Over the next few posts, I’m going to copy/paste the ride report I made for my TAT ride in 2017…just so I have a copy from the forum where I originally posted it.
TAT Photo Gallery
https://phreakingeek.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/Trans-American-Trail-July-2017
July 15, 2017
So, after reading and enjoying all of the other RR’s over the years, it’s finally time for me to post up and contribute.
I’ve been wanting to ride the TAT for nearly 10 years and up till now never had the opportunity. I’ve ridden a number of long rides and countless camping trips, but this is the one I’ve been prepping for.
I am riding a 2012 DR650 with a fair bit of upgrades. I would probably bore readers to tears going over all of the stuff…but here’s the quick list: suspension, exhaust, seat, bars, racks, bags, heated grips, power ports, Garmin Montana, lights, larger fuel tank…the list goes on and on, but you get the idea.
I bought GPSKevin’s tracks and will be riding from Hatteras NC to Port Orford OR.
Like most of my trips, I plan and plan and when I get down to the wire, something always seems to go wrong. That’s OK though…I think that’s some cosmic way of testing me or pouring out the ‘bad luck’ while at home in my own garage instead of out on the road. Whatever it is, I’ll take it. This instance was during my prep, I felt that the black soot on my old sparkplugs indicated a very rich condition. I asked my favorite jetting guru Derek ( thanks again @motolab ) what he felt would be a good base jetting to start with on my FCR pumper. He felt that the limitations of that particular carb and the elevations of the ride could cause me some major issues. So, I swapped back to my old BST carb. Thought all was good, but then couldn’t get pas 1/4 throttle without dying. Did all the normal troubleshooting and had no luck. So called my riding buddy Mark and he had jets I could use (mind you this was 10 at night and he live’s 30 miles away). While there he offered up his own DR’s carb to get me going. After all was said and done, I swapped carbs and got running again. While cleaning up my carb for Mark to take and troubleshoot, I found that there was a blockage in the main vacuum breather port. I had to take that hose off to install his carb on my bike and that’s when I realized what happened. There was excess air filter oil that collected dust in there over the years and closed up like cholesterol in an artery. Problem solved…but damn if I was going to swap carbs again…so at this point, time to get packed.
I’m a serial over-packer…I know it, you know it…so let us just take a moment to bask in our superiority knowing that this F’er is over packed and move on. No need to spend the next 3 pages rehashing all of the useless stuff I am bringing.
I am heading out tomorrow and will be updating the RR as I go. Hopefully I can make this a good fun read while out on the road.
7/16/17- Started in Norfolk, VA. Rode to Hatteras, NC and then set GPS to follow the GPS Kevin TAT routes.
Day 1 was fairly uneventful lots of pavement and waiting around for ferry’s to load and go. After all the pavement riding, I decided I wasnt going to stop until I rode some real live MF’ing TAT gravel. So, needless to say, it was getting pretty dark by the time I found a stealthy place to camp.
The gates were all closed and locked in the Croatan Forest…all except for one. I went exploring and found that there was a logging crew set up to cut trees about halfway down the gravel road. So I went to the end and found a clearing.
Got my campsite all set up just in time for the rain to set in. (PSA…when packing your camping gear and mess kit, check your fuel tank.) Since I was lacking in fuel, I didnt get to eat the hot dinner I had planned…tasty powerbar saved the day.
The site was evidently the place to be if you are a frog looking for love. There must have been hundreds that croaked all night. But, with the rain on the tent, it kind of drowned out the thoughts of bears or chainsaw carrying loggers from my mind.
Thats all for now…using a phone for wifi is way too slow to upload many pics
Day 2
7/17/17- Started on some no name road in the Croatan Forest NC.
Started out ok, still sprinkling but not enough to stop me from getting up and out of bed. Tough as it was, the reminder that I was out of stove fuel set in when I really was wishing for a nice cup of coffee. Priority 1 for the day will be to find a Walmart to get a new fuel bottle.
It was a challenge getting packed when everything was wet. Packed as much as I could while still in the tent…then had to stage the gear so I could limit the time the panniers were open. (PSA store boots up-side-down when it’s raining…even under a tarp they can mysteriously collect water.) Luckily my brand new Motoskiveez socks soaked it all up and provided me ample time throughout the day to remember that lesson. Funny though, even wet the socks did not feel all that bad, 5 stars for that.
While riding out the gravel road, the “WTF” was written on the workers faces seeing me come riding down from a dead end road. Almost asked them if they’d sell me the coffee they were drinking but wasnt desperate enough to drink it even if they would.
Got on the road and was making good time. This whole section from the coast was a bit of a downer. Hundreds of miles of 2 lane country roads with maybe 40-50mi of gravel. If I were to do it again, I’d skip NC altogether. I’ve ridden thousands of miles of roads just like this all over and it’s not bad really, but I wanted to get to some real TAT worthy terrain.
While making a push to get over some small hills, the sky turned black and filled with very close lightning. I got scared and hunkered down in someone’s driveway. Couple vehicles came and went and they all waved, so guess a scared wet motorcyclist is not much to worry them. After the big nasty clouds moved out and it settled down to a steady downpour, I pulled up the nearest hotel on GPS and hauled ass out of there. Got a room and quickly set up everything all over the place to dry out.
That’s all for now, looking forward to TN tomorrow!
Waiting out the storm
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