The Crew
- Brandon O'Brien
- 2011 Triumph Tiger 800
- From Albuquerque, NM
- Ryan Jenkins
- 2011 KTM 990 Adventure Dakar
- From Denver, CO
The Route
- July 13 - July 29, 2012
- 5,500+ miles
- 17 days
- 12 nights camping
- 2 nights in hotels
- 2 nights at Ryan's
- 2 Countries
- 10 US States
- NM, CO, WY, MT, ID, WA, OR, CA, NV, UT
- 1 Canadian Province
- British Columbia
Some Highlights
- Grand Tetons
- Yellowstone National Park
- North Cascades National Park
- Whistler, BC
- Vancouver Island
- Ferry Rides
- Riding the Pacific Coast
- Redwood Forests
- 2 days in Moab
Sponsors
- Roto Pax
- Stop n' Go
- Twisted Throttle
- Mountain House
- Backpackers Pantry
- REV'IT
- RoadGear
- Medzone
- Rigid Industries
- Big Agnes
- Sea to Summit
- Cycle Wipes
- Hot Chillys
- Light Knight
- Green Light Stuff
- TCX Boots
What the heck is the 2012 Epic Motorcycle Ride?
The 2012 Epic Motorcycle Ride is a 5,500+ mile motorcycle trip hitting most of the Pacific Northwest, Western and Southwestern states over the course of 17 days in July. This will be our most aggressive and longest motorcycle ride to date. We have been planning and preparing for this ride since the Summer of 2011.
Video montage from Epic 2012 Ride
This is a video montage from all the footage we shot on our 2012 Epic Motorcycle Ride.
Posted on September 27, 2012 by Brandon
Video from Day 4 - Getting stuck off road
Here is a video of us getting stuck on a very narrow trail off of some forest roads near the St Joe River in Idaho. The right side of the trail is a very steep drop that goes down about 100 feet.
Posted on August 21, 2012 by Brandon
We're finished!
The trip met a successful completion when I made it back to my house in Albuquerque on the 29th. Even after all the rain and extremely long days it was still a great trip and a great time touring around the western part of the US. We've updated our full ride report with all of our photos and stories from the trip. The full ride report with photos can be found here: Epic 2012 Ride Report. The next thing to work on is going to be converting and uploading all the video we shot. We've been looking through it and there's some really amazing sights to see in the videos... including when we got stuck on that single track trail in Idaho!
Posted on August 11, 2012 by Brandon
Back in Denver!
We finally made it back to Ryan's house in Denver an hour ago. We got rained on again last night and today riding from Aspen. We're glad to be back and we'll be working on finishing up the ride reports and uploading photos tonight. I've gone ahead and added the ride reports through July 26 which can be found here: Epic 2012 Ride Report
Posted on July 28, 2012 by Brandon
Starting to Head West
We just made it to Reno, NV earlier tonight after a series of long days on the road. We've covered a lot of ground since the last update and will be working on photos soon. I've gone ahead and posted the textual ride reports here: Epic 2012 Ride Report
Posted on July 23, 2012 by Brandon
We've added photos to all the ride reports so far
We have updated all the ride reports so far with photos from the ride. Check them out! Epic 2012 Ride Report
Posted on July 19, 2012 by Brandon
We made it to Vancouver!
The last few nights we haven't had a chance to upload our ride reports. We're finally in Vancouver now at a hotel with internet. I've gone ahead and uploaded our ride reports for the last few days which can be found here: July 15, July 16, and July 17.
We're in the lobby of the hotel right now waiting for our room to finish being cleaned. After that we're going to head out and see some cool suspension bridges and then start working on uploading some photos of the ride so far!
Posted on July 18, 2012 by Brandon
Day 2 - July 14, 2012 - Tetons and Yellowstone
Today saw us up in the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks. Full ride report can be found Ride Report Day 2 - July 14, 2012
Posted on July 15, 2012 by Brandon
Day 1 - July 13, 2012
I successfully made it up to Denver from Albuquerque. The ride starts in full force tomorrow morning! Today's ride report with photos can be found here: Ride Report Day 1 - July 13, 2012
Posted on July 13, 2012 by Brandon
Departing in the morning!
