Wow. The camera typically makes things look easier than it is in reality, but that red rock canyon looked super tough even on camera. Way to go. I vote yay.
I live near Red Rock and saw a few riders from the B-V heading into LV, thought “Looks like they had a good time in the desert”. Had no idea the B-V existed. Looks like a blast. Will put on my bucket list.
The history of B to V is fascinating. It was originally a desert race, but then the Bureau of Land Management shut it down in the 70s, allegedly due to environmental concerns. No one bought that, since the area is covered in roads and trails and the route never strayed far from the freeway. A guy who called himself "The Phantom Duck of the Desert" announced that he would be taking a trail ride on the BtoV route and day, and asked (via all the dirt bike magazines) if anyone might want to join him. That turned into a big protest ride, complete with sunglasses-and-mustache BLM agents lining the course and documenting every off-trail knobby print. The Duck and the editor of Dirt Bike magazine (the legendary Super Hunky) then proceeded to get dragged through court, over and over and over, as the government attempted to wear them down and force a plea deal. At one point, someone from the California DOT (who hatde the feds) gave Super Hunky documents showing the BLM were trying to approve some new mining operations (!) in the area, but couldn't do so if there was a culturally significant sporting event using the land already. They ended up wearing out a judge's patience, who forced them to a compromise whereby 50 riders could attend the protest ride, and re-route to stay away from the mines. Then of course later in the 80s, and I'm less clear on this part, something must have changed politically to allow the larger event we see today in this video.
@alexs1972 If you want more details on the story, I HIGHLY recommend Super Hunky's book "Monkey Butt." It's sort of his autobiography, but with a ton of contemporary magazine articles and things he wrote in the time mixed in. It's probably the funniest book I've ever read, and it has a bunch of fascinating stories like the BtoV Phantom Duck saga.
The Desert X certainly proved itself on the LAB2V, Great job both of you. I've got a lil KLX 300 that I need to put some of those mods on to make it a very lightweight ADV bike.
Decades ago as a young lad out of Pomona, armed with a bates kidney belt, a powell challenger with a warmed over engine thanks to Rons Mini Cycle City, four gallons of gas in two tanks made by Ben at Pomona muffler I was sure I would set a blistering pace into Vegas. It took all year to earn the money (minimum wage in b the 60s) and every favor I had. I made it 30 miles when the upper fork plate cracked to smithereens. Powells could fold up for travel, trouble is mine did it with me on it. Now as I near 72 I have found myself on a fifty acre playland in Oklahoma but riding in pasture is not the same as hard calachi, scrub, and sand whoops that can shatter a mini bike fork. Maybe this year I'll take a week off, wrap duct tape around my waist and try again maybe get to 31 miles this time.
Had to check this vid out since I did the B to V race in '85 and '86. I wanted to do it after watching "On any Sunday". Nice to find riders are wanting to go from Barstow to Vegas because of the "The Grand-Daddy of the Desert Races".
Thx for an informative video and entertaining video. I rode about 15 from '96 to '11 and many other D37 DSs including Mex2Can in '01 before degerqtive disc and sciatica stopped me but I hope I've got @ leat 1 more left in me at 70yrs young. Definately a memorable experience when doing all the hard routes on both days. YMMV
Great video. Thanks for sharing. Can you please tell me the dash/windscreen setup on your KLX? I have one and really like your GPS mount and wind screen. Thanks.
