?? Petrie Motorsports Ride Reports
May Dual Sport Ride

This was pretty much the maiden voyage for the new 690 Enduro R other than just commuting back and forth to work.  We planned a weekend dual sport ride from Elkhorn, WI to Clark County which is about 250 miles north west.  There would be four of us lead by Craig Johnson who has spent a fair amount of time on the Clark County trails and would be our guide.   Jeff and Harrison rounded out the group.  They were all on KTM 950 Adventures and I was on my new 690 Enduro so it was going to be an interesting comparison as to how each bike handled the various terrain and road sections of the trip.  We left on a Friday afternoon in mid May and had sunny warm weather for the ride to Black River Falls where we stopped for dinner.  This first section was pretty much just freeway so we could get to our destination before it got dark.  At least that was the plan.  After dinner in Black River Falls it was threatining rain and we were hitting gravel roads for about the last hour of our ride which ended up in the dark and spitting rain.  Just wet enough that it made mud of the dust kicked up from the bikes in front and made it so we couldn't see anything!  We all made it without incident to our lodging which was provided by Craig's Parents who live in the area and treated us like royalty - go figure, a bunch of dirty bikers show up and they were great hosts.  The 690 handled everything so far with no problems.  It was comfortable running down the freeway at 75+ and did great on the gravel roads.  The 950's run without even breathing hard in those conditions so they had no issues whatsoever.  This first evening was about 250 miles.

Harrison Splashes Through the Mud
Friday night brought steady rain and we woke up Saturday morning to significantly cooler weather, mid 50's temps, and wet trails.  But before we headed out we were treated to a great breakfast at Craig's Parents - Pancakes, eggs, bacon and orange juice.  The only issue was the caffeine free environment (no coffee) that left some of us with some cobwebs but that all cleared up quickly when we hit the cool air.  The gravel roads and trails start right outside their door so we geared up, aired down the tires and headed out.  Craig led the group since he's spent a lot of time on these trails and knows where the good riding is.  I quickly figured out how the day was going to work once we hit the trails.  The mud puddles seemed to have magnets in them that made Craig accellerate through them and splash as much mud as possible on the rest of us following him!  Once that had been established we knew to duck when we saw Craig headed for the mud.
The Soft Sand Sucks Jeff In
The rain actually was a good thing because it kept us from eating dust all day and made the sand sections a little more set up. This was one of my first times in any significant sand and the 690 handled it well.  It was fairly easy to keep the front end light and use the torque of the motor to chug on through the loose sand.  We found a fun play area that was basically a big sand bowl with some berms and jumps that we all got to test our sand riding skills in.  We all managed to drop our bikes at least once except for Craig who managed to keep it upright.  Not bad considering he has the tallest, biggest and heaviest bike out of our group - the "Super Tanker".  Craig's 950 Adventure is fitted with an Aqualine Safari fuel tank and it holds 12 gallons of gas when topped off!  For this trip he only had a few gallons in the bottom of the tank which actually lowers the center of gravity on the bike.  But his extra fuel reserve would come in handy later in the day.
Crossing one of the big mud holes
Throughout the day we had a good mix of trails with sand, mud, gravel roads, rocks, tree roots and several pretty good sized mud holes, some of which snuck up on you.  Craig and I were running a pretty good pace up front, rounded a fast corner and headed straight into a 50 yard long mud pit that was very rutted and sticky.  I was hot on Craigs tail and he was going too fast to do anything but dive into the mud and hang on and I had to make a quick decision to either follow his line (and probably run into his rear tire) or stuff it into another rut and hope for the best.  I chose #2.  We both got back on the throttle and hung on and with a little paddling we both made it through!  Harrison and Jeff were right behind and they managed to get through as well in a little more controlled style. 
Craig Tests The Water
Nearing the end of the day we came to a river crossing that Craig had done last fall and he figured it would be about the same deal as before.  Ends up that the spring snow melt and rain had brought the water level up about a foot and the water temperature was only in the 40's, and the air temp was in the fifties.  Well, Craig charged right in and found some pretty deep water and some big rocks on the river bottom that nearly sent him over, but he managed to save it and make it to the other side.  He was very close to getting water in his air box, which causes all sorts of problems, one of which would be a engine full of water.  We all sat and watched him do this and decided we weren't going to test our luck at drowning our bikes in 40 degree water.  So we made Craig come back across!  He survived the second crossing but had two boots full of water and had to wring his socks out before heading back down the trail.  Cold feet for the rest of the ride!
Super Tanker Comes In Handy
Nearing the end of our day on the trails we had nearly 200 miles on the odometer and I was running low on fuel but we were still a ways out from any gas.  Craig had one more trail he wanted to check out so we headed out knowing that I was probably going to run out of gas.  This was a good test to see how far I could run before actually going dry.  So I took the lead and made myself as aerodynamic as possible and took it easy on the throttle but I still ran out about 3 miles from the gas station.  So that meant that we got to test out Craigs latest invention.  As I mentioned before, Craig has 12 gallon tanks and he rigged up a fuel transfer pump that is piped into his tank and semi-permanently mounted in his (also custom) storage tube.  So when I ran out he just pulled the "Super Tanker" up alongside my bike, pulled out the transfer hose and pumped a gallon or so of fuel into my bike.  Problem solved!
Load Up and Head for Home
We all had a great day riding a variety of trails with mud, sand, rocks, tree roots, and some gravel roads.  The 690 Enduro R handled everthing very well and even the big 950 Adventures made it through the day with no issues.  We held a good pace all day to where we were challenged but not pushing so hard that we felt out of control or riding over our heads.  We had good trails, good scenery and a good group of guys to ride with.  And the hospitality was great again back at home base.  A big thank-you to the Johnson's for the use of the facilities and feeding us. 

