A Beast Across America

My mind is a haze

2010-05-07T20:33:00.000-07:00

The heat and droning and ugly ass Arizona has us beat up and tooooo tired to post exacts on the trip so here are some pics... Ill talk about thetrip when I gain my sanity back after its all done.. so just check this for the pictures for now :)

Texas!

2010-05-07T20:30:00.000-07:00

Well in better spirits now. It seems all those energy things we drank put us in a bad mood. Well we are in Van Horn TX now and should arrive in San Antonio on Saturday.

So some where in NM there is a gas station that has this thing called "the thing" and that thing is a mummy with a baby mummy they found. The Ride today was great though good weather most of the way. El Paso was also bigger than I expected much bigger actually. Also saw Juarez and that place looks reallll bad all shanty town like.

Well that is it for now going to go to bed.

Close to yuma

2010-05-06T12:18:00.001-07:00

Lots of dunes!!!

Seeing Off Party

2010-05-03T20:58:00.000-07:00

Come see us off this Tuesday at McMullans across the orleans on trop. starting at 4 is happy hour.. I will be there at 5..

I will post a picture of the bike now with it's new windscreen and all packed on Tuesday.

It's Almost Here

2010-05-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

Wednesday is almost here and with that is the start of the trip. Tonight I will have everything ready to go and packed. That way Tuesday I can just spend time with loved ones and not worry about packing. Can't wait to see all the different landscapes, cities, and people.

Also you can follow Noelin and the DR perspective of the trip on this blog DRTROOPER

Almost Here!

2010-04-22T15:43:00.000-07:00

The beginning of the trip is just around the corner. It will be nothing short of amazing. Getting to see all the different terrain and people and the new and different experiences that come along with this trip. I am also excited to be doing this trip on the BMW. I really got the perfect bike for it. The BMW road side assistance is great. They even overnighted maps of all the places we will be riding. For free too! Just a great benefit for owning a great bike.

There is something about having all your essentials on a motorcycle and just riding to far places. The whole camping thing is also a plus. It's kinda like the whole cowboy riding across america deal but instead of a horse you have a bike.

I will try to update this as much as possible. To make it feel like you are riding along with. And there will be plenty of pictures to accompany the ride report :)

here is the trail we have so far for the whole trip

View Diego/Keys in a larger map

Bear Conservation Project

2010-04-22T11:14:00.001-07:00

I need to figure out how to get a job that enables me to ride the world and also help the world too like this guy did.

Bear Trek and Touratech from Stephen Baker on Vimeo.

Not only supporting a great cause but an exceptional adventurer

We hope you are inspired to help or to undertake your own adventure and make a difference.

Arizona/Cali/Nevada

2010-04-11T01:18:00.001-07:00

DSC_2265
Originally uploaded by jose.armenteros

Went for a long ride today with my Dad. We went to Rosie's Den for breakfast on the way to Kingman. From there we took route 66 to Oatman AZ. There was tons of donkeys there and millions of bikes too. Not to mention a gun fight Then Bullhead to Laughlin to Searchlight. After that we went to Nipton, California before heading back to Vegas.
View Larger Map Check out for all the pictures here

Tonight!!!

2010-04-07T13:43:00.001-07:00

My panniers arrived and I cant wait to put them! Thursday my top rack and then Friday my Touratech hand gaurds come in. Plus i do my break in oil change this week too. Busy week for me and the bike.

Death valley

2010-04-03T12:19:00.001-07:00

We are on our way

HD

2010-04-02T22:49:00.000-07:00

I want to see if this new format can finally show HD videos on it without cutting things out.

Bags Almost Here

2010-03-31T21:40:00.000-07:00

So I called the people over at Happy Trail and they should finish my pannier set by Thursday so I should have them by Monday I hope. Man I want this trip to hurry up and start now. Getting all this cool stuff and seeing all the ride reports from other ADV riders make me really want to go now. At least this weekend I am going off with Noelin to go do a little trip to test some things out.

Just wanted to share a picture of me on one of the bikes my Dad has a made. It's a 77 or 78 Ironhead not sure on the year.

The Ultimate Driving Machine and The Ultimate Riding Suit

2010-03-31T21:24:00.000-07:00

This suit is amazing! It uses different levels of insulation depending on what body part it's covering. It has the best airflow when it's hot and the sleeves come off to make a vest also.. The jacket can just be configured so many different was to keep you warm/dry/cool everything. Now I just wish I could afford the jacket or pants :) I like the grey too it's got that whole BMW race color to it

Here is a review on them Review

Places

2010-03-29T10:53:00.001-07:00

We took a test ride with our bikes to various desert spots around vegas. The nicest spot was the trail along the side of a mountain. Not the one in this picture. The trail was not very wide. We will have some video of that later. The dry lake bed was really neat. Hit about 90 mph then we slowed down due to random sinkholes showing up. The trip that we have coming up will be amazing. After that I think we will do alaska.

A Slight Change in Plans

2010-03-27T16:41:00.000-07:00

So, As you can see there has been a big change in plans. I will be doing this on my new BMW F800GS instead of the Ducati. This came about when I packed my tank and tail bag and saw that it cannot hold enough stuff for the trip. Sure I could buy those side bags too from Ducati and spend another 500 bucks. But why?? When a complete aluminum pannier set from happy-trail.com that is a combined 70 to 75 liters of space cost 750 with the frame and bags that go in them oh and lets not forget the locks too plus tons of companies actually make bags for this bike where no one made anything for the Ducati except Ducati. I just can't see how Ducati can charge a total of 1100 dollars for all the bags that will go on a monster(very sub par bags too). The end of the tank strap started coming all apart in less then 100 miles. So I went ahead and traded the monster in for the BMW. Now I have the space and most importantly the reliability to make this trip. Can't wait to get out there in a month

Red Rock

2010-03-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

We went out riding and filmed with the cameras. Here is a screen shot from one of the videos.

The camera was mounted on his foot peg

Go Pro HD

2010-03-12T21:15:00.000-08:00

So I ordered mine today and it will arrive on Saturday. Noelin and I are doing some test runs on Sunday with our cameras then later they will get edited and posted.

The quality from what I have seen is pretty good so if need an HD camera I would get this. Click on the link above and it will take you to amazon to buy one.

High Def Video

2010-03-09T14:22:00.000-08:00

I am excited to say that Noelin was able to get one of the GoPro HD HERO cameras. So we will be trading that back and forth on the bikes to get some video of us while we ride. Can't wait to capture the ride on the Dragons Tail portion of our trip.

Red Rock

2010-03-05T10:20:00.001-08:00

DSC_1204
Originally uploaded by jose.armenteros

Here it is with its bags at Red Rock. I wish I could buy the side bags since I still need more space.

Getting Ready

2010-03-05T10:11:00.000-08:00

Here I am with my three bags. Sorry for the photo quality as it was shot with a phone. Trip is right around the corner and the excitement is building.

Expect a lot of great pictures from the trip. If you want to see my photography go to josearmenteros.com

The Bike

2010-02-10T09:42:00.000-08:00

Here it is on a trip to Valley of Fire. I am saving money for bags for it so of course when my trip starts I will post a picture of it all loaded up.

Across The USA

2010-02-07T20:15:00.000-08:00

Hello,

I own a 2009 Ducati Monster 696 and I am taking her across the United States. Las Vegas to San Diego then all the way to Key West and back. I also do photography so I will be posting pictures of the whole adventure. We are going to be roughing it as much as we can. Even camping at some spots. I also will be joined by a good friend that is also doing the trip on a 2004 GSX-R 750. So book mark this site and comeback May 5th 2010 when the adventure of a lifetime starts.