El Diablo Run 2023

     I haven't been keeping up. I've been riding but not writing. One of the things I didn't write about was the El Diablo run for 2023. The El Diablo was a lot different than it has been.

     The ride to San Felipe hasn't changed. Greg rode his new KTM adventure bike. I rode my old Stampede bike, yea, still good.

  

     This year Ruben's Camp charged admission. There were no races. Rumor had it that because there had been racing injuries on the previous El Diablo, there would be no racing. The events would be low speed, like the keg push. the balance board and tire throw.

     So this year it was a rented house south of town. Very nice, on the beach. 

  

         I spent more time in town this year. Enjoying the less hectic life.

Triumph Tiger 850 Sport

I just bought a Triumph Tiger 850 Sport. I've been comparing bikes and thinking about what kind of bike I would like.  Here's what went into my decision to go for the Triumph Tiger 850 Sport.

I do still travel far and while I travel light, the bike had to be able to carry the stuff I need, change of clothes, sleeping bag, maybe my tent, etc.. The bike needed range and all-day cruising speed. I do want to explore unpaved roads, for which my hard tailed Sportster was unsuited.

I considered the large adventure bikes, they were all too tall, too heavy, too wide for that matter. I just couldn't see myself riding any of them.

 Then came the midsized adventure bikes, still too tall and most were more off road oriented. I want to explore some off road but don't want to bash around a 450ish lb. adventure bike. If I wanted a dirt bike, I'd get a Yamaha YZ250.     

Is that a KTM in the background?

l also considered value. Most of the midsize adventure bikes are around $5k more than the 850 Tiger. Seems that that extra cash goes into a lot more electronic rider aids and off road worthiness at the expense of long-distance comfort.

 I really like the grey with orange trim colors. The 2021and 2022 had red or blue trim, I think the only year for the orange trim will be 2023. Triumph has dropped color for the 2024 models, which will be all black and grey. I'm going to have to say, maybe black and grey with a little orange is pretty attractive.

Adventure Bike Ride

 

     I had a chance to borrow a Kawasaki KLR 650 for a day in the dirt.  My friend, Greg, rode his BMW R 1250 GS.  We rode on Highway 101 north about 75 miles to Potter Valley, California. The end of the paved road begins a vast network of Forrest Service Roads in the Mendicino National Forrest. 

          The road from Potter Valley to Lake Pillsbury is a well-maintained dirt road. 

          From Lake Pillsbury at an elevation of 1800ft, Mt Hull road heads north and rises steeply to about 6800ft. This road is poorly maintained, rocky and rough, in other words, perfect adventure bike road. 

          Near the summit of Mt Hull, I started seeing some snow and eventually the road was blocked by snow, or at least more than I was ready to deal with.

     

     

     The views on the ride back down were pretty spectacular.

     We rode about 150 miles of pavement and another 75 miles of dirt roads. Some well-maintained some rough. I liked the KLR, it is very tall, but comfortable. It's a little slow for long distance highway travel but on dirt roads it rocks.

     I have considered heavy weight adventure bikes to be great on the highway but way too heavy and tall for anything but good dirt roads. While I haven't changed that opinion, I think I'll have to give middleweight adventure bikes another look.

El Diablo Run 2021

     It's true we aren't really free anymore. So the question was would those who make the rules allow the El Diablo Run. So when I heard that the 2021 El Diablo Run was on, I was in.

My Sportster has done some traveling, I have a extra 3 gallon gas tank and saddlebags that I bolt on when I travel. The headlight is, typical of Sportsters, pathetic, so I bought some LED lights and made a couple of brackets. I'm happy to report that they worked very well. 

It's about 800 miles from home to San Felipe. South of Mexicali it gets pretty barren. San Felipe is 125 miles from the border between the United States and Mexico. Going south, on the right there are dry and barren mountains and a lot of mining going on, beautiful but exposed, barren and windswept.  On the left, to the east, dirt and salt flats that extend to the horizon.

But finally, the ocean comes into view and I arrived in San Felipe.

Ruben's Campground gets packed with bikes and campers. 

                                                                                                       Photo by Andy Sweet

Next day, let the games begin

You may think you are cool but not as cool as this guy who raced a Royal Enfield in shorts and flip flops.

One of the Biltwell Inc. guys handed me an El Diablo beer. I was so surprised I didn't really know what to say. So thanks Biltwell guy whoever you are.

 

During the 2019 El Diablo Run I didn't go downtown or eat anything besides deep fried shrimp at Ruben's campo. I guess I have always heard it was not safe to eat or drink in Mexico. I am very happy to say that the food was delicious. In the downtown area, along the malecon, there are many really good restaurants. Still, I did not drink local water.

I rode with friends about twenty five miles south of town to a place called Laguna Percebu. Down a mile of dirt road there was a small enclave of homes and a restaurant. I had the one of the best margaritas I have ever had, maybe the best. 

 Monday morning after a quick photo on the malecon in front of the San Felipe sign it was off for a long ride home.

Sport Glide Test Ride

     Harley Davidson has been building the Sport Glide for three years and for some reason I just became aware of it. I have been traveling on my Stampede bike. Traveling long distances on a hardtail chopper can be done, but is a bit of a challenge. 

     I went to my local Harley dealer and they gave me a Sport Glide test ride. I've got to say that there is a lot to like about this bike. It's a slightly smaller than an Electra Glide and 100 pounds lighter. It comes stock with cruise control and anti-lock brakes.

     I found only a few small things that I might change. The bars are "fat bars" and very "beach bar" like. Not terrible just something I'm not used to. Also the bike has forward pegs. I don't normally like forward pegs but these are quite comfortable, and combined with the very comfortable seat feel pretty good. I don't know if mid pegs could be installed or if the mufflers would interfere with the fit.  