I fully packed my bike today with all of my gear. It looks like everything will fit perfectly! Here are a few pictures of how things look fully loaded:
Posted on July 12, 2012 by Brandon
Less than a week to go.
With less than a week to go we've finally started to get all of our gear packed up and ready to go. I finally installed the Rigid Industries Dually D2's on my bike (Our Install), I mounted the GoPro HD Hero 2 to my helmet and installed the Cardo Scala Rider G9 headset into my helmet as well. I have all of my gear set out in my living room and just need to get everything to fit into the panniers or mounted to the back of my bike. Here's a photo of all my gear laid out:
Here's Ryan's gear unpacked and packed:
What's left to do? I need to fill up my RotoPax with fuel, print out directions for each day, pack my clothes, fit everything onto the bike and get some cash.
Posted on July 8, 2012 by Brandon
Ordering Frenzy... Complete!
We've purchased just about everything we needed for the ride. Ryan just needs to gather a few tools to make a small toolkit and then we can say we're ready. I took my bike in today to get a new rear tire installed and also get some basic servicing done before the ride. With exactly a month left before we begin our journey I can comfortably say we're in a pretty good position. All the planning and organizing has seemingly paid off. Even though we're going to have a GPS, I also went ahead and wrote some turn by turn directions for each day so we can each have a copy in our tank bag's map holder as a backup.
Posted on June 13, 2012 by Brandon
We're getting closer to our ride...
We've now got just over 5 weeks before we start our epic ride around the Pacific Northwest, Pacific Coast, Utah and Colorado. In the time since our last update Brandon has taken a 2,600 mile test ride from Albuquerque, NM to Indianapolis, IN and back (Ride report). Ryan has installed his panniers and put together an extensive blowout kit. In the few weeks remaining we each need to order a new set of tires and give our bikes a regular maintenance servicing.
Posted on June 5, 2012 by Brandon
I now have panniers!
My SW-MOTECH TraX ALU-BOX 45 liter panniers and mounting hardware arrived yesterday. I set out and immediately installed the panniers on my Tiger and they look great. All of the mounting hardware fit extremely wall and didn't require any drilling or cutting to make things fit. The panniers also come with a waterproof dry-bag that makes it easy to remove the contents of the pannier without having to take the pannier off. I made a little install tutorial that can be found here: TraX ALU-BOX install on Tiger 800. I'll be testing these panniers out on my 2,700 mile round trip ride to Indianapolis for the Indy 500.
Posted on May 10, 2012 by Brandon
10 Weeks and Counting...
We've got 10 weeks to go until I (Brandon) head up to Denver to start the epic motorcycle ride. Two weekends ago I went up to Ryan's and we installed the Rigid Industries Dually D2 auxiliary lights on his bike (Our install). We've got all of our campgrounds booked and my panniers should show up on Wednesday. Each of us have a nice list of things we still have left to purchase, but we're finally starting to get a lot of loose ends tied up! I'm planning on doing a ride out to Indy for the Indianapolis 500 toward the end of this month as a dry run to see how things hold up and make any tweaks or additional purchases.
Posted on May 4, 2012 by Brandon
What are we taking?
Here's a breakdown of what we're packing and taking with us. We'll keep this list updated as it gets closer to our ride.
