In keeping with my procrastinating style, I've also owned a dual sport kit for my Black Panther SM for a few months, and only recently got around to mounting the wheels and other bits to give some dirt a try. In fact, it was only because of a proposed ride to Death Valley with a few friends that I was motivated to get the Baggy prepped for dirt action. Ironically, as it turned out, I didn't even end up going with them (work got in the way). But I figured, what the hell. I've got the Baggy all prepped for off-road fun, and had planned to take a few days off anyway. I'm just going to go down by myself.
So here's a bit of a report on my first foray into the soft stuff. I had to do a lot of miles on the way down from the SF Bay Area to Death Valley (500 or more miles, depending on the route), so it was fortunate that I had mounted Duro HF 903/904s on the dual sport wheels, even though I had no idea that this would be the first dirt riding I'd do with them. They turned out to be a very good choice for highway miles and not an altogether bad choice for moderate off-roading. And, of course, the price was right, at about $50 per tire.
Anyway, here's what my formerly sporty, asphalt-only supermoto looks like in its new all-terrain gear, loaded for a few days of adventure. It's like I turned my Subaru WRX into a Hummer:
Well, the ride down and back were at best tedious and at worst torture. For those of you on the east coast of the U.S. or across the pond, I cannot describe to you in mere words the special kind of nowhere you experience riding through places like Coalinga, Bakersfield, and Barstow. But when I got out into the Mojave, the scenery started to become more to my liking:
Even so, I was out there all by my lonesome, with only this guy as my riding partner:
I spent three days riding the dirt roads and washes of Death Valley, mostly staying on stuff that doesn't require too many technical skills. Lots of excellent dirt roads interspersed with generous helpings of washboard and loose rock. The routine became one of finding mountains like this to ride up:
So I could be rewarded with views like this at the top:
I know what you're thinking. Didn't I take pictures of anything OTHER THAN my bike while I was on this trip? Well, the answer is yes. Sometimes I took pictures of the roads I was riding:
OK, I'll stop boring you with beautiful pictures of stunning vistas hiding behind my bike. But if you ever find yourself planning a trip to Death Valley and need some input on routes and roads, I've got lots of ideas. Enough that I'm already starting to plan my SECOND trip to DV (after I've gotten a little more dirt experience locally, of course!).
BTW, the most important thing I learned on this trip was the difference between ADVENTURE TOURING gear and OFF-ROAD gear. I use a Garmin Mobile 10 as my GPS, which is basically just a GPS receiver that communicates via bluetooth with my Treo, which has all of the maps, routes, etc. loaded on it. Well, I had my Treo mounted to the bars with a RAM Mount, so I could use the GPS while riding through Death Valley. Here's where my phone ended up:
DOHHH!!!!!!
BTW, if you're wondering what the tread pattern on a Duro HF 904 looks like, that's it right there. It's good to know that when a RAM Mount fails, your equipment falls straight down, so it can be run over by your back wheel.
Well, that's it for now. Hopefully, there will be many off-road adventures to come. I'm now completely hooked. Which leaves just one problem. Now I have to get a new license plate:
