OSO LOCO!! KTM 990s attack Colorado, Utah, and the best of the TAT

Top notch ride. Flagship two up on ADV.

Hey, I spent a week there one night...on foot. :ddog




All caught up, proceed...

Holy Frak!
I leave for one weekend and you guys get 5 pages ahead of me?
Anyway, Mr. Purr behaved himself. Not like your 40oz. Kitty.
I went out for a weekend ride and battled forest fire, thunderstorms, and sticky mud... all by myself.
But heck, you guys are all-stars.
So I'll spend the night catching up on your Ride Report... and pass out on the couch.
Please continue.
Q~

the ultimate cooling base layer

Aw, TLtrials... We were just in a hurry to get warm :)

Thanks chrish4ku!
hope you're enjoying your new bike. It made me sad to see your smashed 2007 S

Oh, that's the home of the girl with the frog slippers???

Great to see you, Rob!!

Hey Q,
Wow, sounds like you had quite a weekend!
Glad you're back home safe and sound.
Give Mr. Purr a big squeeze for me - and enjoy your beer and Oso report

You remember everything!!


Yeah, Frogger worked there back then.

Thanks for the pic!

Day 2: 8/2/13
Ely, NV to St. George, UT 346 miles, continued







We stopped in Parowan for gas and lunch























It was HOT.







We sat in the A/C and nursed our subway sandwiches as long as we could.
Then it was time to fill our camelbaks with ice and hit the road.











Whoops, the mirror screwed that one up! (Also, sorry it's so huge :huh)
Well, it was the Dixie Nat’l Forest.

oh, look - here’s the same photo from last year...

Better.





We rode past Red Creek Reservoir,
home of the infamous movie night with Cap’n Underpants!

It’s really pretty in the Dixie Forest.







After riding through so much desert, I was happy to see some trees.







We were really enjoying the ride...







The trail was finally getting good - more rocks, more ruts...
Some nice inclines and declines...
Unfortunately, I thought Matt was recording so I didn’t take photos.

And...he wasn’t. No pics.




We were picking up speed and Matt was enjoying himself quite a bit.
It was getting really fun, and he was picking good lines....




When something went terribly wrong...





The bike started to feel like absolute sh*t.
It got all crazy and bouncy and felt out of control.
What the...?



We stopped to see if we had a rear flat.



Mother brother!



It was a blown shock.






Oil was leaking everywhere.







Son of a flipping biscuit!




We’re done.







There was talk of trading springs or maybe bikes in order to ride out of there...
(It was made abundantly clear that no one wanted any part of giving me a ride)

gee, thanks fellas...:ddog





But, our only choice was to ride out 2up (gingerly) and get to a town.




It was a bummer - the best stuff was still to come.






















If I thought it was hard to take photos before, after the shock blew it was even worse.
I could only sneak a few when it was pretty flat.
Any rocks or ruts and I would practically get bounced off the bike!














More rocks. Last time it was fun.
This time...not so much.
Sigh. (sorry, still no pics of the good parts)







It looked like the ride might be over for us. On Day flipping Two!!
After all that planning, we might not make it to Colorado...
Ugh. It was killing us to talk about it.














We headed down to Panguitch, hoping for cell reception and internet.
Ended up at the same gas station where we met Gary last year.
I had to pay him $1 for the stupid photo so I might as well use it again.







Matt called SuperPlush Suspension and tried to talk to James.
He wasn’t there, and the person answering the phone couldn’t answer any questions.
When pushed for recommendations, the employee said there was a suspension guy in Colorado Springs.
600 miles away.







I felt so bad about this whole thing.
Matt and I were ruining the day’s ride. We had been planning to go to Torrey, UT tonight.
We tried to get the guys to ride on ahead, but they wanted to wait.
Bartek tried to cheer everyone up by treating the group to ice cream.




Thanks, Bartek!




Osito got on his phone and started calling around, too.
He tried a bunch of local places to see if anyone could fix our shock, but had no luck.
Thanks, Osito!




On his way down to Reno, Radek had stopped at Konflict Motorsports in Washington.
Alex helped him out with a lower bushing for his rear shock.
Radek said, “Alex is super cool - let me call him...”
It was almost 6pm and all the shops were starting to close...
but we had our fingers crossed....




Oh my god.
Alex was awesome!
He didn’t know us - we weren’t his customers - he had no reason to do anything to help.



But - he did some research, called around, and found a shop that could help.
He called back and said Fineline Suspension in St. George would help us.
Tom of Fineline was going to come in on a saturday morning, and we should be on our way by noon.



Amazing!!!




Thank you, Alex!

Thank you, Radek!






Obviously, we weren’t going to make it to Torrey tonight.
We needed to get to St. George.

Here’s a map - B is Panguitch, A is Torrey, C is St. George






As grateful as we were to have an appointment for the morning,
the whole thing was still was a crushing disappointment.
Instead of riding dirt, we were on the slab. We were going to miss at least 1 day of the route.



The guys were good sports - we had tried again to get them to continue on the tracks,
but they wanted the group to stay together.




You guys are the best!





I was talking to Bartek about how this was a worst case scenario for us.
and he reminded me that, No, if we had crashed out - that would be the worst.
OK.
You're right, Bartek.
At least we still had a chance of making it to Colorado.






The bike felt horrible with the blown shock, even on the pavement.
Radek took this video of our stupid “low rider.”
(it’s blurry, but you get the idea)




Ridiculous.
And it was freaking scary in the corners!




120 miles of slab.
I took this for Osito - a dome house with a dome garage!








It started to get warmer as we dropped down in elevation...








Another pretty sunset.














