Another Around the World Tacoma

Haha glad to hear it. It got a small bug stirred in us, so we are going to another one next week, this one being free to enter and unguided, though not quite so tight.

Ah, never even thought of Mad Max, but when fully suited up in the riding gear it has a certain vibe to it.

We have a bit of the in's and out's worked out. We both have these fancy Cardo Packtalk units in our moto helmets, which allow for phone calls to be carried out hands free. With 'Wi-fi Calling' enabled on our phones we can talk through Starlink, even when we have no cell reception, as long as whoever is on the motorcycle is within ~600 feet of the truck.

The truck also has a 5W GMRS and 6db antenna, so the bike will be getting a portable 5W GMRS unit as well. It will have Bluetooth, so that the Cardo units can interface with it seamlessly. Add in a 'push-to-talk' button on the handlebars and we will be able to communicate via GMRS. This will allow the moto rider to use the Cardos to listen to music, and only talk when necessary, as opposed to being on a phone call the entire time, which doesn't allow music to be played.

The bike will likely ride a little bit ahead, while on the open road (basically any time that isn't traffic heavy, or while passing through city centers and the like), and can relay pertinent info back to the truck. When in busier places they will drive/ride pretty close to one another.

In other cases the bike can ride ahead, as we near our intended camping area, and scout out a suitable spot to set up for the week.

I'm sure there are other plusses we will stumble across as time goes on.

We also decided to start thru-hiking the AZT, starting this upcoming week, so the truck and bike combo will have some time to shine.

We originally came up with the idea for a bike when we were discussing ways to self sustain ourselves through a long thru-hike.

We don't want to wait until we retire to start doing thru-hikes, so being able to hike and camp and work all in one week was a problem we wanted to solve.

So we will be doing a sort of leap frog thing that will allow us to thru-hike the AZT (and other long trails) all by ourselves, while still having the ability to work during the week.

Basically, drop the moto off at the end of our hike for the day. Take the truck to the start for the day. Hike the 15-25 miles (depending on TH access, FR roads, suitable camping spots, etc.) back to the bike, and then ride it to the truck for the night. The next morning, leave the bike where we camped, and drive the truck to the start for the next day, and repeat.

We will be starting at the southern end of the AZT, but we will always be hiking 'south' towards Mexico, despite 'starting' at Mexico. This limits the amount of miles the truck has to be driven (as opposed to starting at the south, hiking north, and then ferrying back to the south and then to the north again). The beautiful thing about the AZT is that there is so much public land in AZ that we can legally camp along so much of its length without issue. And the AZT is constantly coming across paved roads, TH's, etc. that make it really easy to get a vehicle to, along much of its length.

This will allow us to be kind of lazy, 'thru-hiking' a trail while spending the vast majority of the nights sleeping in the comfy truck, and never carrying more than a day pack. There will be some exceptions, but those will be minimal (as of my research thus far)

Now, whether or not that fits a strict definition of thru-hiking, I don't know. But I also don't care. For us, as long as we walk every mile, in one 'go', we will be satisfied.

Excited to get it started!

 

So excited for you guys, Michael! The bike is gorgeous and I love the upgrades / refurb you did to the trailer. I've got a Triumph Tiger 800 XRX, which has the triple cylinder engine, and it is just a blast to ride. It feels like a sport bike motor in an ADV frame. My first bike was a KLR650, which was a great starter bike, but the single cylinder had so much vibration that your hands felt numb after an hour long ride, haha. Eventually that bike was stolen, but I was happy that I carried full coverage insurance on it, bc the insurance payment allowed me to upgrade to the Triumph. I assume you've got full coverage on that big dawg GS, but if not, definitely worth the small annual/monthly cost, especially being on the road 24/7.

One tip from my experience hauling my KLR. I initially carried it in a hitch mounted carrier in my old second gen Tacoma w/ 4 straps holding the bike down. I was hauling it down a backroad in CO and one of the straps snapped on me and the bike fell off the back of the truck. Luckily, this was a low speed, low traffic FS road, but it scared the shit out of me that a big bump could cause the bike to adjust itself into a non stable position OR that a strap would break all together. Given the places you go, I would strongly suggest investing in solid straps w/ high dynamic load capacity or even some kind of metal tie down for say the pegs/front wheel chalk. Its great you guys have a trailer bc that gives some safety factory, but I will never haul any bike again on the rear of my truck in a hitch carrier. Just makes me too nervous.

