The TAT Preparation Thread-the logistical side of it

shouldnt be too hard to find where you are at.. since you will be on tarmac everywhere West/North of Oklahoma due to snow

Yeah I know, but there's a few other factors that mean it has to be then. I've got friends in Boulder, CO, so if it's a matter of waiting a matter of days, I'll stop there. If it's looking like longer I'll either go around or go somewhere else (south) for a while, and come back to do the CO section later in the trip - I've got till mid-July.

If that's the case, I'll deal with it and go see some other stuff. I'm pretty sure you're exaggerating slightly though

Yes .. but it would be a rare year for any of the high passes to be open in your timeline.. Plenty of great dirt to be had around Moab though.. and lower elevations.

Sam does indeed sell TAT GPS tracks at $20 per State. After paying Sam the cost for the States he wanted to traverse my partner who later split with me got them downloaded in a Motel..transferred them to his Garmin 60CSx and went on his merry way. I already had mine loaded(from maps and roll charts) on my Garmin Montana and Zumo before I left home.

Cheers...

Dang, they weren't available,nor did it sound like would ever be available when I purchased my stuff last year. Sorry for that bad info,but good to hear it's now available. Crazy amount of time I put into doing every wp,but worth the effort because it helped me get familiar with the route and where the established camp sites are. I think I may buy his UT,NV,OR gps files since those are the only states where I actual had to "direct" route certain sections that did not show up on the map.
Following his gps files should be soooo much more easy than following the roll charts(which I've decided to leave home).

You might want Colorado too as traversing the peaks is quite interesting. Oh, Yes, I had the regular charts/roll maps of yesteryear then purchased the better colored digital maps and roll charts...so I spend quite a bit of $$$ to complement the whole thing. My goal was to get to Colorado...as the rest of the West was too taxing in a enduro sidecar rig. Had a helluva good time dong it.



cheers...

did you use Sam's gps files when you did your trip

No, I didn't. The fellow who rode with me decided to split and but had no maps/roll charts thus ordered them via E-mail while in a Motel. I used what I had...the old maps in conjunction with the newer digital color maps. I did review his downloaded maps. Great stuff..precisely made..pretty exact as mine that I drew onto Montana GPS' BaseCamp and Mapsource.

The guy who used Sam's GPS files went all the way to Port Orford, Oregon with them...and came through fine. Of course he diverted some areas due to sand, rocks...and simply exhaustion!


cheers...

You can put 20 tracks of 500 points each into the 60. So you could cover the ~3000 mile TAT with track points at about .3 mi interval. This would work fine nearly all the time. You can also put in lots (I don't know how many) of Direct Routes with up to 250 points each if you wanted closer track points.

(I normally navigate long trips with .25 miles between track points.)

Zummo 550- I divided states up into two tracks as it wasn't possible to put one complete state in with all the way points. Just kept them ready in the GPS memory plus on two separate scan disc, plus on the netbook.

I used both roll charts and gps, using both kept me on track

the easy way.

review the discussion in this thread regarding map overlays:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=782653

thank me later.

Back to logistial questions - are there particular shops along the TAT that are recommneded for tire changes? I suspect we'll be needing new ones around 1,500 miles into it, and again around 3,500.

The spot in Moab is always mentioned in ride reports. Call ahead so they can special order the exact tire you want.

from TN to Moab you'll have no problems getting that out of a set of 606's. There are two places in Moab. Moab Powersports and another place. Call ahead to get the tires and other things you want.

I liked having fresh tires at Moab as this is where things get fun. Well a little before that but a good place to stop. You can do TN and CO with 50/50 tires unless it's muddy. After CO I'd want something a little more aggressive.

OH and again put on new STEEL chain rings and chain before leaving. They will last the complete trip, oil the chain every day.

I stopped by Moab last August while out for a couple of weeks and bought a new rear tire from Moab Performance Center, they had a Pirelli MT43 in stock and the guys in back did a quick job of mounting it and balanced it way beyond what the old XR usually gets. I stuck a couple of their cards in my wallet and just pulled them out to get the info.

Nice folks and great coffee.

This I believe will be my new set up. Tank panniers allow me to carry a smaller duffle bag out back.

Definitely looks lighter than that duffle you had on the back. Should make the bike feel lighter as well getting the weight forward lowered.

Do your knees hit them at all?

They do touch a little,but I think the trade off will be worth it. I will probably store my freeze dried food & other food in those.

Lefty,

See you have your bike for sale in the flea market? Going in a different direction or just a temporary set back? Hope all is well. Have enjoyed hearing about your TAT prep. I have realized that it is not going to happen for me this year either. Too much cost to finish prepping the bike and not enough time available to take off work.