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Overland Expo West 2017


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@thegeardude got this cool glamour shot of me on his new KTM Twins project 690 bike

Got back last night from OExWest '17 and once again had a great time!  This was my third time attending.  The weather was really nice if still a bit windy but not as windy as last year.  I took my girlfriend Jess (her first time at OExWest but she grew up in Flagstaff) and we got to share a ride with @FeralCat2Wheels who was in town just getting back from her trip to China.  She's on her way home now to NYC then onto Colombia in a week or so.  Busy girl!

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This little guy is the Mosko Moto mascot.  He loves beer but I did my best to get him some water ;)

They picked a new location this time, Fort Tuthill County Park, which was even closer to downtown Flagstaff than the old location out at Mormon Lake.  I actually liked the location a lot.  My only gripes were garbage cans were hard to find so I hope people cleaned up after themselves; showers were once again a fail and the two component parts, overland trucks vs motos, were probably a bit too far apart and I'm wondering if the vendors might complain about less foot traffic than before.  They were about a half mile apart but walking back and forth at 7,000' elevation is a bit of a chore, let me tell you.

But as always, the best part is in meeting new people, reconnecting with friends and seeing the latest and greatest the vendor and manufacturing community has to offer.  I did get a chance to do some brief demo rides on the new 1290R and 1090R from KTM, which was a lot of fun.  I saw signs that said "BMW Demo Rides" but never saw BMW there.  Not sure what was up with that.  Food was pretty good and available.  We waited in line for lunch but it didn't take too long and there were lots of happy local vendors who looked like they were glad to be there.

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I learned from last year the wind can get pretty fierce so I set up the Atacama tent next to these stables.

Some of the vendors who stood out for me: Wolfman Luggage, Mosko Moto, Great Southwest Moto Adventures, Moto-Skiveez, Sena, etc...

I was glad I got to meet Asta and Linas as well as a bunch of others but also did not get to see a few other friends there like @ADV Addicts, Jessica and Traci.

 

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9 hours ago, 556baller said:

So did you notice if either of the new KTMs have factory steering stabilizer? 

The 1290R has a damper (says so on their website) but I did not notice it.

I did notice though that the site says "TKC-80" tires but the photo shows street tires.

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