Darth Nater’s video of how we crossed Bilk Creek. Obi-Ben was the first to attempt the crossing, and it took all three of us to get his bike unstuck from the mud.
Tag Archive for 'Trans America Trail'
After returning from the Trans-America Trail trip, I had very little desire to touch the KTM let alone ride it. It was a reliable steed that saw me through some good times and some trouble, so it was nothing personal. Part of it was that last day from Burns, Oregon to Park City, Utah all on the pavement. Seemed like my wrists and hands were still buzzing after a week. Also, the bike needed some maintenance. My Dunlop D606 front tire and D908 rear were totally hammered, both from the aggressive and sometimes rocky off-road riding, as well as the road riding. My rear sprocket is worn to the point of replacing, and I decided to have the dealer do the 2nd big service, because it involved a bunch of things over my head, like checking and adjusting the valves. The head KTM mechanic at the Edge Motorsports, Victor, seems like a really good dude, passionate and knowledgeable, and most importantly, certified by KTM. They did forget to rebuild my clutch master cylinder, which is one of the main reasons I brought it in, but that wasn’t Victor’s fault. The service guy who wrote my ticket must have spaced it. That’s about it for the boring maintenance report. While I was picking up my bike, I just had to check out the new KTM 690 Super Enduro and ponder how it would have performed out there on the Trans-America route. No windscreen might have been tough to handle, but with enough room on the tail for some soft bags, this thing looks like it would have devoured the dirt.
3/4 view of the new 2008 KTM 690 Super Enduro. Big, bad, dirtbike. I like.
Clearly, Darth and Obi-Ben have pulled their weight by uploading some of their photos to our Flickr Photostream. And clearly, I should have gone all the way to the coast, based on what I missed out on. After viewing all 500 or so photos, I missed a lot of action on the trip after Crater Lake. And some fine dining. Posh lodges. Bad haircuts. Getting bikes stuck in the sand.
Great Basin National Park, Day 2, Trans-America Trail. Photo by Ben Rafferty.
During my 9 days riding with the group on Darth’s version of the Trans-America Trail from Utah to Oregon, I saw places off the beaten path and met some great people. It would be impossible to remember them all without the reminder of the photos we took along the way. Here’s one we took that has become known as “The Band Photo”, for when we release our first album. This was taken between Utah and Nevada (not exactly sure where we were) at a crossroads marked by Mater, the broken down old truck.
Photo by Nathan Rafferty
Keeping the posts updated on the road proved to be a challenge. Until I have a chance to go back and place images in the context of the posts, you can see a sampler of photos I took with an iPhone on Flickr:
When Darth and Obi-Ben return to civilization, we’ll upload some of their shots and video.
This morning at Crater Lake Lodge, we awoke to The Shining. Our bikes were covered with some of that 500 plus annual snowfall they get up there. It was decided that no amount of haste in checking out would make the descent off the mountain road any drier, so we opted for hot coffee in the Great Hall and a full breakfast. Let me tell you, you can’t go wrong with Crater Lake Eggs Bennie. Suiting up was grim and our bags were lighter because if it was wearable, had holes and a zipper, we put it on. At the bottom of the access road was where our routes diverged. Darth and Obi-Ben were heading coastal, and Moto was in for a solo ride East. After a few high fives, like three spacemen after planting flags on the moon, I pointed it east to Bend, and the Brothers Rafferty sought out the next leg of the Trans-America Trail.
All three bikes started up, no problem. The riders had a tough time.
After slabbing it from Adel to Crater Lake to try to make up some time, we decided we should detour and spend a night at Crater Lake National Park. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States at 1,943 feet deep, and the seventh deepest lake in the world. The body of water is a caldera (volcanic basin), has no inlets or outlets, and is filled by 500 plus inches of snow a year. We paid our entrance fees to the National Park Service, then climbed the switchback road to Crater Lake Lodge, which is perched on the rim at about 7800 feet. We parked our bikes in the circle, next to a 10 foot snow bank. Woolfree, the nice bellman from the Dominican Republic (the “DR”) told us this was only the lodge’s second night of the season. We would find they were still working out all the kinks. The front desk could not pull up Darth’s reservation, even though he had a confirmation number from a call earlier in the day. They were able to get us a split level loft room, with plenty of space to stretch out. Then while getting our gear to the room, the power in the whole building went out. Good time to take a nap before our 8:00 PM dinner reservation. The lodge is operated by a company called XanTerra, which has a big fat contract to run this and other grand old national parks lodges. The building itself is grandiose, with a spacious great room with a stone fireplace (with a lame gas burner instead of logs), but comfortable chairs and couches you can just melt into, especially after sitting upright on an enduro bike all day. Due to the power outage, they offered an improvised menu which turned out to be ok, all things considered. The power went back on while we were finishing up coffee and dessert, just in time to turn in for the night. We stayed up for awhile looking at all the photos and video trapped on our respective digital devices, reviewing the good times, small victories, and reminders of the little challenges we have had along the road and trail. Good way to end the night.
