Riding the modified KLR 650 in the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico...

[Wingnut]

Well, THAT was the MOST FUN I've had with my clothes on since goldurned DINOSAURS roamed the earth, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

I'm chillaxin' at the ol' hacienda now, all cleaned up, cold beer in hand, and I've already resized the pics from today's little jaunt, not a bad ride or a bad day either, LOL.

Hmm, lemme see, best deliver the hard facts first & get 'em outta the way, lol.

TOTAL MILEAGE: 159.3 miles on the tripmeter

TIME WASTED: 7.5 hours

HELLER FUN HAD: absolute MAXIMUM

COOL KARMIC EVENTS: Off the friggin' charts, lol... oh, wait, there ARE no CHARTS for karmic events, ARE there??? Meh, I still had a good time, and that's all that matters...

Here we go with Round #1 of pics, looks like I'll have four rounds total, so bear with me... Spikedriver, all railroad-related shots were taken with you in mind, lol. The rest, well, lemme see what I took photo-wise, and I'll toss in a caption or two if necessary.

Okay, I now see that there are 32 pics, so I'm gonna start with these two of the KLR 650 all loaded up and ready to roll on today's adventure! There's some kinda red reflection on the plastic tank in these photos, dunno if it's from the red pavers or the flophouse primer on the skirting of the manufactured home, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Anyway, those are the initial bike shots and I'll be right back with the other BS, lol.

 

[Bacpacker]

WELL?????
You keepin us waiting????

 

[dademoss]

Nice! If only my feet would touch the ground on one

This is as offroad as I can get on a Vespa GTS250:

 

[Wingnut]

Okay, Spikedriver, we should have a cool wooden trestle for ya right off the bat... Mexican Canyon Trestle?

Here we go...

There, start with THOSE, dammit!!! Lol, I still LUV Y'ALL!!!

P.S. Yo, Peanut, I thought of ya when I took those shots of the "log cabin" in the high meadow, lol... oh, how the poor folk must SUFFER in these mountains!!! How ya like those mountain homes on stilts? Sheee-it, a hand could take an unroped fall off one of those decks and SLAM HARD, unless he was "lucky enough" to hit a tree, LOL.

Edit: You can see White Sands in a couple of pics, but the Sands are in the distance between trees or whatever...

 

[Biggkidd]

I owned and rode a KLR 650 back in the 90's. Pulled an F150 out of a ditch with it once.

Up hill, down hill with a tail wind or head wind didn't matter it would top out at 97 MPH not 96 and not 98. Talk about torque, it had it ALL. That bike was nothing but torque. But never ever EVER ride long distance or you arse would vibrate for a week! IIRC 15 and 13 inches of suspension travel and believe me I used it ALL!

But don't lay one over almost impossible to pick one back up by yourself! It was HEAVY to compared to other bikes I rode. But the real trouble with getting one back upright was geometry, it was so dang tall you needed to be 6'6".

 

[Peanut]

Beautiful country... looks like a great ride. And folks wonder why I spend so much time in the woods.

But those houses???

"Look honey, lets buy a house at the top of the cliff!"

What could possibly go wrong? Better not be a sleep walker!

 

[Wingnut]

Okay, here we go with another round, I had to deal with the kittens, take a slash, grab another beer, etc., so my Friday Night "time schedule" suffered big-time, lol.

Okay, lemme get these posted, I might add more info later, but I doubt it, lol... gettin' hungry, ya know???

Edit: That black Hawg in a couple of shots belonged to some Texas hand I met on a trail... he and his gal partied with me in that gorgeous location, smoking a bowl of my Alamogordo bud spear material and having a cold one, lol.

 

[Magus]

Catalogued for future mischief in photochopping. LOL

 

[Wingnut]

Alright, a final round before I sign off and go MACK heller chicken burrito action, LOL.

Here we go, YOUSE GOLDURNED H&CL HEE-ROES!!!

Damn, this beer & weed combo is kickin' my @$$ tonight, lol... but I'm gonna MAN UP and make a BIG OL' BURRITO here before too long! Oh, yeah, this burrito will STOMP MY @$$, then I'll be CRASHIN' HARD, LOL.

Here we go:

Okay, I must have culled a shot so the math is off, but who cares? That first pic shows hail damage to some dude's car, it actually damaged the entire vehicle... best hail damage I've EVER seen, and I've been all over the country, lol. Then we have a couple more pics of the par-tay area not far below Cloudcroft... spent some time there but met some cool folks too, ya know? So no worries, no bosses (not even Pearl, lol) and no schedules to meet, AYE??? The other photos are of a canyon which runs along Hwy. 82 on the way up from Alamogordo to Cloudcroft... it's easier to stop on the way back down to take the photos, lol. ALRIGHT, YOUSE HEROES, HOPE YA ENJOYED THE SHOTS!!! CHEERS!!!

 

[Magus]

Always up for backgrounds for my comic.

Burrito huh?
I can do that. pork sausage, bean dip, lettuce, tomato and... hm. I'll figure it out.

