Just did this the first weekend of Oct. It was super dry and dusty for us. Did you stay on the route after Ellijay? Or take highway to Two Wheels of Suches? I ask for a couple of reasons. It was a really long day if you stayed on the track for the whole way. And second, you mentioned the one Road was probably the toughest of the SM500……which is probably true….but the end of Bucktown Road was also pretty tough if you did it.
I found this video useful. I live on the SM500 and have ridden Old Bucktown Rd East of Ellijay and McFarland road out of Reliance on my vintage CB250 with street tires. If McFarland is as bad as it gets...then I can do the vintage 500 without changing to dirt tires.
I grew up in Montana and all i rode was an xr600r and explored all the time. Never knew I was adventure riding at the time as that was not a popular segment you ever heard about before the internet. All my friends had two strokes so I rode solo. Once I went street I always had people to ride with. Later in life I moved to NC and rode every paved road you can find. Now I watch your videos and am disappointed I never took back to adventure riding. Well, going forward I will be doing just that. Joined a few groups and will be doing a few BDR trips soon. I live in Florida now so its a commute to the best riding but it will be worth it. Thank you for posting and allowing me to live vicariously through you
Rain on trail…ugggh. Good trail maintenance would quickly steer the rain off the trail. A good reason to help.
I just bought a Gen 3 KLR, and I am anxious to try this trip.
Just did this the first weekend of Oct. It was super dry and dusty for us. Did you stay on the route after Ellijay? Or take highway to Two Wheels of Suches? I ask for a couple of reasons. It was a really long day if you stayed on the track for the whole way. And second, you mentioned the one Road was probably the toughest of the SM500……which is probably true….but the end of Bucktown Road was also pretty tough if you did it.
We did the everything but Charlie’s Creek. The days are long.
I found this video useful. I live on the SM500 and have ridden Old Bucktown Rd East of Ellijay and McFarland road out of Reliance on my vintage CB250 with street tires. If McFarland is as bad as it gets...then I can do the vintage 500 without changing to dirt tires.
I grew up in Montana and all i rode was an xr600r and explored all the time. Never knew I was adventure riding at the time as that was not a popular segment you ever heard about before the internet. All my friends had two strokes so I rode solo. Once I went street I always had people to ride with.
Later in life I moved to NC and rode every paved road you can find.
Now I watch your videos and am disappointed I never took back to adventure riding.
Well, going forward I will be doing just that. Joined a few groups and will be doing a few BDR trips soon. I live in Florida now so its a commute to the best riding but it will be worth it.
Thank you for posting and allowing me to live vicariously through you
What are you folks riding?
DRZ400 and KLR650
Great trip! What gps & mount were you using?
Zumo XT with the motorcycle RAM mount that it came with.
Which bike seems to perform better the DR or the KLR?
DR off-road and KLR on the street.
What was wrong with his bike?
The stator was bad
Is he scared