My hardest ride (without wrecking)

With deer season coming in early October, I've been taking my Suzuki DR650SE dual-sport bike to scout the area (Area 15) I'll be hunting in. That area is over 5,400 square miles of largely uninhabited NV wildscape, and it starts over 70 miles from my home, so even without the off-road scouting it is well over 400 miles in the saddle each trip.

Now I've done the Iron Butt thing, and many more days of over 700 miles per day consecutive, but I've never been so beat and sore and exhausted than taking that Suzi out and back, from here (near Fallon, NV) to MT Lewis, Mill Creek, Carico Lake, Callaghan Ranch, all the way out to Shagnasty (yep, a real place name!).

And I only got about 1/3 of the scouting done. I hate to admit it, but I may have to take the Jeep next time....

I hear ya...spent over 10 years on dirt bikes as a kid...No way in hell I could do a lot of that stuff now...But then I'm 56 now, not 17...Funny story, was on a snowmobile for the first time in about 15 years last year for a few hours...My fore arms were killing me and I could not move them the next day...Getting old is a bitch...

Snowmobiles are cool....

Jeep! Jeep! Jeep!

We have a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited...fun vehicle.

That sounds like a maximum amount of fun a grown man can have out there.

I like you're jeep Red. I still want to get one and paint it cammo colors like you did. Still waiting for the o'lady to get a f__king job though.

The hardest ride I've had was this year coming back from sturgis. Drove through Lost wages on the 15 when it was 112 degrees. I hit construction so I had to lane split some of it. Baker, CA was bitchin hot too, about 120 and traffic was heavy. Then had to lane split all of Victorville and Hesperia. I about died. When I got home I drank a gallon of ice cold milk and was still thirsty the next day. It was the stupidest thing I have ever done on a motorcycle trip without a doubt.

Yup, getting old sucks.

My Jeep is an '85 CJ with a billion miles on it, Hedman headers, MSD Ignition, rebuilt 258 straight six, 2 1/2 lift, T-176 tranny that needs love to keep going. Dynatrac posi-trac. Warn 8500 winch. Been completely submerged and still winched herself out. No radio or A/C - but does have heat.

Jeeps are cool because they're as easy to customize (and as likely to be customized) as Harleys. Rare to see a stock Jeep.

Sounds like a fun and reliable ride. Except hows that heat in the desert, does it turn on and off or is the fire wall a little thin?

Heck, that fire is just a bit of customizing for a CJ. Probably be better off with a new wiring harness anyway, and painting is optional. I know that on my Jeep there really isn't much that can catch fire, and for $4K I can get a new body from Willy's if it mattered.

As to heat in the Jeep - I just deal with it, as it ain't like I have A/C on the bike.

Had a 83 CJ-7, options, steering wheel, but no power steering. Would climb a tree. Once took it to outer banks and jumped sand dunes (was young). I thought it would be like I saw on TV...NOPE! Soon as the front end clears that engine is heavy and the front end goes down so hard it feels like a jack hammer hit you in the jaw.

Should never have let it go... leaked so bad I just took the plugs out so water ran out fast as it came in. If you ever got the front end aligned, it was there, could not knock it out without bending the axles!

But I loved that jeep, was way cool...

How about this for a good off-road car? If it gets stuck ya don't feel bad about leaving it behind. I understand this is CB's ride.

Had a '68 Jeep Wagoneer back in the day and it was a lot of fun. It was hard to break something on it.

Been a long time, eh?:roflmao:

Our deer season starts about the same time and then it's like the Guns of Navarone around here LOL. That's a lot of tough miles on the Suzi. My worst beating was cross country on my old ironhead Sporty (5000 miles total). Yup, I reckon Jeeping it is the best way to go . . .