 

[Peanut]

http://www.wildflowersnm.com/Wildflowers_of_New_Mexico/Townsendia_eximia.html
I think this is your wild flower... one of the daisys.

I'm pretty sure the tall one is a thistle (cirsium genus), a dozen species live in new mexico. I have several here.

last week I had trouble finding a good plant site for new mexico flora. I found one tonight that is simple to use yet lists 1K+ plants (w/photos). You can search by bloom color and leaf info.

This is their list

http://www.wildflowersnm.com/Wildflowers_of_New_Mexico/Common_Name.html

 

[Wingnut]

Yes, the thistle was for you as well, lol... Scotland the Brave!!!

Okay, now I'm gonna slap together a chicken burrito...

 

[Biggkidd]

Alright, a final round before I sign off and go MACK heller chicken burrito action, LOL.

I wanna poi-sonally THANK YOUSE TARDS WHO WERE INTERESTED... the rest can crawl off & die, LOL.

Here we go, YOUSE GOLDURNED H&CL HEE-ROES!!!

Damn, this beer & weed combo is kickin' my @$$ tonight, lol... but I'm gonna MAN UP and make a BIG OL' BURRITO here before too long! Oh, yeah, this burrito will STOMP MY @$$, then I'll be CRASHIN' HARD, LOL.

Here we go:

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Okay, I must have culled a shot so the math is off, but who cares? That first pic shows hail damage to some dude's car, it actually damaged the entire vehicle... best hail damage I've EVER seen, and I've been all over the country, lol. Then we have a couple more pics of the par-tay area not far below Cloudcroft... spent some time there but met some cool folks too, ya know? So no worries, no bosses (not even Pearl, lol) and no schedules to meet, AYE??? The other photos are of a canyon which runs along Hwy. 82 on the way up from Alamogordo to Cloudcroft... it's easier to stop on the way back down to take the photos, lol. ALRIGHT, YOUSE HEROES, HOPE YA ENJOYED THE SHOTS!!! CHEERS!!!

Great scenery nice bike too! Wish I could still ride. I gave it up some years ago since my balance is trashed thanks to my M.S.

 

[Cascadian]

I see you still have the Camry. Both of mine have about 250k miles. I recently sold my WR450 to my son. I hadn't ridden it in a few years. Now I miss dirt riding. I still have my Honda V45.

 

[Magpie]

Fabulous, thanks for posting those!

 

[FarmOR]

Friend of mine snow birds from Wallowa Oregon to Silver City NM. He just stopped on the trip south A couple of days ago. Told of the gnarly hail storm that hit Wallowa recently and wreaked havoc on uncovered property and especially cars.

 

[Wingnut]

I almost bought a home in Silver City, but the deal fell through... someone else beat me to it. However, I heard there's a big meth problem down that way, so maybe it's all for the best. A high school classmate of mine was a big-time skier, and he always raved about the Wallowa Mountains... I guess there are skiing areas up there? I always wanted to try snowboarding, but never got around to it, plus the venues were too far from the beach. Now I have the Ski Apache resort right up the road... maybe they'll let me cruise down the slopes on a toboggan, lol. That'd be more my speed, given my age.

 

[Bacpacker]

Great pics Wingnut. Thanks for sharing them. I loved that cabin all by itself, think I maybe could live like that.
The scenery is awesome. I don't think I have pics, but I had an old Honda civic that went thru a storm that was beat to death. Hail tore the license plate and Honda badge of the back. Dings were deep enough to hold a little water when it rained. Bought it back from the insurance co after they totaled it and drove for 7 more years. Best 400 bucks I ever spent. Sold it for 400 after that

Glad you enjoyed the ride. Sure looks like a blast

 

[Wingnut]

It was fun, that's for sure... and I saw some really nice homes tucked away in the hills, but I was riding and couldn't use the camera at the same time. There are quite a few ranches in the lush high meadows, and the cows are fat & happy... for now. Next time I ride up there (which will probably be next Friday because my electric co-op is throwing a 'Member Appreciation Cookout' in Cloudcroft with free burgers & dogs), I'm gonna try to get some ranch shots with those fat cows. I saw some cool mountain homes tucked away in the woods too, A-frames and other designs which blended in with the environment. BTW, that's the Lincoln National Forest, I should've mentioned that in an earlier post... meh, better late than never. Lincoln County, famous for the Lincoln County War, John Chisum, Billy the Kid et al, actually borders Otero County, so I'll probably ride over to Lincoln sometime and relive the whole 'YOUNG GUNS' scene, lol. They hold bashes over there with Billy the Kid themes and whatnot. It's really not that far from Ruidoso & Ruidoso Downs, which are roughly an hour away from my home. I can get there faster by riding the bike up US54/70 and running US70 east out of Tularosa... the scenic route via Cloudcroft is fun on the bike, but all those twisties through the woods slow ya down, lol.

