Going to the Death Valley rally today

[jussumguy]

I know it's not a Yamaha thing but it's moto related

 

[jussumguy]

Drove through Trona California, smells funny here. Reloaded gas and moved on quickly.

 

[jussumguy]

We took our 650's. we plan to ride most of the days and hang out and drink beer with our BMW friends. They have lots of food and much keg beer. Weathers great, high 70's during the daytime. I know lots of folks here are snowed in and would dig this. Will update as time permits

 

[jussumguy]

One for Fred. There's a lot going on here but you have to be a BMW guy to catch all of it

 

[oldbmw1]

Like minded riders enjoying Death Valley on vintage bikes!

 

[oldbmw1]

Over 150 riders here at furnace creek.

 

[Motorbreath22]

That looks fun, I've never heard of it before.

 

[azman857]

where's my california maps....

 

[jussumguy]

We rode out this morning past bad water to the southern end of Death Valley to ride up to Warm Springs. It's an abandoned resort about 20 miles up a dirt road.

 

[jussumguy]

This is the eastern end of the road that takes you to the infamous Barker ranch. That's where they caught Charlie Manson.

 

[jussumguy]

Looking out the window at Warm Springs resort. It's been falling into disrepair for the last ten years. It's crazy where this place is and how nice it once was. If you're on a dualsport you just fly past the access road and never see it. We were going to continue further to the west but considering what we were riding it was just too rough on us.

 

[jussumguy]

I was on my airhead this morning. The mileage was going to be greater than what the 650 could do on one tank. It's another great older bike

 

[jussumguy]

This afternoon we rode up echo canyon to the Inyo Mine. It's an old abandon mine towards the Nevada border. Lots of deep gravel to deal with. Weather was great!

 

[jussumguy]

This is called "the eye of the needle". You can climb up to it but if you fall you're a long ways from any help.

 

[jussumguy]

Someone left this old donkey motor out in the desert. It powered a stamp mill to crush rock for a silver mine. Pretty cool it's still out here for us to see.

 

[jussumguy]

Here's the old mine. They weren't much into hauling off the trash. Met some cool people out here. They couldn't believe what bikes we were riding. It was a long day and I just about tore my skid plate off...again. And I think I'll get some wider bars for the next trip. Good times!!!

 

[azman857]

This is great! Thank you for sharing your adventure!

 

[jussumguy]

Chilling out by the fire drinking a beer. There's no moon out tonight and the stars are crazy bright. Really fantastic trip and it's not over. Supposed to be windy tomorrow. Goin to bed now!

 

[yamageddon]

Thanks for sharing! Really like the pics. Nice XS you got! A real workhorse

 

[gggGary]

Thanks so much for the armchair travelog! Got to admit; looking at the gravel/sand roads stretching out for miles gives me pause. Kudos to you for riding an XS the way it was designed. A mid size "do it all" bike for an era when ONE bike in the garage for all riding from cow trailing to interstate travel was the norm.