Great video Pretty cool ending up in Vegas on the strip. It’s all about the good friends you meet. Ive got the Kawasaki KLX300 as well! Love the bike. What skid plate did you get and where. Make sure to upgrade to the IMS super stock pegs and Pro grip soft rally grips. Kawasaki got you beat by about 200 pounds. Kudos to you for finishing with the big Ducati Happy rid’n Allan-So Cali
N I C E ! 👌🙂👍 The fat DUC took those rocks like nothing ! The KLX300 was the proverbial scalpel. The lighter and smaller the bike, the more technical stuff you can attack. Looking forward to next year . . . maybe ? 😁
Sand riding is fun. Keep it light front wheel shift your weight back. Loose Grip on the handlebars Just guide the front wheel but let it wiggle a little bit. The best part is if you have to down the bike it’s soft sand. Just relax don’t tense. Bike movement is normal just keep your momentum up- Constantly moving at a pace to stay above the sand is key. Love the skid plate on the Kawasaki from empire racing. Actually a work of art with the vents and Smooth lines
This has always been a dream ride for me. I’m a pretty hardcore Dualsport rider from Houston Texas so it’s definitely a trek to make it out there one day. My only question is what’s the fuel situation like? How are guys getting 200 miles of fuel off-road? Are they carrying their fuel the whole way or is there highway crossings on the trail near fuel stops?
The route is planned to include gas stops. This year, the longest section without gas was 85-95 miles. Since there’s no gas station at the lunch stop on Day 2, 1.5 gallons is provided as part of your entry. I did see some riders with a small gas bottle attached and witnessed another rider siphoning gas into the tank of a smaller bike.
@@EvansBrasfieldMotojournalist thanks for the comment. I found some information on the gas situation some advpulse forum threads. I’m going to really start considering making it to this event one year. I have a plated WR450f with the 3 gallon IMS tank. If I carry a couple of fuel bottles I can make it to the fuel stops easily
That's my kinda jam. I used to race Cross Country (OCCRA), so nothing there that looks daunting. For years I would tell friends that asked me if I ever wanted to visit Las Vegas.....I would say "Yes!!!.......and I would rent a XR-600 to blast across the desert" 🙂 maybe end up at the Bunny Ranch 😛 good stuff guys
I'd be comfortable on a dual sport, but I'd be nervous on a $20K Ducati adventure bike. Feeling a 500+ lb bike go past the tipping point and hearing the crunch is just, ugh
Great report Evans 👍 The KLX looked like a perfect machine for the task. What is its range in miles? How did you guys refuel along the way or were you running a desert tank for extra distance?
I understand range anxiety. I had to be talked out of strapping my fuel bladder to my bike for the ride. Whenever I venture out solo, I always carry it. The irony is that the only times I’ve almost run out of gas were on the freeway.
@@EvansBrasfieldMotojournalist good man! I’ve done the walk of shame once 20 years ago after running outa gas. Off road is buck wild and fun. Thanks for capturing this route. I just might do this B to V on my Husky 310 someday if I can ever stop working, I mean buying another used motorcycle 😂
@@EvansBrasfieldMotojournalist Would love to do the trek. What a challenge. I would absolutely be going back to LA in the comfort of a vehicle with four wheels and a roof though.
Good job. That is Jim Wilson, veteran desert racer and his wife Sandi helping Evan.
Nice video
He was super nice as he cheered everyone on and offered advice to folks, like me, who got stuck.
Tuning in from the UK, love this!
Wow. The camera typically makes things look easier than it is in reality, but that red rock canyon looked super tough even on camera. Way to go. I vote yay.
I live near Red Rock and saw a few riders from the B-V heading into LV, thought “Looks like they had a good time in the desert”.
Had no idea the B-V existed. Looks like a blast. Will put on my bucket list.
Same
The history of B to V is fascinating. It was originally a desert race, but then the Bureau of Land Management shut it down in the 70s, allegedly due to environmental concerns. No one bought that, since the area is covered in roads and trails and the route never strayed far from the freeway. A guy who called himself "The Phantom Duck of the Desert" announced that he would be taking a trail ride on the BtoV route and day, and asked (via all the dirt bike magazines) if anyone might want to join him. That turned into a big protest ride, complete with sunglasses-and-mustache BLM agents lining the course and documenting every off-trail knobby print. The Duck and the editor of Dirt Bike magazine (the legendary Super Hunky) then proceeded to get dragged through court, over and over and over, as the government attempted to wear them down and force a plea deal. At one point, someone from the California DOT (who hatde the feds) gave Super Hunky documents showing the BLM were trying to approve some new mining operations (!) in the area, but couldn't do so if there was a culturally significant sporting event using the land already. They ended up wearing out a judge's patience, who forced them to a compromise whereby 50 riders could attend the protest ride, and re-route to stay away from the mines. Then of course later in the 80s, and I'm less clear on this part, something must have changed politically to allow the larger event we see today in this video.
