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which ADV bike?

Cocarlisle

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Apr 11, 2014
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I just got back from riding Sargents
Was there Thurs Friday Saturday and Sunday
No snow there and great weather
Not the case on Thursday and Friday but it’s gone now
Monarch is dry
Awesome camping down about 8 miles from the town

I think something and maybe I missed it is making sure your suspension is set up for the extra weight

If it’s not your already through the compression stroke before you throw a leg over it

That would help
I’m not familiar with anything above a KTM 530 or so but maybe increase the compression to make sure your using all the travel

Just my .02
Awesome bike by the way
 

mcgaskins

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I'm thinking about picking up one of these bad boys. I haven't had a bike in a couple years since I shut down the small side rental biz, and I think something fun, cheap and practical like this would be sweet. I have a feeling these won't really depreciate if the Yamaha XT and TW is any indication!

https://www.advpulse.com/adv-news/honda-ct125-hunter-cub-teaser-video/

Honda-ct125-hunter-cub-4a.jpg
 

benjrblant

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Jenny Cruiser

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Nice. I wonder if I could get the wife to try one. I’m wishing now that I brought a 4ride back with me. I’d like to have one of those too.
 

nakman

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Matt, I think Jason has one of those.. @Cocarlisle not sure if it's for sale though but maybe you could negotiate a test ride. :)
 

Cocarlisle

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I sold it

Not going to lie
They are fun.......
If you are not wanting to go over any bumps larger than 1 inch or want to stop or start quick or be comfortable in any tiding situation
Shifting is funky and they are underpowered for Colorado for sure
I live in Golden and when I rode mine to old town several times I was sooo happy when I got home ......



They are great bikes !
I have owned three however in my opinion I would look at a 1986 XR 200 or XT225 or XR250 or a TW
They are better bikes but lots of them are less expensive and just way more rideable
I replaced mine with a 2019 TW
Much better bikes for any riding situation
The 90s and 110 look awesome sitting in your garage or in the picture above but I guarantee he is thinking .....shoot wish I had a different bike
 

mcgaskins

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I think this new 2021 version should be more tolerable for power and suspension. Fuel injected 125cc single, disk brakes, full LED lighting, electric and kickstart, stronger frame and suspension, etc. all for under $4k. I have a few inquiries at dealers around Denver to see if there are any available and unallocated, but strangely I haven't heard back from anyone yet. I wouldn't be surprised if the first year they're all sold out since a lot of people will be interested in the updated classic at a great price.
 

Cocarlisle

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I had no idea of the updates for a 2021

That might make a difference for sure but more thought into used bikes
For 2k you could get almost everything listed above in say a DRZ 400 except for fuel injection

That’s a lot of bike for 2k
 

BritKLR

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ATC HQ - Nederland, Colo.
Just found this thread!

Thanks for linking too it!

Love the list nakman posted and the lessons learned. I have been tinkering with my bike kit for years and seem to have tailored pretty well for my style of riding, camping and living off the bike for upto 7 days. I'll post up my last setup when I can find the list.
 

nakman

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I realize I never did a trip report here.... I still have the pictures, so will recap from memory. All in all it was a success, and ended with "let's do it next year." slightly longer version...

We only had 2 nights, so left Wednesday afternoon, plan was to return on Friday. As usual, meetings ran late and it was at least 16:00 before we were leaving town, so a little bit of a race against the sun to start it off. Like most trips, just getting out of the city is the worst part, but once on 285 it started to get fun and we blasted to Bailey in what felt like record time. We filled up, took a quick break, back to it... next stop Fairplay. A quick sandwich from a gas station, a 6-pack, some chips, the top box worked just as advertised. We then headed down to the Four Mile area to find a camp.

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Our campsite was awesome... it's cool rolling in on a Wednesday as I'm sure this spot is well used. To get there you basically drive about halfway between Fairplay and BV, as you go down this one long hill there's that fairly newish log home on the left, with the big solar panels, right on the left of the road. Just after this is a bridge, and we took a left on the dirt, then another left on the next dirt road, and found a site pretty much right away.

