adventure motorcycle ride,with knife content and tent review

[shaker]

A trip to one of my favorite crown land (free) campsites during long weekend in October (Thanksgiving)
The main purpose of the trip was to try out my new tent and see how it works in colder weather.
I had just bought this tent the day before. Went to MEC in Toronto to get it (MEC = Mountain Equipement Co-op)
IT the tern2 3 season tent. I left at 1:30pm on sunday October12 2009. temps were about 5C during the day to close to 0C in the night. ALong the way I
encountered two light rain showers that I was mostly able to ride around.
Stopping in Bancroft to fuel up before going to campsite there was some very light snow flurries . People look at you weird when fueling up a bike in the snow lol
I had been here in the summer and everything was ok , In the meantime a tornado had gone through here just missing my favorite campsite
Please ignore the date stamp on pictures since I cant seem to remember to check that after letting batteries dies in my point and shoot camera


Heres my route in from highway 62 near Bancroft.

Here's the route I took out .Following along the path the tornado took

Here's the path in red of the tornado as far as i could see from the roads.

Here's a picture of the road in> Of course as is always the case you can't see how steep it really is in a picture. Its looking up hill
probally a 20 degree slope and 150 meteres long.

Setting up the new tent . This is the first real good tent that I have bought.

All set up and moved to a more level location.

View of the site for the night

MAde a nice little fire here to keep the chill off as I made and had supper. Nothing special just heated up a can of soup.

 

[shaker]

Went to bed early and watched a movie on my little mp3 player. Or maybe I should say listened to a movie since a 1" screen dosen't show you much.
It was quite a bit warmer in the tent then outside. Over all I am pleased with this tent so far. I will try it out during the winter and see how that works.
The next morning was chilly with a mist hanging over the lake

Here's the path into and out of this campsite. The main parking is about 100 meters along the shore.
The quad's have made a trail right to campsite. YOu used to have to walk in to here. Not sure if I would try this on a big bike?
You can see my skid marks I made on way in on left trail coming downhill. Going out on right was easier but still not that easy.

Swordfinkle lake road in fall. The tornado crossed this road as well

This tree was probally 2.5 feet thick and the hole the roots were in was 8 feet long by 5 feet across and probally 4 feet deep

Good thing someone cleaned up the road.

Looking across a valley at the damage

One more picture and two vids.
These are my knives that I took along one is my scuba diving knife and the other is a "hunting" knife , both were made by me. The hunting knife i used to split wood as seen in the first video. Its called battoning when you do it this way lol
this eliminates the need to bring a hatchet , I guess . I could split the wood pretty good but had to cut the log into shorter lengths to do it.
To cut the logs I used a pocket "chain saw" That worked pretty good

So first video is splitting my wood





Second video is starting the fire , For this I did not use a lighter or matches ,I used firestarter cotton and a flint striker

 

[brians]

Nice camp setting. I bet good fishing up there. Any season open still?

That cane cut a nice swath of destruction. No shortage of firewood there.

 

[shaker]

not sure whats still open for fishing there ..when I arrived at the lake two guys were there fishing for trout and had a few too. This trip was 2nd weekend of October.


I should add that I had posted this on the adventure rider forums so thats why i explained what battoning was . I know you guys know what it is .

hopefully i will get the tent out a few more time before snow and see how it works. I am also planning a weekend of winter camping this winter as well.

 

[kgd]

Nice pictures and cool - with the tornado damage. That seems like a really broad swath!

Is that the tarn-2 that you bought? I have the tarn-3, great tent! Had it for 10 years and its still going strong!

 

[Snow]

I'm not seeing the knife pics. The rest look great though. What brand is that tent? Looks like a nice one person setup.

 

[shaker]

The tent is a tarn-2 from mountian equipement co-op (MEC) in tornoto ontario ,,,they have other outlets across canada
Its actually listed as a two person tent ,, and I suppose two would fit ok,,
I'd list as a 1.8 person tent
I like to have a little bit of room so i use it as a 1 person tent .


heres my two knives
one is my dive knife 6k stellite and Tiger coral handles
the other is a hunting/camp knife i made , 440c and g10 handles

 

[coaldigger]

Looks like you had a good time ! Good looking knives you got there. What bike is that ? Looks nice !

 

[actiondiver]

That is a Suzuki DRZ400S.

