Kinda make you wander if it is a good idea to have DBA stickers on your bike, what if a ranger ask that same question? I guess you could say you left your bike for a minute and came back and the DBA Bandit tagged you
lock tight blue 242 on the threads and silicone around the outside will help keep that kicker in it's place.So we are making good time across the desert heading back to the truck and I fly off this 20 foot drop and about soil myself. I slam on the brakes and spin around to warn the others so they do not do the same thing. When I turn around, I see no one. I pop up on a dirt road and see TravYZ turning around and heading back the other way. I click a few gears and head toward him. I stop and he said 2SB was right behind him and now he is no where to be found....
We ride up and down the road a little bit looking for him and I said, well we are real close to the truck. You can see it in the distance. Let's head there while looking and see what happens. We get to the truck and sure enough there he is chillin'
He said, "sorry I saw this shinny thing on the ground and I have a habit of stopping and picking it up." Turns out to be a nice looking kick starter and he can't believe I did not see it. I was too busy trying to kill myself off 20 foot drops instead of looking for shinny things.
Here is what he found.
View attachment 2109
I told him that was a good find and someone is going to be bummed when they figure out they lost it.
So we are sitting there gassing up to head out and catch the Husky group and 2SB looks over and says, "hey I bet this kick starter will fit your bike."
View attachment 2110
No wonder I did not see it. That was the save of the day. Would have cost about $80 to replace that thing. Good thing the TTR has a cool e-button so the kick starter was left in the truck.
Now for the Husky Ride.....Time to make ground....
So we are making good time across the desert heading back to the truck and I fly off this 20 foot drop and about soil myself. I slam on the brakes and spin around to warn the others so they do not do the same thing. When I turn around, I see no one. I pop up on a dirt road and see TravYZ turning around and heading back the other way. I click a few gears and head toward him. I stop and he said 2SB was right behind him and now he is no where to be found....
We ride up and down the road a little bit looking for him and I said, well we are real close to the truck. You can see it in the distance. Let's head there while looking and see what happens. We get to the truck and sure enough there he is chillin'
He said, "sorry I saw this shinny thing on the ground and I have a habit of stopping and picking it up." Turns out to be a nice looking kick starter and he can't believe I did not see it. I was too busy trying to kill myself off 20 foot drops instead of looking for shinny things.
Here is what he found.
View attachment 2109
I told him that was a good find and someone is going to be bummed when they figure out they lost it.
So we are sitting there gassing up to head out and catch the Husky group and 2SB looks over and says, "hey I bet this kick starter will fit your bike."
View attachment 2110
No wonder I did not see it. That was the save of the day. Would have cost about $80 to replace that thing. Good thing the TTR has a cool e-button so the kick starter was left in the truck.
Now for the Husky Ride.....Time to make ground....
So we are making good time across the desert heading back to the truck and I fly off this 20 foot drop and about soil myself. I slam on the brakes and spin around to warn the others so they do not do the same thing. When I turn around, I see no one. I pop up on a dirt road and see TravYZ turning around and heading back the other way. I click a few gears and head toward him. I stop and he said 2SB was right behind him and now he is no where to be found....
We ride up and down the road a little bit looking for him and I said, well we are real close to the truck. You can see it in the distance. Let's head there while looking and see what happens. We get to the truck and sure enough there he is chillin'
He said, "sorry I saw this shinny thing on the ground and I have a habit of stopping and picking it up." Turns out to be a nice looking kick starter and he can't believe I did not see it. I was too busy trying to kill myself off 20 foot drops instead of looking for shinny things.
Here is what he found.
View attachment 2109
I told him that was a good find and someone is going to be bummed when they figure out they lost it.
So we are sitting there gassing up to head out and catch the Husky group and 2SB looks over and says, "hey I bet this kick starter will fit your bike."
View attachment 2110
No wonder I did not see it. That was the save of the day. Would have cost about $80 to replace that thing. Good thing the TTR has a cool e-button so the kick starter was left in the truck.
Now for the Husky Ride.....Time to make ground....
Thanks so much Ron. I am going to set up a text notification service everytime Geekslide is mentioned by one of the bretheren.Hey Bruce. another off topic post. your Geekslide was brought up in a conversation while taking a break on the trail..
Sweet, I am on the right path.....I ride some more and nothing. I stop and start to . By now we are 38 miles into the ride from the truck so I know it has to be around here or I passed it. We see a small rocky hill in front of us and say well that looks like fun let's head there. We head toward that hill and come to a section that I did not see and go left....
