Seattle to San Diego (And back...) - Think the Tenere is up for it?

[sportsguy]

The day started great. Touratech sent over a new shock for Alex to install and we're good to rock and roll! We fiddled a bit with setting and the balance is as close to perfect as I've ever ridden.

Got back to the house to start a bit of cleaning on the bike and prep for remounting the panniers and actually doing a final pack before the trip. I was almost done rubbing the bike down, and had made it all the way to the back. I was just rubbing the last of the dirt off the rear rack and the cloth snagged a bit. I could see a "line" of dirt, so I pressed a bit harder and rubbed. Hmmm...that's odd...I could feel a small ridge. Nah, can't be.

Except it was - a stress crack in my AltRider rear rack. Sigh.

A quick checked proved there were cracks near all four mounting bolts.

A quick call to AltRider confirmed they had new racks in stock, so I loaded up the bike and beat feet into Seattle, knowing I'd hit a TON of traffic on the way home. My other option being to fish out the stock rack and run a second dry bag...

The guys took one look at the rack and handed me a replacement base plate - no questions. Just some time for photos and one of the designers checking it out to see what happened to this unit.

It's been mounted for about 3000 miles. Had a rotopax 1 gallon gas can on it for about 1200 of those miles. Then I added the Happy Trails top box - now keep in mind these aren't heavy boxes and I have one of the shallowest units HT makes - so not some oversized behemoth. Basically, the bike hasn't lead a hard life (I have a KTM 690 Enduro R for the tough stuff.) and it wasn't a weight issue.

I know the guys at AltRider are solid - they're going to eyeball this to see what' sup. I'm going to send over my old base plate after I make my swap.

Tomorrow morning I'll remove the top box and swap base plates in prep for the trip. Hopefully that's the last of the things I'll need to sort before heading out. LOL I sure hope so!

At this point I am simply grateful to all the local businesses that have come through for me. Touratech, Konflict Motorsports and AltRider. Each an example of excellent customer care. And so it appears the day will wrap up great, too! Fingers crossed!

 

[itlives]

After all the pre-ride shenanigans, I hope the ride-ride goes smoothly for you!
Looking forward to the RR

 

[sportsguy]

After all the pre-ride shenanigans, I hope the ride-ride goes smoothly for you!
Looking forward to the RR

I hear that! Its all just little things (OK, the shock wasn't "little") and most of it is prep work, but yeah, it will be super if everything just works and I can just ride and enjoy. THAT would rock!

duane

 

[sportsguy]

I've been logging 8 - 11 hours in the saddle the last three days. "Enjoyed" the blast furnace that is the Mojave today, and Joshua Tree (park, not city. City is a craphole.) this evening. Ended up wrong turning in the park, which put me an hour from my hotel, which itself is in the wrong direction from tomorrow's travel to San Diego...lol

I think 11 hours might be too long for me. I make fewer navigational errors when I ride less that ten hours. Been epic so far. 1400 miles in three days of riding.

Highlights:

Dried out my evap vest today while riding. Twice. Takes a lot of hot air to dry those puppies.
Highest temp so far was 101 degrees today. Yup, in da desert.
Butler maps tell no lies. Someone go look up County Road A1 around Eagle Lake, California. E. P. I. C.
Black bear came within 20 feet of me last night while unpacking the bike. My photo didn't turn out.
Coyote jogged in front of me today in Joshua Tree. I "meep, meeped" him. He wasn't impressed.
Rode through a thunder storm yesterday. Saw it miles off. Caught up with it at the worst moment. At the top of an 8k foot pass, with my mesh gear on. High winds blasted me with water, then hail. Temp dropped to 54 degrees. I eventually warmed up again.

Camping at a Holiday Inn Express tonight. What? At least there was a cockroach in the dining room...

 

[itlives]

Black bear came within 20 feet of me last night while unpacking the bike. My photo didn't turn out.

Rode through a thunder storm yesterday. Saw it miles off. Caught up with it at the worst moment. At the top of an 8k foot pass, with my mesh gear on. High winds blasted me with water, then hail. Temp dropped to 54 degrees. I eventually warmed up again.