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The hammock was perfect here, basically took turns one of us sitting it in while the other sat on a pannier against a tree... the hammock was the better seat. It got cold that night, probably around 30, we shivered a bit and there was frost on our tents and everything was soaking wet in the morning.
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So a little longer than usual to let things dry out, we wound up packing our rain flys wet and just deal with it later, when it's sunny again. From here though all we had to do was backtrack 1 mile back up to 285, then cross the road, which started the highlight of the journey.

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That little red flag was our camp... and that circle above it is what we wound up riding that morning. I missed a turn, the plan was to descend down to BV but by the time I realized that we were already a couple miles into a pretty deep sandy section, and didn't really feel like turning back to do it again. Was actually really fun, but kinda on the edge of barely making it at times... and the thought of dumping the heavy bike in the sand just kinda loomed overhead. The rest of the roads in this area are a total blast though, bunch of rolling hills, bank curves, not that technical, would be fun to go back there, in any vehicle.

So anyway we completed the loop, realized we were about 2 miles from where we camped, then rode down and got gas again, then lunch in BV. My brother had to work a bit, so we probably didn't get out of BV until 1:30 or 2:00, which later would result in a little change of plan. The next move though was to do Cinnamon Pass, up to Taylor Res, which I hadn't been on since they paved it. I'm almost embarrassed to admit how fun that was though... I know I'm supposed to be into dirt biking and 4 wheeling and all but dangit if that pavement wasn't just a hoot. Felt like we hit the top in about 15 minutes, then maybe 15 more we were at the lake
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nakman

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The next leg of the journey was Cumberland Pass... an easy one by 4-wheel standards, but just bumpy enough to make so you couldn't ever check out when on the big heavy bike. I was in 2nd/3rd pretty much the whole way up, my brother in 1st/2nd... seemed like it took over an hour to get through Tincup and up to the top of the pass, but we did it, and got the pic to prove it.
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On the way down I made my brother lead, then realized when he's in front he goes about 2x faster than when he's behind me. So note to self, next time make him lead more. By the time we got down the hill it was like 4:00/4:30, and we were tired... the original plan was to blast up to the Alpine Tunnel and check that out, then I had mapped out kind of a back roads way back to the base of Old Monarch Pass... well we wound up bagging going up to the tunnel, and by the time we made it to Pitkin decided to just stay on the pavement and head over Monarch the normal way. That stretch of highway between Parlin and Sargents is still boring, even on a motorcycle... but traffic was moving, we didn't pass much, just stayed in the pack.. going up the pass was a different story though, for the first time in probably forever I was driving something that could actually go faster than the conditions allowed, and we wound up rallying up that road at a pretty good clip. I had the bike in manual mode for most of this, as camping out in 4th gear just felt really good.... love the power when you get into it, and being able to back off the throttle to slow down coming into curves was sweet also. Nothing like 2 full days to get you really comfortable on your bike, was leaning down on corners way more than I probably ever have. Anyway we made it to the top, and figured we had maybe an hour left of light left, so quick pick and then back on the bikes.

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I had to get gas again at the bottom in Poncha Springs, so we both filled up, debated a little about trying to get home, but realized we were both pretty tired and we already got the hall pass to be out another night so let's just camp around that same spot again. So we stopped at Johnson Village for some dinner, then headed back up the hill towards the Four Mile area again. Our spot from last night was now occupied, so we took another one down on the main road.. which ended up being totally fine, and in fact got the sun a little earlier so things were drier in the morning.
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The next morning was downright frigid. Grip heaters on max, all clothes buttoned up, I made it to the top of the first big hill and had to stop and put all of my liners on. Then 1.5 hours later we were back in hot civilization, sweating, back to work by 10:00. I totally want to do that same ride again, if nothing else explore more in that Fourmile area east of BV, that was totally fun. I think we clocked about 350 miles total, it's been so long that I lost that data on the inreach software, and I didn't save it. But for some reason I've still got the line on the map, here's the full trip:
Screenshot 2021-02-22 at 8.06.48 PM.png

