The Summer of Stupid: 7400+ miles of 2up - OBCDR, CDT, TAT West and more...

[dave6253]

Now that the Summer of Stupid is wrapped up, I'll remind you there are three more seasons to cover.

Thanks alot Wans! It was an incredible ride.

[Krashdragon]

Oh oh oh oh... like the Fall of Follies
and the Winter of Wonderings
and the Spring of Surprises....
Wow... wonder what they'll come up with next...
I miss my daily dose of Wan already....

mary

[Dreaded 1]

I just want to say thanks for such an awesome and entertaining report. BW, your riding ability and bike control is 2nd to none. Very impressive.

Jim

[BigDave75]

Great Report Mr. and Mrs. Wan!!!

I have lived vicariously through you two for a few weeks reading this from front to back.

Thank you again!

Dave

If you are ever broken in Oregon you have a place to stay.

[Astir]

How fortunate many of us are to have the time, resources and skills to travel by two wheels through such incredible country. Until I put together a trip report myself, I only thought I understood what it involved. Thank you for the time and effort putting together such an amazing report LittleWan. I loved the funky 70's trip down memory late, the side bars, the goofy videos just as much as the report itself - it was very entertaining and a lot of work, you have a great imagination.

BigWan, all I can say is... thank you for being LittleWan's enabler.

[DirtDancer]

Nice riding and loved the ride reporting ! Awesome pictures!! Thank you much!!

[tweetie]

Thanks again, Kelly, for taking the time to put together such an entertaining RR! I really enjoyed it!

And thanks for taking the time to do a run through on your 990, Matt!

p.s. I knit as well. Badly, for the record. You should see Geek's ski toque I just finished the decreases on about a month ago. I still have to do the ear flaps and braids. Major brownie points if he ever wears it.

[Dusty]

Bravo!!!

Thanks for all the laughs, BW holding bigfoots hand ... now that was some funny shit... I could go back and reread and fill several pages of quotes with the great one liners...

Very entertaining RR for sure.

Thank you for all the effort, great pics, clever writing, awesome maps

BW, if you get that aux tank figured out let me know, i have the same same with mine also...

Scott

[MTrider16]

Wow! I finished it. Great job writing and pic editing for this report. Thanks for all your work. Cool to see some of the folks from some of the other boards here also.

David

[cdndog]

Thanks you 2 for taking the time and making the effort to share this with us. Until the next one then, see ya!

[LisaS]

just got back from our first 2-up dirt ride- am now even more impressed with the Wans Thanks Kelly for sending me the PM with the advice for 2-up dirt riding- it really helped! Definitely a different experience for both of us though- will take some getting used to! We are just happy we stayed upright!
BigWan- Jerry wants to know if you modified the suspension on your bike at all for 2-up riding? We are on a DR650, jerry lowered the foot pegs 5 inches, but will still need to reposition them- I felt they were too far foreward. The suspension was definitely at its limits with the two of us.

Make 2-up dirt your favorite!

[nuggets]

Originally Posted by LisaS

Thanks Kelly for sending me the PM with the advice for 2-up dirt riding- it really helped!

LittleWan, would you mind posting the 2up riding advice for the rest of us since the RR is over? A little copy-pasta action please.

[LittleWan]

Hi guys!


Thank you so much for the lovely notes and comments!
I'm just glad you all hung in there and kept reading. It was a lot of fun, huh?
I'm still trying to reply to most of the post-RR comments via PM so I can be more personal (hope I haven't missed anyone...)


However, there were a few things that seemed like they should be addressed here, in public...

Originally Posted by nuggets

LittleWan, would you mind posting the 2up riding advice for the rest of us since the RR is over? A little copy-pasta action please.

Hi nuggets!
Okay, this is pretty much what you (and a couple of others) asked for -
I just cut and pasted the text from the PM.
I was responding to some questions from LisaS, so parts of it don't make perfect sense, but you can figure it out.
Again - not trying to preach here, just answering some questions.
What's that thing they say? "Your mileage may vary..."



Okay, 2 up...
this is just what works for us, I'm not saying this is the only way.
I've read that some people like to stand when 2up, but we rarely do that.
Sometimes we'll both stand, but usually just so I can stretch my legs.
We'll only do it in fairly straight (gentle curves are OK), flat areas and never going faster than 40-45mph.


I can't see when Matt stands (even if I'm standing), so it's not my favorite.
Maybe if there are a lot of vados (those drainage berms at a low point of a road), or whoops, we can go faster if we're both standing.
But, overall it feels more dangerous.
That's a lot of weight up high, and if I can't see, I can't anticipate what's coming.
Fooling around, we have done some tiny jumps with both of us standing, but matt has to tell me when to squeeze my legs.
It's fun, but scary!


When we're both seated, I can watch the road and know what to expect.
He usually can't tell that I'm there, if I'm doing my job correctly.
For us, it's safer to be seated and we go plenty fast, even over rough stuff.


As far as as our luggage goes - I don't use the bag as a backrest.
It does keep me from sliding back, but I don't lean on it on purpose.
We had a hard case - for exactly one ride.
I hated that thing. It hit me in the back when we were in rocks and was generally annoying.


When we don't have luggage, I have to hang on a little tighter when taking photos/shooting video.
And, I do feel like I'm slipping off when we accelerate (although it could also be because we're going faster without luggage...).
But, it's nice to be on a bare bike, too.


I don't know what kind of seat your husband has on his bike, but we have a Renazco seat and the suede surface is really nice and grippy.
Our old bike also had a Renazco, but it was a vinyl covered one and it was slippery.
I had to work a lot harder at not sliding under Matt when he stood up.
I much prefer the suede.


The most important thing as a passenger is to be calm and relaxed and have fun.
Ease your way into it and only do what you feel comfortable with.
It will be easier for your husband if you are loose and enjoying yourself.
If you're tense and hating it, the ride sucks for everyone!
Hope that wasn't too long.
Good luck and have a great time!


Well, hope that's interesting or helpful for the 2up crowd.
I'm happy that this report is encouraging more of you to try 2up dirt!
Just be careful!
Two-up crashing is really scary, and I don't want anyone getting hurt.

Originally Posted by LisaS

BigWan- Jerry wants to know if you modified the suspension on your bike at all for 2-up riding?

Hi Lisa! Glad you guys are trying out the dirt!
So far, Matt has increased the spring rate on the forks.
Eventually, he'd like to re-valve the front and back and go with even stiffer springs.
Even a stock 990S has pretty awesome suspension, though...

Originally Posted by PinkPillion

All of that snow you ventured through at the beginning is coming back already. You guys went pretty much right through our back yard on your way to Eagle Lake HWY 139 in CA.

PinkPillion's comment (hi PP! ) reminded me that I have some decent video from that ride we took in Sept.
(Remember my little freakout back on page 20? (scroll down the page)
BigWan and I went back to the PCQ to re-ride days 6, 7, 8.
It was a really fun weekend!)

I also took a couple with-snow/without-snow trail comparison photos...
They're kind of fun.
So, in the name of "From whence we came"/"circle of life" or something like that...
(and on account of the fact that I miss you guys, too )
I'll do a short mini-RR addendum (probably 2-3 posts) sometime next week.
I have some work tomorrow, so maybe tuesday or wednesday?



Yay!

Originally Posted by Questor

Thanks for all the weird videos.
I'm going to miss them.
Q~

Hi Questor!
Here's one more...


Still miss 'em?



see you guys next week with that mini-ride report...

[Tn. Walrus]

Originally Posted by LittleWan

see you guys next week with that mini-ride report...

[Bronco3738]

I miss the Muppets. Just in case you finally got this song out of your head.




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