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HadesOmega Preps CactusPuncherDR650 for LAB2V 2018

WE DID IT! 400+ miles through the Mojave desert in 2 days! Completed all the dirt sections and one hard section! LA to Barstow to Vegas!
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FoolishMortal said:
Max speed of 78?!?
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Yeah it was on one of those wide graded dirt roads. One of those moments where Merlin asks "Hmm how fast can we get it here?" :ride
 
Good stuff Merlin! Bike looks great in the Dual Sport trim level....
 
Cabrito said:
Good stuff Merlin! Bike looks great in the Dual Sport trim level....
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It did really good all that prep paid off. I didn't have a single drop till the hard section at the end. It gobbled up pretty much everything the easy routes had EXCEPT tall whoops (like waist high) more than a double the bike is just too heavy for those. Does good on the sand whoops though! Its like a marshmallow! Also highspeed washboards the front is too stiff and beats the crap out of my hands. Hillclimbs cake and the 13T sprocket helped in the really tight stuff where I needed to crawl. Other than that I'm not really diggin the 13T sprocket, it's totally only for dirt duty. The DR not such a good weapon for rocks and single track obviously. It's too wide and the footpegs hit rocks and stuff too easily. I swear the short singletrack section at the end reminded me of the window rock trail and how ill suited the DR is for that kind of riding. I lost count of how many times I popped a wheelie over stuff also :ride:ride:ride
 
Yeah Merlin :thumbup:thumbup:thumbup Congrats!
Was just about to post up and ask how ya doing?? :ride :teeth :afm199

Good on you on the DR weight reduction effort - looks like it paid off!
LAB2V is on my bucket list...need more pics:thumbup


T
 
HadesOmega said:
It did really good all that prep paid off. I didn't have a single drop till the hard section at the end. It gobbled up pretty much everything the easy routes had EXCEPT tall whoops (like waist high) more than a double the bike is just too heavy for those. Does good on the sand whoops though! Its like a marshmallow! I lost count of how many times I popped a wheelie over stuff also :ride:ride:ride
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Good to see you out there Merlin and to hear the Cactus Puncher did so well. :thumbup

Yeh the sand whoops were a BLAST!. Some were particularly large..... I dropped my front wheel into the last one of a series of deep ones with so much speed I twisted my handlebars forward. :laughing. Had to pull over to readjust them.... and then slow down. :teeth

The only pic I have from the LAB2V. I wheelie for turtles!. Not sure how to insert, so link will have to work.

I will be going back. Fantastic ride!
 
Ran into some BARFers out there
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A little something before the VLOGs roll out. These are clips of the first half of the Day 1

[YOUTUBE]-B3zOwlpRKA[/YOUTUBE]
 
Part 2 here! Features Husky Monument.

[YOUTUBE]gpiD6DHrV-0[/YOUTUBE]
 
I watched the whole video this morning.. You were flying! It was cool seeing you and the CP passing all the KTM's ect... Not so cool seeing all the various vehicular traffic coming at you. That looked stressful.. Those whoops! Damn...
 
Haha yeah I would play this leap frogging game with a lot of the bikes. I would pass them, they would pass me later. Like the fast guys I notice will pass me really fast, then I would pass them later on while they're taking a break or waiting for their buddies. The advantages of riding solo! There was a large riding skills range. There are those guys just putting along. Then your average rider (IE ME). Then there are those guys that are just rippin it 100% kicking crap all over the place and passing aggressively. Actually my passing is getting a little better since I did those enduro races, I'm still not that good at passing plus the DR650 doesn't have a whole lotta power. You could clearly tell when you were riding up to a noob because they'd be slow like a slug and everyone knows you gotta be moving in the desert and I know if you want to finish LAB2V you gotta be rollin.

Yeah the traffic sucked. It's good they were staying right and using the hand signals. But it was only in that OHV area it was really bad. I would go slow if I couldn't see ahead or around a corner for sure. Some of the trails had these high cactus bushes that would keep you from see ahead =/

Also I like watching other people ride sometimes :ride:ride:ride especially on videos it gets kinda boring watching just me ride. Hats off to those dudes riding adventure bikes, I think riding an adventure bike on this event is TOUGH. Not that it could not be done but yeah it's like riding a cruiser in the desert. Passing the starship R1200GSA. I still can't stomach spending that kinda coin and beating it up in the desert.

Interesting thing during the banquet they mentioned there were like 200+ KTMs entered in the event only like 12 or 18 Suzuki. 1 ATK haha :laughing I think the ATK would probably do ok though it's similar to a DR650. Couple Triumphs. I got a kick out of watching those old scramblers scramble through the desert, now that is a true cowboy! I wish someone had the newer scramblers, I'm sure a Ducati Desert Sled would gobble up the desert it's what it's named after and it's got some beefy suspension when I rode it.

I have this fantasy that I could ride a quad on LAB2V if we ever have dual sport quads. It would be so much easier haha :ride I rode my quad during the Mojave Family Adventures ride and it rips through the desert!
 
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Part 3 - End of day 1 and a crap ton of sand
[YOUTUBE]ROzyv6-wWcs[/YOUTUBE]
 
Part 4- Sunrise in the Mojave
[YOUTUBE]kTu6VFxJZgA[/YOUTUBE]
 
Good stuff Merlin!
Showin’ some ktm’s the Mighty DR650. :ride
Where’s the gnarly downhill that’s been mentioned in a few ride reports?
 
Eric B said:
Good stuff Merlin!
Showin’ some ktm’s the Mighty DR650. :ride
Where’s the gnarly downhill that’s been mentioned in a few ride reports?
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Haha it was on Day 1 the first video and I bypassed it. I met someone I've ridden before in a previous event and he knew a way around it. I think they should have that alternate route because that downhill sucks. I definitely wouldn't take an adventure bike down that. I think it may have been a different hill than last time. I didn't get a look at it though, I was like I'm good =P
 
Part 5- Sand Highway get your surf on!
[YOUTUBE]VSOdEwH--Ls[/YOUTUBE]
 
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