Looks like a great trip and of the type I take myself. Great to see others enjoy the same type of mini adventure!

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Fletcher Knives]

Great photos man. I bet that was a fun time. I can't wait for Yamaha to come out with the WR450R dualsport. That's going to be my next adventure bike.

 

[jcl-MD]

Good Stuff!
RP#141

 

[EmsRescueGuy]

Looks like a fun trip. I need to do more Motorcycle camping, an adventure bike is next on my list since my cruiser and back roads often dissagree.

 

[shaker]

actiondiver is correct is a drz 400 s model
I bought it new at end of june 2008 (june24th to be exact) and it now has just short of 25000 kms on it
the knives worked great ,the skinner (wood splitter) kept its edge fine even after splitting all that wood ,,still hair shaving sharp.
The dive knife I use for more general purpose stuff,,cutting ,slicing since the coral handles cant take a hard hit .I baby that knife more then others . plus being stellite i never need to worry about rust .

the tent is the tarn2 ,,and Im happy about it so far and I am sure it will give me years of service

 

[LMT66]

Nice trip! That would be my idea of an ideal trip and that DRZ 400 is a great bike. It's in my future plans when cash permits.
Can you detail how you setup the bike to carry your gear? I see a tank saddle-bag but the back is somewhat obscured in the photos.

 

[shaker]

the basic setup on the bike is hmm simple
bought a rack for the back,,on that i have tent, sleeping bag, small waterproof sac with air matteress, sweater, and towel
all light stuff.
the saddle bags on back of seat have,,
left side away from exhaust has stove,spare fuel for stove, pot,pan,plate,shoes.
exhaust side ,has food can opener,utensils, dish soap ,,odds and ends
I tyr to keep heavier stuff in these bags,,keeps bikes center of gravety lower

back pack holds knives,dslr(when i bring it) water filter ,first aid kit(S) firestarting stuff, book(s) I try to keep backpack weight down while still keeping emergency stuff in it, in case i go down in river crossing,backpack stuff will hopefully stay dry.

tanks bag hold rain gear, spare gloves, bottle of water for while driving, and my "geocaching" stuff

heres a copy of a post I did on the tank bags
heres the goods on the tank bag (saddle bag)
last fall i went to my local (60 miles away) Princess auto store and bought a tank bag made for quades
I think I payed $12 for it. problem is it did not set right and was held on by neoprene which over time
stretched out and would no longer hold tank bag on tank. last weekend while over taking a car the wind blew it off
So I have some leather sitting around for knife sheaths So time to upgrade the tank bags
now that I see how the new bag sits I will make clips to hold the bottom of the bags tight to tanks as well.
old bag from back

old bags from side ..showing how they did not sit right

old from side farther away

new leather from side ,,sits much better

new from seat ,,,fits a lot better more sleek

new from behind bike ,, a lot cleaner looking

new with gas cap off ,,when cap is on you can't take bag off,, with the neoprene you could just pull bag off
now it stays on and does not interfere with cap

with the new leather joining the bag together I do not need straps to hold the bag down,,,now that it follows
the contours of the tank better the air no longer gets under it and lifts it anymore ,,as long as the sides have something in them
they stay down,,if i ride with nothing in them they still get blown around. Since I only use the tanks bag for carrying stuff its no problem.
hope this helps ,,if i can help more ask away
terry

 

[LMT66]

Shaker, Thanks much for the info. You did a great job on those bags and they look perfectly formed to the tank. Impressive!

How does it handle loaded up and balanced out?

 

[shaker]

Shaker, Thanks much for the info. You did a great job on those bags and they look perfectly formed to the tank. Impressive!

How does it handle loaded up and balanced out?

While loaded for camping I have had the bike on everything from highways to single track/quad trails and have found it to ride very well. The bike is a little tall for me even when not loaded , actually the load sags it down a bit making it a little less tall . With no load at a stop light I can only tippy toe the ground on both sides or i usually just flat foot one foot and leave the other on the footpeg lol
On uneven ground sometimes when I stop and pout a foot down I just dont come in contact with the ground till I am falling over. Not a problem with this bike its light enought that I can get it back upright no problem.
I have had the bike a year and a half,,put 25000kms on it (something like 16000 miles) and have only replaced front and bake tires, and a new chain
When I bought the bike I added rad guards,case guards,and lever guards,,
super reliable bike gets around 60 miles a gallon ,and a blast to ride