Was "Hunky" Rick S?
@@stevek8829 yes
Red Ant mine hated us guys back then...
Holy cow I didn't know that! That's amazing! Thanks for sharing
@alexs1972 If you want more details on the story, I HIGHLY recommend Super Hunky's book "Monkey Butt." It's sort of his autobiography, but with a ton of contemporary magazine articles and things he wrote in the time mixed in. It's probably the funniest book I've ever read, and it has a bunch of fascinating stories like the BtoV Phantom Duck saga.
The Desert X certainly proved itself on the LAB2V,
Great job both of you.
I've got a lil KLX 300 that I need to put some of those mods on to make it a very lightweight ADV bike.
Decades ago as a young lad out of Pomona, armed with a bates kidney belt, a powell challenger with a warmed over engine thanks to Rons Mini Cycle City, four gallons of gas in two tanks made by Ben at Pomona muffler I was sure I would set a blistering pace into Vegas. It took all year to earn the money (minimum wage in b the 60s) and every favor I had. I made it 30 miles when the upper fork plate cracked to smithereens. Powells could fold up for travel, trouble is mine did it with me on it.
Now as I near 72 I have found myself on a fifty acre playland in Oklahoma but riding in pasture is not the same as hard calachi, scrub, and sand whoops that can shatter a mini bike fork. Maybe this year I'll take a week off, wrap duct tape around my waist and try again maybe get to 31 miles this time.
It was either ‘69 or ‘70. What a weekend.
Pair of heroes right there
Well done great video. Again well done
WOW AWESOME ! ! ! ! !
Had to check this vid out since I did the B to V race in '85 and '86. I wanted to do it after watching "On any Sunday". Nice to find riders are wanting to go from Barstow to Vegas because of the "The Grand-Daddy of the Desert Races".
You guys beat me on publishing the video! Nice meeting and riding with you guys! - “the other desert x’er”
Looking forward to seeing your video!
@@EvansBrasfieldMotojournalist you guys have a special participation on minute 18:15
th-cam.com/video/3wXPIoi1clA/w-d-xo.html
Amazing!
Thx for an informative video and entertaining video. I rode about 15 from '96 to '11 and many other D37 DSs including Mex2Can in '01 before degerqtive disc and sciatica stopped me but I hope I've got @ leat 1 more left in me at 70yrs young. Definately a memorable experience when doing all the hard routes on both days. YMMV
Rode it in 1969 on a DKW 125. It was great.
Great and interesting video. Looks like a cool trip.
The KLX was a good choice. The powerline road "easy" route on day two was brutal.
Ryan looks very good with 500 pound bike
Great video. Thanks for sharing. Can you please tell me the dash/windscreen setup on your KLX? I have one and really like your GPS mount and wind screen. Thanks.
Great video Pretty cool ending up in Vegas on the strip. It’s all about the good friends you meet. Ive got the Kawasaki KLX300 as well! Love the bike. What skid plate did you get and where. Make sure to upgrade to the IMS super stock pegs and Pro grip soft rally grips.
Kawasaki got you beat by about 200 pounds. Kudos to you for finishing with the big Ducati
Happy rid’n
Allan-So Cali
The course has 30MPH tortoise zones on it, I had no idea they could move that fast!
Not this kid, I afraid of heights.
Great video
N I C E ! 👌🙂👍
The fat DUC took those rocks like nothing !
The KLX300 was the proverbial scalpel. The lighter and smaller the bike, the more technical stuff you can attack.
