Adventure Motorcycle Blog

I’m not much of a planner, but something such as attempting the 2700 mile Continental Divide Adventure Route on a dirt bike requires months of detailed planning, coordination, extra parts, modified stock parts, heated grips, extreme cold/hot desert camping gear (finally found a use for all the old issued OSI gear – if you know you know), comm sets, multiple GPS units, emergency satellite beacon equipment, extra fuel bags, and of course cash. Matt and I have been studying YouTube vids, blogs, forums, FB groups and other outlets for pointers and advice for months and we think we are ready. If all goes as planned we should complete it just shy of two weeks. Don’t want to go too fast since checking out the scenery is part of the adventure.

Start: Antelope Wells, NM, Border Patrol Station

End: Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

https://adventuremotorcycletravel.com/listing/great-continental-divide-motorcycle-route/

Last year we had planned on riding coast to coast on the Trans America Trail (TAT), but last minute changes pushed me to ride solo around WI instead. Over the years I’ve had big cruiser bikes, but there’s something different about jumping on a plated dirt bike and ripping across the countryside on the path less traveled. You see things and meet people that make up the fabric of this country and more times than not, these middle of nowhere locations are time capsules from long ago far removed from the chaos of city life and blacktop.

Matt and I both own the Yamaha wr250r dual sport platform. It’s not a big BMW, KTM or Honda Africa Twin, but it is agile, quick and when set up right a top contender of a bike for these types of trail rides. Would not be the bike of choice if this was a blacktop trip. These machines weigh 289 lbs., are bullet proof and of course the fuel injection performs flawlessly at elevation. Living in FL the bulk of my riding is sea level to 45 feet, but out west we will hit a couple 14,000 foot ranges, vast prairie lands, desert terrain, old ghost/mining towns, and of course some crazy single track mountain side goat trails. I’ll probably run out of steam before the bike does. Let’s not forget about the occasional bear – can’t wait to write about that when the time comes.

We plan on riding from 12-28 Aug starting in El Paso, TX. I’m flying in and Matt will be waiting with the bikes. We will unload, turn in the rental truck and hit the road. The actual start is about 3 hours west of the airport so we will find a campsite somewhere on the first day. Pending comm strength we plan on blogging along the way and taking a ton of GoPro vid. -Kev-