Survival Gear Tests – Bug Out Vehicle

There is no substitute for real-world testing. Survival Gear Tests is a series of blog posts about survival gear in real world conditions. A mostly off-pavement motorcycle adventure for 12 days, 2500 miles across America’s back country via the Continental Divide pushed machine, gear, and man to the limit. Each post will be on a specific piece of gear which could make or break your bug out effort. We hope that you use my embarrassment, mistakes, struggles, and success to improve your own adventure experience. I am not a pro and nobody paid me to write these posts. That will be incredibly obvious as you read about my experience. This post is about the bug out vehicle.

Prepper Problem: What is the best way to traverse 2500 miles of our great nation’s most remote locations? This trail is extreme with 105F degree heat in the desert, 30F degree freezing mountain passes, countless 10,000 ft. mountain peaks, mud, snow, rain, sleet, a dozen deep stream crossings, steep and rocky trail ascents, and a bit of pavement mixed in too. Do it while carrying all of your gear on the back of the machine. Emerge into relative civilization only long enough to get fuel, water, and food. Cover as much ground as possible in the most efficient manner available. My solution was the Dual Sport Motorcycle.

About the Route: The Continental Divide is the spine of the USA. In theory, water that falls on the western side flows to the Pacific. Water falling on the eastern side flows to the Mississippi River. The CDT (Continental Divide Trail) is a loose patchwork of dirt roads, fire roads, rancher trails, and wilderness trails through National First, State Parks, BLM Land, and Rancher land. The border to border USA portion travels through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana.

The venerable Kawasaki KLR 650 Dual Sport Motorcycle has been around since the late 1980’s. It is designed to be tolerable on the interstate highway and durable enough for the dirt trails. There are multiple motorcycles in this category. Most are more modern with multiple cylinders, high-tech fuel injection, traction control, antilock brakes, and hefty price tags. The KLR is the last of the motorcycles to use a carburetor with a single cylinder for power. Proven, simple designs still have their place. More on that in a bit.

The 6 gallon gas tank with fuel consumption at around 40mpg means that you can cover almost 300 miles between fill ups. The high ground clearance and large shock absorbers means that it can cover rough terrain without bucking you off like a stubborn mule. The large rear rack leaves space for your bags of gear. Low tech engine means that it does not ride like a limousine but it will not likely leave you stranded either. The Dual Sport functionality means that the bike is legal for highway use an would make an excellent commuter.

Why 650cc? I wanted something big enough to haul me and my gear with ease. I wanted something that could handle the short tracks of highway and not get blown over by large trucks. I did not want something so big that it would not be manageable off-road. I also expected that I would drop the thing and did not want to be pinned under it with no way to escape. The KLR’s 650cc engine was just big enough to provide the power but never too big to handle in technical terrain. I never wanted for more power or speed. In fact, my average speed was 25mph.

Why such an antiquated and simple machine? At ten thousand feet, on a mountain pass, we came up to a fast running stream. Two guys on huge BMW 1100cc motorcycles suddenly appeared. The first guy did not stop to check the stream and drove straight in. The stream swallow the fat man and his fat machine. We rushed in to save him, and his motorcycle, from drowning. He never got that beautiful, fancy, electronic laden machine started again. I chose the KLR because of the minimal high tech gadgets that fall prey to water, mud, and mother nature.

12 hour days of rough back country riding took its toll. I was exhausted. My butt, shoulders and hands were often sore from so many hours of riding. The last thing I wanted to do was maintenance on a motorcycle. My 2009 Kawasaki KLR650 required almost nothing to keep going. I washed the mud off when the gas station has a water hose. I lubed the chain a couple of times. I checked the oil just because it is smart to do so. Put gas, point, and ride. That is as simple as it gets.

I dropped the bike four times during the trip. Each fall was on a steep and narrow mountain trail full of bowling ball size rocks and downed trees between deep ruts. The first three falls were relatively soft which resulted in minor scratches. The last fall was hard and it sent plastic pieces flying into the air. After gathering up the busted plastic fender pieces, I simply lifted the bike and it started instantly. It was a little less pretty but it ran perfectly.

If, and when, I do this trip again, I will chose no other bike than the Kawasaki KLR650. I beat that thing through 12 days of the roughest terrain and weather you can imagine. It never once protested. The motorcycle did what any good bug out machine should do. It got me where I wanted to go in the fastest and safest way possible through conditions that will leave almost any other type of machine broken and busted.

Many bug out trails are valuable because of the difficulty of the terrain. That keeps all but the most skilled from ever reaching you. Many of my paths were too narrow and too steep for even the most tough of 4×4 autos. That leaves maybe an ATV, a mountain bike, a donkey, or a motorcycle as your but out options.

Which would you choose?

Check out this post from Bennett on Concealed Carry Handgun Choices.