TAT on a KPX?

[Rule6]

Originally Posted by McQueen216

I’m probably late to the party but…

When I was out and about this summer, on my little 12k mile ride, I ran into this guy doing the TAT on his TW200. Ran into him in CO, when I had to divert around that little stretch of Highway 50 that’s closed because of the washed out bridge (north of Durango). He was riding the stretch of CO with his BIL, who was on a new-to-him KLR650, old enough to be carb’d.

Hthis guy was riding and camping, of course. So he was somewhat loaded to bear. Light, but still… he had gear. And he’s been on the road for a while. And that TW200… Lordy, it has been modified by that point, to better / best suit what he’s been doing. (This was… 2nd week of July?)

But try as they may, there was no making it up Cinnamon Pass. Big rock gravel for a road, tight switchbacks, and then…. a loss of momentum on the last turn. Just could not make it, and certainly could not push it the rest of the way. They turned around, rolled down, and routed around. Two days to go 40 miles as the crow flies. I know they didn’t feel bad - there were three guys on adventure bikes, 700-1100cc deals, and one cracked his timing cover about 3/4 of the way up and they all had to turn around and roll back down, tails between their leafs. (Three cheers for JB weld putty).

So… can the KPX250 do it? I would absolutely think so. I’ve got the files for it, to include the GPSKevin ones, if anyone wants them (and more - DM me). But really, you’d need to hammer out your load, because weight is god. I was just riding here, there and everywhere and even that trip had me looking at and factoring in weight as an important variable.

Sounds like a tricky ride. The KPX might just make it, but I'm not sure about me riding it up there! Maybe if I send my gear ahead by post office.

Cheers!