RME Epic Dual-Sport ride

[Greg]

I've been thinking about putting together a big dual-sport ride out of Moab, making a couple big loops over some well known trails. I'd like to make it a 3 day event, riding around South-Eastern UT and Western CO. We would be riding thru the La Sals, which may have some possible weather. Here's my idea...


Day 1; Ride out of Moab headed South, then turn up Pack Creek road and onto La Sal Pass road. After making it over La Sal Pas, skirt around the La Sals and head towards John Brown Canyon and Gateway, CO. From Gateway, head up Sheep Creek Road into the Dolores Triangle, cross Granite Creek and ride up to Glade Park, CO. From Glade Park, drop down into Fruita, CO and stay the night.

Day 2; Leave out of Fruita and head to Loma and the trail head for the Kokopelli Trail. Ride the full Kokopelli Trail back to Moab, making our way thru Rabbit Valley, McGraw Bottom and over to Dome Plateau. After dropping down Rose Garden Hill, we'd ride back into the La Sals by way of Hideout Road, then the La Sal Loop road and back into Moab by way of Sand Flats Road.

Day 3; Ride from Moab and head out to the White Rim Trail. We'd be best off heading out early, since it's quite the haul. There are some different options as far as where we could pick up the trail, just have to figure out what would be the best. After completing the WRT, ride back to Moab.

Requirements!-

• All bikes MUST be street-legal and plated, as there will be a good deal of road riding thru this trip.
  
  
• Each bike MUST support at least 150 miles of riding on 1 tank of fuel. Each of these days will end up with around 150 miles and fuel isn't available mid-way. 200 miles out of one tank would be ideal.
  
  
• Bike MUST be in top mechanical shape and be reliable. Most of these areas are very remote, having a bike you KNOW will make it thru without major problems is key.
  

I'd recommend that riders are at least at an intermediate riding level, capable of riding thru difficult terrain without too much trouble.

On the first night, I would be willing to put together a BBQ in Fruita and we have enough room at our home that a handful of people could stay here. Make this a fun time and as inexpensive as possible.


Dates; August 27th, 28th & 29th. That would be a Friday, Saturday and Sunday!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Interested. I need to see where I'm at with the fuel on my bike. I've got the desert tank but not 100% sure what my true range is over varied terrain.

As I see the way your are suggesting, we would sack up in motels for the nights? So no need to carry more than a day's worth of food/water & gear?

 

[Caleb]

I'm in!!!

On the last day, are we going to be ending up in Moab? I assume we would, but I'm not super familiar with WRT. I only ask because that would mean I could haul my bike down to Moab with my truck, then leave my truck in Moab the whole time.

 

[Greg]

Why not combine it with the Memorial Day BBQ? Not all of us take the same route, or use the same means of transportation, but we seem to make it there. Just change your routes a bit and end up in Moab saturday night.

We could work that out, I figured we'd take the 4x4 to Moab for the weekend, but that doesn't have to be the case. If we could arrange it with the other riders, we could ride Friday to Colorado, then Saturday back to Moab for the RME BBQ that evening.

Interested. I need to see where I'm at with the fuel on my bike. I've got the desert tank but not 100% sure what my true range is over varied terrain.

As I see the way your are suggesting, we would sack up in motels for the nights? So no need to carry more than a day's worth of food/water & gear?

Yeah, knowing how many trail miles you can get out of a bike would be pretty important. Guess we better do some riding before this! You could find a way to pack extra fuel if you're close to 150 miles, but not quite there. I think 150 miles is the bare minimum you'd want out of a bike on this ride.

Yes, we'd be staying in motels and have food/water available in the mornings and evenings.

I'm in!!!

On the last day, are we going to be ending up in Moab? I assume we would, but I'm not super familiar with WRT. I only ask because that would mean I could haul my bike down to Moab with my truck, then leave my truck in Moab the whole time.

Yeah, sorry I didn't make that point. On the 3rd day we would ride from Moab to the WRT, which is a big loop, then back to Moab. The whole idea with this ride is that we'd start in Moab and end in Moab. It would be fun to get a campground/hotel for everyone and hang out during the evenings, talking about the ride.

 

[Greg]

OK fellers, the snow should be melting off the La Sals and this proposed route should be rideable. If we do it soon, it will be pretty warm in the days, especially at the lower elevations. We could wait for Fall... but what fun would that be? I'm willing to open my place in Fruita as a place to crash on the 1st night.

Anyone still interested in doing this? I would like to keep the number of riders to 5-6 at the most, just so we can move at a decent pace.

 

[Jared]

I'm interested for sure. Which weekend could we do it? You mention that a holiday weekend would be ideal. July 24th is coming up, but I already have family plans for that weekend and the next.

How many miles are you talking between fillups? I've got a thirsty XR650R with a 4.3 gallon tank. I'd be surprised if it would go 100 miles unless I really babied it!