Looking forward to next year . . . maybe ? 😁
Sand riding is fun. Keep it light front wheel shift your weight back. Loose Grip on the handlebars Just guide the front wheel but let it wiggle a little bit. The best part is if you have to down the bike it’s soft sand. Just relax don’t tense. Bike movement is normal just keep your momentum up- Constantly moving at a pace to stay above the sand is key.
Love the skid plate on the Kawasaki from empire racing. Actually a work of art with the vents and Smooth lines
This has always been a dream ride for me. I’m a pretty hardcore Dualsport rider from Houston Texas so it’s definitely a trek to make it out there one day.
My only question is what’s the fuel situation like? How are guys getting 200 miles of fuel off-road? Are they carrying their fuel the whole way or is there highway crossings on the trail near fuel stops?
The route is planned to include gas stops. This year, the longest section without gas was 85-95 miles. Since there’s no gas station at the lunch stop on Day 2, 1.5 gallons is provided as part of your entry. I did see some riders with a small gas bottle attached and witnessed another rider siphoning gas into the tank of a smaller bike.
@@EvansBrasfieldMotojournalist thanks for the comment. I found some information on the gas situation some advpulse forum threads. I’m going to really start considering making it to this event one year.
I have a plated WR450f with the 3 gallon IMS tank. If I carry a couple of fuel bottles I can make it to the fuel stops easily
That's my kinda jam.
I used to race Cross Country (OCCRA), so nothing there that looks daunting.
For years I would tell friends that asked me if I ever wanted to visit Las Vegas.....I would say "Yes!!!.......and I would rent a XR-600 to blast across the desert" 🙂
maybe end up at the Bunny Ranch 😛
good stuff guys
I'd be comfortable on a dual sport, but I'd be nervous on a $20K Ducati adventure bike. Feeling a 500+ lb bike go past the tipping point and hearing the crunch is just, ugh
Looks like a blast. Just wondering how that KLX 300 did. Enough power for that type of riding?
A more experienced off-roader might think it was under powered, but it did everything I asked of it with room to spare.
What windshield is on your KLX300 nice bike
If I am correct,,,, my ole roommate won this race in 1989, and he brought home the trophy which he said was called "the rover boner award".
Great report Evans 👍 The KLX looked like a perfect machine for the task. What is its range in miles? How did you guys refuel along the way or were you running a desert tank for extra distance?
I have the IMS 2.7 gallon tank on my. Ike, but I saw a guy there doing it with a stock tank. The max range between gas stops was 85 miles.
@@EvansBrasfieldMotojournalist thanks Evans. Longtime fan with range anxiety 😂. The KLX looks like a great choice. Keep up the great work 👍
I understand range anxiety. I had to be talked out of strapping my fuel bladder to my bike for the ride. Whenever I venture out solo, I always carry it. The irony is that the only times I’ve almost run out of gas were on the freeway.
@@EvansBrasfieldMotojournalist good man! I’ve done the walk of shame once 20 years ago after running outa gas. Off road is buck wild and fun. Thanks for capturing this route. I just might do this B to V on my Husky 310 someday if I can ever stop working, I mean buying another used motorcycle 😂
@@EvansBrasfieldMotojournalist can you share the info on your dash/gps mount/windscreen kit please? I want one for my KLX! Thanks
I want to try it but I am wondering how you navigate the course ? What navigation do you use ?
It's a pole line road. I haven't been on the whole route.
Would love to do this one day. I wonder how a Grom would fare.
You are a masochist, aren’t you?
@@EvansBrasfieldMotojournalist I think it's possible. You just gotta modify it correctly. 😆
Nice....What did you use for navigation?
Garmin zūmo XT
Montana 700i
👍👍👍👍👍
😎👍
I would of tried with a lighter bike slso, Duke 390 adventure
Wait, you passed right by and didn’t grab a Turkey Manhattan?
1
one
☝
Well done video log. Did you then just ride the bikes back to LA?
Yes. Long slog out of Vegas.
@@EvansBrasfieldMotojournalist Would love to do the trek. What a challenge. I would absolutely be going back to LA in the comfort of a vehicle with four wheels and a roof though.