Heh... Needs something at 7:00...
Drunken Sailor wasn't on the nose enough?
I can't begin to describe HOW STEEP that first switchback was. I'm not new at riding dirt. In many ways, this new Tuareg is so much easier to ride than either my Husky FE250 or my Triumph 800XC. It puts out far more low RPM torque than either of those bikes. But even at lower torque at low RPM, either of them would have roosted some dirt behind themselves and muscled up the hill. I had that bike at half throttle... but it's an electric throttle that takes my input as a "suggestion" to the computer.
And once I disabled traction control, the Tuareg did just what I told it to do.
I wish I had enough storage to have the camera rolling for the entire ride, because all told I had 4 involuntary dismounts on the trip. Three were on the BDR proper but this one was the only one that happened while the camera was rolling.
The second happened the second day in, in some slimy two-track. I had TC disabled and got into a small rut along the side of the road by accident, and I goosed the throttle to try and get back on top of the road. The net result was the rear wheel spinning faster than the front could get on top of the mud, and the bike going sideways and me earning a low side on the left. No real damage.
The third happened the third day in, again in some slimy two-track. I had reverted TC back to 1 out of 4 at this point, which I think is my happy medium. I tailed my buddy too closely behind a downhill mud area. He suddenly stopped before going through a puddle (probably worried about traction in it) and I had to come to a stop before hitting him, while going downhill in mud. In dirt mode on this bike, front ABS is still enabled but rear ABS is disabled. The front wheel did come to a rotational stop, but the bike still had too much inertia in the mud. I turned the bars to redirect the skid away from him and tipped over onto the right side again. No further damage.
TC at 1 of 4 seems to climb steep switchbacks and heavy rocky terrain well, and keep the rear wheel in control in mud. I'll probably keep dirt mode at that setting.
The final tipover was way over in Moab, Utah, and not part of the BDR ride. That one was all me, and I was just mentally exhausted after a several hundred mile day from the Gypsum area to Moab, a good bit of which was already off-road. That one dinged up the left side of the radiator and broke some plastics. No leak... but I ordered a new radiator and plastics, and I now have crash bars to protect sensitive stuff on the bike. Wasn't time to get it ordered/shipped/installed before leaving on the trip.
