review of these and report back later. As I understand it, the benefits are these pegs won't dull like aluminum ones, don't require screwed in teeth that can break or get lost and are stronger so they won't leave you stranded should they strike a rock. The description from Rottweiler's site: The 'Rally' series pegs have slightly 'dulled' cleats that while offering better traction in wet environments, are not sharp to the touch. A great combination of superior boot traction and safety. Designed specifically for Adventure riders by Adventure riders, the IMS 'Rally' series pegs vastly improve comfort and handling and are one of the more aggressive platforms for KTM motorcycles with standard foot pegs (IE; not Super Duke or RC8 bikes). The large overall length and width enhances comfort and the benefits are felt navigating dirt roads and on long stretches of open roads. The platform spreads the boot contact patch and lessens stress on the feet, legs and hips. Using body English to change directions of a 500lb+ bike is vastly improved as the pegs add leverage. Leaning the bike over and pivoting from one turn to the next is more efficient while providing better control when riding off-road. Superior Comfort, Enhanced Leverage, Lifetime Warranty and built in the USA by off-road market leaders since 1976. Fits all KTM motorcycles that have moto style foot-pegs. (IE; not Super Duke or RC8 style street bikes) -5mm Down -5mm Back

The weather sounds like an awesome sensory experience! Love the solace of places like that too.

Holy sheep dip Batman that's a lot of companies to avoid Thanks for putting the list together -- always good to be able to make an informed decision.

May 16 Day 18 Yesterday, May 15 Day 17 I broke down my camp at the Needles CA KOA and headed for the southern entrance of Joshua Tree. It was a little under 200 miles from camp to camp and a pretty uneventful but very beautiful ride down. Joshua Tree is a very cool park with a lot of amazing plants and animals. I was surprised at the number of rodents, rabbits, and lizards. I had figured to see plants but few or no animals, but alas my camera has a junk lens and I've got no good pictures of animals because I can't get close enough. Joshua Tree is full of awesome camp sites and in no time I found a great one at the second campground off park drive heading north. It was very hot, around 95 degrees, so I made camp in the late afternoon and hung out in the shade. A couple hours later a Toyota pickup pulled up with a super cutie in the passenger seat and a really cool hippy dude behind the wheel. David and Madelinn had met because David is a couch surfing host and Madelinn is on a cross country tour out of Oregon aboard a Honda shadow. Check out her Instagram @madelinn_rose she is a super cool person and she's making pretty sweet videos of her journey posted on her YouTube channel MadelinnRoseMotorcycle. Both her and David were super cool had a lot of info about the area and where to get gas in Death Valley as she had just come from there. They also explained to me that the yucca are not baby Joshua trees and that the Joshua trees only grow between a certain altitudinal range which is why I saw none in the southern half of the park. After talking for a while longer a strong wind came and blew my camp half into the thorns so I had to thank them for stopping and run to retrieve my gear. Several hours later maybe 10:30 or 11 I was messing around with some nighttime photography when I had a little mishap How? Well the pannier lid was off. And I had just taken a 20 second exposure of myself on the bike with camp and stars in the background. As soon as I heard the shutter close I dismounted in that precarious position where the bike is standing on its own but you could tip it with a finger because the kickstand is elevated just 1 inch too many by the uneven ground. As soon as I took 2 steps towards the camera that big wind came back and blew Furiosa right over. The pannier landed perfectly on a rock and crunched itself in around the luggage rack. After 45 mins struggling I had got it about 70% back into shape, nearly returning it to its original capacity. It's not waterproof and the top won't even close anymore but it still attaches securely to the bike and I've got an extra Rok strap to keep it closed and just incase one of the mounting pucks breaks loose. I want to do whatever I can to bang this pannier back into shape whenever I get home and have hammers and blocks of wood because it's come so far with me and it's absolutely a useful luggage system but I am absolutely going to get soft luggage in the future. Probably the mosko Moto back country soft pannier kit. Other than that it was an absolutely gorgeous night with near half a moon and still plenty of stars. I had lunch/dinner of canned peaches, dintymore stew, and ravioli; listened to some rush and wished I had service to post that pic of my deformed pannier. May 16 day 18 Today I left Joshua Tree headed for Mojave and ultimately furnace creek ranch. The day started out cool at 830-9 when I hit the road and rose rapidly in temperature to 100f at its peak. With my smushed pannier strapped up tight I headed north out of Joshua Tree and into the southern entrance of Mojave. I was surprised but it seems, from what I saw, that Mojave has an even more impressive field of Joshua Trees than Joshua Tree National Park itself. Mojave was huge beautiful and hot. Deep sand shoulders and brutal heat prevented me from pulling over for pictures much of the way because the one time I did ended up getting stuck going back into the road and had to tip the bike out of the rear tire hole it had dug. There is more on my camera coming for tomorrow but... [img=http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160517/46e97ff3bc0c4952a63ee82b6efa0986.jpg[/imghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160517/9e64809276693af80f437ffbcaf14551.jpg] Tonight I've got a cabin to the tune of 200 bucks a night but I'm glad I do because AC and a shower can't really be beat after 17 days on the road and 14 days outside. Also while here I have realized I can't do bad water, race track and Titus canyon in one day so I'm going to do furnace creek to Ryolite to Titus canyon back down to furnace creek for lunch then out on bad water and head for the the sequoias. The past couple of days have been hot and cumulatively exhausting. I am looking forward to resting up in the cool shade of the giant forests. Thanks for reading! Follow my tracks here http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0vOdQ17Gkzl75o9nCrbjzbmjyUZI7hDtx

Interesting question that made me realize I have gone full circle! Started out on relatively heavy bikes, 1972 Suzuki TC125, I weighed 132 and it had over 100lbs on me! Went to a 1978 Yamaha DT 175 at 245 lbs. Jumped to all off road with a 1981 IT 250 at 275 lbs, then to 1982 YZ 250 at 255 lbs, started racing some and stayed on MXers and my body weight stayed around 145 lbs but the last 250 MXer weighed only 220 and I was around 160. Then I went back to heavy dual sports and got a Suzuki DR650 2007 at 260 lbs. Another 100 lb delta. Kept it for many years and finally upgraded to a 2014 Vstrom. My weight 170 now and Vstrom is way out of my weight class at over 500 lbs! Said all that to say I wish the Vstrom was lighter, but the seat height is more of a concern. The weight isn't really a factor until you get it into a tight spot. Riding comfort is the most important thing for me now, acceleration and agility are a close second. To be avoided; loud pipes, all that heavy chrome to make some kind of statement I guess, not interested!