Tales From the Trail

Trip Planning

Jack and Scott will be riding a large portion of Sam Correro’s TransAmerica Trail (TAT) in August and September of 2023. They plan to mostly tent-camp along the route and complete the 6,023 mile trip in six weeks. They hope to average about 200 miles a day. They want to have enough time for extra riding at some of the best riding spots in the country and, of course, have some rest days along the trail.

Preparing for the trip was an 18 month process. Because of Covid there was nearly a year delay in purchasing the bikes for the trip. After being told for the 6th time that his bike shipment was delayed Jack thought his Honda would never arrive in time and he gave serious thought to purchasing a used machine. Scott’s KTM was also delayed but did arrive ahead of Jack’s. With both machines in hand the work of preparing the bikes and their bodies for the trip was underway.

They will be starting from the beginning of the TAT in Ripley WV and will follow the TAT (in Red) to Idaho before branching onto the Pacific Ocean Spur (in Green) and finishing at the Pacific Coast in Oregon. The total driving distance of the winding, mostly off-road and backcountry, route is a total of 6,023 miles.

The purpose of the trip is to find good trails, good scenery, and staying on dirt trails and roads as much as possible as can be observed in this section map. Check out the trail highlighted in blue running east to west. It is a beautifully long way to travel a short distance.

The best path between two points is a twisting dirt trail

We purchased detailed section maps and roll charts from Sam. We scanned the section maps into our electronic devices to allow them to be carried with us. They contain good additional information to help navigate the trip

Very detailed section maps from Sam
Roll charts from Sam. They describe every turn of the 6,000+ miles and the distance between each turn

Jack purchased a Honda 300L from the great team at Moon Motorsports in Monticello, MN.

Jack with his 2023 Honda 300L

Scott purchased a KTM 350 EXC-F from the wonderful crew at Brothers Motorsports in Baxter, MN

Scott with his 2023 KTM 350 EXC-F

Scott customized the KTM for fuel range, comfort, performance, reliability, luggage, navigation, instrumentation, electronics charging, bike to bike tracking, and hardening against the hazards of the journey.

Many thanks to Mike at Taco Moto and Jeff at Slavens Racing for all the good advice and equipment and to Pete and Ash at Moskomoto for the luggage, accessories, and riding gear.

Some assembly [and disassembly] required

It is mostly complete in these photos

Front brake rotor guard and larger 4.5 gallon fuel tank instead of the stock 2.1 gallon
Exhaust guards to protect luggage (rear) and the riders leg (front). Lowered and wider foot pegs. Hand guards are not yet installed in this photo.
Protection for the brake rotor and caliper. Thicker inner tubes, rim locks [to keep the tire from spinning on the rim], and more aggressive off-road tired will also be added.
Tail light, turn signals, and plate holder replaced with smaller, less breakable design. The exhaust opening is larger (paired with a new engine control unit). Cargo rack for strong attachment point for the luggage saddle and for day trips when the full luggage set is not needed. Comfort seat to help the bum.
LED headlight to draw less power and provide more light. Front signal lights which normally protrude from the bike are replaced with fork wrap LED lights. radiator guards added to keep tree branches and rocks out of the radiator.
Foldable mirrors, engine control unit map switch (orange on left), roll chart holder, trip computer/instrument console to provide ambient and engine temp, elevation, tachometer, trip meters and RF tracking of Jack’s bike, as well as GPS maps/navigation with GPS TAT tracks from Sam. USB charge ports added to charge electronics. Hand guards to be added later. Narrower light and turn switch will be added which also allows the headlight light to be turned off. Voice communication intercoms will be atttached to the helmets.
Added pedestals to the short bed truck so we can close the tailgate and pull the camper
Kerrie’s Mom
ready to go in Arizona