 

Thank you Nate, much appreciated.

I have spilled the beans in a later post though; we have decided to ditch the trailer altogether. We will independently pilot both vehicles.

We had similar experiences, even in a short period of time. We used 6 straps, and the bike still bounced all over the place. Even with the suspension electronically set to its stiffest setting prior to turning the bike off (no idea if it maintains that stiffness while off), the bike would still get squiggly on rather tame bumps/ruts/roads. I didn't like that one bit.

Definitely full coverage. Even with no loan on the truck or bike they still have full coverage, and will always have full coverage.

I hope to come across an 800 one day. We just saw a couple on a Triumph 900 a few days ago. Great looking bike.

Yeah, the balance of the 1250 boxer is pristine man. No perceptible vibrations. Super smooth.

 

Whoops, I should have kept reading but got too excited & had to respond! That's unfortunate you guys had to ditch the trailer so quickly, but understandable. That'll be fun to get to co-pilot both vehicles simultaneously. That'll definitely expedite your comfortability with the bike in all conditions. Just an idea - I wonder if an off-road suspension setup like something Timbren offers would help minimize the jouncing of the trailer? Might be something to consider for your custom fabbed trailer?

That's awesome you've got full coverage on both rigs too. SO worth it.

Would love to ride a GS at some point. I just drool over them every time I see one in person. Can't wait to see where you guys take yours!

 

That is definitely an idea if/when we make a custom trailer. A more supple trailer would certainly help reduce the bouncing that goes into the bike itself.

TBH though, something drastic would have to shift for us to re-trailer the bike. Ever since I first started riding motorcycles, being on a motorcycle is one of, if not the most (only paragliding is in close competition), freeing feelings I have ever felt. I'm addicted to it in a way.

I'm actually a bit ashamed to have even considered a trailer at all. Haha being where we are now, I should have just skipped that side quest in its entirety!

If we ever cross paths you can take ours for a short spin to see what the hype is all about.

 

@MR E30 your AZT hike plan sounds amazing. I love reading about this, and honestly look forward to your posts. The comms setup is interesting to me, as well as the starlink continued info. You guys really are at the cutting edge of mobile tech, at least of anyone posting and actually using it, vs some youtube sales pitch. If I write a post apocalypse thriller where an intrepid couple fights for daily survival, I'm naming them after youz guyz!

 

Thank you. We are eager to continue on with it. We would have left this site last weekend to go down to the start but Stacy's brother is driving to some National Parks over a long weekend, and will be going to Saguaro, so we stuck around to see him before heading south. We will have 1 month of weekends to hike 109 miles to meet up with the furthest point we have hiked south thus far, before we have to return to Phoenix for a week while I fulfill my one week of work travel for the year.

The tech of today is really incredible.

Starlink has been flawless ever since we received the new dish, cut it up, and plopped it into the slim mount on top of the roof box. We just surpassed 11 hours of daylight, per day, as of yesterday, and I now shut nothing off at all over night. About 53% full each morning (of 200a), and up to ~95% by 4:30. As the days get longer it will just get better.

The speeds are very consistent now as well. Usually right near 200 mbps. The lowest I have seen it in the last month or so was 90 mbps, which is still fast.

Haha, sounds like a plan!

Ah, also, Stacy was finally able to convince me to start an IG for us and our lifestyle: stacyandmike_plus2

Feel free to follow along, if you are into that sort of thing. I have limited plans for it now. It will likely be many of the best photos from this thread to start it out. It's mainly so that friends and family can more easily follow along, as I invariably forget to text a photo to someone, respond to someone, or things like that.

It definitely won't be as in-depth as this thread, but it will likely contain some lighter, 'less-prepared' photos and verbiage about what we come across. It will house some short videos as well, but I have a lot to learn on that front as well. We did purchase one of those fancy Insta360 OneRS cameras, so we have been practicing and messing around with that. The 360 lens is really incredible, speaking of cool tech. 'Shoot first, compose later' is a great philosophy in my book.

 

@MR E30
Mike I've done a good chunk of the southern part of the AZT and bits and pieces throughout the rest. Put a ton of time in researching access points etc to do it as a section hike so if you need any Intel etc feel free to hit me up. Passages 1-7 are all do able as day hikes ( long days but do able) starts getting a little trickier around mica mtn and through mount lemon

 

Thanks Matt, Stacy and I remember you talking about it during our Sept. trip. I am doing something similar right now, using the AZT website for the most up-to-date routes and all that. I am through to Passage 11 now.

