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7 Posts
Well I've been back for a while just haven't gotten around to writing up my trip. I figured I would share my learnings and experience as I know that reading up before I went helped a lot. Thanx to everyone who posted before i left in February. Tips were great.
Before I left I got new tires front and rear, HDs. I also got an Armadillo gas rack in the back. Otherwise I'm a stock 06 with bars and plates.
Background on my trip:
I went with a group of 12 motorcycles, 3 other quads, and a rhino. No guides, but some of the dudes in the group have been riding the baja for years. This was my first time along with one other dude on a KTM. We drove straight down to San Felipe from North Bend, WA in about 28 hours. Most riding i've done here is in the woods and on logging roads. No tracks or sand yet, as I've only been riding quad for about 8 months.
Riding: I did around 1190 miles on my raptor across 7 days of riding. We did 4 days of riding down to San Juanico, rest day, and then 3 days back up north. On day one and two i really wondered what I had gotten myself into. The washboard roads were unlike any washboards i had ever been on along with really big rocks. The ride was not fun except for when there were parallel roads that had sand. The farther south we went the more sandy it got and much more fun. The two wheelers had a ruff go of it when we hit the flats along the Pacific. A number of folks got cracked ribs and we got one broken foot.
My ride: I had no flats until get this...when we were putting my quad in my truck. i picked up a nail in the lot. However my HDs are shot in the rear. By about 900 miles they were chunking. The fronts are definitely worn but not done yet. Overall i'm really pleased with how they did perform. The front stock suspension is just a joke and I wish I had upgraded. However the Armadillo rack I bought was A JOKE! I had the 1 gallon can, a tow strap, a bag of tools, and roll of duct tape on it. Half way into day 2 it sheered the bolts in a canyon outside Coco's Corner. I think the design is just really poor. It uses the stock holes which are really just too close together. So when u get going on a ride the two holes on each side are so close together it is like a pivot point. I would not recomend that rack for any hard riding. So for the rest of the ride i had to carry extra gas in my backpack in gatorade and water bottles, since these raptors are not very good on the mileage.
I will do this trip again as long as I can ride. Next year I will get new front suspension and bigger tank if anyone has one by then.
Before I left I got new tires front and rear, HDs. I also got an Armadillo gas rack in the back. Otherwise I'm a stock 06 with bars and plates.
Background on my trip:
I went with a group of 12 motorcycles, 3 other quads, and a rhino. No guides, but some of the dudes in the group have been riding the baja for years. This was my first time along with one other dude on a KTM. We drove straight down to San Felipe from North Bend, WA in about 28 hours. Most riding i've done here is in the woods and on logging roads. No tracks or sand yet, as I've only been riding quad for about 8 months.
Riding: I did around 1190 miles on my raptor across 7 days of riding. We did 4 days of riding down to San Juanico, rest day, and then 3 days back up north. On day one and two i really wondered what I had gotten myself into. The washboard roads were unlike any washboards i had ever been on along with really big rocks. The ride was not fun except for when there were parallel roads that had sand. The farther south we went the more sandy it got and much more fun. The two wheelers had a ruff go of it when we hit the flats along the Pacific. A number of folks got cracked ribs and we got one broken foot.
My ride: I had no flats until get this...when we were putting my quad in my truck. i picked up a nail in the lot. However my HDs are shot in the rear. By about 900 miles they were chunking. The fronts are definitely worn but not done yet. Overall i'm really pleased with how they did perform. The front stock suspension is just a joke and I wish I had upgraded. However the Armadillo rack I bought was A JOKE! I had the 1 gallon can, a tow strap, a bag of tools, and roll of duct tape on it. Half way into day 2 it sheered the bolts in a canyon outside Coco's Corner. I think the design is just really poor. It uses the stock holes which are really just too close together. So when u get going on a ride the two holes on each side are so close together it is like a pivot point. I would not recomend that rack for any hard riding. So for the rest of the ride i had to carry extra gas in my backpack in gatorade and water bottles, since these raptors are not very good on the mileage.
I will do this trip again as long as I can ride. Next year I will get new front suspension and bigger tank if anyone has one by then.
