Lost Coast BDR-X 2026

 

After baking in the Las Vegas heat all summer, the Lost Coast BDR-X looked particularly inviting. I put a ride plan together to ride this route, but in a different way. We stayed near the center of the official figure 8 route at the Bear River Casino near Fortuna, CA. My ride plan had 3 sections, mostly following the BDR-X route but using the Bear River Casino as our center hub. The routes in brown are my ride plan. 

We completed my first day ride plan as planned.

I got off course and headed towards Garberville for a bit before figuring it out and correcting course. It rained most of the time but mostly light rain. The route was full of curves and scenery.

It was wet.

We got great ocean views, and parts of it ride right along the ocean. Here is a video of highlights from the ride from Bear River Casino to Shelter Cove.: https://youtu.be/7eqj1sbR1cA .

We stopped for lunch and gas in Shelter Cove. The rain had mostly stopped so we ate lunch at the Surf Point Coffee House, right on the ocean. Video from King Peak Road to the Surf Point Coffee House: https://youtu.be/9ZuuL78G2_c

I would recommend the Surf Point. Good food and great views. After lunch we got gas at the store in Shelter Cover and headed South following our route. We finally got to Usal Road, the more challenging part of this BDR, especially in the rain. This would be easy if it was dry but the wet clay was a bit slick. It was not super wet so we were lucky.

The further South on Usal Road we went, the drier it got. We got some great views where it rides along the hills overlooking the ocean.

Yes, I know I need a haircut.

Usal road YouTube video: https://youtu.be/HqVxW8JvpFI. This starts North of Usal and continues to highway 1.

By the time we got to highway 1, the rain had mostly stopped and the sun was out at times (but still quite cloudy). We stayed the night at Fort Bragg as planned.

We had dinner along the Noyo River, just down the road from the hotel. We had planned to eat at the Noyo Fish Company but it was closed. We ended up at the Sea Pal Cove which is a fish and chips place.

Here is the Cardo Ride track from this day of riding: https://riserapp.com/t/nZeipwZBb18j and Rewind: https://img.riserapp.com/photos/videos/rewind/1918714-rewind.mp4 . It took us about 6.5 hours between Fortuna and Fort Bragg. If it were not raining, we may have investigated more of the spur trails. We rode to the Saddle Mountain Viewpoint but we were in the fog.

The next day we had breakfast at Denny's in Fort Bragg and looked at the weather forecasts.

The forecasts were not good. As we head North, the forecast called for increasing rain up to almost an inch with 10 to 10mph winds. That is no fun to ride in so we just took highway 1 to highway 101 back to the Bear River Casino where we were staying. We got lucky and only had very light occasional rain on the way back. We got back by 10:30am, loaded the bikes, and had lunch at Jack's Seafood Restaurant in Eureka. After lunch, we decided to check out the Avenue of the Giants.

YouTube of Avenue of the Giants: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD9A3UPa2gs8

Looking at the next day forecast was also looking dismal so we left the next morning. Our plan for a 3-day ride turned into a 1 day adventure ride, and a highway ride back to Fortuna the next day.

Here is the YouTube playlist for this ride: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX5Dr8FexgVw .

This was the complete opposite of Las Vegas weather so it was a nice break for us after cooking all summer. We got some great views and really enjoyed the first day. 

This is the longest section of BDR I have done. The next closest was about 45 miles of the Colorado alternative harder route where we went over Ophir, Corkscrew, Cinnamon, and Red Mountain passes (although not in order and we did not ride Hurricane Pass). 

Husqvarna 701 Enduro 10k mile update

 

My Husqvarna 701 Enduro just crossed 10,000 miles. I bought it new in the fall of 2023 and ride it most weekends. Here in the Southwest we ride all year. I had to take a couple breaks from riding due to injuries. I really love this bike and it fits my riding desires well. I am between dual sport riding and adventure riding. Maybe a bit more towards adventure riding but not into long pavement rides or camping.

Beyond maintenance and upgrades, here is the list of repairs I had to make:

• Radiator. One day it just started leaking in the middle of the core. It was a small leak. No apparent physical damage. The bike had about 9,000 miles on it when this happened in December 2025.
  
  
  
• Fuel tank mounts. The top fuel tank bolts loosened and one was completely disengaged. Then one of the lower mount bolts broke. The fuel tank is the rear subframe. There is a subframe reinforcement kit for this but at a minimum check your bolts regularly.
• Sidestand sensor. This is a common issue with these bikes. It sits low and it exposed. It was flakey from new, intermittently preventing start and setting DTCs. They replaced it under warranty but the issues persisted but very intermittently. Luckily I bought a sidestand sensor dongle that simulates the sidestand always up solving this problem. If you have one of these bikes this device is a must. 
  
