Adventure Motorcycle Blog

I kind of forgot about the last post, so here we go… This took place on September 5th. It was a day that included pouring rain, a cold front bringing temperatures down to the low 40s, and at times, we faced winds of 20-30 mph. Our gloves were soaked, fingers numb, visors fogged, and a…

Today’s weather included rain, temperatures above freezing, wind, mud, fast forest trails, rocky trails with step-ups/downs, puddles, and a small Airbnb apartment above a residential garage. I think it was around 43 degrees when we pushed out this morning. The first stop was a car wash, where we washed all the mud off the bikes.…

I’m tired, so this post will be straight to the point… 😂 Today had the latest start time, most rain, best trail, worst trail, lowest temps, strongest highway wind gusts, longest time on highway, and coolest lunch stop Northwoods bar, and for dinner the sketchiest bar we’ve been to so far. Jeff made us breakfast…

This morning, we started the day by firing up the hotel lobby coffee pot because the Paradise Inn doesn’t have an after-hours employee. We went out to the bikes, buckled up all the gear, and function checked our helmet comms. We intended to grab breakfast and gas down the road, but the General store didn’t…

We kicked off the day in a charming old yacht, nestled right by the Mackinac Island ferry. As the sun began to rise, we fired up the coffeepot, and gradually made our way to the bikes. Life aboard the yacht was nothing short of different from the norm; the space seemed to spark conversations about…

On to day number 2…. First off, the Vrbo we started the day from was amazing. Couldn’t ask for a better setup. Check out this place I found on Vrbo. https://t.vrbo.io/CjI1nTJbiWb The moment we arrived at the duplex, the adventure began! The owners lived just on the other side, and as we parked our mud-covered…

Sooooo……..Much…..Sand…… and a handful of unplanned tactical dismounts 😑. As we kicked off the day, the temperature hovered around a brisk 39 degrees, a chill that lingered in the air as we prepared for our adventure. By 7 a.m. it had warmed slightly to 43, but as the hours rolled on, it hit high 60s…

Left the house early, went down to Byron, IL, for breakfast, and hit the road. First stop was Bass Pro Shop in Sun Prairie, WI. After that, we drove north to the VRBO for the night. It’s a chalet on the Brule ski resort. Highly recommend! Check out this place in Iron River, which I…

I didn’t exactly have plans this year for Memorial Day weekend compared to years past, so I made my own and took off on the bike. Friday afternoon for no particular reason I made the decision to go motocamping up in the MI UP the following morning. Granted, it’s the same area the five of…

Overall Map: UPAT,MI to the North and NWAT, WI to the South.

We woke up to a brisk morning, a fantastic desert sunrise, and enjoyed some of Jeff’s instant coffee. A couple of years back, I stayed in an old stagecoach turned into an Airbnb in TN, but the Yurt was up there for unique places I’ve stayed at – I highly recommend it. When we first…

Last night, as it was getting dark, we pulled into our A-Frame Airbnb cabin north of Cuba. I had ridden at least 50 miles on a flat tire, so our max speed was around 35 mph, including being on the highway for a short bit. It took forever to get there. I was surprised at…

Exhausting is an excellent way to describe all the surprises that we encountered today. To tell the whole story, we need to back up to yesterday and talk about some of the mechanical issues that were discovered after we checked into the hotel. Tuesday night, Jeff and Ron changed their oil in the parking lot…

We woke up this morning to a cool 42 degrees; honestly, it was amazing! When I stepped outside to make sure the bikes were still there, I could hear the elk bugling, a wolf making a bunch of noise, and a rooster. I’m sure this is everyday life on the edge of town in Reserve.…

We started the day off at the Elephant Butte Inn. We had high hopes of grabbing coffee in the lobby, but there was a sign that said no coffee until 9. With that said, Jeff got out his camping stove, and we had instant coffee right outside our hotel door. Today was another mix of…