Photo didn't come out because of the shaking going on!?

Getting caught in rain with a mesh jacket is no fun around here at 210' above sea level. Can't imagine at 8K feet!
That's why I'm looking for a "good" jacket right now. I say good, but I mean good for me. I can't afford some (most) of the GOOD ones!

Stay safe and ride on!

 

[shrekonwheels]

I've been logging 8 - 11 hours in the saddle the last three days. "Enjoyed" the blast furnace that is the Mojave today, and Joshua Tree (park, not city. City is a craphole.) this evening. Ended up wrong turning in the park, which put me an hour from my hotel, which itself is in the wrong direction from tomorrow's travel to San Diego...lol

I think 11 hours might be too long for me. I make fewer navigational errors when I ride less that ten hours. Been epic so far. 1400 miles in three days of riding.

Highlights:

Dried out my evap vest today while riding. Twice. Takes a lot of hot air to dry those puppies.
Highest temp so far was 101 degrees today. Yup, in da desert.
Butler maps tell no lies. Someone go look up County Road A1 around Eagle Lake, California. E. P. I. C.
Black bear came within 20 feet of me last night while unpacking the bike. My photo didn't turn out.
Coyote jogged in front of me today in Joshua Tree. I "meep, meeped" him. He wasn't impressed.
Rode through a thunder storm yesterday. Saw it miles off. Caught up with it at the worst moment. At the top of an 8k foot pass, with my mesh gear on. High winds blasted me with water, then hail. Temp dropped to 54 degrees. I eventually warmed up again.

Camping at a Holiday Inn Express tonight. What? At least there was a cockroach in the dining room...

Hail can suck on a bike. I got caught in some golf ball sized hail once, my solution, ride faster to find cover.
I had bumps and bruises everywhere, it felt like someone was hitting me with a baseball bat. I would find cover and finish out the storm under the awning of a gas station. Soon some gold wing riders would come in and I would mention how nasty that storm was "Wasnt too bad, we just pulled over" ???
Lesson learned

 

[sportsguy]

She was up for it. Arrived home at 10pm last night after a marathon 13 hour ride covering 700 miles.

Had to add about 20 ounces of oil after the first half of the trip. It was all high speed, high temp running, much of it through deserts.

Touratech Expedition suspension easily proved its worth and other than my Delorme forgetting it was actually receiving power and my GPS inexplicably turning itself off once in mid-ride, everything was great. Rear TKC 70 (brand new for this trip) is now, 3100 miles later, decidedly flat along the center. That started about 2000 miles in. Otherwise, they performed well.

With me, the bike and about 100 pounds of gear, I shouldn't be surprised. I was also filling up every 160 miles or so just before or after reserve came on (160 miles was typically before reserve came on, but after a couple of gnarly backwoods, which burnt more fuel, a couple times I saw reserve earlier). Not impressed with the fuel economy, but she was pretty loaded down. Throw in freeway speeds of 70+ mph and wind and its easy to see where the economy went. Still, if that's my real world, a bit more fuel to reliably reach 200 miles before reserve would be ideal. Never needed the extra gallon in the rotopax, but stock she is slightly lacking in overall range for this kind of riding. Perhaps a flash will pick up some ponies offering a bit better power to weight ratio... hmmm... its about the only mod I have left to do, after all.

After all was said and done, however, I'm picking nits. The Tenure is, overall, an ideal ride for these kinds of long rides.

 

[Don in Lodi]

How many gallons were you putting in at 160 miles? The float arm on these things can trigger the reserve light anywhere between .9 and 2 gallons remaining. EricV, because of his IBA stuff, went in and adjusted things so it triggers reliably at a given level. They don't come from the factory that way.

 

[sportsguy]

How many gallons were you putting in at 160 miles? The float arm on these things can trigger the reserve light anywhere between .9 and 2 gallons remaining. EricV, because of his IBA stuff, went in and adjusted things so it triggers reliably at a given level. They don't come from the factory that way.

Excellent point Don.

This is how I know I had more range... Typically the fillup would see me dropping 4.5 - 4.9 gallons in. Clearly more in there.