82 Miles Loop to The Husky Monument in the Mojave Desert

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After too long, I'm back in the dirt.

I had planned to do a 2 day ride in the Mojave Desert but because I rejetter the DRZ incorrectly I had to spend a day at home getting it right. Taking apart the carb and rejetting is the easy part but getting the carb out of the bike and putting it back together is the hard part.

My son and I decided to take a ride to The Husky Monument from our favorite camping spot in the desert off Searles Station Rd about 15 miles south of Ridgecrest. We didn't camp this time but stayed in a motel in Ridgecrest.

We unloaded the bikes at camp, where over 20 families from Reedly were spending the weekend enjoying the Open Riding Area of Spangler Hills. Almost everyone in this group now rides an assortment of "side by sides", Rhino's, Razr's and Tyrx. When everyone was switching to side by sides, I switch from dirt bikes to dual sporting.

This was my first off road ride on a DRZ400S ever. My first dual sport, a 1966 Honda S90, was also my first bike when I turned 15 1/2 many years ago. I have ridden a wide variety of 2 and 4 stroke dirt bikes over the last 42 years and have owned two Honda XR650L's, a dual sported Honda XR650R and dual sported WR450F.

The DRZ400S is in a catagory all by itself and has a big following. It is probably the best selling dual sport.

I hesitated buying one but after this first ride I have to say I am very impressed with the power, handling and overall performance of this bike.

This 82 mile loop was basically an extended test ride to work out any potential bugs and the bike worked flawlessly.

I also had along my friends dual sported 2003 KTM 525 EXC. There is a big difference between these two bikes. The KTM is lighter, has more power, has one gallon less fuel and has a much stiffer suspension.

My son and I switched back and forth so we could both compare the two bikes in the wide variety of conditions we encountered in this loop.

This loop had just about everything. We rode dirt roads, single track, did hill climbs both up and down some steep hills, rode deep sand, lots of rocks and whoops. If you want to see what your dual sport can do, this is the loop to ride.

Here are a few pics of where we started from:

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If you like BIG views like I do, then the Mojave Desert is for you. Everywhere you look in all directions, the views just go on and on. Can you tell I love riding in the desert....

We headed south/east from camp and rode a combination of dirt roads and single track. The sand we rode through was deeper than usual, probably because the desert hasn't had any rain in months. Much of this changes when the rain finally comes.

Some of the trails I have ridden in the past have now been closed so we took a more easterly route than I have taken in the past which took me right through the middle of Cudde Back Lake. If you want to ride on a "mini" bonneville salt flats, this is the place. It is a dry lake bed about 5 miles long by 2 miles wide. Open it up and have fun.

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The dry lake bed looks very interesting when you take a closer look. Does the dirt always dry in the same formation? It looked very similiar to the tops of the posts at Devils Post Pile near Mammoth.

Some people drive the 10 miles of washboard dirt road to camp in this location but I have never seen more than a few people camping there.

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I never tire of the 360 degree BIG views in this area. The views are as much fun to see as the riding is to enjoy.

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Since I had taken a trail I had never ridden on before I depended more on my GPS than usual. I knew the general area where the Husky Monument was located but the GPS helped me find the main roads in the area.

I always look for the big Joshua Tree because I know the Husky Monument is only a few miles south of that tree. You can actually see this tree on google earth if you know where to look. That serves as a very good point of reference when looking for the monument.

The Husky Monument doesn't look like much from a distance but it is much more than you would expect as you get closer.

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More and more people are finding the monument and there were more memorials added in the past few years.

It is very amazing to me that this was even started in the first place. Not only was it started but it has been very well maintained throughout the years which is even more amazing.

If you have a dual sport bike, make sure and ride to this location at some point in your life.

You can drive to this location in a car but you will probably need four wheel drive because of some of the loose sandy spots.

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In past rides to the monument, I would contine riding south to Kramer Junction where highway 58 intersects with highway 395 but on this ride we decided to head back as riding the past 41 miles took us over two hours and it was a fun but tiring 41 miles.

We headed west on a trail I had ridden many time before but for some reason this trail was wider and much more "whoopped out" than in the past.

What I thought was going to be an easy single track trail back turned out to be a rocky, whooped out trail with many deep sandy sections.

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The trail I was used to riding split into many other trails because I think they have held some races int he area as I saw some red ribbons marking some sections of the trail.

Because of the slow going on much of the trail this ride, we decided to ride the trails west to highway 395 around the north side of Freemont Peak and then ride the pavement back to camp.

This gave me an oppurtunity to test the bikes on all the surfaces I can think of in the desert including the pavement.

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We rode almost non stop for a solid five hours on this loop with only a 10 minute stop at the Husky Monument.

We made good time back to camp once we connected to highway 395 and we would have probably spent an extra hour or more on the trail if we hadn't ridden the last 30 miles on pavement.

In summary I have to say this is a very good dual sport loop and both the KTM and DRZ performed very well. The DRZ was more comfortable and less tiring to ride at a moderate dual sport pace. If you want to pound through the whoops as fast as you can, then the KTM is the better bike.

They are both very good bikes and yet very different. So far, I like the DRZ better than the XR650L dual sports I have owned in the past because the DRZ feels like it has equal or more power and is lighter. It also feels very capable on the pavement.

The nice thing about a 650cc or smaller dual sport bike is someone of my riding ability can ride it just about anywhere. The heavier KLX650 would probably be a handful in the deep sand whoops and bikes like the VStrom or GS800 would requre a rider with more skill than I have for much of this riding. Ground clearance is also an issue when riding the whoops and rock fields. Some of the adventure bikes and even the older BMW 650GS have only 4" of ground clearance which isn't enough for this type of trail.

But none of this is an issue if you have the riding skills of someone like Gail, (Kalikatoom). He could probably ride a GSA on this trail with no problem. I always struggle through deep sand whoops no matter what bike I'm on but bikes lighter than 350 lbs are manageable for me in just about any type of trail and it is nice to not have to worry about what might be ahead.

Here is a map of where we rode. Next weekend we tackle Death Valley for 3 days.

[Turkus]

very, VERY nice report, Jim
I've done my share of "cow-trailing" over the years and still miss it from time to time....
your report makes me want to add to the stable (if only I had garage space....)

I'll be in DV next Saturday, though I doubt our paths would cross unless you're gonna be up by Ubehebe Crater in the late afternoon (that's the plan) or we pass on the Trona-Wildrose Rd on our way down to Ridgecrest for the night...

there will be two of us...
the semi-old guy on the dusty, filthy dirty Biarritz Blue RT with a smile on his face from the heated seats & grips
and his younger cousin on his blue F650GS...