Adventures By Guy

Alarm went of at 0500. Mike and Jared are early risers and I didn’t want to be holding them up so I was up and showered, packed and then ate some Yogurt I had and was ready to go by 0550… but nobody else was even moving! Oh, didn’t you hear us last night? We wanted to let it get light out first. They all got up a little past 6…
We did get on the road at 0815 and it was mostly sunny!! No rain…. But it was 47°F out. No wind so that was good. We wound our way north through pretty valleys and back roads that ran along babbling streams and nice rivers. As we got closer to the Poconos mountains we got on some really nice winding roads with trees arching over the road with a good amount of fall color.
We got to the CPAAT starting point at noon. Gassed up and I fed the group a lunch of Summer Sausage and a block of Colby cheese that I had in my saddlebag. We ate off to the side of the gas station parking lot.
We were off and Mike lead, Jared was 2nd and I was tail gun Charlie.
Due to the rain there was no dust and not much sloppy mess either. Only Jared’s bike is kinda dirty because I guess he doesn’t know you can steer around mud puddles! He says he only hit 1 larger one and that’s what sprayed the bike. Wink, wink, ok.
Mike is on his KTM 990 and it has no gas gauge??? What? Jared was staying pretty close behind Mike and Mike likes to play and will hit the throttle pretty hard on straight stretches or other loose stuff. He has Akropovic mufflers which are easily heard. That bike really snorts! With Jared staying close to Mike that meant that every time Mike hit the throttle I would hear BRAAAP, BRAAAAAP in my headset even if I couldn’t see them around the corner. I get on it a little but mostly I just keep a smooth pace and meander along. Mostly…
This first day was easy terrain and tomorrow should be more challenging. Very pretty as the trees are over a lot of the road but a lot of trees have dropped their leaves already due in part to the storms that just went through. Still a nice ride today. We ended the planned route for the day and Mike had called a lodge ahead of time. We were only 6 miles away. So we were off the road and checked in the old hotel (1947) by 3 pm unpacked and eating by 5. Watching the Jets upset the Eagles now.
Supposed to be mostly cloudy with a chance of rain a couple of times throughout the day. Let’s hope they are as wrong tomorrow as they were today!
I was riding the African Twin today and a couple of things I noticed.
21″ front wheel. Didn’t turn into a corner as easily but with a firm use of counter steering it corners pretty well. The wheel tracks better in looser gravel. But the ST 19″ front does just fine. Wants to wander a bit in the looser gravel but the handling in the corners is much better.
Chain drive. This is where I really like the Super Tenere with its shaft drive. Yes it makes it a bit heavier but on a touring adventure bike I will take it for the shaft.
Engine. You need to keep the engine rev’d to around 4,000 rpm to get good torque to accelerate out of corners or up hills on the AT. This is a 1000 CC model not the newer 1100 CC model. Power is steady but I sure like the power better in the Super Tenere.
The AT feels narrower and is a very small bit better for standing up. ST isn’t hard at all. I don’t like the dash placement on the AT while sitting or standing. It should be up further so my eyes don’t have to look down so far to see while sitting. They also routed the clutch cable so it blocks a small portion of the dash while sitting. While standing I can’t see anything on the dash when I glance down like I can on the ST.
The AT is slightly taller. It also has a smaller gas tank. Smaller by 1 gallon.
Did I mention that I love the low end torque of the ST? Yeah… and the AT doesn’t have it. Makes a difference going down a gravel road with hills and curves. I am changing gears a lot more often.
Speaking of changing gears… the AT has a cable for the clutch and therefore is NOT a hydraulic. My forearm was getting fatigued by the end of the day and I didn’t even have to get in the friction zone on gnarly terrain yet… so I definitely would buy an AT DCT if I was to buy one. I know… I could also get my forearms in better shape too. The ST has a much lighter hydraulic clutch and is easy to operate all day long in rough terrain. My 2017 ST has cruise control too. Didn’t need CC today but it’s nice to have!
On the AT you can change your Traction Control while riding down the road. You can’t on the ST. You can also turn off the rear ABS with a push of a button. I have to stop to change TC on the ST. You can’t turn off ABS on the ST unless you make a modification on the ST like I did. The ABS is very good on the ST so wanting to turn it off is very rare. Only one small mishap while traveling north. I saw some small black object tumbling on the road as Mike (leading) went by and also Jared. That might have fallen off Mike’s bike… as no bike makes enough wind to blow anything like that. Hey, anyone lose something off your bike. No answer… they didn’t stop or slow down. Well, I should have stopped as it was the cap to Mike’s spare fuel bladder. Useless now!
Besides that small inconvenience it was another good day! Turning the light out early tonight!!!
Cheers,
Guy