Ladies and gents hang on to your handlebars! These three riders set out along the Trans America Trial from east coast to west coast covering 5,600 miles in 18 days. Riding to the start of the trail in North Carolina and finishing in Port Orford Oregon, before heading to Portland. Enduring heavy rain on the first night and getting soaked to the bone, water crossings, bears messing with your sleep, Oklahoma mud, freezing temps, scorching heat, couple crashes, and no sale of alcoholic beverages in some dry counties along the way. The weapon of choice was KTM's 390 adventure bikes that have held up flawlessly to the end lacking a bit of power at the high elevations. The lightweight bike makes rough terrain easy to overcome and easy to pick up when you drop it 10 times. Heavy music in this video as most of my footage had no audio due to a technical issue as I was using the Gopro Hero 8 Mic adapter, with an external mic, and trying to charge with an external power bank at the same time. I learned the hard way, test your equipment before you set out. The camera was charging the whole time, but this cut off my external mic.
The mods on my bike were:
- TKC80 tires, I would use these again
- KTM aluminum skid plate, this plate took a beating and held up
- 14 tooth front sprocket (stock 15), much better low end response and torque
- KTM enduro seat, a bit more comfortable and easier to adjust your position
- Barkbuster handguards, great protection for your levers and hands
- Upgraded foot pegs, larger and flat angle are much more comfortable and provide better stance
- IXIL slip-on exhaust, I like a good exhaust note
- Tusk pannier racks and soft bags, these are bulky and big. I would go with a rack less system
or something smaller in the future
- Stock suspension was adjusted to max load and was defiantly lacking on the rough bits but works
- We ate a bunch of pot holes hard and we were sure they would be a huge bend in the wheel, however there was barely anything noticeable
- Stock windscreen works very well and I'm happy with it, a tall and tinted windscreen will obscure your vision of the potholes and rocky terrain
- I completed this trip with a stock chain, It stretched almost a foot, Get a better chain
- No flat tires the entire trip, we had tubes, plugs, and pumps ready
Filmed in 4k on Gopro Hero 8 and DJI Air 2s
More videos in the future, Thanks for watching!