North up the CDR, G650 Xchallenge and DRZ 400 - Page 8

AZ-Twin · 12-24-2011, 11:01 AM

It is a beautiful morning in NM.

We head west trough Farmington to Shiprock where we head south. Brian and I have been through this part of the country several times, and this bit pretty much sucks for a couple hours, and there is not a damn thing you can do about it except ride fast and get through it. After we are a ways south we catch some two lane blacktop through the mountains over into Arizona, and follow a southwestern path (12) through the Indian Reservation down to I-40 just west of Lupton, it is a nice path.

We hop on I-40 heading west, our destination is US 191 south.

As we are heading along the interstate I begin to hear a very bad sound. It is a metallic sound that is in sync with the engine RPMs. I fear the worst, pull in the clutch and coast to a stop on the shoulder. Stationary the engine seems to run fine, but as I rev the engine, this terrible metallic sound has me scared. I have been beating the shit out of this bike for the last two weeks, including the wide open run south out of ship rock earlier in the day.

As I look around I realize the sound is not coming from the engine, but one of my windshield mounting tabs has broken.

The vibration from the engine is making the two pieces of steel vibrate and create a terrible racket. Sweet, I didn’t break my engine! Brian supplies a KTM zip tie and we are back on the road.

We get to US 191 south, miss the exit, ride through the median, go back and head south.

Again more boring straight road from I-40 south to Alpine. We hit rain just south of I-40, so we put on our rain gear and head into it. We stop in Alpine for lunch, watch it rain, and discuss our path south, we are both familiar with 180 south in NM, and 191 south in AZ. Last year we chose 180, so this year we chose 191.

We ride 191 south, getting rained on the whole way, with the exception of about the last 20 or so miles until we hit I-10.

West on I-10 we see we are riding into major storms near Wilcox AZ. I really wish I would have had the GoPro going as the lightning show was amazing. We get into it, and get absolutely drenched; I have never ridden in rain so hard. If home was not only 60 miles away, we would have found a motel in Wilcox.

Stopping occasionally to discuss how exhausted we were, and how bad the storm is, we press on and get back to Sierra Vista before my son’s bed time. Sweet!

It was a wonderful trip, but man was it good to be home.

DiscoDino · 12-24-2011, 01:31 PM

Awesome report!

ktmissouri · 12-25-2011, 08:53 AM

Excellent Report! Thanks for taking the time to put it together.

flying.moto · 02-06-2012, 11:39 AM

Absolutely loved it!

Thanks for sharing!
I'm gonna go do it one of these days for sure!

flyrodder · 02-19-2012, 11:38 AM

Outstanding RR. I'm just about to pull the trigger on an XC (that's how I found your RR).

AZ-Twin · 02-19-2012, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyrodder

Outstanding RR. I'm just about to pull the trigger on an XC (that's how I found your RR).

Thanks!

The Xchallenge is an awesome bike, it has a few issues out of the box, but they are all pretty easy to sort out.

JaxObsessed · 04-02-2012, 11:18 AM

Thanks for all the work!! Me and some friends are doing the CDR this summer.

AZ-Twin · 04-05-2012, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JaxObsessed

Thanks for all the work!! Me and some friends are doing the CDR this summer.

It's a great ride, have fun and be sure to carry plenty of water through NM.

12-24-2011, 11:01 AM	#106
AZ-Twin ^OP Dusty and Thirsty Joined: Oct 2007 Location: Sierra Vista, AZ Oddometer: 1,303	Day 15, 31 Jul 11 It is a beautiful morning in NM. We head west trough Farmington to Shiprock where we head south. Brian and I have been through this part of the country several times, and this bit pretty much sucks for a couple hours, and there is not a damn thing you can do about it except ride fast and get through it. After we are a ways south we catch some two lane blacktop through the mountains over into Arizona, and follow a southwestern path (12) through the Indian Reservation down to I-40 just west of Lupton, it is a nice path. We hop on I-40 heading west, our destination is US 191 south. As we are heading along the interstate I begin to hear a very bad sound. It is a metallic sound that is in sync with the engine RPMs. I fear the worst, pull in the clutch and coast to a stop on the shoulder. Stationary the engine seems to run fine, but as I rev the engine, this terrible metallic sound has me scared. I have been beating the shit out of this bike for the last two weeks, including the wide open run south out of ship rock earlier in the day. As I look around I realize the sound is not coming from the engine, but one of my windshield mounting tabs has broken. The vibration from the engine is making the two pieces of steel vibrate and create a terrible racket. Sweet, I didn’t break my engine! Brian supplies a KTM zip tie and we are back on the road. We get to US 191 south, miss the exit, ride through the median, go back and head south. Again more boring straight road from I-40 south to Alpine. We hit rain just south of I-40, so we put on our rain gear and head into it. We stop in Alpine for lunch, watch it rain, and discuss our path south, we are both familiar with 180 south in NM, and 191 south in AZ. Last year we chose 180, so this year we chose 191. We ride 191 south, getting rained on the whole way, with the exception of about the last 20 or so miles until we hit I-10. West on I-10 we see we are riding into major storms near Wilcox AZ. I really wish I would have had the GoPro going as the lightning show was amazing. We get into it, and get absolutely drenched; I have never ridden in rain so hard. If home was not only 60 miles away, we would have found a motel in Wilcox. Stopping occasionally to discuss how exhausted we were, and how bad the storm is, we press on and get back to Sierra Vista before my son’s bed time. Sweet! It was a wonderful trip, but man was it good to be home. __________________ Rob Swartzwelder, Southern AZ I'm not real fast, but I do have a dog named Dakar! 97 M900, 07 G650 XChallenge,11 KTM 990 ADV R 2011 North up the CDR Sierra Vista AZ to Paonia CO and Back through Moab UT AZ-Twin screwed with this post 12-24-2011 at 11:14 AM

12-24-2011, 01:31 PM	#107
DiscoDino Beastly Adventurer Joined: Jan 2007 Location: Lebanon/NYC Oddometer: 1,812	Awesome report! __________________ Adventurer transitioning from 4x4 to 2x1 '07 G650Xch - Under Mod-struction

12-25-2011, 08:53 AM	#108
ktmissouri Racer turned Rider Joined: Jan 2011 Location: Ozark, MO Oddometer: 16	Thanks! Excellent Report! Thanks for taking the time to put it together. __________________ KTMissouri 03 KTM 450 EXC - Plated (Day rider) 07 KTM 400 XCW - Off Road Only 11 DR 650 - Long range bike HHR

02-06-2012, 11:39 AM	#109
flying.moto Earthbound Misfit, I Joined: Nov 2007 Location: South of Gorman Oddometer: 163	Absolutely loved it! Thanks for sharing! I'm gonna go do it one of these days for sure! __________________ Cruiser Goes North! Vulcan 800 Bobber, G650Xch, YZ426

02-19-2012, 11:38 AM	#110
flyrodder the rose goes in front Joined: Sep 2006 Location: Lincoln, NE Oddometer: 2,632	Outstanding RR. I'm just about to pull the trigger on an XC (that's how I found your RR). __________________ stuff goes here

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