Consolidating TAT Info and Tips

[vector_dumb]

Yes, I too am researching what it takes to tackle the TAT. I've searched the forums a bit and I've been noticing a lot of the same questions being posted repeatedly: what tires, what bike, when did you leave, what did you take, etc. The community has posted some excellent stuff, but sometimes it's buried in 30 page ride reports and it has to get annoying to have noobs like me asking the same crud over and over again.

Maybe TAT vets can post with the items in the list below to this thread.

Bike
Bike Mods
Tires
Luggage
Section of Trail Completed
Start Date
End Date
Camped or Motel
Navigation Method

Riding Gear
Equipment
Must Sees
Must Avoids
Tips
Link to your ride report

If it catches on maybe it can become a sticky.

I know, how ridiculous Cheers!

[One Less Harley]

Bike- 2003 DRZ 400S

Bike Mods- (LINK)Steel rear chain ring, heated grips, wolfman luggage, racks tied into mainframe, 4gal IMS tank, case gaurds, Highway Dirtbikes lever gaurds/top clamp, bar risers, volt meter idiot light, radiator guards, suspension revalved, head light cutoff switch, removed and smoothed sharp points on foot levers, seat concepts seat, rear billet rack, Eastern Beaver fuse block.

Tires- TKC 80's, Dunlop 606 better choice.

Luggage- Wolfman expedition luggage

Section of Trail Completed- 100% (4,800 miles)

Start Date- June 18, 2011
End Date- July 23-2011 (plus a five day ride back to Kentucky)

Camped or Motel- mostly motel

Navigation Method- Zumo 550 and roll charts

Riding/ camp gear- Clothing/ camp gear (here).
Bike tool list (here)

Ride report (here)
Bike preparation (here)

Tips- know your bike and be familiar w/ it mechanically, thoroughly check it out before leaving, grease inspect bearings (wheels, headset, swing arm), check all engine/ suspension seals. fix all leaks, replace all fluids. Look over bike daily for leaks, loose or missing parts, or other potential issues.
- it's a long ride, ride smart.
-pack as light as possible

[vector_dumb]

Thanks for the reply! I checked through your gear list and there were a lot of items I was expecting and a few I wasn't. From reading other ride reports it seems like some people use pressure suits while other guys use textile jackets w/ armor. Is it easy to stay cool w/ a p suit?

Hopefully other people will add to the list.

[Anciano]

Miserable deep dust puddles.


Part of 300,000 acre burn. Yes 300,000 acres. 70 miles across

Bike - 2011 DRZ400S(the fast white model)
Bike Mods - Skid Plate, Luggage Rack & Seat Concepts Low model seat
Tires - Dunlop 606 Rear, Pirelli MT21 Front
Luggage - Dirt Bagz
Section of Trail Completed - Tellico Plains to Port Orford
Start Date - July 29th
End Date - August 25th
Camped or Motel - Camped mostly. Motels a lot towards the end.
Navigation Method - GPS & Maps & Roll Charts (Sam’s), Garmin GPSMAP60CS

Riding Gear - Water Proof boots(didn’t need) Klim Jacket (good) Old Moose riding pants. Kermit camp chair, besides the bike the best piece of equipment I took.
Equipment - North Face tent, Jardine quilt, MSR Whisperlite International stove
Must Sees - Colorado
Must Avoids - I had a tough time with Nevada. Dust puddles were just awful. The section from McDermitt to Denio Junction was 70 miles of burned off ugly desert. (See picture). I don’t know how you could avoid Nevada.
Tips - Stay hydrated. I carried bottles. I drank a lot when we stopped, but the other guys used Camelbaks. The last day in Nevada going into Denio Junction I got overheated because I wasn’t drinking enough.

Wayne

[8gv]

Great thread. Keep it going. My goal is 2014. I want to learn from the others before I go.

[larryboy]

There already is a thread and well done I might say...PM the OP to get your trip and stuff added to his list, pretty big already:

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=552416

[blaisew]

+1 on a pressure suit. Leave the pads out of your jacket and wear the armor every day. Worn over something like UnderArmour heat gear, without the jacket on hot days, you'll be comfortable and protected. Need to drink a lot of water to make up for evaporation. Mine saved me some bruises for sure. On cold days, it's another layer to keep you warm and more effective at that than you might expect.

Make sure your jacket is large enough to go over everything. No Euro tight fitting stuff! My Klim Traverse worked very nicely as the pits unzip way big and ventilate well. Pants the same, with big vents on the front/side and permanent vents on the back edge. The breeze blows right thru and even in the extreme heat they were fine.

Don't underestimate the importance of good riding gear. You can get by with less, but top notch gear will keep you warm, or cool, dry and protected. It makes the days much more enjoyable.

[vector_dumb]

Thank you for the postings and good info. I'm going to take Larryboy's advice to see if I can get these posts consolidated w/ the other thread. I'll also see if the admin will tag the larger thread as a sticky. There are a lot of different TAT threads floating around this subforum.

Also I'll be keeping an eye out for a lightly used pressure suit!