Whisler Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 So this is what I am going for. THis is a modified DR650. I like the dual headlight vs the single rectangluar one. And the bigger gas tank. Had a buddy in my mis=spent youth who taught me to ride. His nickname was Porky and boy did it fit , 300 lbs. on his light days. He could ride just about anything, starting at the age of 14 in FL. He rode his bike from KY to Colorado, a Yamaha 350 Scrambler. He taught me 2 truisms about riding: 1)never think you are a great rider or the bike will get you down and stomp you, 2) ride like everyone else on the road is trying to kill you. I have some great stories about me and him and our adventures. I miss him as he passed about 5 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Cecil Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 Had a buddy in my mis=spent youth who taught me to ride. His nickname was Porky and boy did it fit , 300 lbs. on his light days. He could ride just about anything, starting at the age of 14 in FL. He rode his bike from KY to Colorado, a Yamaha 350 Scrambler. He taught me 2 truisms about riding: 1)never think you are a great rider or the bike will get you down and stomp you, 2) ride like everyone else on the road is trying to kill you. I have some great stories about me and him and our adventures. I miss him as he passed about 5 years ago. Sorry to hear about your bud's passing. Its never easy. Losing family members recently has taught me a lot about life. One thing....its never too early to start on that bucketlist. That is why I am conquering this TAT. Dad was saving up for retirement. Spent 40 years workin for the man at the same company. 48 years old 1st heart attack. Didn't learn his lesson, or how to take care of himself. 59 years old and the 2nd heart attack got him. May he rest in peace. Dad never got to retire, never got to do a lot of things he always wanted to do. I'm 34....bucket list is getting checked off starting with the most realistic item. TAT. Then, a bunch of adventures with my wife, sons, and onto building a 65' Daytona Coupe, sailing vessel, and.....whatever else I got time for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpin Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 So this is what I am going for. THis is a modified DR650. I like the dual headlight vs the single rectangluar one. And the bigger gas tank. I had an IMS tank on my KLR. Advertised at 6.6 gallons, I got just over 7 in it! Wonder why it was a hippo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Cecil Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 I had an IMS tank on my KLR. Advertised at 6.6 gallons, I got just over 7 in it! Wonder why it was a hippo? I think the DR650 is is 60lbs lighter??? Maybe more.... THe KLR gets a lot of weight from the radiator, coolant, bigger engine case, radiator fan....bigger fairings. It all adds up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Cecil Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 I had an IMS tank on my KLR. Advertised at 6.6 gallons, I got just over 7 in it! Wonder why it was a hippo? I think the DR650 is is 60lbs lighter??? Maybe more.... THe KLR gets a lot of weight from the radiator, coolant, bigger engine case, radiator fan....bigger fairings. It all adds up. Okay, so I have found a guy GPSKevin: https://sites.google.com/a/gpskevinadventurerides.com/gpskevin-adventure-rides/home This guy some years ago rode the TAT that a guy named Sam apparently "created". There seems to be a competition, or at least some bad blood between Kevin and Sam. Kevin has taken the route, made his own improvements and offers it for free. Sam still charges hundreds of dollars for the entire route claiming "because I invented it". So, there is a bit of a moral dilemma here. Is Kevin's free route different enough to justify not supporting the original "creator" of the route? Opinions please. I am on the fence here. More research into what Kevin offers for free needs to be done I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Cecil Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 Okay, so I have found a guy GPSKevin: https://sites.google.com/a/gpskevinadventurerides.com/gpskevin-adventure-rides/home This guy some years ago rode the TAT that a guy named Sam apparently "created". There seems to be a competition, or at least some bad blood between Kevin and Sam. Kevin has taken the route, made his own improvements and offers it for free. Sam still charges hundreds of dollars for the entire route claiming "because I invented it". So, there is a bit of a moral dilemma here. Is Kevin's free route different enough to justify not supporting the original "creator" of the route? Opinions please. I am on the fence here. More research into what Kevin offers for free needs to be done I think. https://advrider.com/f/threads/tat-difference-between-sam-and-gpskevin.926004/ Here is some interesting opinions on the subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Cecil Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 https://advrider.com/f/threads/tat-difference-between-sam-and-gpskevin.926004/ Here is some interesting opinions on the subject. Gary, here is the section that runs by you. Not as close as I thought, but it runs through Bartlesville/Dewey where my family lives. Literally 5 minutes from the trail in Dewey. This is a snippet of the free GPSKevin site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Cecil Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 Gary, here is the section that runs by you. Not as close as I thought, but it runs through Bartlesville/Dewey where my family lives. Literally 5 minutes from the trail in Dewey. This is a snippet of the free GPSKevin site. All, here is the webpage on GPSKevin's site that has links to each section, downloadable. https://sites.google.com/site/gpskevin/adventurerides/trans-america-trail/studying-the-trans-america-trail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 Gary, here is the section that runs by you. Not as close as I thought, but it runs through Bartlesville/Dewey where my family lives. Literally 5 minutes from the trail in Dewey. This is a snippet of the free GPSKevin site. Interesting looking at the section just north and west of me. For whatever reason, GPSKevin didn't include going through the Tall Grass Prairie, although to me that's a MUST. It is all gravel and there are lots of things to see, including buffalo. So, while I like the idea of using routes others have laid out, I think we should have some flexibility to use local knowledge to improve them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Cecil Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 Interesting looking at the section just north and west of me. For whatever reason, GPSKevin didn't include going through the Tall Grass Prairie, although to me that's a MUST. It is all gravel and there are lots of things to see, including buffalo. So, while I like the idea of using routes others have laid out, I think we should have some flexibility to use local knowledge to improve them. Gary, there is a section on his site where you can add your suggestions. I have ridden Tall Grass Prairie on a KLR650. Yes, it is a must. Wild Mustangs and Buffalo are so much fun to ride around!!! You really get a sense of the old west going through there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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