I should have went right....
I have no idea what he is pointing at and he does not look very happy, so since I am the only one on a plated bike, I decide to roll over to his window and give him the CDA charm. Turns out, he claims we are on private property. I explain to him that we got separated from our big memorial group and we were on a marked trail on the other side of the dry lake that brought us to this point (for those of you that read Rack's last RR, this is the road where somebody locked CDA's keys in his truck and he performed magic to get the doors unlocked). After he heard my story and I told him where we where going, he told us to follow the trail along the road to get to 29 Mule Team.
"Yes Sir and Thank you. have a nice day" I said. 
I keep going and then the bike starts to bog at the 74 mile marker, I reach down and flip the fuel over to reserve and she sparks back up. We get to the HWY and I tell the guys I'm on reserve, so I am going to run it down the side of 29 Mule Team and go straight back to the truck. They tell me they will follow in case I do not make it. I take off and start my ride back running down the side at about 60mph. I see the parking lot in sight and bam, gas is all used up. I coast to a stop and get off and start pushing. I push about 30 feet and start Hey I will lean the bike over and get some gas from the other side. As I am doing that, I see my buddies go flying by me on the trail...
So much for looking out for me. I hit the button (since the kick starter is in the back of my truck) and she lights up. I jump on and ride it back to the truck where she dies right when I pull up. 87.2 is on the display for mileage on that trip, so I guess that is all I'll squeeze out on the stock tank.
OK, so here is where the word "Attempted" in the report title comes in:
So after we gas up and throw some sandwiches in my backpack, I tell the guys, we need to make ground. I am sure we can catch them. They only have about an hour jump on us and it should be a big group with bikes, buggies, cars, and Rangers. I told them we will just grab a trail the parallels 29 mule team and head toward Cuddy Dry lake. We agree and take off. Well I start to feel comfy on the TTR and I am making some ground. I look back and they are hanging. I keep going and I look back again and Nothing! I stop and wait and here they come. This goes on all the way across the desert. Our one rider is not up to the speeds I was looking to achieve, so we had to back it down a little.
Well I have never been to the Husky Monument, but I have an idea where it is plus I figured when we get close, you should not miss a large group of bike, cars, trucks, buggies, etc.
Since I am trying to make ground, I do not stop and take any pictures. We jump the hwy 395 and head out down the dirt road. Hang a right at the dry lake bed and then a Left at the end. I have not seen anybody. I come up to a couple trucks and ask them if they have been to or seen the group. they say they have not seen anybody and do not know about this site I am talking about...
I have a feeling it is over this raise so we keep heading up the road. I see another car and stop them and ask the same question. They said, "yes and large group passed them 20 mins ago and heading the way we are going."
As you can see from the google snap shot I grabbed today, the black shows the path I should have taken and the Red shows the direction we went.
View attachment 2118
We decided now that we missed it all together, so we went off exploring and riding. We hooked up a trail that followed a fence line and after awhile we decided to take a break and have something to eat since we have not ate anything yet but a power bar.
Here is where we came from:
View attachment 2120
Having a snack and discussing our trip back. Yes that is a fence the that bike in the distance is leaning against and I do believe we might be on the wrong side...
View attachment 2119
After this, I did not take anymore pictures as we were on a mission to get back to the truck. I have no idea what the fuel range was in the tank that the TTR was sporting, so off we went.
We popped out on the dry lake bed and made our way to HWY 395. Right when we stopped at 395, Mr. Sheriff pulls up and starts pointing a something..
Off we went down this trail that paralleled 395. I start clicking through the gears and turn up the GPR to 6 to handle the cross ruts and rain "G" outs and I look over and I am passing this big rig. He looks over at me and does a double take as he looks down at his speedo I am guessing. Well I do the same and see a number of 70 on the MPH on digital.
So to wrap it up, we covered 40 miles on the first loop (with all the pictures) and 87 on the second loop. My main purpose for going out there was to do the Husky Ride and pay my respects to my fallen riding friends and I failed. But I think I made them proud that I had an Epic day of riding with good friends and outstanding weather and riding conditions.
Not that I know where I went wrong, it looks like I need to schedule another ride out that way soon....
Hope you all enjoyed. Now go back to the first post I left and see if you can follow along with the smileys. I will say for not knowing the story, Trav was pretty darn close.....
Dang CDA, you had a great time though and that's all that matters. 