2014 Colorado trip and ride report

[desertgasser300]

I have had alot of emails asking about the toy hauler so I decided to include some pics and and a report of how it did camping.

Initially I had plans to head out to Colorado with a friend of mine, but he backed out at the last minute. A quick post to this forum and had an invite from Jacob Berg to meet him in Colorado with him and his friends. As it turns out Jacob and I know and ride with some of the same people, small world!

The trip started out at 5:30 am from AZ. and pulling the trailer was smooth. The van avg. about 12/15 mpg depending on the terrain. Driving thru the steep passes of Colorado proved to be easier then anticipated. Although I do believe the trailer brakes were not functioning, but it wasn't bad as the trailer is very light and easy to stop. I just was very careful when going down hill not to pick up to much speed if an emergency stop had to happen.

I was to meet Jacob in Sargents and ride for two days then move to Silver jack reservoir and ride for another two days and then off to Rico to met Jacob's friends from Phx. for another two days of riding. But as reality will have it 5 miles out of Ridgeway the van quits running. Turns over but no starting. A quick call to the AMA roadside assistance and an hour later my entire rig is being towed to Turner Chevrolet in Montrose. Kudos to the AMA they were very helpful and diligent in getting the right service truck out to me. This was saturday night and as any great dealership in a small town was closed on sunday. So for two nights I gave the dealership free security being camped out in there back lot.


Come monday the verdict is in. The plastic tabs that hold the wiring loom to the frame broke and the wires to the fuel pump fell onto the exhaust and melted. $300 (ugh) later and I was off to Silver Jack reservoir to meet Jacob and ride already having lost two days of riding I was itching to get on the bike. Had I known or had a map there were trails outside of Montrose about 6 miles away across the highway from were I was stuck.

At silver Jack i found a nice campground with no one in it but me now!



Tuesday Jacob and his friend Toby show up and we didnt waste anytime hitting the trails. We ran a trail that escapes me up into Nates creek. During this trail one of the riders Toby met with an unfortunate get off into the pines. After a few minutes of digging the bike out Toby had decided to turn around and head back to camp. When Jacob and I finished the trail and came back to camp we found Toby had gone into the closest town and went to the E.R. when he returned the next day he told us he had broken a bone in his face(orbital)?

Wednesday we did Alpine trail, which is a march straight up as you can watch in the video. Only problems with the bike was I kept losing the bottom coolant hose that attaches to the STOOPID thermostat. It didnt over heat it just built up enough pressure to pop that hose off. When I put the hose back on I noticed the lack of a lip on the thermostat to hold the hose on properly. Anyone still running the thermostat may want to check to make sure there is enough of a lip to keep the hose on? Or just get rid of it all together. I have since replaced it with an in-line cooler.

These are the only pics I took and the only video I got because I could not re-charge the GoPro.

The video is pretty long, but I left in all the tip overs I had on the switch backs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFHHr9fxUxQ

[desertgasser300]

[desertgasser300]

The trailer was great it towed beautifully. The tilt out beds are a nice set up IMO. I like that If you're camping alone you don't have to tilt them out, you can easily sleep in the dinette that make into a twin bed. i liked that I could hear the creek running at night thru the canvas, it is very soothing and relaxing. If you want more sleeping space you can tilt the front or back out. I tilted them both out even when I was camping alone and just used one side for storage, ice chest, clothing, bedding etc..... It will sleep 6 people total, but very cozy or three adult males. It rained nearly every night and I did not have a single leak. I used every appliance and they worked perfect. I took hot showers most every night and had hot food every day. The outside grill is perfect for cooking. I did make a roast in the oven the second night. I powered up the fridge, but did not end up using it. Fresh water capacity is a total of 20 gallons, grey water is 17 and black water is around 20 I believe. I did not use the toilet because I didn't want to haul around the waste on my trip then find a place to dispose of it. It has a 6 gallon water heater which works great for showers if you are fast about it. it has an on demand water pump that keeps the tank pressurized The heater works well to heat the small trailer quickly, but is a bit noisy. Jacob and I both agreed that it would be impossible and unpleasant to sleep to the squeaky fan from the heater. There is enough battery power to last a week for a single camper and a family for a weekend get away. It has dual 20 lb. propane tanks which was more then enough for the time I was there. I used a little less then one bottle.





If any you have anymore questions about the trailer please feel free to email or ask me.