Our typical hiking speed is 3.3 mph, so we have a ~30 mile range each day (not super precise, but 30 miles is where we start to suffer from fatigue/soreness to a degree that impairs our ability to hike as far the following day). Elevation plays a big role of course, but a lot of the passages are sub-20 miles, which is within our wheelhouse, even with large changes in elevation.

The speed is all Stacy btw. Damn girl knows how to move. Haha I'm a lot slower, naturally, but I enjoy a good workout enough to push it.

 

Enjoy it is beautiful especially the southern portion.
I've got a couple good campsites towards the end of passage 4 if you need them.

Thru hiker season is kicking off here in the next couple weeks. March 1st +/- a couple days is the most common start date so expect to see some traffic headed northbound.

3mph is moving I could only sustain that on the flats. Parts of that trail are no joke though
I cut off about 1 mile and 750 feet of elevation here before I hit record

 

Man that bike is sweet!! The power to weigh ratio is definitely a game changer. If you ever what to ride a cruise let me know. It's like driving a hot rod!

Thanks for sharing your adventures, you guys have been busy!

 

Thanks Chris!

I rode it ~130 miles yesterday, ~65 of which were offroad.

And here I was thinking that piloting a truck offroad was mentally draining. This thing exhausted me! Quite a few sketchy passes, driving along a shelf road on the north side of a mountain, meaning that there was still snow on the ground. I took the rockiest, bumpiest looking path through those sections and managed to keep the bike upright the entire time.

In Dynamic mode the TC allows just a tiny bit of slip, so twisting open the throttle at low speed will let the rear end boogie a bit. And twisting it open while going a little faster gives you this weird experience of racing forward and momentarily slowing as the tire hunts for traction.

I do like how convenient it is to ride along, stop at something interesting, and then just hop back on the bike and take off again. It really feels like it is always ready to go. That is definitely a much quicker process than jumping in and out of a truck.

Stacy did a great job with the truck, only hitting one unnecessary mud puddle (we try to avoid those, as the truck goes quite some time between washes nowadays), but with the snow and mud covered sections of road it wouldn't have made a difference anyways.

I'll post a photo or two later today.

 

That's awesome that she's able and willing to do the driving too! Man mud is a pain to deal with, it get all over your clothes and, then reminds you about it again whenever your working underneath the truck. No matter how much you power wash off there's always some left....
Have you dropped the bike yet? That's a lot to lift,you can make a leg press workout with it. Lol

 

Yeah, got pretty lucky with her.

I dropped the bike once while practicing balancing drills in my driveway. I also dropped it once while I was pushing it around, repositioning it at camp. Front wheels bumped a rock that rolled just as the bike was stopping. It was slow motion kind of. It got too heavy to stop from falling, but I had a good grip on the handlebar, so I basically eased it to the ground. Haha

It is surprisingly easy to lift tbh. We practiced when we first got it, and even Stacy can right it without straining too much.

 

Well she's crazy strong too so I'm sure that helps.

 

On the way to the start of the AZT I took us by the US/Mexico border. This is my second time at this spot, first was on my first AZBDR trip.

Tacoma and GSA to Coronado NF by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Passed by the memorial for the first European (Fray Marcos de Niza) to cross the Rockies, way back in 1539 (April 12th).

Tacoma and GSA to Coronado NF by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Bike has been sleeping underneath a tree all week. I am pulling it out this afternoon to go do some reconnaissance (campsites, trail access, water source) for the hiking and camping this weekend.

Tacoma and GSA to Coronado NF by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Used this tree to cut down on some of the wind that was berating us all the way until this morning. The grade is a bit sloped; on three blocks in the rear, so hopping into the bed is like getting into a monster truck.

Tacoma in CNF by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

 

Since Miller peak is a wilderness area there's not a lot on the west (AZT side) there is a road that cuts up where the trail drops out of Sunnyside canyon I believe there's a spot close to the trail crossing to camp. There's more where the trail meets Montezuma Canyon road near the official end of passage 1 and start of passage 2.

 

I just scouted a site for tonight, near the monument, and a site for tomorrow night, right on the trail, near Parker Lake.

 

End of passage 1 after a very grueling 20 mile day up across and down the Huachucas. Didn't help it was blowing 40-50 mph on top. Didn't even get to summit Miller peak. (Definitely do that side trail if weather conditions permit)

 

Thank you for the amazing pictures and write up!