Thinking about taking the 640 over for a 5 day weekend sometime in August. Do some camping - riding-exploring ...... maybe even wander over into YellowStone.
Who's in?
I will be riding a couple days in the Helena Lewis and Clark National Forest this weekend. Will let you know that is.
Once you have dates nailed down, I may be interested.
I might be able to make this work
Looks like August 8-12 works best for me
I could push the following weekend if I absolutely needed to..... hows these dates work for you?
Wacked
I have a conflict 8 - 12, but don't change it for me. I can't commit to the following week just yet either...
I can commit to the following weekend if that is an option!
Let's do it
Just this week , they reinstated a day of work..... I'd only be able to do 8th - 11th. If I get out of dodge Friday night,that should be enough time to explore
So, 15 - 18? I am tied up 8 -11...
Lemme check - I know there's one mild conflict during that time period but maybe it can be overcome
Wacked
I might could do the 8th thru the 11th
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Kevin -
Couldn't wiggle outta my 17th/18th commitment ..... I tried.
Can you make 13, 14, 15, 16th happen? I might sneak out pm of the 12th (if these dates work) and get some hours in; Maybe even all the way to Buffalo
Wacked
I have something brewing at work that might interfere with the 13th - 16th, but I should know for sure this coming Friday July 24. I will let you know.
Kevin - what do you know about 13-16 and work stuff???
As much as I hate to say it, I can't make 13 - 16 work. Thanks for trying to work it out, maybe next time???
Here's how the final count-down is going ....
It appears that 4 of us are leaving Rapid later in the day on the 7th
8th and 9th will be based in the Ten Sleep area. We'll be checking out the low portion of the NF
On the 10, we'll trasition up towards Dayton and ride some of the upper forest roads.
For the 11th, we'll ride some of the day and then head towards home
All plans subject to change
If you have any sway with the boss, tell 'em it's short notice but you need a couple of days off. There's still time!
Wacked
Brad,
I have not completely given up on this trip. I pm'd you my phone number...
OK - we're off to the BigHorns
Brad/Ron/Tammy/Kevin/Dan
....... As Great Buffalo says - What goes on in the Bighorns, Stays in the Bighorns .....
Great trip! I made it back home @ ~10:30 last night. Enjoyed the company, the riding, learned a few things, and even saving Brad...
So This was One "Fluid" Trip
People could go then couldn't and vice versa. Ron and Tammy had plans change at the last minute and could only show up for some of the days. Every day was different than we had thought the day before
Ultimately, Dan, Kevin and myself showed up about 20 minutes apart on Friday night. After setting up tents, went uptown to get a quick bite to eat at some quick food joint to be determined. Stopped at Hardee's and groused a bit because eat-in was closed. As we were "contemplating" where to go next, my KTM made a funny 5sec chattery noise like my decompression lever got bumped. Dan and I looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders. Ended getting Hardees take-out and sitting in the rain under the Pizza Hut eaves.
Headed south after a great breakfast at The Station in Buffalo, and then did gravel up Crazy Women Canyon. This was a nice bit of road for a car or bike! Popped out and made our way to TenSleep over the pass and down a very scenic canyon. Got checked into the campground at the West end of town; threw off all our gear and set up.
After getting my gear off, I noticed a lot of oil on the right side; appeared like it was coming out of my breather box. Hmmm. Did 15mins of internet research as Dan and Kevin were ready to go. Seemed like it was either a small deal involving too much altitude and RPMs or kind of a big deal and maybe I was screwed
After consulting my mechanical advisors, they said lets ride!
We went up East TenSleep lake trail and bumped into a couple of Rocky ascents that were a handful on a larger bike - Maybe I was out of Practice. About 7 miles back in the woods, I had what I thought should be a relatively easy rock incline. For some reason is was a PIA and I really had to work the clutch. I stopped before the trail got steeper and a slightly more technical. I blame it on high altitude 9400ft, but Kevin and Dan blamed it on my Wimpiness.
I told them to go ahead. The lady at the side of the trail informed me that her little kid had just made it up with his/her 50cc bike (really). Hey, me or the bike could not make it up that easier section. There's no way it will make it up that technical spot. I pulled to the side and licked my wounds while Kevin and Dan went to the end of the trail. After 1/2hr they came down and we headed back.
..... Whoa, not so fast Buckeroo
I only made it back 200yds and something inside the Austrian bitch grenaded.
See, I knew it was the bike!
It would not start. We started to strip down the bike but then wondered why. OK, new plan - Kevin why don't you go down and scope the trail and see if some has a truck or trailer and is willing to haul me to TenSleep for a Benjamin. Dan and I got boarded so we decided to start the towing process. Just 10mins into this death defying process, we see a truck pull out from another trail headed down valley. Bummer. We we get out to that other trail, some dude - Dale - jumps out of the woods and tells us how he feels our pain - he had a KTM once.
He says too bad we weren't sooner cause his buddy in the truck probably would have OK with loading up. Wait, a Benjamin was involved, he would have been ALL OVER IT - He was that kinda guy.