Crater Lake, from the deck of the Crater Lake Lodge just before dinner.
Spent much of the day today getting gear sorted. Made two small repairs to the KTM 640 Adventure:
1. Adjusted steering bearing. First I had to lift the bike up on a crate to get the front wheel elevated. Then had to loosen five bolts on the upper double clamp of the fork, then adjust a tightening nut (very much like the process on a mountain bike!), then check for play, then finally tighten everything back up to spec.
2. Replace bent clutch lever. This was a little dicey, as the KTM dealer didn’t have an OEM prelacement lever in stock when I was there, but had one “they thought would work.” So precise, these guys at motorcycle shops. It fit just fine, and it seems to eliminate the leak of mineral oil from the seal on my clutch master cylinder.
Now for the bad news. Rode the bike into Park City to run some errands and make sure everything was running tops. Came out from the post office and when I saddled up and pressed the starter, nothing. Definitely electrical. Called Bartman, he said try to get it rolling down Swede Alley and pop start it by letting the clutch out while in gear. Nothing. I scurried off into a parking lot and tried to kick start it. Nothing. Called Bartman again to bail me out with his trailer. While waiting a few minutes, I tried the ignition button again just for the hell of it and it started right up. When I got it home, I turned it off in the driveway, then tried to start with the button and got denied again. A few hours later, I cycled it on and off and it started every time.
You can imagine this is putting a serious damper on my enthusiasm to depart on a 10-day slog westward, through some remote road and trail on the way to Oregon. Bartman says definitely don’t go unless you know what the problem is. Darth Nater says what’s the worst that can happen? He always says that.
Lord Darth called a planning session for the upcoming Trans-America Trail trip at downtown SLC pizzeria, Settebello. Obi-Ben had just taken delivery of a pre-owned Kawasaki KLR, in cherry condition, I must say. Upgrades for the trip include new Continental TKC knobbies and a Wolfman Luggage tankbag. Much pizza was eaten, and not much planning was done, but duties were assigned: Darth is chief navigation specialist, Obi-Ben is chief medic and infantry, Moto is responsible for procuring grub and spirits, and Hans is in charge of keeping it all together for the first few days. It was decided that rollout will be early morning on Saturday, May 17th, after breakfast at the Blue Plate Diner in Sugarhouse.
Obi-Ben’s newly acquired Kawasaki KLR, with new rubber and tankbag.
Hans, Obi-Ben, and Darth Nater showing off his egg on a stick. Photo by Moto.
Today, I experienced a contrast so stark and revealing by comparing experiences with two local Salt Lake City motorcycle shops. One good, one not so good.
I have been shopping online for the perfect pair of adventure dualsport riding pants. After striking out on my search for Rukka Allroad pants, which I determined after extensive research to be possibly exactly the pants I was looking for, I turned my attention to another brand and model, the Rev’It Dakar pants. Rukka is a legendary Finnish brand known for quality workmanship, 5-year warranty, and of course, a certain Euro cool factor. In my mind, they also stand out for being virtually unattainable. As Darth Nater can attest, Rukka gear does it all. The only problem is, there is only one place to get them in the U.S., from a distributor in Arizona. Said distributor had nothing in stock when I called to inquire, and their online store is so archaic, it didn’t inspire confidence to say the least. Bartman recommended giving Rev’It a look. I was pleased to find out that Salt Lake Motorsports was a stocking dealer of Rev’It gear, as well as being the local Ducati dealer here in the Beehive State.
I settled on the Rev’It Dakar model and was able to visit their store and try on the pants, which resulted in a purchase. I wanted to try them on with my Sidi Crossfire SRS boots to make sure the fit was right. The young woman who helped said no problem, take them home and try them on with your boots, and if you have second thoughts or any doubts about size or fit, just bring them back. She put them on a hanger and zipped them up in a Salt Lake Motorsports garment bag, as if I had just bought an Armani suit. Now that is what I call friendly service.
The not so good experience was with one of the local KTM dealers, Edge Motorsports. I called to inquire about getting my bike in for an oil change and minor service in advance of the Trans-America Trail trip, with the May 17th departure date looming. The surly voice of the young lady on the phone at their service department assured me they were three weeks out on being able to work on my bike, and I was basically SOL. I have a hard time imagining there is no way they could squeeze it in, but it was the attitude of the person on the phone that turned me off the most. Take it or leave it. So I am going to change the oil myself and probably wing it on rebuilding my leaking hydraulic clutch master cylinder. Too bad Salt Lake Motorsports isn’t a KTM dealer.