I'm in the process of routing and planning a trip from OKC, OK to Bernhards Bay, NY. Joruney will be of about 1,500 miles one way. This trip is not going to be riden on the KLX. Way too many miles for my butt. But I will be taking the KLX for a ride in the truck bed of the Ranger. So what I want to know is, how many member moles are in that area? And any ideas for what I should take or prepare for the KLX.

One item that I am planning on early is tires. The Kenda K270 are currently too worn out and I'll need some more better meat on the tires to course through the terrain. And this will be dual-sport riding from snow mobile trails, to paved roads, to county roads, to flat out to the point of getting lost in the middle of the forest. The tires that I'm currently looking at are the Bridgestone TW301 & TW302. Close to the same tread design as the Dunlop 606. Also another item is a loading ramp.

 

https://www.kawasakiforums.com/forum...d=1#post370009

I don't know if that helps I have no idea where new york state is

 

I've got the loading ramp today from Cycle Gear. The ramp is made by Trackside. Its okay for the price and will do the job. I've already found out that loading the KLX on to the truck is a bit of pain. Less incline, the better. But the KLX does fit in the bed of the Ranger with the tail gate up. For now, I decided to hold off buying tires. After careful consideration, the Kenda should hold up, as long as I don't go trail blazing through marsh lands.

 

I always take the tail gate off to load my bikes.

 

Learjet

Before you grab a TW-302 check out a Pirelli Scorpion XCMH (110-100). I just replaced my TW-302 with an XCMH and it's been the best dual sport tire I've had.

Originally I bought a Trakmaster II to replace the stocker. Great tire off road but it sucked on the slab. So I threw that tire on my KDX200 and bought the Bridgestone TW-302 for the KLX. The TW has been a good tire and I would have bought another until the XCMH became available in a 110-100 as it's been back ordered for so long. This tire has been the perfect compromise between street and dirt so far. It runs through muddy areas without all of the build-up that the TW accumulates but doesn't 'squirrel' on the street. I can't speak for the XCMH front tire yet as I've just installed it last week but it looks to be a bit too aggressive for my taste... we'll see. But I can certainly vouch for the XCMH. It's the best compromise between the K760 and the TW-302 so far.

Also, give us the heads up on the route you plan on taking for the trip. I'm in the Washington D.C. area but might be able to hit some trails with you depending on the locale. You might want to hit the Hatfield & McCoy trails in WV if you're going that way.

Mike

 

I am not from New york, but I have spent a lot of time in Central NY state. Conditions will be totally opposite from where you are now. Backside of the lake there will be a lot of twin track atv trails, a lot of fire roads, plenty of rolling hills, not a LOT of steep terrain, unless you head way north, or way east up into the mountains. If you do, be prepared for lots of rocky terrain, lots of mud, water, slippery ledges, and good old farm animal paths. Its farm country up that way, very nice place to visit, lotta friendly people and good eats.
Have fun

 

Hey man glad to here you are coming up to my neck of the woods...I live a little more than an hour north of were you are headed!!! +1 on the loading ramp...it will pay for it's self the first time you use it!!! I would have to say just the normal gear and tools that you would bring on a ride in Ok will be fine for riding up here! I would probably get a map if you aren't to sure about this area...or a gps is perfect! I uselly just print off google maps and keep them with me...Only cause I don't have the money for a gps right now!!! So when you planning on heading up here? If I can think of anything else I will let you know. Hope this helps...

 

I'm planning the trip on June 12~23. I'm thinking on two routes to take. One is really simple, take I-40 east to I-81 north till I hit New York. But it takes me all through the mountains and will probably wear me out. The one I'm most likely taking is mostly on I-40, I-44, I-70, I-71, a few others till I hit I-81. I'll be using GPS, but there a slight hitch. The GPS only has enough memory for 56MB of maps. But I did manage to load maps of area that could be trouble on the route and of the area in NY.

I am familar with the terrain up there. My grandpa has an atv and every time I visited, I went trail blazing. Well this time, I have the KLX.

 

I'm one step closer to being prepared. Just loaded the KLX on the Ranger for a test drive to make sure everything will sit right and the Ranger doesn't act strange in any way while traveling at 70mph. I did find out that my drag profile did change. So the little 4-banger Ranger does have its work cut out for it. On hills with a climb rate of 50ft/min, the Ranger can just hold its own. Any more than 100ft/min and it will start to lose speed. Luckily, most of the trip is flat land until the last 300 mile leg.

Some pictures of the KLX on the Ranger with tie down straps.







The KLX was very secure. It did not bounce or move. And when I was testing the straps by shoving the KLX, the whole truck shoved with it. So the KLX has pretty much become one with the Ranger.

 

Wow, you can close the tailgate with the bike loaded in your ranger?

On another note, I found this:
http://www.discounttommy.com/Shop/Co...d/0/rid/125237

I am seriously considering picking this up. It looks to be a lot easier to load than trying to wrangle it into the back of the truck with ramps.