We weren’t sure where we were staying tonight,
but the guys wanted to camp.
We stopped at a gas station and got supplies - water and beer. :slurp





The group tried hard to find free camping. Or at least something in a park.
No dice.
It was getting late and everyone was exhausted.


RV park camping, here we come.
At least they had a pool!





It felt wonderful!




Man, what a day.
It had been rough, but the group was in good spirits.
Dinner was beer and top ramen - delicious!!
Everyone was having fun, testing out their stoves and astronaut food...







Look at these guys - tired, but still smiling!
(Edit - matt saw this pic and said he's the only one smiling! Hmm. I think they're all smiling on the inside. )
Oso Locos!!







Day 2 is in the books!




Max speed was in the dirt :)





One more pool photo...Oso Happy!

for the update. Starting my Monday morning with a Wans RR update and a cup of coffee, Awesome.

In. Thanks Little Wan for another RR. It's great to wake up with a nice cup of Joe and read another day's report!

Look at these guys - tired, but still smiling!
(Edit - matt saw this pic and said he's the only one smiling! Hmm. I think they're all smiling on the inside. )



looks to me like at least three of them have a mouthful of food...its hard to smile with a mouthful of food (if you have any manners, that is). anyway, there are smiles in their eyes.

A little late to the party, having just got back from my own week long BIG BIKE ride in Colorado yesterday 8/25, but IN! Thanks for all the hard work in putting these RR's together . . . . You guys are GREAT riders and all of your RR's rock!


I need to find the time to do a RR myself, you are my inspiration

For once I'm in on a LittleWan ride report that's ongoing!

Awesome report, Kelly, just like all your other ones, actually!
I love reading all about your group's adventures, and trying to get a better understanding of how the heck did Lica's bike get that bit up:huh. Now it all starts to make sense

And by the way, I know at the time it wasn't funny for you, but you guys sure look funny on that bike with the blown shock (in Radek's video) .

But I'm glad you managed to fix it and to continue the ride, so we can all enjoy this great report

yep still not watching..LOL...KTM's falling carnage I'm enjoying this.....more..more...heh heh heh

Hi Kelly! Another RR... I have been checking since we got back from our own 2-week Western US 2-up ride and finally!

From one pillion rider to another, big props to you for doing all that dirt! My fiance (SpeedySteve) and I have done some gnarly power-line riding around our area in SE Arizona without much gear on the bike and I have to say, I can't imagine doing some of what you did fully loaded!

Your reports are also inspiring me to take as many pics as possible (I am not a good photographer) and write a ride report myself! Hopefully that will be soon - we took ~5000 photos on our trip!

Quick question: I see some Camelbaks on people in your group. Have you always ridden with a Camelbak? How is that mouthpiece in the helmet, especially with a microphone for a com system? On our most recent trip, I definitely felt dehydrated, but it was such a pain in the butt to keep stopping for a water break. I'm thinking a Camelbak might be the answer...

Thanks, and please keep posting!!

~Andrea

Hey Little Wan!

I found out you're having another party!



So, I'm IN!

Now I gotta go back and R E A D all the cool stuff, not just click the links! :eek1

oser

Aw, sorry you guys - got you all excited about morning updates and then I blew it today...
I got stalled out on Day 3 and started working on Day 4 instead...
Now I need to go back and do Day 3.

Good point, sion!
yeah, I'm shy about making people pose for photos.
I tend to do a shoot and run...

Thanks, CamelBill -
hope you had a great time in Colorado!
We had lots of rain, but maybe things have dried out by now?

Hi docwyte!
How's your bike doing? did you get your "bent bits" fixed up?

Hola Camelia!
Thanks for signing in!
Hope you had a wonderful time in Europe, while Lica was busy destroying his bike.

OMG - that broken shock was a crazy mess! :eek1
It did look funny, though...


I should have used a lowrider link for that post...
like this one:


<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/d3v3pzX8qgY?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" width="480"></iframe>


Why would anyone do that on purpose???

Wow, I can actually see you tenting your fingers and saying, "Excellent..." :ddog

Well, definitely keep NOT watching, there's more...

Hi Andrea -
We only started wearing h2O packs (both of us) in the last year.
Before that, we always carried lots of water, but like you, had to stop to drink it.
We definitely stay better hydrated with the packs, especially on long days in the desert.
Mouthpiece is no problem with a microphone.

The main problem is that when Matt's pack is really full and we're in deep sand or loose rocks,
it's harder for me to hold on. The pack keeps me pushed back.
In the past, I've worn a pack and we share the water (I can hand him the hose),
so that's an option, too.

hope that helps!
good luck with the RR, it's a lot of work (but a lot of fun too).

Hiya Nicky!
What's shakin'?

Aw, there aren't as many good linkies in this report.
Youtube is driving me crazy. The best stuff gets taken down,
the rest are ruined by ads.
It sucks.

But I'm trying my best. understand?







OK, see you guys later - with Day 3

My passengers make me flip it around, then they steal my water when I'm not looking.

Almost have the bent bits replaced. Heading up to Highway Dirt Bikes this Friday to pick up all the parts, then I hope to tear the bike down over this Labor Day weekend and install everything.

Toughest thing will be pulling the wiring for the heated grips out of the stock bars, everything else is a bolt on.

Subscribed! Another killer ride report and all 950s/990s...it doesn't get any better than this Would love to have joined, but 5 of us (four 990s) are doing the COBDR and UTBDR back-to-back, White Rim Trail, KTM Rally, etc. in 2 weeks. Will any of you going to be at the Rally in Steamboat? BTW, which LED fogs are Radek and Osito running? I've got the D2s, but those look nice.