  
  
• The shifter rubber part disappeared one day so I upgraded to a Tusk all-metal one. 

  

  
  

We have some very rocky terrain around here so this bike has taken a beating. Not to mention my questionable riding skills and numerous times I have dropped the bike. The crash bars have some miles on them for sure. My camera has great smoothing making this look much smoother than it is but here is an example of the rough trails.

There are certainly trails with larger rocks that I have ridden but what made this one bad was that it is not really steep and it was straight so the speed was higher and it was long. The beating just never stopped. There are many more great examples on my YouTube channel such as Wheeler Pass North side and Kingston Powerline Road.

The longer I have the bike, the shorter the rear tire life. My original TKC 80 rear tire lasted almost 3,000 miles. Then I switched to Anakee Wild tires, the first rear lasting only 1700 miles. The last Anakee Wild lasted only 1200 miles. I replace them at about 4mm remaining. I now have a nearly worn out TKC 80 with about 1300 miles on it. I have a TKC 80 gen 2 ready for installation soon. The front tires outlast the rears but about 5:1. 

I average somewhere in the high 40's for miles-per-gallon. That is a mix of on and off road but mostly off road. I have done as good as low 60's if riding smooth sections where I am in 6th gear often but below 55mph. I have had as low as mid-30's when blasting down the highway with the windshield on into a headwind. I now have a truck to haul the bike so long highway rides are much less common. 

Here are some prior updates:

I bought a Husqvarna 701 Enduro .

1,000 mile review of the Husky.

T-Rex skid plate and crash bars

2,000 mile review

5,000 mile review

Veridian cruise install

Bike Hauler

 

I ride my electric mountain bike (eMTB) and my Husqvarna 701 Enduro motorcycle primarily off-road. I have now explored most places within reasonable riding distance from my house, especially in the case of the eMTB (about a 20 mile radius). I want to explore much farther, including taking the motorcycle to the Colorado San Juan mountains. I have a receiver rack for the bikes that I can use on my Cayenne but that is my wife's car and I don't want to leave her without a car. I also have a Porsche Cayman S but that is a manual transmission which she can no longer drive. I have friends with trailers and that is great but does not work out consistently. So, I bought a 2019 Ranger FX4 so I could haul my bikes. 

I have had incidents where a bike was disabled or someone was injured so I also wanted an off-road hauler that could go as close as possible to the injured rider and/or disabled bike to rescue them (or me). Last year we were up near Caliente, many miles up a rocky hill climb when a person in our group was injured and could not ride back out. Luckily he had a Jeep Rubicon with a receiver rack which we were able to use to retrieve him and the bike. I realized I needed this capability.

Trailers are great, and MUCH easier to load a motorcycle into for sure. However, there are downsides. You can't drag a trailer up an off-road trail. The receiver rack is functional, but not very robust. They make me nervous on a nice paved road. Hauling in the bed of a pickup with the right points to retain the wheels and bike firmly works better off-road. The bad part about this is the truck (especially a 4x4) sits high and it is precarious to load a heavy bike in there. 

I concluded that the Ranger with 2 ramps, E-track with wheel chocks and additional points to secure the bikes, and a winch to help load heavy bikes, would solve the problem. I started by adding E-track to the front of the bed, along with additional E-track sections for better points to strap the front of the bike down. I added additional E-track single mounts in the bed itself. I also added strap loops to the tailgate to strap the back wheels of the bike in place so they cannot move side-to-side. 

 I added mounts and straps to secure the ramps in each side of the box. I have cables to lock the ramps in with the tailgate, which locks with the truck door locks. I keep the ramps in the truck all the time. 

I setup an electric ATV winch, mounting all the components together on a mount that connects to the E-track. It has a wireless remote control so I can even load bike alone with ease. I ran 6AWG cables to the battery with a 120A fuse. It has 120A connectors so I can easily connect and disconnect the winch, stowing it in the cab of the truck. While the winch can pull up to 3,000lbs, pulling even large motorcycles into a truck is far less force than that. 

I also have a class IV receiver hitch on the truck. I have a shackle. I carry tow straps and other pulling equipment as well. My winch bracket supports a sling strap that can be used to connect to this receiver shackle for pulling bikes our of precarious areas. The winch wiring is long enough to reach for this.