that lower red flag is were we hit the highway at Parlin, so about 20 miles from Gunnison. I didn't do a flag for the 2nd campsite as they were within walking distance of each other. Overall the Africa Twin was just excellent, I really like the DCT in most situations, though if I ride for too long in automatic mode I forget which finger shifts up and which one shifts down... just lack of experience really I need to develop that muscle memory. But there were a few times I'd roll into a corner in 4th kinda hot, then shift into 5th rather than down into 3rd, which then led to some brief panic braking moments... not that I was going all out or anything. But that stuff will come.

My only regret maybe is not getting the Adventure Sport model... which has a taller suspension and a bigger gas tank. When shopping the rational was you'll probably upgrade the suspension anyway, so don't bother, and you can always carry gas and you probably want to take a break anyway. But there were a couple times I wished I had another gallon of gas stashed somewhere, so that could be on this year's project list, finding a good spot to store some. I didn't leave with a full tank, but filled up in Bailey, then again in Fairplay, again in BV, and again in Poncha Springs... I couldn't have made it back to Johnson Village/BV, was on my last "square" at the top of Monarch. And I wish the little computer would give you more accurate miles, you'll get a "distance to empty" when you've got maybe 15 miles left until you're walking... shoot why not let me leave it in that mode all the time?

Anyone up for a dual sport ride this summer?
 
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Jenny Cruiser

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24hr fly and ride complete. Worth it!
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Jenny Cruiser

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@Jenny Cruiser awesome! How do you like the DCT?
The manual ATAS I originally rode was more fun, but I like it. I use manual mode and paddle shift. I put my winter gloves on for the overnight ride and mistakenly downshifted while attempting to cancel the turn signal while accelerating on an on ramp. It auto blips up, so no drama, but it was a surprise. I love the bike. Didn't plan on getting one this soon, but this deal was too good to pass up. The PO put over 6K worth of aftermarket bits into it. There's a few things I'm going to change, but it's basically set.
 

Jenny Cruiser

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This is fun to watch. The only complaint I have with the DCT is riding it hard/lifting the front at will is not as simple and from what I have read it can tear up the clutch packs. No wheelies. Manual is still king, but I've been letting it do it's thing in S mode lately. I like it. Everybody else seems to like it too.
 

Jenny Cruiser

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I just ordered a 140 K60 for the rear. That's the widest you can go before they have the center strip I think. My RD03 has over 30K miles on a 130 K60 and it's still not done. We'll see how many miles I get on the ATAS.
 

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nakman

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I need a new front tire... any suggestions? My knobbies are all at different heights, feels a little bumpy when I'm going in a straight line. they're smoother on the edges though so still cool on the turns.

And I wasted a bunch of time last night researching front fender raising... after which I decided not to do it. If the trail is that muddy/rocky where I'm worried about wedging junk between the front tire and fender, I should just take the KTM right?

Also I removed the handle bar riser that came on the bike, and I think I like it better now with them a little lower/further forward. Been watching those youtubes of top 10 mistakes to make on and ADV bike, and a handle bar riser you don't need seems to make the list there a lot, right after taking too much junk with you. Other than a few spirited trips around the neighborhood, that's the AT update so far this year.

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Jenny Cruiser

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I have the RR riser kit for the front fender. It's still in the package as it really is pointless. I haven't looked into changing the fender much. I don't like mud and avoid it. I did have to remove my fender once on the 2001 AT because of mud. I think Camel has a kit that has everything, but the fender. My 80 front tire is in decent shape, but has started doing the same thing as yours. I was thinking of turning it around, but I'll probably just replace it with a K60 or E07 front. I put a TT 140 K60 on out back. Looks good, but definitely skinnier that the stock size. I broke it in on the Baby Dragon and was very surprised to still see the mold nubs on it when I got back.
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HDavis

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Ive had the K60s on a couple different bikes and have always really liked them for both on and off road. My front K60 did the same as your continentals and were good for about 4500 miles.
 
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