      The fairing and saddle bags are easily removeable and the bike looks very good both with and without the bags and fairing. There is no stereo (so others cannot instantly recognize how cool you are) and there is no video screen, thank goodness!

     The fairing is very small but it worked very well for its size. I could put my hand out and feel the air flowing over the micro windshield. I could trace with my hand the line between moving air and still air to where it hit at the collar. The airflow around and over the fairing was smooth. However a slightly taller windshield might kick the air stream higher, over the helmet would be ideal.

     The bike seemed to have very good power, it seemed similar but slightly faster than my old Twin Cam, 88 ci vs 105 ci. There is a six speed transmission and it feels right, in fifth gear on my Electra Glide it always felt that it needed another gear.

     Sometimes a bike is just so right it transcends being a machine and becomes art. I enjoy just looking at the Sport Glide, I think it may be a bike I could love.

SCIENCE and another bright idea

     It's all about science. You mix oxygen, steel and a little water and you're going to get rust. Now you can take any one of those parts away and No Rust. 

     Water vapor is in the air so one way to stop rust would be to use a  desiccant to absorb the water. Trouble with that approach is that the moisture is still there, it's in the desiccant media, still on site so to speak.

     





















     
     
        Recently I learned about oxygen absorbers. An oxygen absorber is a packet of iron powder and a little salt to act as a catalyst. In the presence of any water (vapor) the iron turns to iron oxide and the free oxygen is tied up. 
    
     Which brings me to my bright idea. Stuff some oxygen absorbers into the tank, use up the free oxygen, tie that bad old oxygen in some iron oxide that's not part of the gas tank.
     
     The tanks back on the wall waiting to see if its going rust or if Science will rule out.

My Newest Little Thing

     
          Sometimes I see some little thing that makes a big difference. In this case I saw these replacements for the rear axle nut cotter pin and decided "now that's custom."

     A custom motorcycle is really a load of parts made by others and assembled in an order makes the bike look just right.

     A lot depends on little things that most people wouldn't even see. Sort of like an inside joke between the owner and himself, but I've got to say it's pretty satisfying when someone does notice one of those little things.

     
     
     
            My newest "little thing" is a chrome rear axle nut spring. It's made by a company called Colony. A cotter pin costs maybe 50 cents at most. These are 3 bucks a piece. Now that's truly custom.

Adventure to Coeur d'Alene

     My friend, Greg, bought a new BMW GS Adventure, But owning a bike named Adventure without an actual adventure seems to miss the whole point. So he suggested a ride through the volcanic areas around Mt Lassen and Mt. Shasta, then North to the Columbia River and on to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.     

      


     Greg on his big, powerful, comfortable and fully loaded BMW and me on my hardtailed Sportster, we set off. The odd couple.
     We rode to Redding, Ca. and left interstate 5. Highway 299 heads to Alturas and is a great ride through the volcanic mountains of Northern California.

  

     At Alturas we hit Highway 395 which heads north and a little east, past Goose Lake. Near the lake we checked out the site of an old saw mill. The beehive burner was really big so the sawmill must have been a large one. The burners were fed scrap wood and sawdust by conveyor belts. Today none of that scrap is wasted and is used in one way or another. But in their day they were impressive especially at night.

     Highway 395 in the area from Goose Lake north is a fairly lonely road so when we saw a guy changing a tire we stopped to see if we could lend a hand. Mike, a fly fisherman, had the tire change under control, and we were able to get enough cell signal to call ahead to the town of Riley in Oregon to make sure he would be able to get a repair before the shop closed. We stopped at The Nest in Riley for a burger and a beer.

 
   

     
     Somewhere, after leaving Riley, we stopped at a possible camping place. It looked good, sage brush and sandy soil, but the mosquitoes were vicious. We took a couple of photos and took off for Bend, Oregon.

     After leaving Mosquitoville, we were headed toward Bend on Highway 20 and after sundown, I ran out of gas. Fortunately the BMW has a huge gas tank and I carry a small siphon so after a short delay, we made it into Bend, Oregon. We had covered 600 miles.

     The next morning we crossed the 45th Parallel. Then to the Columbia River.

     Coeur d'Alene, Idaho is a 400 mile ride north of Bend, Oregon. It is a growing place, it's considered hip, cool, and Idaho conservative. Californians, fed up with the peoples republic, are moving there. 

     I had intended to leave but a rainstorm came in so I stayed another day. 

     When I left the weather had changed, it was cold and damp. There was a headwind blowing a gale along the Columbia River. I drafted behind some trucks to ease the pressure of the wind pushing my helmet into my face. I stopped for only one photo near the John Day Dam.

      It was early afternoon when I arrived at Bend Oregon. It was still early so I called ahead to make a reservation in Klamath Falls a 140 miles further south.
     In the morning I headed for Weed, California. This is an area of high mountains, covered by snow. Although on the cool side this ride is one of my favorites.

 

     Highway 97 hits Highway 5 at the town of Weed, but here Highway 5 is not the boring Highway 5 of California's Central Valley. Not far south of Weed the highway passes Mt. Shasta and the town of Shasta. 
     The highway runs through beautiful forests, downhill, from Shasta to Redding. It follows along the Upper Sacramento River to Lake Shasta near Redding. At Redding it warmed up and I was able to stow my cold weather gear. In another 3 hours I was home.
     Even though my bike is not named "Adventure"...maybe it should be.

 Greg had still had more adventure in him so he headed east to visit friends near Boise, Idaho. Then South into Nevada where he has family in Virginia City. He sent a couple of photos of his ride.