Tiger Hunting

[Fletch]

Did I see you yesterday between Rapid and Hill City?

[Bogus Jim]

Nope, was working on the bike all day yesterday.

[Fletch]

Nope, was working on the bike all day yesterday.

didn't know what the new bike looked like until these pics, met one yesterday. Should have know it wasn't you as you would have chased me down...

[NDave]

Hey Jim  I reconize  alot of the  RR on this trip from  a little  stroll  that  Dale   Gerry   Wacked     Greatbuffalo and  Lonesome  Dave  and I   took in July            some body     might have  pics   at   Deerfield lake

[greatbuffalo]

I too looked at that RR with much interest when it was done. Would like to do it sometime. There are several others I'd like to do; a Lewis and Clark trail, a Mississippi River trip, Trail of Tears route and lastly the Custer Expedition route. I've been working on tracks for that one on and off for the last couple of years. Maybe I'll get it done by next summer. After completing the rest of the DAKAL, I'll do it as my next big ride in SD.

There are other trips out there as well, railroad routes, Pony Express routes and the outlaw trails. Would be worth putting some of these into my bucket.

Lots of history out there to connect with, what better way to do it, but on a bike.

[Bogus Jim]

Hey Jim  I reconize  alot of the  RR on this trip from  a little  stroll  that  Dale   Gerry   Wacked     Greatbuffalo and  Lonesome  Dave  and I   took in July

You're right Dave, this loop follows the CDT for a while. Parts of MT and WY, I think. I heard somebody got lost on your CDT trip and ran out of gas because they didn't have a GPS? What was that all about?

Powersports did not have a 150/70 tube but Rice did. So I got the Kenda Big Blocks mounted tonight. I was a little worried about mounting the rear... someone on the Tiger thread said the Big Block was the hardest tire he's ever mounted and he's not going to run it anymore because he doesn't think he could fix a flat on the trail. I have to admit, it has a VERY stiff sidewall... I think you could run it flat if you kept the speed under 15-20 mph, although that would destroy the tube. I was able to get the tire on with a little Windex and two irons, but because the bead is so hard to break I am wondering whether I should try a tubeless conversion on the rear. Fixing a tube flat on this bike won't be fun.

[Dr Psyko]

Jim, Keep us informed with the "Big Block", I hear it has a recalibrated rubber, more mileage. Could be a good KLR tire...

Thanks, and sounds like you enjoy the bike!

[greatbuffalo]

I looked at those Big Blocks a couple years ago too but they were getting south of 3000 miles out of them then. I heard they changed compounds as well.

[Bogus Jim]

Well the bike is loaded and ready... leaving tomorrow afternoon.




Here's the Kenda Big Block. Total mileage for the trip is 3,600, if my butt doesn't give out. I have a feeling this rear tire will be toast by the time I get back. I'll take another photo upon returning.




Had a dream a couple nights ago that a bear was chasing me. Not a good sign, I try not to be too superstitious though.




This will be the longest off-pavement trip I have done. A little apprehensive but looking forward to riding new trails every day for 2 weeks. Here's the SPOT link if you want check in and see where I'm going.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0ZGqfZyBB1lMlPNI9AyqFt0vbi5xh5f9I

[Lonesome Dave]

I've been reading that trip report, that ride looks awesome.  Some of those desolate areas, I don't blame you, I'd be apprehensive too.  You be safe and come back in one piece.  We need you to lead when you get back.    And, keep that spot on, we'll be watching. 

[Lonesome Dave]

Well I've been watching Jim's progress and have text him a few times.  Apparently he's not having the best of luck with the weather.  He turned around at Rawlins early in the afternoon and later told me the rain was to bad.  Now I see he's Utah and hasn't moved for a couple of days.  I asked him if the Mormons may have got him!  He said it was raining too much, way toooooo muddy.  He said thinking about calling it quits.  Haven't heard anything more.  I don't think he has internet access to fill us in.

I wished him the best of luck........

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0ZGqfZyBB1lMlPNI9AyqFt0vbi5xh5f9I

[greatbuffalo]

I've been watching too. I think I'd find asphalt and say the hell with the trail until I found dry ground. Wishing him luck and dryer weather.

[Bogus Jim]

Well made it back to RC yesterday, a bit early. I rode a little over 2/3 of the 2,800 mile loop, but skipped the Utah section and Pinedale to Rawlins because of mud. It rained every single night except one night in Montana.

I got into some gumbo south of Dinosaur National Monument. The front fender plugged up with mud and locked the front wheel. It sucks picking up a 500 lb. bike + 40 lbs. of luggage in the mud! Took me almost an hour to turn around and get out of there and I was only 60 yards into the bad section. After that... Bogus says NO to gumbo.

It really is a beautiful route. I'd like to ride it again someday and complete the entire loop... and hopefully have better luck with the rain.

[Bogus Jim]

Here's a before and after shot of the Kenda Big Block. The tire has 2,900 miles on it. I think it could easily go another 1 or 2k miles. Not bad considering it's half the price of a TCK80. I don't think I'm going to run full knobbies all the time, but I was glad I had them on this trip.




The front fender cracked when it got plugged up with mud. Mud causing the fender to crack, or even break completely off, has been a problem on the Tiger 800's, so I reinforced the lower mounting point with a piece of flat aluminum. Of course, if you reinforce point A, then it just breaks at point B.




You might notice one of the bolts is too long in this photo... that's because the mounting bolts on both sides rattled out on a 40 mile section of bad washboard. I zip-tied and taped the fender on until I got to a hardware store, and the only 6mm bolts they had were too long.

Other than the front fender problem, the Tiger had no mechanical issues on the trip.

[greatbuffalo]

That tire didn't far too bad. I think better than I expected and seems to be in line with that of the TKC.

It looks like a high fender mod may be in order. I've often considered doing that to my big cat. Quite often when riding down gravel roads you can hear the rocks get picked up and squeezed between the tire and fender. some day it gonna be a bigger stone than what can easily fit in that space and broken fender may be the result.

Looks like a great ride, just wish you'd had better weather.