DAY 2After a great nights sleep we were up, scarfed down some breakfast and packed the bikes for the days travels.
The morning was COLD and the bikes were cranking over slow. I managed to get my bike lit and let it idle to warm up a bit. Mike didn't have as much luck and his battery was soon dead. After kicking for quite awhile Mike was ready for a break.
Andy came to the rescue and finally got the beast lit.
Once on the trail we headed back to the truck to start the real adventure.
FUEL: One thing you
must have out in the middle of nowhere is fuel! Our route will take us slightly beyond the range of our large desert tanks so we needed a plan. Usually we stop at Soldier Meadows which is a large ranch in the middle of the desert and buy fuel, it's a mid way stop that allows us to make it to Gerlach where we can fill the tanks.
The ranch has no phone but they do have satellite internet and check their mail once a day. We had sent them a email prior to arriving in NV and they replied they were out of fuel this year, that left us short on fuel for our route and in need of a new plan. Sooooo.........
Plan B: We ordered a pack of 1.5 gallon empty wine bags, we will fill each bag with 1 gallon of fuel and place them in home brew canvas carry bags that Mike sewed up. We will strap 2 gallons each to the back of the bikes and as soon as space allows we will stop and pour the fuel into the main tanks then store the canvas bags to be used again on the return trip.
Filling the wine bags :-) we brought 15 gallons of premium fuel with us as Denio Junction is also without fuel. We topped off the bikes and the bags and then stored the rest out of site for possible use on a alternate route during the return trip.
The fuel setup...
And loaded on the bikes. A bit bulkier than I would like but it's only temporary.
And ready to roll!
Out on the trail...the scenery is absolutely amazing! If you've never been to this country before your missing out!
Mikes bike started having electrical issues going down this hill, headlights and E start not working. We made it to the bottom where we could look into it. Ended up being a bare wire that had rubbed through, a little electrical tape and we were back in action.
Back on the trail.
Little Onion Reservoir in the distance.
We stopped to check out this abandoned cabin, I'm a sucker for checking out any abandoned structures out here :-)
Back on the trail again....this is just soooooo cool!
WIDE OPEN SPACES!
Time to stop and empty one of the fuel bags into the main tanks. The bikes are handling like crap with the added weight on the rear, It was nice getting some of the weight off the bike and the handling improved significantly with just one bag removed.
Mikes been eating dirt! :-) One bag of fuel down.
Next up....the Bulldozer! I always wonder how this dozer ended up where it did...way up on top of a mountain with nothing in sight. It looked WELL used and it probably wasn't worth fixing when it broke down where it still sits.
Taking the dozer for a spin :-)
Mikes turn to try the dozer on for size.
Hey can you change this pin out....oh yeah, it may require a tad bit of grinding lol.
Parked at the Dozer, the views are amazing up here.
Mike needs to learn to ride faster...you eat less dirt lol.
On the trail again.
We came across this old miners camp, wonder what they were mining here.
Just needs to be swept out lol.
We ate lunch here before getting back out on the trail. Yummm...spam packs LOL.
Next up....The Black Rock Desert. We arrived here just after the crowds from Burning Man had disappeared. Riding on the Black Rock is a fun experience, the Playa has a thin crust on top that the bike easily breaks through and sinks a bit into the soft soil below. Cruising across the playa takes a lot more power than you think it would and sucks fuel like crazy.
On the Playa
Andy snapping a pic of his bike
The crews cleaning up after Burning Man off in the distance.
Andy snapping pics
Well it was starting to get late so it was time to head to camp. We decided to stay at Trego Hot Springs tonight, we left the Playa and headed to the springs. The road to the hot springs is a fast dirt road with a good 25 miles to get to the springs, we were hauling butt down the road and soon I arrived at Trego. Mike was right behind me but Andy was no where in sight. Thinking he may have stopped to take a leak we waited a short time for him to show up, when he didn't show up we saddled up and headed back to find Andy. We ended up riding the 25 miles back to the paved road with no sight of Andy. Now we were getting worried as I knew I had seen Andy turn onto the dirt road before I headed out at warp speed.
We had cell service at this point so I called Andy's phone to see if he would answer...and he did! His bike was over heating so he had turned around and headed back into Gerlach to the service station. Mike and I headed out to meet up with Andy and get his bike back on the road.
Andy....found!
First diagnosis....a bad radiator cap? Andy holding up the cap for the picture.
We swapped out caps with Mikes bike and Andy took his bike for a quick test spin, coolant still puking! At this point we diagnosed it as a bad head gasket.
Mike realizing the trip has just took a major turn.
With night falling and the truck a good 200 miles north of us we came up with a fool proof plan. Mike and I will ride north at night to get the truck, Andy will hang at the Brunos Bar in Gerlach and wait for our return.....this shouldn't take to long right. Without looking at any maps Mike and I head out to get the truck. Now the truck is 200 miles by dirt straight North of Gerlach but it's getting dark and with a full days riding already under our belts we decide to just take the highway instead for a relaxed cruise, if we would have looked at the map we would have realized there is no direct paved roads from Gerlach to Denio Junction. Let the next adventure begin!
More to come!
Hodakaguy