I can easily add another electrical connector in the front of the truck for this too.

I keep all the traps and accessories in the cab of the truck so everything needed to rescue a bike in the boonies is there. If I am riding and need a rescue, my family can simply go to my location with the Ranger and pick me up. I always carry a Garmin InReach as well so I can easily message them with my GPS coordinates.

This all works well. I was injured recently while riding the motorcycle. I was able to ride back to the truck. Having the 2 ramps and winch for loading really helped.

After setting this up to haul motorcycles, it is a bit overkill for the eMTB but works really well for them. My eMTB weights 90lbs so most traditional bike racks are inadequate. Loading is not as easy either. Having the ramps make this a breeze. Often I can park on a hill where I can easily load/unload the eMTB without ramps but there are also times it comes in handy if I am alone.

If I had to rescue a bike that requires traversing a rugged off-road trail, and can secure the bike like this with 4 straps and both wheels restrained. In this configuration the bike barely moves even while off-roading.

Securing the ramps with a cable to the tailgate latch. The tailgate locks with the truck.

Loaded with a Tenere and a KLR 650.

Crashed Again

 

We had a group ride at at Gold Butte National Monument. We had planned a large loop there. We ended up riding the loop below.

 The location of the incident where my calf got overextended.

Starting at Whitney Pocket (top of map), we rode to Little Finland and then proceeded down Gold Butte Wash Road to the old townsite of Gold Butte. All was going great. As we headed down Scanlon Ferry Road we were about 9.3 miles from Gold Butte when we had a mild but rocky climb. With all the loose rocks, I was knocked off-course and headed to the uphill side of the road. I could not get the bike back on course so I stuck my leg out to catch the bike from falling. Unfortunately my foot got caught between the bike and ground in a way that jammed my toes towards my shin, overextending my calf. It was bad enough at that point but I then fell off the bike overextending it much more. Here is the video (below) where the left foot get caught.

We had planned a loop back to Gold Butte. None of us had ridden this area before. After I rested a bit I got back on the bike to continue. We discussed going back the way we came or continuing forward. Unfortunately I chose continuing forward (very bad choice) so we did. At this point I was tired and of course my leg was in pain. It was hard to shift the bike with my damaged leg too.  Scanlon Ferry Road was in a sandy wash at this point forward. This is hard riding on a motorcycle. Our planned loop then turns into Twin Springs Wash. It was a less travelled sandy wash that got more primitive as we proceeded. It finally got so primitive it was deemed impassible by me, and some others on bigger bikes so we turned around and headed back. 

By now it was after 1pm. As I was quite tired at this point, I crashed another time on the way back, breaking a rib (video below). It was about 35 miles from where we turned around back to the truck. That was a long ride and it was getting dark when we finally got to the truck. 

After the foot issue, my torn calf muscle kept spasming periodically, which was quite painful. I took 3 electrolyte pills to try to help it but the issue persisted. I also drank all 3 liters of water I had so I borrowed some from another rider. The cramping persisted intermittently for the whole rest of the ride. 

I always ride with full protective gear, including motocross (MX) boots. MX boots are very thick and rigid, giving very little foot movement. Many riders complain they are so stiff they are hard to ride in. It makes shifting and operating the rear brake challenging for sure. However, they are thick and rigid for a reason: to save your feet and ankles. This could have been much worse. I also only ride with others, never alone. 

My last crash with injury was much worse: https://jimroal.blogspot.com/2024/02/oops.html 

Here is the GPX file of our actual ride: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bXsZSPlaBLX_1Mh3zX0Jv5bAT865_GAN/view?usp=sharing 

More information on Gold Butte National Monument: https://www.blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/nevada/gold-butte 

Video playlist from this ride: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ4ONVypz2fZV0UhmtEKwNnKysXBBxuaI

Stopping for a break on Gold Butte Wash Road at the intersection of Lime Canyon Road.

Little Finland

Whitney Pocket, where we met and parked

A few days after the incident, my leg still very swollen and now turning very bruised.

The whole leg actually. Bruising starts above the knee on the back and covers most of the leg and foot including the toes. The swelling was significant from the knee down. My shoe would not really fit that foot anymore so I bought some oversized Crocs for that foot until the swelling goes down. I had to wear my baggiest pants, or wear shorts as my calf was too tight in most of my pants.

As if that is not gross enough, here is a short video showing all the bruising at about a week an a half: https://photos.app.goo.gl/4oscVYM9S9t7zy9j7 (viewer discretion advised).