Sunday morning we woke up to a sunny but cool day and loaded up our bikes with all our "junk", aired up the tires and headed back south.  The first 65 or so miles we hit gravel and sand roads and wound through the northwoods on some pretty amazing "off-the-grid" roads.  We stopped near Mauston, WI to fuel up and get some lunch and planned our route from there.  We decided the longer but much more fun route would be the way to go, so we headed south and picked up Hwy. 33 headed southeast.  Hwy. 33 is a great road that winds through the hill country and it was absolutely beautiful on this late may weekend.  This was the super moto section of the trip and we spent the afternoon chasing each other through the twists and curves of hwy. 33 and several other little roads that branched off from there. 
Sharing a Ferry Ride Over the Wisconsin River
I had a permanent grin on my face by time we got to the ferry at Merrimac over the Wisconsin River.  The gravel roads all morning and beautiful curvy roads all afternoon on the way home, on a nice sunny spring day, riding a KTM 690 Enduro - life doesn't get much better!  We split on our seperate routes home just south of Madison, WI and ended up with a total of just under 700 miles for the weekend.  About 300 miles off-road (or gravel roads) and 400 on pavement getting there and back.  I have to say that the KTM 690 Enduro is one of the few bikes in the "dual sport" category that actually excels at both parts.  It was a decent road bike that can run at freeway speeds without any fuss and then performed extremely well off-road and left me ready for the next trip.  Besides my regular riding and short trips I hope to do the Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail this summer or early fall.  The 690 Enduro will be perfect for that trip!

Just a couple of notes:  Before leaving on this trip I installed a set of C J Designs enduro foot peg extensions and a set of Rox pivoting bar risers.  Both of which were huge assets in the off-road riding where I spent 90% of the time standing.  I would strongly recommend both for taller riders and the pegs for anyone. 

If you would like to see more pictures of this ride you can go to the Company Info/Photo Gallery tab on the main menu, or go to our other website www.petriesports.com and click on the KTM logo.

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