Noobs Only - Death Valley Dec 7th-9th

Here's my proposal...

An adventure ride through Death Valley with a mix of onroad and offroad just for noobs. This means mostly easy dirt roads or we help each other over obstacles when the going gets tough. We'll still get to see lots of great places and unique spots.







I've been to DV more times than I can count in a truck but only twice on a bike. I'll come up with the exact route in a few weeks.

Let's assume Dec 7th through the 9th as our target dates.



We'll share riding tips, talk farkles and argue about bikes.

Hopefully we'll all improve, grow our confidence and some of you will go back for DV Daze. We will probably have a chase truck that can hold some of your gear, so you can ride with less weight.

Anyone interested?


Update Nov.12th

We are meeting in Ridgecrest Friday morning in the Walmart parking lot. This will allow you to grab any last minute "oh shit" items. Make sure you are gassed up.

We will meet at 8am and roll out by 8:30am. I'll do a roll-call, we'll do introductions, last minute bike checks for loose items, etc.

The itinerary is as follows.

Day 1
Trona Pinnacles
Fuel stop - Top off in Trona
Ballarat
Goler Wash
Mason's Cabin (advanced rider will continue through Mengal Pass to Furnace Creek)
Lunch
Surprise Canyon
Marble Canyon
Badlands
Artist Drive
20 Mule trail (if time allows)
Fuel stop - Top off in Furnace Creek
We camp in Echo Canyon

Day 2
20 Mule trail (if not done on day 1)
Beatty (top off on fuel)
Rhyolite
Chloride trail
Titus Canyon
lunch
Head back to Stovepipe Wells to top off
We make a decision whether to continue to Lippencott mine
Ubehebe Crater
Racetrack (depending on time)
Lippencott Mine (depending on time)
We camp by Lippencott mine (depending on time)

Day 3
Depending on where we left off on Saturday we may backtrack to see the racetrack and/or Lippencott Mine.
Lippencott rd (only for advanced riders)
Hidden Valley rd (for everyone else)
Saline Valley rd (those heading home take it south bound, those who want to continue into Saline Valley take it north bound.
Stop by hot springs
lunch
Steele Pass (advanced riders only)
continue on Saline Valley rd for Noobs to Death Valley rd to Big Pine.

A few more pics of what you can expect.

Looks like fun. I've been thinking of riding in AZ around xmas. Maybe I should think of doing this along the way...

Wow.
Looks fun.
I may be able to do this.

That looks easy so I can take my ZX14

Question: Is the trip-design centered around camping-out, or a motel? If the latter, where?

I have seen Gold Wings in Titus Canyon!

My buddy and I saw this thread last night.
We're both new to riding and want to so something just like this.
I have a '06 f650 gs and my buddy has a '07 DR650.
how many miles we lookin at?

I may be in ..... time will tell.

A week ago, I flew to Las Vegas for work and rented an R1200GS with well-used Tourances from Las Vegas BMW and rode to Death Valley for two days of riding. I met a friend at Stovepipe Wells on his TKC-clad R1200GS. We covered about about 100 miles of gravel including a ride to "Racetrack" and the "West" road that parallels along Bad Water.

The views and riding were outstanding. On the rental bike, I was a little nervous in some of the sand and had to be helped through a gulley but it was otherwise fine. For a noob, I think a KTM 640 or KLR 650 would be perfect. Or a 12GS with good tires.



(A lot of those images look familiar and I apparently missed some cool stuff too).

By the way, I will return to Las Vegas BMW. The staff were great, the pricing was fair, and the pretty blonde behind the counter smiled at my ugly mug.

The plan is to camp in remote spots not developed camping spots.

DAMMIT!!! This trip sounds frekin awesome!!!

If my wife's friend cancels the engagement party I'm in!

If not; have a fun and safe trip guys.

Since I don't know where you are coming from, I can only talk to the mileage in DV. I still need to determine the exact route we will take, but I would estimate that you will ride around ~200 - 250 total miles. We will be able to fill up in Furnace Creek or Beatty depending on the route. You will probably need a fuel range of at least 130 miles.

These are estimates, I will have a better gauge once the route is finalized.

How about non-noobs? I'll ride anywhere to get away from this soggy damp weather we get here in the PacNwest. Probably be also able to supply a support vehicle with a trailer as my wife get's very jealous if I go some place warm and sunny while she's up here working I can bring extra tubes, tools etc. Lost count of how many extra tubes I have in the garage.

Hi Fred,

The short answer is YES, please feel free to join us. It would be great to have a veteran or two with us. The thing to keep in mind is that the pace maybe slower than what the norm is for most Advriders and we'll avoid really tough trails. That doesn't mean there won't be obstacles in some places where we will work together to get through.

I'm going to begin a list of candidates to hold places in case we get too many people. I doubt we will, but traveling with large groups tends to slow things down even further.

Back when I was young & foolish (now I'm just old & foolish), I rode my cafe Moto Guzzi from Sacramento out to Saline Valley Hot Springs with my now wife on the back.

low bars, stiff/no travel suspension, street tires + sand/ruts

My first off road riding, and it pretty much sucked. But I'm glad for the experience...I'll see if I can round up a photo...

Have fun!

Thanks! I can ride at any pace and I still enjoy the ride. Slower pace means more photos taken. Faster pace usually means I'm very sore at the end

TE610 Husqvarna btw, with a monster fuel tank on it if anyone runs short. If Mrs Fred goes, she'd be driving a Suzuki G.Vitara with 4wd, good tires and the trailer.

Some more random pics of DV.

That actually must have been a blast.

So you ended up here...

I would love to do the Ride, but I am not and never have been a Camper. So I guess that I am out.