KTM 950 ADV Fly and Ride

[Reidy008]

It all starts with having to wake up at a time I very rarely see


and then I have to wake up the wife to take me to the airport before she goes to work, this is one of the few things that scares me ...

The wife drops me off at Sky Harbour


I thought I should get a picture of this guy before he violates me..


but the security went quite smooth and I didn't have to remove any clothes even though I offered..

I grab a little something to eat from this place


the food was great.


time to board


I had an hour and 25 minutes between flights at Dallas and Dave who had a Big Anges sleeping bag complete with insulated pad and pillow for sale in the flea market met me at the curb and I bought it from him.


Now I had something to sleep in for the trip home.

The flight to San Angelo was delayed about 20 minutes


but once we boarded it was only an hour flight in good sky's


on a crowded little puddle jumper


I had ordered a new tent from Redverz and had it shipped to Jim's office and it arrived while he was on his way to the airport so he stopped and picked it up for me. I only had to wait about 10 minutes before he rolled in with the bike on his trailer and tent in hand. I love it when a plan comes together.


We did the deal right in the parking lot with out so much as a test ride. Jim had been great communicating so i trusted him when he said the bike was solid. Titled signed over and cash exchanged I was ready to load up and hit the road.


West texas is about as much fun to ride through as having a tooth pulled. Flat and boring, I found myself playing where's Waldo except looking for a bend in the road and a hill on the horizon..


Saw lots of these all over so you know the wind blows, I was lucky and it was only a slight breeze but quite warm


I was hitting the New Mexico sate line around sunset


I didn't take anymore pictures the rest of the night but I made my way to Roswell, had dinner at McDonalds and then decided I would push on toward Ruidoso. I rode well into the night and somewhere short of Captin I saw a sign for Capitan Gap and a dirt road heading up into the mountains and thought why not...

I rode a ways and found some fun jeep roads and some clear two track but wasn't finding anywhere to camp. I found my way to the top and Capitan Gap had a large clear opening so I decided to pitch the new tent there. Didn;t take to long in the dark using a few torch's(flashlights for the USA readers) and i had the bike in and the gear stowed. About 1am I was off to sleep.

[refokus]

Keep the RR coming. I need some good riding time in my seat in the office. I know your phone has more pictures than this..............

[seabee1]

always nice to have a new weapon in the arsenal. looks like the transalp has some new competition?

btw, you're a usa writer now!

edit: my bad, i meant africa twin.

[06Klr650]

:

[Reidy008]

The new tent I really like and there is nothing like waking up next to your bike is there? Here is what I see when I wake up.


I took a look around outside as it was so dark when I setup camp and here is what I saw




and a shot of how the bike fits in the large vestibule or garage area.


Grabbed a pic by the sign, this is an area that would be worth exploring over a weekend.


Here is the road in



and the high plains as I rode out



and one looking back toward the mountains I just rode out of. Looks different during the day..

[Nightstalker]

NICE!

More please!

[ybracing]

Wow! You got all kinds of new toys. And it's not even Christmas. Looks like a great place to camp and explore. Make a note of that one!
Oh, BTW, I like the orange.

[cyberdos]

very nice! Have fun on the rest of your trip home.

[BIG-E]

Hi Drew,

2 things, What is up with that little cut down piece of plastic on the front??

Second, nice tent!!

Death Valley, here we come!

Congrats, nice bike!

[AZ TOM]

Originally Posted by cyberdos

very nice! Have fun on the rest of your trip home.

Ugh, I think he is already home

[redeye-az]

welcome to the cult.
you got yourself a traveler there....
if you have weekdays, i can go.......

[Reidy008]

After leaving the Capitan Mountains I headed into Capitan for breakfast. I was not aware that this was the home of Smokey the Bear but now I am. Grabbed a banana and drinks here.


Made my way over to Ruidoso and went through the Little Bear fire area which had taken out a lot of homes. Here is a little story on it.

