Swamp: The Quest for Entelecheia and The Making of "The American Flesh Eater" Route

[GlennR]

"Acid in your eye day" sounds much better than "Busting your nuts on rocks & boulders day".

Can't believe you you rode so far alone. I'd have needed somebody to borrow tools from....and drink beer with.

[swamp]

Originally Posted by DRzoom

I was installing a hydrology station under a bridge in western Arkansas when I found one of your badges. I was like, " I am in the fucking middle of know where. This has got to be a dual-sporter." So I took a pic to see I could figure it out. This looks like one hell of a trip. Makes me want take my rides out of Arkansas.

THAT IS SOOO COOL! i love it that you guys are out there finding these woot woot .

[DRzoom]

Originally Posted by snow4aaron

Amazing. What was it on concrete?

Pretty cool huh?! It was actually on the metal railing of a bridge going over Frog Bayou Creek.

[GlennR]

Hey Swamp,

Here's the upgrade you need next time you plan on riding the Rubicon. How about AWD for a motorcycle?

http://www.bikeexif.com/two-wheel-drive-motorcycle

[swamp]

Originally Posted by GlennR

Hey Swamp,

Here's the upgrade you need next time you plan on riding the Rubicon. How about AWD for a motorcycle?

http://www.bikeexif.com/two-wheel-drive-motorcycle

ooh yea that would have been nice

[dec181966]

Hey Swamp,

Great report...dig your style.
I have an XT250 and I ride it everywhere. A lot of my friends give me shit that it is too small. All I tell them is why don't you grab your bike and follow me
Yeah no thanks is mostly what I get. Good on ya for promoting small bike adventuring


Be safe

Michael

[troutshack]

Enjoying your report. Savor the journey!

[moterbiker]

I think that this is finally going to motivate me to get my XT running again.

Charge on dude

[alonzo]

Swamp --
Looks like you might have had lunch at the Oark Cafe on the 28th. Wish I'd have known you were going to be there. I'd have ridden down (with a couple of beers in my tankbag) to say "howdy".
Next time you're going through Northwest Arkansas give me a shout.

Bet there's one of them cool stickers somewhere in Oark too. I'll look for it next time I'm down there.

-- alonzo

[swamp]

Originally Posted by alonzo

Swamp --
Looks like you might have had lunch at the Oark Cafe on the 28th. Wish I'd have known you were going to be there. I'd have ridden down (with a couple of beers in my tankbag) to say "howdy".
Next time you're going through Northwest Arkansas give me a shout.

Bet there's one of them cool stickers somewhere in Oark too. I'll look for it next time I'm down there.

-- alonzo

oh man ! I would have loved to have some beer.
its a dry county there.

you're right. you might find one of them cool stickers somewhere in Oark

[Shibby!]

Originally Posted by GlennR

Hey Swamp,

Here's the upgrade you need next time you plan on riding the Rubicon. How about AWD for a motorcycle?

http://www.bikeexif.com/two-wheel-drive-motorcycle

My buddy owns a 530 Christini and I've rode it. I wouldn't recommend it to anybody. Not to mention the damaged parts, and tool time that bike has seen. (It's maybe at 60 hours now)

[NSFW]

awesome!

another epic ride.

[GlennR]

Originally Posted by Shibby!

My buddy owns a 530 Christini and I've rode it. I wouldn't recommend it to anybody. Not to mention the damaged parts, and tool time that bike has seen. (It's maybe at 60 hours now)

That's a shame to hear.....

When it's working is it as incredible as you'd imagine AWD being for climbing up hills & over stuff?

[Shibby!]

Originally Posted by GlennR

That's a shame to hear.....

When it's working is it as incredible as you'd imagine AWD being for climbing up hills & over stuff?

It climbs up hills but you have to stay on the bike. I took it to a steeper incline with loose rocks, flipped the switch and attempted to simulate a "i'm stuck on the hill" senario. I had trouble jumping back on the bike and keeping balance/momentum, etc. It's not like what most people would think. Then when the rear wheel spins it goes where the front is pointing, not always want you want. IMO, the extra grip from climbing is highly outweighed by the poor mechanical feedback in the bars, bad predictability, and added weight.

In the same situation (I wasn't actually suck), I could have jumped on my 2-stroke dirt bike and powered up it no problem.

The bike feels sluggish/heavy and your arms are given a workout from all the feedback. On top of that, it's not confidence building both in 2wd and disengaged because the system still returns that feedback.

I was glad at the time to jump back on my XR650R. That's a pretty bold statement considing this is a $18,000 dirtbike that had 8 hours on it, not to mention 10 year newer tech.

He's since torn the front hub apart countless times for maintenance and recently took out the whole front hub assembly and repairing it at the moment. He's estimated his work time on the system is above his ride time, not counting the OTHER bike maintenance stuff which IMO, is almost equal to ride time.

This might be an isolated case, but even the owner is regreting the decision now.

BTW, this wasn't a premade bike. He bought the KTM, stripped it down, sent all the peices to Christini, had them build it/modify the frame, send it back, and then rebuild the bike again which is typical. I think they have "premade" CRF's and KTM 300's now. He's been in contact with Christini regarding most of his issues.

[swamp]

mind talking Christini bikes in the Christini section?