Today was a blur, so let’s see if I can recall everything. We’re on a routine of waking up at 6, gearing up, packing, and heading out. It seems to fit the schedule, and none of us feel rushed. This morning, we skipped breakfast and hit the route. Today was a mix of highway, quickly…

We woke up at 6 from the Airbnb cabin in Cloudcroft, hoping to head to breakfast around 6:45 – well, that didn’t happen. Once again, the sky opened and dumped for 15-20 minutes. After a bit, we eventually made our way to a little place called Big Daddy’s Diner in Cloudcroft and had a fantastic…

This morning, I loaded up the bike with all the luggage I had shipped to my friend’s house in High Rolls, NM, and then double checked for oil leaks and made sure the Garmin Zumo XT2 was ready to go. Soon after, I pulled up the map and met up with Jeff and Ron at…

There’s a ton of work that goes into one of these trips so between the three of us we’re just about ready. The below gets into the planning. We compiled a ton of data to hopefully make the correct decisions as time goes on. Possible Travel Schedule, Projected Weather Patterns for Each Calendar Day, Plus…

I typed up a general daily schedule for the trip. Click the link above to view it.  The town names are hyperlinks and will take you to images of the area. The Excel sheet shows dates, start/end points, elevation, low/high temps, mileage between sections, and a summary of what to expect each day.  Of course,…

Mods, mods, mods!! Little by little getting the bike ready to be shipped to TX mid Aug. Today’s mods: (1) Push to talk comms, (2) Garmin Zumo XT2, (3) Camel ADV High Exhaust Enduro Bend, and (4) Rear grab handles. We should start the New Mexico Backcountry Discovery Route around Sep 20th.

The studying and planning has begun. There’s 3 of us going this time and prep is well underway. We will hit the trail on Sep 20th.

A couple of us are starting to plan out the New Mexico Backcountry Discovery Route. 20-29 Sep 24. https://ridebdr.com/nmbdr/

Long story short…. What all the dealers thought was a gasket issue was actually much worse. I had a rock stuck between the swingarm and back of the motor. They didn’t see it until they started pulling parts off. Needless to say the rock punched through the aluminum case and actually was stuck in the…

Here comes a massive paragraph… On this trip I’ve come to cherish device battery life more than proper paragraph structure so I’m typing as quick as I can on this iPhone. I Woke up this morning in a gorgeous, heavily wooded United States National Forest next to the Chequqmegan Waters Flowage. Nope, not a clue…

Today was filled with highs and lows. This one won’t be too wordy since I have some maintenance issues to research. The campground (Trail Tunnel Campground) last night in Wilton was great. Highly recommend if you are the bicycle type or just because you want to go to a nice, family owned park. The campground…

Started the day at my Uncle/Aunt’s house in Prairie du Chien. Aunt Jill made breakfast, Uncle Roger jumped on the bike for a quick pic, and soon after I headed out. I topped off on gas and then not too long after that I jumped on a section of the Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail. It…

Great start to another trip. The trail system doesn’t start until day 2 (Saturday) so I took the opportunity to see some backroads throughout Northern IL and SW WI, It was mid 80’s , partly cloudy and perfect riding weather. Left Middleton around 2:30 and headed down to Cedarville, IL to visit one of the…

I’ve started to go through all the GoPro footage and here are some YouTube vids for you all to watch! These are raw vids straight off the cards. These haven’t been edited with any filters or anything like that. It’s hard to tell from the footage, but some of these trails were ridiculously steep and…

Started the day at the lodge. It was nice to get a shower, meal at the restaurant and a chance to do laundry and repack. We loaded up the bikes, grabbed a coffee and head out. By coincidence, the trail system was right behind the lodge property so it was really easy to get on…

I woke up for no good reason around 3:30 so I went outside and the night sky was a combination of the deepest black with the brightest stars I’ve probably ever seen. There were so many different details in the sky you just don’t see being near a city. Went back to bed and woke…