Dan I looked at each other at the same time and thought "UNHITCH' ..... this towing is BS. Dan flogged the bike down valley and came back 5mins later with Eathan and his truck
More later .........
...... part 2
Yep, Dan come back shortly with Ethan and an F250.
We lift it in the back and strap it down best we can with 2 straps and para-cord. The tie-down situation isn't as much as we'd like but its all we got. I jump in the back and will attempt to stabilize the bike because it's a trail with boulders all over the place - 7 to 8 miles worth.
Dale - the guy who jumped outta the woods - is driving now and he promises to go EZ. He stops after a mile and we re-tie. So, I can only tell you my perspective from the truck bed, but that POS bike was hump'n and jump'n all over the place. I was doing my best to keep it stable and compressed. It was like getting an 8sec. Bull ride every 2 minutes. I was breaking a sweat not letting that pig break free and bash the cab ..... oh I was praying that that back strap held cause if it broke free, I would be on the losing part of a sandwich. All the while I'm thinking how mellow is this Dale really driving?
Finally we got outta the woods took the highway ride of shame to the camp-ground. What a gorgeous canyon and bluffs.
Not too much drama unloading at the campground. I hand Ethan his Benjamin and they are off - Thanks guys! Back at camp we start BSing about the East TenSleep rescue. I whine about the rodeo style near death bumpy ride. Kevin tells me how the back 2 wheels of the truck were in the air several times during the exit run. Dan is not letting up on the KTM abuse. We all agree that was about the quickest extraction/rescue as there could have been.
OK, I settle down to the Rapid City portion of the rescue. There were several "rescue" versions discussed during the day, but Ultimately, Ron drove his truck out with my trailer while Tammy rode her Versys. Apparently this arrangement didn't do unnoticed as the lady at the rest-stop was wondering why dude made his wife flog a bike while he rode in the comfort of AC with a T7 trailer queen in the back - mind your own business lady!!!
Now as Sunday progressed, I walked the town waiting for Ron's rescue rig to arrive. No hurry, its a fun place and I'm on vacation. Kevin and Dan are out riding somewhere. So, I'm sitting in a shady spot yakking on the phone and see Kevin scoot by early afternoon. No Dan. I wait 10 minutes and give Kevin a buzz - guess Dan's filling up and they are done for the day. Apparently, They decided to go down some Nasty-Ass boulder strewn trail up by West TenSleep lake and Dan had a little "Off" in the boulder field. The bad part was that Dan's ankle got pinned against some boulders and the bike had to be lifted off him to stop him from screaming. The ankle wasn't broken but it was sore and beat.
We regrouped for lunch; Kevin and Dan recounted their morning escapade that I couldn't go on. I went down the block for Ice Cream and Dan and Kevin caught up with me. Dan looked me in the eye and says he has a new idea - great, BigHorns travel version 17!
Actually Dan suggested I take his bike on the rest of the trip and he would take the truck and trailer back to Rapid. Come to think of it, I LIKE version 17. OK. We head back to camp and we figure out how packing will go on the different bike. Ron shows up mid afternoon and we clear this plan with him and Dan is off to Rapid.
That's about as exciting as the trip gets.
Next morning, Kevin and I, Ron and Tammy head separate ways in the same direction towards Greybull, down towards Burgess Junction, and then Dayton/Sheridan area. Kevin and I played more in the dirt/dust/gravel. Ron and Tammy kept it on pavement. After bumping into I90, Kevin decided to bomb it home in the evening. He was happy but had to have been 701 saddle-sore. Ron, Tammy, and I camped the night in Buffalo. We had a leisurely breakfast and meandered back to Rapid in the High Plains wind and heat of the day on Tuesday - mid-90's sucks on a bike.
It was a good time. Thanks to all those who helped or were willing to help in the sorry-butt KTM rescue. Thanks to Dan for letting the trip go on.
Wacked
Looking forward to the next one.
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Quote from: greatbuffalo on August 15, 2020, 06:24:20 PM
Looking forward to the next one.
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Ditto!
Won't lie - Ive been butt-hurt about the color of orange ever since I returned from the trip - Really how could a bike shell out with only 5400miles??!!!
Well, I ended up selling it to a guy in TX and he's been keeping my updated with the tear-down. It overheated big - piston cracked and chunked, some bearing parts maybe from a rocker, skipped tooth on the timing chain. But I don't think its the bike's fault or even that it was painted orange - I'll have to eat crow for all those nasty words against Austrian products.
He also found out that some of the coolant passages had green liquid and some had rusty/brown colored liquid in them. Remember when I sent out a post last year about Skank in the water? I'm thinking she sat so long in storage before I purchased her (1800miles in 12 years) that many of the passage-ways just corroded shut. Ultimately, I think poor storage and not enough use caused the overheating.
Looking back, Im kinda bummed that I didn't run CLR through the cooling system - it wouldn't have hurt. But that's hindsight
On the upbeat, I'm really enjoying the new t700!
Wacked
you can't deny the orange love man....