[liv2day]

Nice

Not so fun with the van issues, but it's good you were able to get back on the road and continue the trip

From the pictures, it looks like you could fit a couple of full sized bikes up front - do you think you could get 3 up there, or would that be pushing it (not sure what that would do to the balance of the trailer?).

Any idea of how much elevation you gained when riding that trail? That climb reminds me of going up Bishop Ridge - lots of switch backs on a trail filled with boulders...lol.

Looks like an awesome time man! I've only watched 12 minutes of the vid so far, going to watch more as it's more fun than work...lol.

[desertgasser300]

Originally Posted by liv2day

Nice

Not so fun with the van issues, but it's good you were able to get back on the road and continue the trip

From the pictures, it looks like you could fit a couple of full sized bikes up front - do you think you could get 3 up there, or would that be pushing it (not sure what that would do to the balance of the trailer?).

Any idea of how much elevation you gained when riding that trail? That climb reminds me of going up Bishop Ridge - lots of switch backs on a trail filled with boulders...lol.

Looks like an awesome time man! I've only watched 12 minutes of the vid so far, going to watch more as it's more fun than work...lol.

I just look at the break down as part of the adventure. Who knows something terrible may have happened to me further down the road? Its not the first time ive been stuck some where and certainly wont be the last.

We had two bikes on there, no problem. With some tweaking three would fit. It would add extra weight to the tongue and make the center sag which is not great for towing. Im already looking for an equalizing hitch, because I did notice a bit of sag at the tongue. Which made the trailer ride on the front set of tires a bit to much.

[firffighter]

Cool trailer!

Wow, beautiful country! Looks like you've got some amazing riding there. Colorado is on my bucket list.

[liv2day]

I watched the last 20 minutes of the video yesterday - had to laugh when you were counting the switch backs on the way down...LOL. I'm not sure which I enjoy less, crazy switch backs on the way up or on the way down. I always have a tough time with the right handers going down - seem to fall more often than not.

How many miles did you cover when riding that Alpine trail? And where did you guys go after that; did you have to head back up and then down to get back to your rigs, or was there a connecting trail you could take back towards where you started?

That riding really reminds me or riding in the Giff, lots of fun and elevation

[Jacob 'Berg]

I have ascertained that a rest day is needed on long trips. I ended up riding 7 days in a row, the last two days with three broken toes

Gasser, thanks again for the ride to Rico.

Ended up doing Hermosa Creek, Pinkerton Flagstaff, Dutch creek, and Scotch creek on Saturday. Great ride.

There was a guy on a DRZ400E on Hermosa jetted way too rich, not enough skills, and no kick start. When we passed him it was 4pm and his buddy was headed to Durango to get a spark plug. Bike was flooded and battery was dead. They did not need the spark plug, and if they had any sense they could have cleared the cylinder and bump started it, but as it looked they may have cuddled up on the trail for an over nighter..

[liv2day]

Originally Posted by Jacob 'Berg

I have ascertained that a rest day is needed on long trips. I ended up riding 7 days in a row, the last two days with three broken toes

Gah...brake or shift foot? Regardless, that wouldn't have been any fun

Was that you in the video desert posted?

And yeah, 7 straight days in the saddle is rough - especially when you're riding the type of terrain in that video. I've done 4 days in a row and been completely spent by the middle of the 4th day...lol.

Sounds like an epic series of rides though...should post a report and some pics/vid (or just append this one )

[desertgasser300]

Originally Posted by liv2day

I watched the last 20 minutes of the video yesterday - had to laugh when you were counting the switch backs on the way down...LOL. I'm not sure which I enjoy less, crazy switch backs on the way up or on the way down. I always have a tough time with the right handers going down - seem to fall more often than not.

How many miles did you cover when riding that Alpine trail? And where did you guys go after that; did you have to head back up and then down to get back to your rigs, or was there a connecting trail you could take back towards where you started?

That riding really reminds me or riding in the Giff, lots of fun and elevation

We covered 19 miles and it was an in and back out trail, nothing we could find on the map connected to it. I believe the total count for switch back was 120. This was only half of the trail, when we got back to camp we had a look at the map and found out we still had another 10 miles or so of trail we skipped. Apparently the other half of it started across the road when we came to the trail head. The trail is rumored to have a total of 250 switch backs. I'm bummed we didn't complete it, but not bummed enough to go back anytime soon....lol. With that damned rad hose blowing off it took us awhile to complete what we did and only had enough time to do this one trail that day.