Gettin' Dirty with the Wans: 8400 miles - UTBDR, KLIM rally, Canada, WABDR, OBDR +

[dickosaurus]

Happy Anniversary, ya'll. And this ride report is a HOOT. Really enjoying it all, but particularly your videos this go-round. Can't wait for more.

[LisaS]

Happy (belated) anniversary Wans!
Those eggs must have been pretty bad 'cause they don't look remotely good in the picture
Anyway thanks for another epic RR

[byways]

You guys are amazing! So honored to have met you at that ADV outlaw Questor's pretty cool pad in Idaho Falls. Big Wan ... I got a Shoei Hornet based on your recommendation. As you said about yours ... Love it!

[dave6253]

Happy Anniversary you 2! There are not many places nicer than Valley of the Gods to be alone together. We passed right by there on our way home.

[byways]

Second that!

[zeegman]

Wow and congrats to you guys.

Looking forward to UTBDR and BC (my home and native land) section too.

You guys rock!!

I will finish my report someday but I am too busy reading yours.

Mike Z

[Questor]

Hey Guys!

I'm still here, following your Ride Report, and loving it!

You guys are really fun to hang out with even in cyberspace.

I'll be sure to add a few nice pictures to your Ride Report when the time comes.

Q~

[mrprez]

Happy 15th you guys! LW, you can use that rock with the ring you showed us earlier!

[Pr0xy]

Still in, GREAT stuff.

I recognize some of the riding around Lake Powell.

There's a neat camping area about 6 miles south (on 95) of where you crossed on the north end, down a dirt road heading west towards the lake. Sleeping pad required.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...72710003_o.jpg

[LittleWan]

Hi dickosaurus! glad you're enjoying the videos


hey LisaS! thanks! yeah, those eggs were yucky...


Byways! hi tony. It was great to meet you, too. Thanks for the potato! Glad you like the hornet.


Thanks, dave62538675309! Sorry, I'm behind in your report.
your photos are so intense, they make it hard to come back and edit my mousey bland pictures.


hey zeegman!! how are you? yes, we can't wait for you to see BC! Are you doing a report on your last trip?
Hey, rider914 says he ran into you guys in Idaho. he has a photo of you and Kyle. Check his ride report - Wander Wound da West.


yay, Questor! yes, I'm trying hard to get us all to Idaho so we can visit la cava de aventura.
did you check out that link for Cheesebox Butte? Baby Got Back, gilbert and sullivan style!


haha, mrprez! "rock" and "ring" - good one! those are definitely my kind of gifts. Thanks for the anniversary wishes!


glad you're sticking around, Pr0xy! did you guys check out Pr0xy's photo?? what an incredible camping spot!







Day 12: 7/3/12 continued
Valley of the Gods to Monticello, UT 167 miles





When we left you guys, we were heading into Comb Wash.






Where we would be making silt our favorite...
Yep.
See where we got all wiggly?
This is looking back the way we came - the dust hasn’t even settled yet.






This is what lay ahead of us. Gah.





A little GIF to show the silt.
See the little poofy cloud when Matt kicks the ground?






Matt, asking if I’m ready to do this.






It was SUPER thick here.
Which actually made it less scary. At least if we crashed, it was going to be soft...
And, it wasn't Tilt.
(Tilt, or Terrifying silt, has hard ruts hiding under it. This stuff was just silt)


(sorry, all these screen shots have some smooge on them. I think it was condensation on the lens)



Whew.
But, we made it through without a crash. Not even a get-off!



Next up...Butler Wash.













Oh goody. More sand. Or is that silt?






It was kind of a sandy silt combo.





Not bad, though. Butler Wash was long, but rideable.
I guess we totally missed some Native American artifacts in there.
We thought there would be a sign or something, but never saw one.
I’m sure we were going too fast, trying to get through the silty sand.





We had a close call somewhere around this section...
The road had been freshly graded, but it had rained lightly.
It looked like a perfectly good road on the surface,
but underneath it was super soft and loose.






We had been going pretty good when the bike hit the loose stuff...
got completely perpendicular to the road and we almost ate it.
Somehow, Matt got us going back the other way...
just missed a bunch of rocks* and a ditch that we were headed for,
and then brought us to a stop.
Upright.



I can’t believe we didn’t crash!
Thank you, Mr. Honey!


* matt says they weren't just rocks, they were boulders. Leg breakers.







We had some confusion near Elk Ridge and missed the turn off for Blanding.
Son of a biscuit!
Got 30 miles in, had to turn around and go 30 miles out.
It wasn’t a fun 30 miles, either - washboard gravel and sandy red dirt.






Had a old mushed up Cliff bar while we looked at the map.






Blanding. As advertised.
It’s too bad we had to come into town, but we needed gas.







But, pretty soon we were back in the Manti - LaSal Forest.






Things were going great until we got a flat.
Our 2nd one in 2 days.

Motherbrother!





This one was kind of scary, it even broke the bead.
Screw you, screw.











We were moving, too. Not just a hole, but a tear.





Crap. Guess we have to patch it.
It had been a new tube, too. after yesterday's flat.
(I think that little patch below it was just for testing purposes)






BigWan’s been really into lighting the glue on fire.
Supposedly, it makes the patch adhere better, but I think he mostly does it for fun.






I like that he still smiles for all my photos during tire/tube changes.
Flats suck, but we try and have fun.




Most of the time.


Monkey fighter!
That stupid screw made ALL kinds of holes...
This tube is never going to work.






Guess what that means?






Yep.





