- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
.... On Saturday I rode a dirtbike w/ knobbies for 475 miles and did less than 100 miles of dirt. :-\
I've been getting to know my new-ish DR650 this last week, working out some bugs. It had some hiccups and wasn't running as well as it should. I changed out the plugs, pulled apart the carb, cleaned it out and made a few 'performance mods' to make it run better. I also washed the air filter and swapped on a new front tire and tube, after some tire issues on the last ride. Last thing I did was to swap on a Moose shift lever, after mangling the stock one. I tied the shifter off with wire, running forward to keep the shifter in place during future mishaps with rocks.
With all this work, I wanted to put together a big ride to test out the bike and see some more of Colorado. I decided to head out from Fruita, over Douglas Pass to Rangely, onto Craig and then Steamboat Springs. From there I rode over Rabbit Ears Pass and down into Kremmling. Then I jumped onto dirt at the Trough Road and followed it to Bond. I followed a bit of pavement to the Colorado River Rd, which was more dirt.... followed that to Dotsero and I70, headed West thru the Glenwood Canyon and onto home.
Here's a map re-tracing the route. - http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U....838068,-107.578125&spn=2.522284,5.817261&z=8
I ended up with just shy of 475 miles on the odometer, not bad for a dirtbike! Here's some pics from the trip-
It ended up being a great test for the mods & changes... I hate the Moose shifter, it's too short and needs to go. The carb works much better, the bike used to top out at 83-84 MPH, it will get up to 90 MPH. :greg: I shared the final freeway portion of the ride with 2 out-of-state riders on new KLR's, it was nice to have some company on the boring ride home and good to be riding in a small pack as it got dark. They got off at the first Grand Junction exit, while I continued on to Fruita.
I wanted to ride more dirt, but was happy with the mix of highway, dirt roads, 2-track and a bit of that killer singletrack above McCoy, CO. The bike is ready for bigger rides, the question is... am I?
Here's the SmugMug album from the trip if you'd like to see more- http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/Travel/Big-Road-Ride/9372950_o4Whf#627374243_aujfD
I've been getting to know my new-ish DR650 this last week, working out some bugs. It had some hiccups and wasn't running as well as it should. I changed out the plugs, pulled apart the carb, cleaned it out and made a few 'performance mods' to make it run better. I also washed the air filter and swapped on a new front tire and tube, after some tire issues on the last ride. Last thing I did was to swap on a Moose shift lever, after mangling the stock one. I tied the shifter off with wire, running forward to keep the shifter in place during future mishaps with rocks.
With all this work, I wanted to put together a big ride to test out the bike and see some more of Colorado. I decided to head out from Fruita, over Douglas Pass to Rangely, onto Craig and then Steamboat Springs. From there I rode over Rabbit Ears Pass and down into Kremmling. Then I jumped onto dirt at the Trough Road and followed it to Bond. I followed a bit of pavement to the Colorado River Rd, which was more dirt.... followed that to Dotsero and I70, headed West thru the Glenwood Canyon and onto home.
Here's a map re-tracing the route. - http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U....838068,-107.578125&spn=2.522284,5.817261&z=8
I ended up with just shy of 475 miles on the odometer, not bad for a dirtbike! Here's some pics from the trip-
It ended up being a great test for the mods & changes... I hate the Moose shifter, it's too short and needs to go. The carb works much better, the bike used to top out at 83-84 MPH, it will get up to 90 MPH. :greg: I shared the final freeway portion of the ride with 2 out-of-state riders on new KLR's, it was nice to have some company on the boring ride home and good to be riding in a small pack as it got dark. They got off at the first Grand Junction exit, while I continued on to Fruita.
I wanted to ride more dirt, but was happy with the mix of highway, dirt roads, 2-track and a bit of that killer singletrack above McCoy, CO. The bike is ready for bigger rides, the question is... am I?
Here's the SmugMug album from the trip if you'd like to see more- http://greg-catherine.smugmug.com/Travel/Big-Road-Ride/9372950_o4Whf#627374243_aujfD
