fwd-moab report nklr

[cloudhid@aol.com]

Redondo loaned me his laptop for a few minutes so I thought I'd share my response to the question he asked on our walk through wisdom way (the dog walk in back of the campgrounds) this a.m. Redondo asked how this rally compared to previous ones. I've been to three of the four. This rally is different in that there are far more injuries. Last year the only injury worth mentioning occurred when Hugh Stout had his KLR drop on him when he was doing some maintenance work. This year there have been half a dozen. Closely related is the reports of so many bikes being dropped. At Karaoke night the best rendition was Russell Scott and Juan Carlos Ibarra (I was on the floor with a wireless mic adding some rap) doing "Another One Bights The Dust" and we changed it to a litany of the KLR's dropping like dominos during the La Sal Pass Loop. Kenny Belfatto (Cad Cam Kenny) reported that he had "tacoed" his KLR after dropping two markies at Fred's. What do I make of this? A couple of things, the rally has started attracting a lot of other brands. This year there are Husabergs, KTM's, XR400's, one DRZ400, XT225's, TTR250's, XR500's, XR350's, KDX220, KLX300, ATK605, XR250R, XR650R's dual sported (2) etc. Put these guys in the mix of riders and it takes a pretty mature rider to hold the adrenaline back and exercise discretion. This especially when you have some KLR's riding with full panniers ready for Alaska trips. Second, with the rally being held later in the year. For the first time, some of the rides we've wanted to be able to do for all four years are finally open. Most of these involve segments that are at least moderate in difficulty. When I had the mic for a few minutes last night I said clearly the trend is toward "light is right" people are moving to lighter bikes with smaller cc's. As always, it has been a terrific joy to meet old and new friends. BTW Verle, one correction to your post, Bob Carrerra's did bring his R100GS and did ride it through Colorado, however he had his KLR trailered here and elected to take it on the White Rim. The inside report was that the two R1150 (they were R1150's) riders did struggle at a couple of points. IMO the toughest part of the White Rim was a sharp steep uphill left hander washed in loose sand about 1/2 mile before the Hogback. Apparently, one of the GS riders had to do a quick jump off as the back "wallered". It was at this very same turn that Fireball went down in a plume of sand billowing high on the desert plain. My son, Dominic and I rushed to his aid and Dominic ended up consuming litres of Big Gun exhaust as we struggled with the KLR to the top of the hill. Stuart finally allowed me to "air down" for him. He started the ride with a reported 32 lbs of air in his Gripsters. After a few miles of Artie Johnson's and then the fateful corner above he allowed me to assist. He quickly became a top candidate for the "missing link award" when we discovered 65 lbs of air in the front and 45 lbs of air in the rear. Needless to say he did marvelously for the rest of the ride when we put him at 18 front and 22 rear. Regards to all. I've missed Sarah, Arnie, and the professor. Kurt