Minimalist Touring Thread (250cc and under)

[fendermon]

Dayumm Bruce.. great pic! Likely my new wallpaper shot.

[DRZ400SK4]

BTW, whereabouts on The Rock (Nfld) is the pic of the two bikes overlooking the ocean?

Kaler...

That shot from on high was taken in the Conception Bay South area, near the town of Portugal Cove.

Here's a few more shots from the same area, and the same ride. That's Bell Island in the distance...






Driller...

For you or anyone else who might be planning a trip to The Rock, be sure to drop by our local NL adventure riders site, here...

http://www.ridetherock.com

[Kaler]

Originally Posted by DRZ400SK4

Kaler...

That shot from on high was taken in the Conception Bay South area, near the town of Portugal Cove.

There used to be (still is?) a ferry to Bell Is. from the mainland.
In one of those pics I see a boat going to Bell Island .. the ferry, perchance?

K eh? LR

[steve gs]

Originally Posted by Bud Tugly

No pictures, unfortunately. We didn't think to bring a camera.

I've canoed the lakes and streams of Lake Superior Provincial Park several times. It's located just south-east from Wawa. Is that the area you're talking about? Fantastic brook trout fishing in the more remote areas.

Yes, even had the chance to do a 4 day Superior shoreline run (in and about Gargantua and Warp Bay) when a low moved in and flattened the lake. Even had a chance to do Mac straits crossing on same trip. I guess canoes are like a marine equiv of a MT rig, small enough to be manageable. If the lake became mean I would pick up and get off. Most of my trips were solo.

I did alot of riding with my Kaw around the Keweenaw while at school there in the mid 70's. Had friend at KI Sawyer and another whose father had a place in Big Bay, back and forth all the time. Did X-C ski the CCI trails there in Ishpeming many a time.



Kaler, I feel your pain!

[DRZ400SK4]

There used to be (still is?) a ferry to Bell Is. from the mainland.
In one of those pics I see a boat going to Bell Island .. the ferry, perchance?

Yep...

Two ferries back and forth constantly. And the boat in the photo is indeed the ferry.

The local MX racing track is on Bell Island, these days. So the MXers have to be dedicated enough to take a 'sea voyage', if they wanna race.



Here's a few more shots from back when Lorenzo used to follow us everywhere on the little XT225...

[EZ OUT]

Just wanted to say that I find this an intriguing thread. Back in the '70's my brother toured on a CB350 to the East Coast and Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Back then, they thought nothing of it. I have often thought that taking a 250 cc dual sport on a long trip on secondary roads would be a blast.
Here's a thread you may have seen which epitomizes minimalist touring - 50 cc bikes from Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego
http://www.honda50.cc/

[driller]

Originally Posted by DRZ400SK4

Driller...

For you or anyone else who might be planning a trip to The Rock, be sure to drop by our local NL adventure riders site, here...

http://www.ridetherock.com

Thanks! Great link.
If I'm not in the middle of moving to North Carolina.....the trip to The Rock in August is on.

[Klay]

Strategies for dealing with those little seats on long rides, taken from another thread:



- Sitting on total butt
- Sitting on left butt cheek
- Sitting on right butt cheek
- Leaning forward sitting on front part of ass
- Leaning backward sitting on back part of ass
- Leaning left sitting on upper part of leg
- Leaning right sitting on upper part of other
leg
- Standing on footpegs, not sitting at all
- Stopping and drinking a coffee while standing next to bike

At last nothing works anymore and you just have to bear with it.

[dupreedh]

Originally Posted by driller

Thanks! Great link.
If I'm not in the middle of moving to North Carolina.....the trip to The Rock in August is on.

where to in NC? if you're close to asheville or laurinburg, drop me a PM and we can do some riding

[steve gs]

Ok all you MT riders here's something to consider for an early season campout/raid/rendezvous easily reached by those of us in the east.


BYOB IV (check, ADVrider Annual Rallies) is scheduled for June 8-10 in mid northern Pa. All the details are in that thread.




June can be a real busy month for me (but it is still better than May) and if it is you'll have to forgive me but I may have to take a bigger bike (my 350 or 650) so I can blitz out and back at lightspeed on the superslab. But if I have a larger time window and my 15:40 (or 15:38) final works for superslabbing I'll ride out on the 200.


So what do you MT riders think, is anyone interested?

[Burtonridr]

[driller]

Originally Posted by steve gs

Ok all you MT riders here's something to consider for an early season campout/raid/rendezvous easily reached by those of us in the east.


BYOB IV (check, ADVrider Annual Rallies) is scheduled for June 18-20 in mid northern Pa. All the details are in that thread.

Steve,
It looks like June 8-10.
The site is near what they call "The Grand Canyon of PA". Interesting riding from what I have heard. Plenty of DS roads to be found.
I'm gonna have to think seriously about this one.
Let's see what happens.

[steve gs]

Originally Posted by driller

Steve,
It looks like June 8-10.
The site is near what they call "The Grand Canyon of PA". Interesting riding from what I have heard. Plenty of DS roads to be found.
I'm gonna have to think seriously about this one.
Let's see what happens.

Yeah my screw up, thanks for the correction.


Made the change in my post as well.



Now if we could just get rid of old man winter.

[Outwardbound]

GS Steve sez: "But if I have a larger time window and my 15:40 (or 15:38) final works for superslabbing I'll ride out on the 200."

Just rode the wifes 200 today for the first time (22 degrees). I'm thinkin 15:40 myself. Do you have the sprocket yet ? When d'you think you'll have it on and running ? If it's soon I'll hold off buying mine until I hear how yours works. If not I'll press on.

Ciao !

Coop

June works for me !

[steve gs]

Originally Posted by Outwardbound

GS Steve sez: "But if I have a larger time window and my 15:40 (or 15:38) final works for superslabbing I'll ride out on the 200."

Just rode the wifes 200 today for the first time (22 degrees). I'm thinkin 15:40 myself. Do you have the sprocket yet ? When d'you think you'll have it on and running ? If it's soon I'll hold off buying mine until I hear how yours works. If not I'll press on.

Ciao !

Coop

June works for me !

Shooting for decent cruising rpm at 55. Expecting it may be at about 5000rpm with touring setup (panniers, tankbag, and tailbag). Actually my touring load weightwise is less than being 2 up which is an easy load (100 lb passenger). Other issues are how tall can I go and still have a good 1st gear rolloff and how small can the wheel sprocket be without creating geometrical difficulties. Also, I may richen up the main jet or nozzle so that I don't overheat the engine on those dense air days.

It's still ugly (that winter thing with an ugly due here tonight) here in Michigan.


Will order parts in a couple of weeks because sometimes Sprocket Specialists (SS) gets backlogged. Going to also see if I can pick up a 14T counter shaft sprocket either from Suzuki or SS which would be great to have along for better performance in the backcountry or on the trail. Testing should begin by April.