I am going to be doing the Trans-American Trail, known as the TAT, in a few weeks. The TAT is 5500 miles of trails and back roads that cross the country. It's usually driven East to West, but will be doing it backwards West to East, and up the East coast to Vermont. My badass girlfriend Rachel will be doing it with me. I will be on a 2002 Honda XR650L and she will be on a 1999 KTM LC4 640. We're planning on taking approximately 4 weeks to do the trip. We'll be starting in Oregon and going right to the best part of the trail, like the mountain passes and forests of Colorado and Utah.
2002 Honda XR 650L- stock suspension with more fluid in front forks and stiffened preload. Running stock front sprocket and few more teeth on the rear. Mefo explorer front tire and Heideneau K60 rear tire. Aftermarket plastics to eliminate weight and size, including a CRF450 rear fender and XR600 side panels, Baja Designs headlight with upgraded LED bulb, 4 gallon gas tank, shaved stock seat with maddog seat pad. The rear has a Motion Pro taillight setup with upgraded LED bulb, and all four blinkers are LED. Upgraded IMS footpegs, fully ceramic coated and wrapped exhaust with a Supertrapp muffler. I've put an exhaust guard and exhaust tip on it, to protect gear and body parts from damage. It has the usual carb mods, better air filter and drilled plastics with air pods. The bar setup has fatty bars, setback bar clamps, Cycra handguards, powermadd double take mirrors and a Ram XGrip mount. I've replaced the dash with a custom piece of aluminum with a Trail Tech Endurance II gauge, a twin usb charging port with built in voltmeter. I've also mounted LED light bar above the front fender. For luggage, I've got a pair of horn saddlebags and a Wolfman enduro tank bag on the front, with Green Chili Adventure Gear Scramble Rack and Bag Snake kits holding on two 20 liter dry bags and a Wolfman Rollie bag on the bag. I've mounted a 1.5 liter spare fuel bottle via Wolfman bottle holster to the Rollie bag. I also have a small fender bag on the rear, with all tools for roadside repairs.
Gear- Because this will be an ultralight type setup, this list is quite small, especially compared to previous trips on the mighty KLR.
1- 0 degree sleeping quilt
2- Big Agnes Q Core SLX sleeping pad
3- Black Diamond headlamp & lantern
4- Sea to Summit folding bowl, long spork, lighter, pocket knife, pocket rocket stove, fuel canister
5- 2X Gopro, digital camera, Sena headset, Galaxy S9, Anker powerbank, all charging cords
6- 1 1/2 lb hatchet (strapped to handlebars)
7- Ten feet black paracord
8- Toiletries
3 t-shirts, 2 underwear, 1 long sleeve, 1 pair pants, 1 pair shorts, 3 socks, 1 puffy jacket (excluding clothing worn when leaving)
3 layer Joe Rocket riding jacket, 2 layer Joe Rocket riding pants, Forma Adventure boots, 2 pairs gloves (cold & warm), helmet, Klim goggles
Tools-
Adjustable wrench, sockets 8-16mm w/ socket wrench and extension, philips/flat screwdriver, alligator pliers, valve stem tool, Slime air compressor, extra front tube, 2x tire spoons, chain lube, spare headlight bulb, oil filter, 1/2 quart extra oil, allen head set, length of electrical wire, electrical tape, zipties, JB Weld, hose clamps, spare master link.
Rachel will be carrying the Pocket Rocket camp stove but i will have the canister of Isobutane fuel. I won't go through the list of her packing and gear list, as it is her first time traveling long distance via motorcycle. She is however sporting Giant Loop pannier bags and duffle bag with a 1 gallon Rotopax and Green Chili Adventure Gear straps.
Below are some pictures of the Honda with gear laid out, gear packed up, and lastly gear loaded onto the bike. While it looks like a lot, this is actually a very lightweight and minimalist setup, especially compared to many bike travelers.
Top left is clothing that goes in the Wolfman bag, with a couple small food related things.
Middle top is one soft bag with tent, extra oil and room for food and jacket/pants liner.
Middle bottom is other soft bag with sleeping bag, sleeping pad, chain lube and puffy jacket.
Top right is riding gear.
Bottom right is tank paniers, consisting of small things you want access to throughout the day. Bottom left is tools that go in the rear fender bag.
The Green Chili Adventure Gear straps and soft rack make it extremely easy to attach or detach this gear in several minutes.
We leave in about two weeks for this grand adventure. I will try to post regular updates on my Facebook and Instagram. Stay tuned, we shall see what situations and beauties arise! Till the next time my friends~