Jared

 

[Greg]

I'm interested for sure. Which weekend could we do it? You mention that a holiday weekend would be ideal. July 24th is coming up, but I already have family plans for that weekend and the next.

How many miles are you talking between fillups? I've got a thirsty XR650R with a 4.3 gallon tank. I'd be surprised if it would go 100 miles unless I really babied it!

Jared

Originally, the discussion was to make this ride over Memorial Day of this year, which is past us now and there was no way the La Sals were clear at that point.

I don't have a specific weekend in mind anymore, but it would be nice to make it a Fri, Sat & Sunday ride. I'm open to suggestions as well.

The 1st days ride would have gas mid-way, in Gateway, CO. The 2nd day would be the hard part, but I might be able to convince my wife to meet us mid-way to top off those that need more fuel. The 3rd day would be pretty questionable, since there is no fuel on the WRT. You could top off at the Shell North of Moab, then ride into the National Park. You'd probably just eek by with your range on the WRT. If worse came to worse, we could siphon off a gallon or so from my 8 gallon Super Tanker... :greg: But I wouldn't want to rely on that for more than 1 or 2 bikes.

 

[Greg]

Little more...

I'd have no problem doing this ride with 1 or 2 guys, small groups are fun! If that's all the interest we have, that's fine by me.

As for when... we could plan it for late August. That would let the temps come down a little in Moab and give everyone enough time to plan this out around work, family, etc.

 

[Caleb]

I'm still in! I don't know what kind of mileage my new bike will get, but I'll find out this weekend. As long as I know in advance, I can get time off if it's not over a holiday. Right now the only days I can't do it is July 9-16 and Sept 3-10.

 

[Rot Box]

I would be all over a ride like this if I had a street legal bike :-\ I'm slowly building an ATK thumper for trips like this, but it won't be finished until next year.

Post pics!

 

[Jared]

How technical are these trails? Are we talking 5 miles of hell or moderate Jeep trails? I ask because yesterday I tried to take my 650 up a ledgy single track trail in the mountains near my house and realized that I totally suck at riding a heavy dirt bike in tight quarters. My last dirt bike was a 1980 YZ100, and I was 12. The ledges weren't all that bad, but with a 2 foot wide trail and a cliff on both sides there is no room to maneuver a big bike, and mine isn't exactly "nimble" to begin with.

As far as fuel goes I could carry an extra 2 gallons if I'm not loaded up with camping gear, which would put me at over 6 gallons total.

Jared

 

[Greg]

I'm still in! I don't know what kind of mileage my new bike will get, but I'll find out this weekend. As long as I know in advance, I can get time off if it's not over a holiday. Right now the only days I can't do it is July 9-16 and Sept 3-10.

I bet if you get a 4-ish gallon tank, you'd be alright.

August should be a good month, I'd even say towards the end of August so the temps are a little cooler. How about Aug 27th-30th? That's a Friday, Sat & Sunday.

I would be all over a ride like this if I had a street legal bike :-\ I'm slowly building an ATK thumper for trips like this, but it won't be finished until next year.

Post pics!

Come on, sell a kidney or something and make the ride! I'm sure there will be pics a plenty.

How technical are these trails? Are we talking 5 miles of hell or moderate Jeep trails? I ask because yesterday I tried to take my 650 up a ledgy single track trail in the mountains near my house and realized that I totally suck at riding a heavy dirt bike in tight quarters. My last dirt bike was a 1980 YZ100, and I was 12. The ledges weren't all that bad, but with a 2 foot wide trail and a cliff on both sides there is no room to maneuver a big bike, and mine isn't exactly "nimble" to begin with.

As far as fuel goes I could carry an extra 2 gallons if I'm not loaded up with camping gear, which would put me at over 6 gallons total.

Jared

Not super technical, for the most part. Much of the ride will be decent dirt roads, with some 2 track and a handful of rocky sections. We should be able to maintain a decent pace IMO. The 'epic' part of this trip is covering as much ground as we will be, in the end it should be a few hundred miles of trail riding.

There will be a handful of technical spots, Rose Garden hill being the longest & worst. Rose Garden is about a 1/4 mile long, steep, a handful of large ledges and loose rock. There are pics all over, if you're not familiar with it. We would be riding down it, so it will be easier going down. At this point, I have NOT ridden Rose Garden hill...

The other spot is on the Kokopelli trail, heading towards Hwy 128. You have to drop down into a wash, then climb back out. It's tight traveling, a handful of rocky ledges and a switch-back or 2. I've been thru it a handful of times and it's not too bad, going West, which is the way we would be traveling.

The White Rim trail isn't technical by any means, there are a handful of steep hills with some loose rock, but a decent rider and bike will be fine on it.

There would be no need for hauling camping gear, just bring whatever personal items you'd need for the stay in Fruita. We would provide towels, beds, etc. Someone may have to sleep on the couch or floor, but we'd have enough room for a handful of people. Other than that, I think we should get a nice campground in Moab for the other nights. We'd use that as base camp, leave our stuff there for the night in Fruita Friday night, then come back to the campground on Saturday night.

