Before you ask…..the KLR isn’t done yet…..I still haven’t made the headlight bracket
So every year KTM does their Adventure Rally tour. They travel the world and organize rides and set up a show in a few different places and this year they happened to be stopping in Park City and by chance I just got a KTM so I knew I would have to participate. So I pulled my wheels and had the knobbies installed, had to install a front fender riser kit to clear the knobby tire up front, and pulled the giant windscreen.
I spent all of day one in off-road rider technique class…..let me tell you that was some hard work! I wasn’t expecting the class to be so intense. I started the morning off by nearly dropping my bike on the very first exercise and proceeded to demonstrate my lack of skills all day. I’m happy to say that by the end of the day I was feeling confident and much more in control of my bike.
After the class finished up I took a demo ride on a 1290 Super Duke GT. WHAT A SWEET BIKE!!!!! The pre planned route for demo rides was very fun and long….by the time we got back I really didn’t want to give it back.
I was pretty worn out after all the riding so I decided to walk around the trade show and see what the vendors had to offer. I was surprised at all the stuff we got handed to us for free. I’m no stranger to trade shows and making sure I take advantage of EVERY freebie and raffle. This was no different…I came home with so much crap. I have a good time collecting all the free junk but really enjoy seeing what companies come up with to advance their industry. Innovation is what drives industry and I love being familiar with the cutting edge of any new technology. I saw some really amazing products and met some really innovative people. One of the most impressive tents was Rottweiler Performance. They had a Husqvarna 701 outfitted with some amazing carbon fiber work. I tried to get pictures but they don’t do it justice….
Next day I signed up for a “ride with the pros” ride. I got to take a ride guided by Russel Bobbit. The ride was fun but kind of stressful for me cause I’m so not familiar with dirt riding and I’m trying it on a large and expensive bike. I figured out a few good mounting spots for cameras and got a couple good shots of the ride but I’m having technical difficulties getting them off my cameras and on to the computer. I’ll add them later once I get the GoPro figured out.
After the ride I took a couple more demo rides and then we did the awards dinner. That was pretty fun but not much to write about.
The last day consisted of a slow riding game and wondering around the show some more then one last demo ride on another super duke. I had a bunch of fun at this event and got to meet some cool people. I feel like I did a poor job of taking pictures this time but I was having so much fun that I kept forgetting to take pictures. Its like I said about taking pictures of animals when I was in Alaska…..sometimes you need to worry less about pictures and be in the moment to experience things first hand. We’ll return to our regularly scheduled programming shortly…..this one was for me.