Riding 1,960 miles round trip in 8 days on a KPX 250

[IdahoRider]

Just got home yesterday from riding my KPX 250 about 1,960 miles round trip from Nampa ID to Jasper AB in 8 days. I averaged 245 miles a day with a long day of about 280 miles. My longest day on the bike previous to this trip was 215 miles so I wasn't sure how I'd feel doing multiple days of longer miles, but I felt better than expected. Having a vented seat cover and Grip Puppies (foam grip covers) made a difference. I didn't have any issues with the bike and I was able to do an oil change at about 1550 miles in an auto parts parking lot and the oil still looked pretty good. I camped all but one night and all the gear I carried totaled about 30 pounds including two heavy duty inner tubes, tools, wax based chain lube, single person tent, small cook set, clothes, down sleeping bag, and inflatable sleeping pad. I only hit one 10 minute stretch of rain and only had to ride through a few miles of forest fire smoke near Cranbrook B.C. otherwise the weather was near perfect the whole trip.

I traveled primarily on back roads, smaller 2 lane state highways, and was on dirt or gravels some of the time during 6 of the 8 days. I spent most of the time riding in the 42 to 48 mph range and this is where the bike seems happiest. I varied the route some on the way back and was very happy with the route I'd planned, good for a slow bike. I primarily used GaiaGPS to plan my route and it worked well for planning except for one minor reroute I had to do when I got to a locked gate and No Trespassing sign.

Before I left I had about 5,600 miles on the bike and felt confident my Chinese bike would be reliable for the trip. I now have 7,712 miles logged in just under 10 months. I think my rear tire will last 10,000 miles or more but due to me not checking my tire pressures the first 3 days of the trip, the trailing edges of the tread pattern on my front tire wore down excessively. After I started maintaining the pressure correctly 29 to 30 PSI, the tire started to wear normally. I'll probably get a few hundred miles more out of the tire but its strange how letting the tire pressure get down to around 25 PSI wore that trailing end of the tread pattern to near the tread replacement indicator.

Would highly recommend buying a KPX and using it for multi day travel.

[TominMO]

Good report!

[Boatguy]

Really good ride!! Thanks for sharing it!

[Sport Rider]

Most Excellent!

But we need pictures!!!

[Texas Pete]

Great report, thank you for sharing. Reading that I thought we have another Scooter Tramp Scotty in the making here. If you don’t know who that is look him up. I think you’d enjoy his adventures.

[IdahoRider]

[Bikenut]

A motorcycle, a rider, and Mother Nature. Perfect combination!

[IdahoRider]

[IdahoRider]

[IdahoRider]

[McQueen216]

I was gonna say… doesn’t quite look like the IDBDR…
Does look like a fantastic time, though.

[IdahoRider]

Originally Posted by McQueen216

I was gonna say… doesn’t quite look like the IDBDR…
Does look like a fantastic time, though.

I plan on doing the IDBDR in sections but I wanted to see how the bike would do covering longer distances and I found its reasonable to do multiple 250 mile days. I was very happy with the route I planned and didn't have to deal with much traffic for a majority of the route.

I now know a set of tires and chain (Sealed O Chain I put on right after getting the bike) will easily last well over 8000 miles, oil changes can go 1500 miles and more, and that its conceivable to ride the 6400 miles round trip to either the end of the Dalton or Dempster Highways in 25 days or less.

[Mikd]

What a fantastic ride! I look forward to more reports when you hit the Dalton.

[AJ22_ChinaRider]

This is inspirational! Our local BMW Dealer has a CA BDR Showing in 3 days so this is getting me hyped up!

[thedakotakid]

What make/model of helmet is that?