So side note: my KLX SF is pretty far from stock. It's been bored and stroked out to 350cc, has a higher compression piston, larger carburetor, etc. And I figure it's pushing somewhere close to 30 to the wheels. Top speed on a KLX from the factory is in the low-to-mid 80's and I've had mine up over 100 going uphill. I figure the flat stuff won't be too bad even with gear. My concerns are the fuel consumption (doesn't do too bad around 35-45, but it's still a pretty small tank), and how it's going to fair up in the rockies. I figure even with everything that's been done to the bike, it's still going to struggle a bit.

The tentative plan is to do the entire stretch, West NC to the Oregon coast, next year in the early-to-mid summer (June or July. But maybe as early as mid-May depending on when college lets out). I'll be out of the army in December and plan to start college for the spring semester. I figure I'll work while I'm in school to gain a little extra income, combine it with a little bit of my savings to support this endeavor financially. Then I figure I'll hold off on a job for the summer for the first month or so and do the full TAT. Figure I'll ride the KLX down from Michigan to North Carolina. A close friend of mine owns an auto shop in Fayetteville. So I figure I can ride down there, hang out for a few days, make sure everything is good to go, and then head out towards the trail.

In response to wildcard's post, I know the long, dirt straightaways in Oklahoma you're talking about. When I was in Afghanistan, I watched a series of Auto-Vlog videos where a guy took a Toyota 4Runner across the whole TAT. It was down pouring pretty hard through most of Oklahoma. It was to the point that he ended up getting off the trail and following a highway that runs parallel to the trail. I figure 1. the spring rain should pretty much be gone by the time I hit Oklahoma, 2. The Vlogger was from NC, and North Carolina people are terrible drivers in any sort of bad weather (was stationed at Ft. Bragg for 3 years. Fayetteville descended into chaos at the mere mention of snow) 3. Even if I do get the SF stuck, it's light enough I can pick up the back end. Even if it is dry through there when I go through, I figure I'll keep it under 50. Even though the bike is capable of freeway speeds, it seems like it goes through gas a lot quicker over 50. Also that's pretty badass that guy did the trail in a suzuki SX4. Although I started reading up on the SX4 and it's not really that surprising. Apparently they're pretty badass little cars.

 

Read the RR. Great read. Sounds like a great trip. I guess my first question is what kind of camera were you using on the trip? The quality of those pics looks way too good for a GoPro. But at the same time, you guys took a lot of pics while riding from what looks like a helmet mount and maybe a selfie-stick (???).

My other question is did you guys report this stuff in real (ish) time or did you just begin posting after the trip was over? Were you just using a phone to post to the forums or did you have a rugged (beater?) laptop/notebook packed away? Did you guys also bring a means to charge electronics on the days where you were sleeping under the stars (solar chargers, 5590 radio batteries, etc.)?

How much gear did you pack for your 10 days? I see the jackets, heaters, pants, etc. but it looked like you guys had everything packed into some (fairly large) saddle bags. As of right now, I was planning on a tank bag, a wraparound saddle bag, and my ALICE pack. And maybe a little waterproof bag to sit on top of the wraparound deal. I think with all of that, I should be able to fit food and clothes to last 2-3 weeks, as well as some portable electronics and a means to charge them. Also what kind of jacket and helmet were you rocking? I know you said it in the RR but I read most of it in one sitting so I don't remember all the details.

Lastly, you said you were using the GPS route for the TAT. Did you also get the hard maps to go with that? I was thinking about doing maps and/or both. Do you think that would even be worth it to have? You also mentioned how you had an older route plan that took you through an area not on the new maps. I remember that area looking really nice. Know where I can get a map dated from around the time you bought your TAT map?

 

Now you've got me wanting to buy an SX4. lol. I guess they weren't wildly popular when they were new, but it's a badass little car. Maybe I'll buy one for my dad and take it out for joyrides whenever I'm home. Or maybe I'll abandon my plan of getting an FJ cruiser and just get a little suzuki hatchback instead... but probably not.

 

Funny enough, the dude with the SX4 has a brother with an FJ. The SX4 has been offroad more and in more gnarly places than the FJ, though that probably has something to do with the SX being a $1500 beater vs a $40,000 vehicle his brother bought brand new. lol

 

Yeah, I don't think I'd want to do any serious offroading in something I shelled out $40k for. But the one I'm looking at is one of the earlier models (an '07), in a stick, for about 15k. I might take it on the TAT at some point, but I feel like you need a bike to really get the "full trans-America trail experience", so KLX will probably go first.