Arizona Mountain Test Ride

[sbeck09]

Finally had the chance to go get this thing dirty and see how everything feels. To summarize, this is the best an adventure bike has ever felt to me off-road.

 

Living in Phoenix, Arizona leaves me surrounded by mountains. Many people that have never been here don't realize that. They believe I live in something that more resembles the Sahara. So for those of us in the "Valley" that like to be outside, we all often drive a couple hours east to Four Peaks or north into the Bradshaw Mountains during the summer to escape the daily 110+ degree heat. Right now Four Peaks is completely engulfed in flames as lightning started a forest fire in a remote area resulting in one of the largest wildfires in the entire US right now. All roads in the area are closed and the smoke can be seen from hundreds of miles away.

 

I'm fortunate enough to still have a family cabin in the Bradshaws in a little, former gold mining town called Crown King. The whole area is a hotbed for gold mining even to this day. The road we all use now used to be the railroad route back when this was all first settled. The history in the whole area is pretty incredible. You even ride through Cordes Junction which was the rest stop for the Pony Express riders to swap horses on their delivery runs.

 

 

I've always liked looking out from a mountain so I really enjoy running away up here. I invited some guys from the regional Facebook group for dual sport riders and was joined by 4 of them Saturday morning. I warned everyone that these tires were obviously not perfect for the silt covered granite and softball-sized rocks we would be on for the day. Plus not having crash protection yet kinda stressed me out, but I wouldn't be last in the group or let that stop me from enjoying my recent purchase. I aired down to 22psi in both tires and set off from Crown King toward a town called Prescott. It's a bit more developed, but the road between the two is pretty rugged. This "road" is known as Senator Highway. That is a VERY misleading name because you need a high-clearance vehicle and 4x4 to get through in a car/truck. 

 

 

There is a couple neat places along the way to hang in the shade of the trees and see remnants of a past filled with optimistic miners hoping to strike gold. I wish I could have taken better pictures, but it is difficult to do when the road is so rough. One of these days I will remember to mount the GoPro before I leave home.

 

The only work I did to the bike throughout 8 hours of riding was a few clicks of suspension adjustments here and there. I'm extremely surprised at how responsive the suspension adjustments are and I don't think I'll need to spend any money in that area for a while. For the record I'm 217lbs dressed, but not in moto gear. The specifics of what I changed and the other parts I've installed since delivery are in my build log.

 

 

This is the 3rd full-size adventure bike I've had up here and it is by far the easiest to ride. The other two consisted of a fairly modified Vstrom 1000 and a highly modified KTM 990 Adventure. If I had to pick from the 3, it would be this bike every time. Compared to the other outings I've had in this area, I find myself hardly sore after and I wasn't even as exhausted. I think that speaks volumes to the overall package because I'm nowhere close to an expert rider in the dirt.

 

Even the gearing seemed perfect for mixed riding. I could lug the engine down to about 6mph in first gear crawling up dry washes and then hammer the throttle up to 60mph on the open sections with plenty of power left. I didn't need fuel the entire day either which was a nice improvement from the guzzling the KTM used to do.

 

 

Looking back, that was the best off-road voyage I've ever had on 2 wheels so I'm excited to do it again soon. The stock tires did far better than I had hoped, but in our fine sand showed their weakness as a major lack of lateral grip (corners = slow down or go down). I still think I'll be moving to a more aggressive combo. Current thought is a TKC80 front and Motoz Tractionator Adventure in the rear, but we shall see.

 

After all that I headed home from the cabin the next day running 85mph down the mountain with traffic. Somehow the windscreen does a surprisingly good job for me and I still can't get over how smooth this bike is. As I pulled up to the house, I now have 406 miles showing.

 

Hope you all had a fun weekend riding too!

[manny]

5 hours ago, sbeck09 said:

Finally had the chance to go get this thing dirty and see how everything feels. To summarize, this is the best an adventure bike has ever felt to me off-road.