I don't even think you'd even need to haul too much extra fuel on the first 2 days, unless your bike really drinks it. We could stop in Gateway mid-way thru day 1, then have someone (my wife?) top us off mid-way thru day 2. The White Rim trail would be where you'd need to be concerned, I think it's close to 150 miles of riding.

 

[Greg]

Here's some of the technical places on the proposed route-

Kokopelli, next to the Colorado river, close to Hwy 128-

Rose Garden Hill-

 

[Caleb]

I bet if you get a 4-ish gallon tank, you'd be alright.

August should be a good month, I'd even say towards the end of August so the temps are a little cooler. How about Aug 27th-30th? That's a Friday, Sat & Sunday.

I'll be topping off my tank in a little bit which will tell me how much fuel I used. I'm taking a WAG here but I bet I'd be fine with a 4.0 Gal tank as well. Those dates work for me, lets plan on it!

Not super technical, for the most part. Much of the ride will be decent dirt roads, with some 2 track and a handful of rocky sections. We should be able to maintain a decent pace IMO. The 'epic' part of this trip is covering as much ground as we will be, in the end it should be a few hundred miles of trail riding.

There will be a handful of technical spots, Rose Garden hill being the longest & worst. Rose Garden is about a 1/4 mile long, steep, a handful of large ledges and loose rock. There are pics all over, if you're not familiar with it. We would be riding down it, so it will be easier going down. At this point, I have NOT ridden Rose Garden hill...

The other spot is on the Kokopelli trail, heading towards Hwy 128. You have to drop down into a wash, then climb back out. It's tight traveling, a handful of rocky ledges and a switch-back or 2. I've been thru it a handful of times and it's not too bad, going West, which is the way we would be traveling.

The White Rim trail isn't technical by any means, there are a handful of steep hills with some loose rock, but a decent rider and bike will be fine on it.

There would be no need for hauling camping gear, just bring whatever personal items you'd need for the stay in Fruita. We would provide towels, beds, etc. Someone may have to sleep on the couch or floor, but we'd have enough room for a handful of people. Other than that, I think we should get a nice campground in Moab for the other nights. We'd use that as base camp, leave our stuff there for the night in Fruita Friday night, then come back to the campground on Saturday night.

I don't even think you'd even need to haul too much extra fuel on the first 2 days, unless your bike really drinks it. We could stop in Gateway mid-way thru day 1, then have someone (my wife?) top us off mid-way thru day 2. The White Rim trail would be where you'd need to be concerned, I think it's close to 150 miles of riding.

Based on those pics, I don't think those spots will be too tough at all, especially if we aren't loaded with tons of gear. This still sounds like an awesome trip!

 

[Jared]

Well, I sold the bike last night so I am definitely out for this one and future MC trips. I still look forward to reading your trip reports!

Jared

 

[Greg]

Well, I sold the bike last night so I am definitely out for this one and future MC trips. I still look forward to reading your trip reports!

Jared

That's too bad Jared, I was looking forward to seeing that XR650R in action!

Hopefully we will put together a good report for this ride, I'm looking forward to it!

 

[Caleb]

Are we still planning August 27-30th? Picked up a larger tank this weekend, ended up going with an IMS 3.2 gal tank. I get ~40 mpg when I'm on it a lot, so I may have to carry a little (I figure a couple of the large msr bottles ought to be enough) for the WRT, other than that I should be good.

 

[Jared]

That's too bad Jared, I was looking forward to seeing that XR650R in action!

So was I, and in the end that was the whole issue. I was always looking forward to a trip but never doing one. Maybe a little later down the road I will pick up something that is ready to just hop on and ride - street legal and equipped. It was always the "getting the bike ready" that held me back.

Jared

 

[Greg]

Are we still planning August 27-30th? Picked up a larger tank this weekend, ended up going with an IMS 3.2 gal tank. I get ~40 mpg when I'm on it a lot, so I may have to carry a little (I figure a couple of the large msr bottles ought to be enough) for the WRT, other than that I should be good.

Yep! I'm good with that date, if you are! Not sure if anyone else has said they are 100% in.

I think with the IMS tank + the MSR bottles, you will be good. If we have to, you can siphon off the Super Tanker. :greg:

So was I, and in the end that was the whole issue. I was always looking forward to a trip but never doing one. Maybe a little later down the road I will pick up something that is ready to just hop on and ride - street legal and equipped. It was always the "getting the bike ready" that held me back.

Jared

I hear ya there, hopefully you'll be back with a plated, ready to ADV ride bike in the future!

 

[Caleb]

Yep! I'm good with that date, if you are! Not sure if anyone else has said they are 100% in.

I think with the IMS tank + the MSR bottles, you will be good. If we have to, you can siphon off the Super Tanker. :greg:

I'll make sure I have the time off (I may be going to 4-10s anyways).

Come on, who else is going to join in on the fun?