Canyonlands Adventure Ride. May 2013

All, thanks for the notes of welcome, I appreciate it. We look forward to meeting you all. And yes, Ben will probably be sleeping in a camper that evening. That is, unless you're able to embarass him enough into staying in his tent. I don't think his wife will want to join him though if given the option.

With that said, we won't have any problems getting the food & beer down there (I'll make sure the beer's cold when you pull in). Yes . . . I'll be bringing some gas as well, but sounds as if Hellsickle's wife will have greater capabilities if she "sags" for him using their toy hauler. If she does, let's stay in touch so we can coordiate on where we're staying at the Swell. We could "circle the wagons" so to speak.

Just for that I'm gonna do the 450 in all Black and White. I like the brand, just not the color.
And yes, please stay dressed!

Sounds GREAT! Looking forward to meeting you both too. Dad - are you sure you don't wanna ride this loop again? Cool pics Ben!

I guess we'll hafta let Ben have some comforts on night 2. I suppose he earns that ability since hes the ring leader....and is arranging for the beer and BBQ.

Along the lines of BBQ....is this homecooked? I spent 10 years in Kansas City and could bring a bottle of my favorite sauce. Its called Cow Town and comes from Oklahoma Joes. Its not spicy...but they have a spicy which I could request a delivery of if desired. I'd need to know pretty soon cuz I think a bud is coming this way end of this week. They have some awesome fry seasoning too.

Dave

Well home cooked if burgers, beer and brotts are home cooked!! Nothing fancy just hardy food.

With Sy and I riding in from Colorado and Rabbit Valley, I am going to have to figure out how to get 5 gallons of fuel over to the campsite at the end of day 2. I can get my camping gear no problem on the bike, but the fuel will pose a logistics issue. Is anybody coming over from the Front Range that Friday that can stop @ my truck in Rabbit Valley and transport my fuel over to the campsite. I can leave one in the truck ready to go if that's works. Or I can bribe/pay someone to bring an extra 5 gallons for me to the site.
Please advise.
Thanks

Here is what was said back in post #29:
"If we run a supported gas stop in the Swell everyone will need to pitch in for gas on the 2nd night, but we can straighten that out later."
My plan was to take him up on that in whatever way he deems easiest for him and the support crew. With 20 bikes at 3-4 gallons each the logistics could get complicated--80 gallons of gas could be a challenge. So I would think we need to figure this one out. I can just purchase a 5 gallon can in Moab and get it to the sag wagon or whatever option our ride lead deems easiest for them.

So here is what i was thinking for gas on night 2....If this will not work we will need to go into Hanksville prior to the swell.


On day two from Hite to the camping spot it will be about +- 110 miles. Then on day 3 to green river it will be about 75 miles to gas. Based on this I did not feel the bikes would be on empty at the end of day 2 and the plan was to bring several 5 gallon gas containers and put about 2 gallons in each bike. My thinking is this would be plenty to get into green river because non of the bikes should be on empty to start with (if they are you will still be in beef basin anyway, LOL).


We have tons of 5 gallon gas cans so it is not a problem for us to bring them to the swell.

I feel we will be fine, but if people see an issue we can do a blast into Hanksville, and back up through factory Buttes, but it will add at least another 2 hours to a long day??

This is why I'm bringing this up now, rather than scrambling the day before. I'm good on whatever the works for the group. Sharing to get into Hanksville/ Green River seems doable, verses humping a huge amount of fuel to the campsite. I try and be self sufficient when I ride, and might put the big 6 gallon on verses the 4 gallon just to make things easier.

two of us will be riding KTMs with 3.1 gallon tanks, I'll be carrying 2 MSR bottles for that Maze section, we should have 150ish range. That leaves almost a gallon in each bike once we reach the campsite. 2 gallons each will get us into GR comfortably. With these bikes and the tank size, we'd be right on the edge of our range if we need to ride into Hanksville.

I will have a tow strap along.

I bring a tow strap on every ride...just because.
It only takes blowing up an XR in Baja once :huh

The 310 holds 2.9, I'll have another gallon maybe in MSR bottles x4.
Not completely sure about range yet, I haven't put enough tanks of gas thru this bike to have a good handle on it - but 60-63mpg has happened in all conditions, and I suspect 55-60mpg is a safe number to use for planning.

I doubt range will be an issue, but there won't be a lot of extra for detours.

The section in question is almost all cruising, lots of 5th (and 6th ) gear stuff, you'll probably get max mileage in that area.

Tow strap will be great--so when our twin 525's run out of fuel at exactly the same point, you can put the strap around your waist and tow me and my bike to the camp site

Blake, I'm impressed with that mileage. I guess I assumed that bike wouldn't get that kind of mileage...cruising or not. That's a model that's been high on my lust list in street legal form over my KLX. Yeah, as Chris pointed out, that whole stretch is pretty tame. Fuel mileage will depend on how fast you want to go. I think I've come to like that stretch of road/trail on the other side of the Dirty Devil for scenery and riding fun in that area. But...of course you can't make a loop of it when the river doesn't usually allow safe crossing in the spring.

EFI rocks the newer X Lite motor is a sweetie.
You never know when a bike is going to head for the door around here....I'll keep you in mind

I just spent $800 in suspension work at STM back in Nov after the Rubber Chicken ride when I rode Mark's Sherco. I put a Seat Concepts seat on, and wired up some accessories. I added 5t to the rear with a new 45t Ironman and longer chain.
With the cold and the holidays and busy work schedule, I have not had the bike out since the boingers were done. It's all back together, sitting on the lift waiting for a break in the action - ready for a Feb Baja trip.

I figured we'd see how well a 310 pulls?

BTW I think the chain might be longer than 3 bikes, my count is at least 6 RFSs.

Heck, if the count gets any bigger for the Pumpkin Parade, I'm gonna bring the CRF instead just to be different. I was looking forward to Not having to kick start a dirt bike.


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Be careful about bringing a different bike. I've been a real oddball at some of their get-togethers with my KLX300S, and they made me camp outside of a 100 yard perimeter. Snobs!!!

For planning purposes, I'm going to assume 40mpg on my EXC with taller gearing.

It's a ways out, so things might change.....

I'm planning on spending the entire week prior to the ride in the Moab area with my lovely wife. We'll be doing some of the moderate trails in the area.

I've suggested that I attend the first two days of this ride. Paula would then drag our toy hauler over to Temple Mtn to meet up with us on Saturday night. We have a built in 25-30 gallon fuel tank with electric pump. Since I'll be headed home from the Swell, all of that gas would be available to sell (at "market rates" ) to other riders.

Again, it's a ways out. If we have break downs or injuries prior to this ride, we might take our toys and go home. It's always good to have backup plans. I would suggest bringing extra gas cans, but not filling all of them if Plan A works.

Ben, if this works out, maybe your dad would be interested in some scenic rides around the Swell with Paula on Thursday or Friday.

7 pumpkins, I missed one

Jeff, thanks for the offer. Might take a little of the load off Ben's family.

We were thinking of doing a bit of low impact slickrock thurs afternoon before the ride.