- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
I took my new-to-me 2005 DR650 out on the first 'big' ride today. I have been out on a few other rides, but they were all under 50 miles and somewhat close to home. I have been out to this area before in a 4x4 and have been jonesin' to get back out there, even more so on a bike. I loaded up my Camelback, put on all my gear & headed out to the bike. On my way to the gas station, the bike sputtered & I flipped over to reserve. I thought, '125 miles on the tank to reserve... good to know.'
I left the gas station & headed up the Colorado National Monument from the Fruita side. After a long, winding trip up the road and I was at the Glade Park store. I took a right & headed for the UT border, at an elevation near 8000 feet. After a long ride of pavement, eventually the dirt started. I dig this area, it's much cooler than my place down in the valley & the scenery is amazing.
I reached the UT/CO border and followed the dirt road is it began to loose elevation. The road follows an amazing redrock shelf down into the valley below.
The road itself is pretty tame, with a few rollers to loft the front wheel off of. One of these hills is perfect for getting some decent air... the DR650 is a big bike & the suspension is pretty mushy. I wondered what it would be like to jump the thing... and had my opportunity. I lined up with the perfect hill & rolled on the throttle. I hit it at about 40 and rode it out, the bike dropped quickly and the landing was as expected, pretty poor. It felt pretty good to get the big bike off the ground though.
I started getting closer to the La Sals and was actually making good ground getting closer to them every time I looked up. Found a stream crossing, it was nearly axle-deep, I went thru with speed and managed to get some nice, cool water on myself.
After crossing a massive valley and winding down the elevation even further, I made it to a quickly running river at the bottom of an amazing canyon. The cottonwood trees were very green and the water was running fast & high. I found the road crossing and hopped off the bike to investigate further. I tried the 'toss the rock in the river' test and quickly concluded that the water was a bit much to cross, being by myself and out in the middle of nowhere. The fact that I was near my turnaround point, 65 miles one way, was another deciding factor.
On the way back home I took a detour, another road I had seen before and had been curious about. It climbed even higher, I'd guess I was over 8500 ft and was getting into some of the remaining winters snow. I got to the following patch of snow and had to try a few times to get thru. The best result had me throttling thru in 1st gear, then standing off the bike and walking it thru the rest of the snow.
On my way back thru the snow I did manage to drop the bike... I followed my tracks back thru, the bike wanted to go one way and I wanted to go another. No biggie, no damage. I laughed at myself, not much else I could do!
I rode up past a couple more snow patches, then at 104 miles, the bike started chugging, then died. :wtf: Apparently those runs at 80+ MPH consumed more fuel than my previous tank, which I got 125 to reserve. I was kind of worried, since I had 30+ miles more riding to get back home and wasn't sure how far the DR's reserve would take me... I headed downhill, keeping my speeds at no more than 55/60. After getting into the CO Natl Monument, I coasted as much as I could. I ended up with 5 miles coasting, and made it home without problem.
I have been threatening to buy a DR650 for sometime now and I finally found a good, local deal on this '05. I initially didn't care for yellow, but the 'safety-first' aspect is growing on me. It's quite visible to the cagers!
I had a DRZ400E and picked up a KLR as a Adventure bike last fall... there was too much of a gap between the 2 and I wasn't pleased with the KLR, so I sold both & picked up this DR650. The previous owner of the DR650 put on a set of knobbies, aftermarket bars & handguards. I have added a Utah Sport cycles skidplate and tomorrow I'll be ordering a Corbin seat, IMS tank and 14 tooth counter-spocket. I'm looking forward to having more than 100 miles range. Every ride I take on this bike, I love it even more, it's the perfect fit for the type of riding I want to do.
Oh... BTW, I lost my cheap digital camera last time I went out riding. That's the 3rd camera I have lost/broken/had ran over in about 6 years. There's a reason I buy refurbished cameras off Ebay. These pics were taken with the camera on my Blackberry.
I left the gas station & headed up the Colorado National Monument from the Fruita side. After a long, winding trip up the road and I was at the Glade Park store. I took a right & headed for the UT border, at an elevation near 8000 feet. After a long ride of pavement, eventually the dirt started. I dig this area, it's much cooler than my place down in the valley & the scenery is amazing.
I reached the UT/CO border and followed the dirt road is it began to loose elevation. The road follows an amazing redrock shelf down into the valley below.
The road itself is pretty tame, with a few rollers to loft the front wheel off of. One of these hills is perfect for getting some decent air... the DR650 is a big bike & the suspension is pretty mushy. I wondered what it would be like to jump the thing... and had my opportunity. I lined up with the perfect hill & rolled on the throttle. I hit it at about 40 and rode it out, the bike dropped quickly and the landing was as expected, pretty poor. It felt pretty good to get the big bike off the ground though.
I started getting closer to the La Sals and was actually making good ground getting closer to them every time I looked up. Found a stream crossing, it was nearly axle-deep, I went thru with speed and managed to get some nice, cool water on myself.
After crossing a massive valley and winding down the elevation even further, I made it to a quickly running river at the bottom of an amazing canyon. The cottonwood trees were very green and the water was running fast & high. I found the road crossing and hopped off the bike to investigate further. I tried the 'toss the rock in the river' test and quickly concluded that the water was a bit much to cross, being by myself and out in the middle of nowhere. The fact that I was near my turnaround point, 65 miles one way, was another deciding factor.
On the way back home I took a detour, another road I had seen before and had been curious about. It climbed even higher, I'd guess I was over 8500 ft and was getting into some of the remaining winters snow. I got to the following patch of snow and had to try a few times to get thru. The best result had me throttling thru in 1st gear, then standing off the bike and walking it thru the rest of the snow.
On my way back thru the snow I did manage to drop the bike... I followed my tracks back thru, the bike wanted to go one way and I wanted to go another. No biggie, no damage. I laughed at myself, not much else I could do!
I rode up past a couple more snow patches, then at 104 miles, the bike started chugging, then died. :wtf: Apparently those runs at 80+ MPH consumed more fuel than my previous tank, which I got 125 to reserve. I was kind of worried, since I had 30+ miles more riding to get back home and wasn't sure how far the DR's reserve would take me... I headed downhill, keeping my speeds at no more than 55/60. After getting into the CO Natl Monument, I coasted as much as I could. I ended up with 5 miles coasting, and made it home without problem.
I have been threatening to buy a DR650 for sometime now and I finally found a good, local deal on this '05. I initially didn't care for yellow, but the 'safety-first' aspect is growing on me. It's quite visible to the cagers!
I had a DRZ400E and picked up a KLR as a Adventure bike last fall... there was too much of a gap between the 2 and I wasn't pleased with the KLR, so I sold both & picked up this DR650. The previous owner of the DR650 put on a set of knobbies, aftermarket bars & handguards. I have added a Utah Sport cycles skidplate and tomorrow I'll be ordering a Corbin seat, IMS tank and 14 tooth counter-spocket. I'm looking forward to having more than 100 miles range. Every ride I take on this bike, I love it even more, it's the perfect fit for the type of riding I want to do.Oh... BTW, I lost my cheap digital camera last time I went out riding. That's the 3rd camera I have lost/broken/had ran over in about 6 years. There's a reason I buy refurbished cameras off Ebay. These pics were taken with the camera on my Blackberry.