We had to break out our emergency kilo.
Hope we can find some dealers and trade this key for a new tube...






Just kidding. It’s a giant tube covered in baby powder.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it...






There was a “that’s what she said” joke to go with this photo,
but I’ll just let you use your imagination...





We let a stump take this picture.
It didn’t do a great job.






It took forever for the pump to put air in the tire.
Matt had to work on it a bunch,
but it’s just about dead.





Couldn’t get it past 30 psi.
Matt said, “30’s the new 40.”
It was funny at the time, but I guess it’s supposed to be “40’s the new 30?”
Whatevs.








Now that’s a mighty fine lookin’ tire...NOT!







Hmm. we're looking even more Beverly Hillbillyesque than usual...







Well, that pretty much killed the afternoon.
Ruined our mileage for the day, too.



Oh well.
Let's just find a place to camp.
We must be in the Abajo Mountains...





Avalanche damage













Found a nice campsite at Buckboard Camp Ground.
It was $8. info here.






We had to shoo these guys away.





Matt worked on patching that rear tube some more (and a front tube that got a hole somewhere).
(see, I told you the glue was just for fun)







While I was digging in the food bag, I found this!
woo hoo! Ice cream sandwich!
I forgot we had been saving it for our anniversary.
(ice cream for old trucks! or does this one count? )





First we had to eat dinner.
"Darn Good" is a bit of an exaggeration.
That chili is evil. Pure evil.





Yay, dessert!
For some reason, we both thought that we would be adding water to this.
But, no. You just open the package and eat it.
Wow...Freeze dried ice cream!





Mmmm... Crunchy!





Pretty weird to have dry, hard ice cream when it should be cool and creamy.
It was fun, though.
We'd get it again.






Later, the deer came back and freaked me out.
like this:

OMG! Zombies!!




No. deer. whew!




heh.
you've already seen these pics, but I figure deer look the same in the dark...

[NSFW]

Originally Posted by LittleWan

H8chains, is that you?

Hi Joel, when did you change your name??
glad you found us!

yes, it's me.

how could i not able to find you, this is on top of the page on rr everyday....; besides, lots of awesome pics....how can i resist.

yeah, i was tired on h8....hehe.

still on page 8 but already gave it a 5-stars.....

thanks again and we want more!

[DARKRYDER]

Wow, what an EPIC adventure you two and mad riding skills You guys really pulled out all the stops on this one. Subscribed and looking forward to the rest of this report as I'd like to do the Utah parts of your ride next year. That Heidenau looks sketchy in the sand and silt, though I'm sure it does great on the tarmac. I'll stick with the pricey 908RRs.

If you don't mind me asking, what chain and sprocket setup are you running on the 990S? I'm struggling with the stock gearing on the slow, steep climbs but don't want to sacrifice too much fuel economy or top end. I'm looking at chains and sprockets on KTM Twins trying to figure out which setup to go with. Thoughts?

http://www.ktmtwins.com/ktm-950-990-...kets?limit=all

Thanks,
Jeremy

[LittleWan]

Originally Posted by NSFW

yes, it's me.
yeah, i was tired on h8....hehe.
thanks again and we want more!

hi NSFW,
haha, OK. Glad you're no longer a hater.
Oh, you ask for more now - but it's only day 12. we've got like 41 days left
we'll see how you feel in a couple weeks...
aww, thanks for the *s!

Originally Posted by DARKRYDER

If you don't mind me asking, what chain and sprocket setup are you running on the 990S? I'm struggling with the stock gearing on the slow, steep climbs but don't want to sacrifice too much fuel economy or top end. I'm looking at chains and sprockets on KTM Twins trying to figure out which setup to go with. Thoughts?

http://www.ktmtwins.com/ktm-950-990-...kets?limit=all

Thanks,
Jeremy

Hey Jeremy,
what's up?
You'll love Utah, it's great riding.

OK - gearing.
We've been doing 16/45. It's fantastic for the technical stuff, but lousy for the freeway.
You've ridden with us, you know we go like 65 on the super slab.
For us, going slow on pavement is fine as long as the dirt is good. Might be tough for you!
As far as mileage - Matt re-mapped the bike just before we left and we're getting between 34 and 40 mpg.
Sometimes as low as 32 in the dirt, but as much as 45 on the pavement.

Matt likes this countersprocket.
and this will be our next rear sprocket.

Hey, you have an R, don't you? Matt thinks that you might already have that 16 in the front. check it out.
But try the 45 for the back.

This is the chain we've been using, but we only get 9-10K out of one.
Matt says he might try a 530 next time.
Hope that helps.
thanks for checking in!

[DARKRYDER]

Hi Kelly,

Thanks for the chain and sprocket info, that helps a lot. My 990R already has that 16T front sprocket and a 42T rear so I just ordered this 45T rear stealth sprocket:

http://www.ktmtwins.com/ktm-950-990-...rear-sprockets

The 16/45 sprocket setup does sound like a great combo. I also ordered the Cycra Pro Bend handguards, FP Racing adjustable folding levers and CJ Designs tail rack. Went through the factory manual tonight and set all suspension adjustments to "sport" settings as it was bottoming out a lot on the gnarly single track stuff. Will have Superplush redo the suspension at some point, but will continue experimenting with the stock WP shock and fork settings for now.

OK, and now back to your epic ride report!

[dano619]

Great report U2 (hey that sounds like a good name for a band!) Reading your report first thing in the morning is a great way to start the day and enjoy a cup of coffee----and to heck with the newspaper-------look forward to more