Edit: Lew Wallace was also involved in that whole Lincoln County War scene, he's the former Union general (Civil War) who went on to become governor of New Mexico Territory, and he wrote BEN-HUR too... quite an interesting man. Spikedriver, you can Google 'Mexican Canyon Trestle' to learn more about that bridge, it's on the National Register of Historic Places. There's at least one other trestle in good shape nearby, might be more than one... these were all from the logging railroad, and I guess the line ran clear down to Alamogordo. It's kinda cool, how the old rail lines were turned into hiking & riding trails... the 'Rail Trails!' Pretty good idea & repurposing of existing rail beds.

 

[Wingnut]

I think I posted these shots of Cloudcroft elsewhere at this site, but I'm gonna toss 'em in here as well, since this thread will mention Cloudcroft on a regular basis. That little mountain village & tourist trap was CROWDED yesterday, I guess I wasn't the only person to take advantage of the nice weather, and the fact that Labor Day is behind us. There were HEAPS of cycle riders in town, parked at the BBQ joints, lol. I'm going up to Cloudcroft next Friday to partake in the cookout sponsored by our electric co-op, they have an office up there. Here's the village, it's pretty sweet, and look at that blue sky! Heaps of fresh mountain air! No smog, lol. Check out Cloudcroft:

Those shots were taken earlier this year when there was still snow on the ground... late February or March, I think. Got a few more Cloudcroft pics worth posting, be back in a moment...

 

[Wingnut]

Okay, here are the last few Cloudcroft pics I have on file:

Some local wit must have posted that notice in the last shot... nice 666 area code, lol. That's NOT the area code for Cloudcroft, I think it's 575. Meh, the 'cat' is still pretty funny.

 

[Magus]

NIPPY! How the hell did you get to New Mexico?! I was worried sick!

 

[hiwall]

When I moved to Arizona, I promptly sold my street bike and bought a Honda Trail 110 which I put over 14,000 back road miles on.
Then I sold that and bought a Yamaha TW200 and put many thousands of back road miles on that too. Some of the most fun I had was riding those two bikes around Arizona exploring.

 

[Curmudgeon]

I can dig it!!! Beautiful place.

 

[Wingnut]

Hey, Hiwall, when I lived in the White Mountains I rode the trails fairly often, and I had a blast doing it! Once, a big ol' cow elk leapt out of the forest and into the trail ahead of me... crossed over, ran back into the trail and ahead of me for a bit, then disappeared into the forest again whence she came. I had already backed out of it, didn't want to collide with any elk, lol, but the wildlife there was amazing! Heaps of deer & elk, plus a bunch of other critters! My memories of the White Mountains are happy memories! Kinda wish I were still there, but this area is also interesting!

The TW200 was the bike with the fat tires, right? I always liked those, thought they'd do well in high desert washes where a little sand was involved along with the usual dirt & rocks... a guy in Benson had a TW200, he used to park it in front of WallyWorld. Nice bike, I wouldn't mind having one, but for now I'm "stuck" with the monster thumper, lol. Meh, life could be worse, and the KLR has enough power to handle what I ask of it... I can even pass vehicles that are bogging down traffic while pulling the grade to Cloudcroft. Some inconsiderate b@stards don't know why turnouts were created...

 

[hiwall]

Hey, Hiwall, when I lived in the White Mountains I rode the trails fairly often, and I had a blast doing it! Once, a big ol' cow elk leapt out of the forest and into the trail ahead of me... crossed over, ran back into the trail and ahead of me for a bit, then disappeared into the forest again whence she came. I had already backed out of it, didn't want to collide with any elk, lol, but the wildlife there was amazing! Heaps of deer & elk, plus a bunch of other critters! My memories of the White Mountains are happy memories! Kinda wish I were still there, but this area is also interesting!

The TW200 was the bike with the fat tires, right? I always liked those, thought they'd do well in high desert washes where a little sand was involved along with the usual dirt & rocks... a guy in Benson had a TW200, he used to park it in front of WallyWorld. Nice bike, I wouldn't mind having one, but for now I'm "stuck" with the monster thumper, lol. Meh, life could be worse, and the KLR has enough power to handle what I ask of it... I can even pass vehicles that are bogging down traffic while pulling the grade to Cloudcroft. Some inconsiderate b@stards don't know why turnouts were created...

I'm too short to ride most bikes.

 

[Wingnut]

The Honda Trail bikes would be a good compromise... plenty of fun too! I miss my little offroad rocket, the Honda Z50/140, lol.

 

[Wingnut]

Bumping this thread so a friend in Coronado can easily find it... my friend Tommy, he's one helluva rider, so he'll appreciate the photos.

 

[hiwall]

Here is my TW200 on one of the best roads it ever saw when I rode it.

 

[Wingnut]

Yeah, sure is nice to get out to those wide open spaces... that's where having my bike (or any bike) really pays off, being able to get out there and enjoy that wilderness. Plus the folks I meet out there are more likely to be my kinda folks, tired of city life & fraudulent gubmint, and looking for greater personal freedom in this Brave New Third Fraudulent World!

P.S. That TW200 has nice classic lines, like it'd be easy to ride, ya know? I always wanted to try one because those fat tires would serve a purpose in areas with occasional patches of sand. Some desert washes are like that: hard stony ground in some places, soft sandy patches elsewhere. A mixed bag for riders, but the right bike would handle it, no problem.