Preps for the 2013 Roaming Rally

Went last year, also on an '07 990. Had Heidenaus, great for slab or rock/gravel/dirt (just not sand but you wont see any of that). Rode up from Brooklyn on slab then took nothing but backroads home, beautiful.
Black Dog bash plate.
There were good places to eat throughout each day. Unless they've changed the route, you save a ton of space w/o cooking gear.
I use a big agnes to sleep on also, very comfy but takes me a bit more than 12 breaths.
It's a great event, have fun.

You missed Ted's evil plan to include deep sand this year....

Well then. Giddy up.

If I do decide to ride instead of trailer, the goal will be to avoid major highways and find as much back country roads (preferably dirt). As I am new to this trip planning, what is the best resource to find these "roads?"

Here's my list:

• Big Agnes Seedhouse SL2 tent - A two-man (not really - more like one man and his gear) super-light tent - packs super small, but a big guy and his soaking wet motorcycle gear may not be a pretty picture. For motorcycle touring, I think I would prefer the SL3 3-man tent which is new this year - I used this tent last summer through some nasty rain storms and it's rock solid I will be getting the footprint this year to go under the tent
• Exped DownMat 9 (long and wide) - this puppy is more comfortable than the mattress in my bedroom. Will use my Cycle Pump to inflate.
• Mountain Equipment Co-op sleeping bag - I think it's a synthetic 3-season
• Marino wool Icebreaker undergarments - As mdfehrmann said, this stuff is the real deal. One set will do you your commute up, the four day rally, and the return trip. It's no cheap, but it's not made in China either.
• Pack clothing based on the weather - if rain is in the forecast, I'll be packing extra to ensure I have dry clothing. If no rain, I will reusing clothing.
• Toiletries and possibly small towel in event the campsites have showers
• My CPAP machine
• Small first aid kit (not suitable for surgeries)
• Tire repair kit
• Crappy, disposable shoes and possibly a collapsible chair

All of the above will be packed in two Wolfman bags saddle bags and perhaps a Wolfman duffel bag, along with whatever dry food I bring. My toolkit stays under the seat, although I might wrap it in a plastic bag to ensure it's dry.

Food: I'm local, so I'm planning for four dinners (Thursday-Sunday) and three breakfasts and lunches)

• I haven't thought to much about food this far in advance, but I plan to make it simple. I will most likely plan for dinners in restaurants or take out to the campsite. Breakfast will likely be a combination of restaurants or whatever I can pick up at the closest stop. Lunches will be granola bars, beef jerky, nut mixes, with whatever fruit I can pick up at breakfast. Homemade beef jerky will be a staple. I'm not that experienced an outdoor cook that I can fire up a stove, cook a meal, and clean up in under an hour. that's valuable beer drinking and socializing time.
• Four a four day trip in which I want to pack light (I ride a R1200GS), I don't see the point in bringing a stove and cookware for a few meals.

I believe Ted stated somewhere that he was going to make sure there would be sufficient gas stops for those running the 250 dirt bikes with 2 gallon gas tanks, so leave the Roto's at home.

If the route is the same then there are plenty of places to eat. Just bring jerky and some ensure(old people drinks) and plenty of water. The lighter the better on this ride. mostly a fairly easy high speed ride. Some technical sections on a big loaded twin. The next important thing is to really make sure your bike is good to go for 1000 miles. bring all required tools to dig into your bike and expect the unexpected. Also dont forget the first aid kit!

one of my front brake lines got ripped off by 11am on day one (thanks again to drif10 for everything, that man is a savior out there. Who knew there was a ktm dealer on a back country road!), a couple of the guys i was riding with went to the hospital. It was turtle mating season so there was a few crossing the gravel roads after blind corners. swing arm bolt rattled off sometime on the ride, among other crazy things.

It is definitly an amazing ride and and a great group of guys. Im already going through my bike to prep it. This time im going to travel much lighter and leave the 32mm wrench that weighted 10 lbs home. hahaha. I have a crap ton of pics loaded from the ride on the roaming rally page.

Yeah I got made fun of for bringing my rotos. I ended up leaving them in my truck.... along with my sleeping bag. I regretted leaving my bag cuz it got cold at night!

Hey dude! hows the ankle? you should get that g2 cam throttle for this year. hope I can break away from work for this years ride.

I did 18,000 miles from about April to September riding around the country and going to various "Rallys" I bet only 500 of those miles were actually while at the rally.

Several times I met other riders along the way, at the rally or on the way back and ended up riding with them for hundreds or thousands of miles I even took an "800 mile left turn" to meet up with some guys I met at a rally earlier in the year



As for packing the bike, here are a few misc tips.

-You really only need a complete set of clothes and something to wear while cleaning/drying those clothes. I usually have 2 tshirts,(the tshirts should help keep the outer layers cleaner) a long sleeve, a mid layer, and my riding gear. 1 pair of pants and 1 pair of shorts for swimming.

I run with long beach type swim shorts for under wear most of the time. It dries very quickly and you can strip down to it anywhere in public and not worry about being harassed by the cops or ??. It also does not tend to get stinky and cleans quickly.

I use a Keen hiking sandal when I'm not on the bike. With riding socks unter them they look like shoes and can be used as a hiking shoe, but you can also use them to visit a pool, hottub or just let your feet breath. Packs down flatter than most shoes and gives a dual benefit.




I run hard bags since there was lots of road use and that's what came with the bike. I also may carry more camera gear than most. Easy to unload it and leave in a tent if you are camped for multiple days. You should be able to get as much or more stuff in the soft bags. I was also carrying a HUGE tent and chair on my back seat since I was living off the bike. A "a-lite" chair and smaller tent would have easily fit in my top box.

Good luck, ride and enjoy

(she was kinda hot Got to hang out with her all by myself for over 30 minutes waiting for the "pilot car". During that time the sun really started to cook and I needed to strip out my insulating layers. It was nice to have "shorts" on under all that gear so that I did not end up with some sort of federal case for exposing myself to the flag girl)

I'll be running Motoz. My buddy swears by them and they get good reviews as a tire for the 990. I don't own a 990 (I'll be running the 690 leaving the big bike at home) but read about the kickstand location being an issue on the 990. Have you relocated it?

I'll be trailering two wives, mine and my buddies, it's just a coincidence that the bikes will fit in the trailer.

Relocating the kickstand was the first mod I did. Leaving the wife at home was the second

Hey guys.

I didn't want to post this within the main thread on the rally, but are you all aware of this http://algonquinlandclaim.ca/ ?

If people do not stand up to this BS, this rally won't have much of a future on crown land.


Sent from my iPhone

What's everyone running for nav? GPS, smartphone, mini tablet, sextant?

Definitely a GPS that can handle track files, or you'll get lost for sure!

Yeah looking at options as my zumo 550 isn't going to cut it. There are some cool apps for smartphones that work really well and I was thinking, as many have that a mini tablet would be awesome - provided you could protect it well enough.

Likely will end up with a montana, price is a bit high but it seems be the tool for the job.

You won't want to rely on cellular service for navigation. You need a device that can track satellutes.

I've been using the Montana with good results

You can just convert the files to Zumo/Nuvi friendly.