RUIDOSO, N.M. (AP) - Firefighters say they are continuing to take advantage of favorable weather conditions to battle a wildfire in southern New Mexico that has destroyed 242 homes and businesses.
Meanwhile, officials said Monday that the ranging blaze in the Gila Wilderness, already the largest wildfire in state history, grew another 1,000 acres and is now 463 square miles. That fire is 80 percent contained.
More than 1,100 firefighters remained Monday in Ruidoso as they fight to hold the Little Bear Fire that is now 60 percent contained. Officials say that relative humidity of 25 percent is helping crews tame the fire that is around 60 square miles.
But wind gusts of possibly 25 mph are expected Monday afternoon forcing nearby residents to see more smoke.

http://interactives.krqe.com/photomo...-fire-june-10/

Here is a link to learn more about Ruidoso for anyone interested.

www.ruidoso.net/

I made my way to Tularosa and using my trusty GPS I had a route planned to get to Silver City. I had planned to take back roads that included WSMR #6 and was wondering what the letters stood for... as I started out of town a farmer out the front of his house doing his lawn caught my eye and I though I would ask him if I was heading the right way to find Tully Rd. He was nice enough to tell me I couldn't go that way as the letters stood for White Sands Missile Range and there was no way to get across it.



This put a kink in my plan and I had no choice but to ride around it. Choosing to go toward Socoro I was rewarded with a trip through Fire Valley which has very cool larva flows.






When I hit the interstae it was a few miles to Socorro or a long haul on the interstate the other way to get back to my route. I choose the short route and headed to Socorro for some lunch.

From Socorroa I headed toward Show Low thinking I could find some good dirt riding up that way. I stopped to help a guy with a blow tire but his wheel was frozen on and we couldn't get it to budge. He had a service coming to pick him up so I was on my way. I passed the space listening station with a crazy amount of satelite dishes bunched together.


Here is a close up


Met a couple of ladies who were traveling in a VW van. One was driving a loop from San Fransisco via LA, AZ, NM, CO, and back to San Fran. The other was riding along to Denver. 3 months was the estimated trip time. Nice get away.

I had noticed some storm activity ahead and asked if they had come that way. The responded that they had but there were just some small showers....

On the way to Show Low I hit my first rain shower and stopped to put on what little I had


Tried to get a pic of the rain... thats not easy.


Stopped at Pie Town when I saw this guy


This Ned and he is on a 12,000 mile trip on a 400... here is his ride report on ADV
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=807006

Here is the store at Pie Town


From this point on it was a wet ride.... I hit Show Low and they had had some crazy amount of rain and my plans to take 191 and do some exploring where forced off for another day. I headed toward Heber and the clouds were dark and waiting for me. I did stop at the turn off to the Pork Fest camp area to see if there were any KLR parts still lying around at the cattle guard


Now the rain was setting in and I decided it was no use trying to camp as most all the camp areas had closed signs up. I ran toward Payson thinking I could take FR 300 and go home via Camp Verde but I couldn't find the dam turn off and getting wetter by the minute I headed through Payson and toward home. The rain was now very heavy and never let up the whole way down the mountain and across Phoenix to home. I had on my dirt pants, a T Shirt, compressor top and a jersey. Not the best stuff for this type of weather. I had my wife take a few pics when I pulled in.



With only my light dirt gloves my hands were total prunes



Even the 5 hours of rain didn't wipe the smile of my face. Great trip and all the new purchases functioned as I had hoped. The bike even cam ewith the original manuals and the brief case they come in..


Got to love a bike that comes with this kind of welcome message right on the case...

[AZ TOM]

Rained on your parade but you made lemonade out of those lemons. Well done.

[Reidy008]

When I was setting up the purchase of the bike I had asked the owner if there was a 12v outlet anywhere on the bike so I could charge my phone and headset while traveling. He said there was one at the dash. Note to self.... be more precise. Here is the outlet he was speaking of...



So a quick stop at a few parts stores and I had the pieces I need to hook up a 12 volt outlet the way I pictured it...



The guys at the parts store were nice enought o let me use some wire strippers and electrical tape and I had a plug in that would hook right up.

[Reidy008]

Originally Posted by BIG-E

Hi Drew,

2 things, What is up with that little cut down piece of plastic on the front??

The owner said that alot of people cut down the stock screen to help helmet buffeting.

Second, nice tent!!

The tent rocks... super happy with that purchase and the owners of Redverz are first class. I had called them to see if they could get it to TX on Friday. They said no worries and then called me back to say they were two day airing it there at their cost to be sure I got it. Thats service you don't see much anymore.

Death Valley, here we come!

Congrats, nice bike!

What is up with that little cut down piece of plastic on the front??

The owner said that alot of people cut down the stock screen to help helmet buffeting.

Second, nice tent!!

The tent rocks... super happy with that purchase and the owners of Redverz are first class. I had called them to see if they could get it to TX on Friday. They said no worries and then called me back to say they were two day airing it there at their cost to be sure I got it. Thats service you don't see much anymore.