 

Living in Phoenix, Arizona leaves me surrounded by mountains. Many people that have never been here don't realize that. They believe I live in something that more resembles the Sahara. So for those of us in the "Valley" that like to be outside, we all often drive a couple hours east to Four Peaks or north into the Bradshaw Mountains during the summer to escape the daily 110+ degree heat. Right now Four Peaks is completely engulfed in flames as lightning started a forest fire in a remote area resulting in one of the largest wildfires in the entire US right now. All roads in the area are closed and the smoke can be seen from hundreds of miles away.

 

I'm fortunate enough to still have a family cabin in the Bradshaws in a little, former gold mining town called Crown King. The whole area is a hotbed for gold mining even to this day. The road we all use now used to be the railroad route back when this was all first settled. The history in the whole area is pretty incredible. You even ride through Cordes Junction which was the rest stop for the Pony Express riders to swap horses on their delivery runs.

 

 

I've always liked looking out from a mountain so I really enjoy running away up here. I invited some guys from the regional Facebook group for dual sport riders and was joined by 4 of them Saturday morning. I warned everyone that these tires were obviously not perfect for the silt covered granite and softball-sized rocks we would be on for the day. Plus not having crash protection yet kinda stressed me out, but I wouldn't be last in the group or let that stop me from enjoying my recent purchase. I aired down to 22psi in both tires and set off from Crown King toward a town called Prescott. It's a bit more developed, but the road between the two is pretty rugged. This "road" is known as Senator Highway. That is a VERY misleading name because you need a high-clearance vehicle and 4x4 to get through in a car/truck. 

 

 

There is a couple neat places along the way to hang in the shade of the trees and see remnants of a past filled with optimistic miners hoping to strike gold. I wish I could have taken better pictures, but it is difficult to do when the road is so rough. One of these days I will remember to mount the GoPro before I leave home.

 

The only work I did to the bike throughout 8 hours of riding was a few clicks of suspension adjustments here and there. I'm extremely surprised at how responsive the suspension adjustments are and I don't think I'll need to spend any money in that area for a while. For the record I'm 217lbs dressed, but not in moto gear. The specifics of what I changed and the other parts I've installed since delivery are in my build log.

 

 

This is the 3rd full-size adventure bike I've had up here and it is by far the easiest to ride. The other two consisted of a fairly modified Vstrom 1000 and a highly modified KTM 990 Adventure. If I had to pick from the 3, it would be this bike every time. Compared to the other outings I've had in this area, I find myself hardly sore after and I wasn't even as exhausted. I think that speaks volumes to the overall package because I'm nowhere close to an expert rider in the dirt.

 

Even the gearing seemed perfect for mixed riding. I could lug the engine down to about 6mph in first gear crawling up dry washes and then hammer the throttle up to 60mph on the open sections with plenty of power left. I didn't need fuel the entire day either which was a nice improvement from the guzzling the KTM used to do.

 

 

Looking back, that was the best off-road voyage I've ever had on 2 wheels so I'm excited to do it again soon. The stock tires did far better than I had hoped, but in our fine sand showed their weakness as a major lack of lateral grip (corners = slow down or go down). I still think I'll be moving to a more aggressive combo. Current thought is a TKC80 front and Motoz Tractionator Adventure in the rear, but we shall see.

 

After all that I headed home from the cabin the next day running 85mph down the mountain with traffic. Somehow the windscreen does a surprisingly good job for me and I still can't get over how smooth this bike is. As I pulled up to the house, I now have 406 miles showing.

 

Hope you all had a fun weekend riding too!

awesome bike awesome ride, cant go wrong with tractionators front or rear.

[sbeck09]

17 minutes ago, manny said:

awesome bike awesome ride, cant go wrong with tractionators front or rear.

My only concern with using Tractionators up front is with the knob deflection they are known for unless you are running higher pressures on-road. So the TKC80 should make for a better compromise.

 

But yes, the Tractionators are notoriously great on both ends.

[AZJW]

@sbeck09  Good write up and nice to read your impressions as to the torque of this motor being up to the task.  I haven't had mine off road much of the 450 miles I've put on since last Friday, but I do share your disdain for the tires, especially the front.  I like the front on smooth, sand free pavement, but to me it's vague handling (dirt) , follows every little groove (pavement) and moves around on gravel more than Salma Hayek's stomach while belly dancing!  Please post up what you get and how they work for you.