| Brandon | Ryan |
|---|---|
Motorcycle Related2011 Triumph Tiger 800
Camping Items
Clothing / Accessories
|
Motorcycle Related2011 KTM 990 Adventure Dakar
Camping Items
Clothing / Accessories
|
Food we're taking:Mountain House: Rice and Chicken, Lasagna with Meat Sauce (3), Spaghetti with Meat Sauce (3), Chili Mac and Beef (3), Beef Stroganoff with Noodles (3), Granola with Banana and Milk (2), Granola with Milk and Blueberries (2), Scrambled Eggs with Ham, Red and Green Peppers (4), Scrambled Eggs with Bacon (4)Backpacker's Pantry: Santa Fe Style Rice with Chicken, Chicken Vindaloo, Fettuccini Alfredo with Chicken, Katmandu Curry, Cold Potato Salad, Granola with Bananas and Milk, Biscuits and Gravy, Mocha Mousse Pie, Huevos Rancheros, Whole Milk |
|
Our custom built blowout kit:Duct Tape, Masking Tape, Tweezers, Finger Nail Clippers, Scissors, Quick Clot, Aloe, Tourniquet, Butterfly Closers, Waterproof Tape, Oil Free Soap, Alcohol Swab, Bacitracin, Eye Drops, Latex Gloves, Tums, Various Sizes of Band-Aids, Celox, Sinuberase, Liquid Bandage, Burn Cream, Super Glue, Icy Hot, Sitepad 5"x9", Bonine, Oscillococcinum, Antibiotic Cream, Breath Right, Sterile Pad 2"x2", Sterile Pad 3"x3", Ace Bandage, Benadryl, Ibuprofen 600mg, Advil, Bite and Sting Kit, Hydrogen Peroxide, Epsom Salt, Gatoraid Powder Mix, Betadine Solution, Imodium A-D, Tylenol, Flashlight |
|
In-depth Itinerary
Day 1:
* July 13 (sleeping at Google map point B)
* 441 miles
* Brandon leaves Albuquerque and heads to Denver
* States: NM, CO
Day 2:
* July 14 (sleeping at Google map point C)
* 574 miles
* Leave Denver and head to Yellowstone campground
* States: CO, WY
Day 3:
* July 15 (sleeping at Google map point D)
* 110 miles
* Tour Yellowstone and head west to Henry's Lake to camp
* States: WY, MT, ID
Day 4:
* July 16 (sleeping at Google map point E)
* 535 miles
* Just covering ground to get to Coeur d'Alene campground
* States: ID, MT
Day 5:
* July 17 (sleeping at Google map point F)
* 402 miles
* Beauty Creek campground to Birch Bay
* States: ID, WA
Day 6:
* July 18 (sleeping at Google map point G)
* 340 miles
* Either drive up and around Whistler or go to North Vancouver and visit the Capilano suspension bridge
* Find a hotel by driving around
* States: WA, BC
Day 7:
* July 19 (sleeping at Google map point H)
* 278 miles
* Broughton Strait Campsite near Port Hardy
* States: BC
Day 8:
* July 20 (sleeping at Google map point I)
* 309 miles
* Ride from camp site near port hardy to Victoria
* Buy our tickets the night before in Victoria for the ferry
* States: BC
Day 9:
* July 21 (sleeping at Google map point J)
* 280 miles
* Victoria, touring around Olympic to Fort Canby State Park
* States: BC, WA
Day 10:
* July 22 (sleeping at Google map point K)
* 530 miles
* Ride PCH all the way down to Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park (Mill Creek Campground)
* States: WA, OR, CA
Day 11:
* July 23 (sleeping at Google map point L)
* 391 miles
* Ride through the various redwood state parks and see the trees plus a lot of twisties it looks like by the map and make it to Reno
* FIND A HOTEL
* States: CA
Day 12:
* July 24 (sleeping at Google map point M)
* 580 miles
* Slab it from Reno to Spruces, UT campground
* States: NV, UT
Day 13:
* July 25 (sleeping at Google map point N)
* 250 miles
* Ride to Arches, UT / Moab and camp there
* Set up base camp at Arches for two nights to explore
* States: UT
Day 14:
* July 26 (sleeping at Google map point N)
* ???? miles
* Staying at our Arches campsite and exploring the area
* States: UT
Day 15:
* July 27 (sleeping at Google map point O)
* 257 miles
* Ride to Aspen, CO and hang out there then camp there.
* States: UT, CO
Day 16:
* July 28 (Riding back to Denver at Google map point P)
* 163 miles
* Ride back to Ryan's house
* States: CO
Day 17:
* July 29
* 441 miles
* Brandon rides back to Albuquerque
* States: CO, NM
Fuelups |
Motorcycles |
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Forum Threadsby spyderwolf66 on May 17, 2013
by spyderwolf66 on May 17, 2013
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on June 18, 2013