Daren Hammonds who has a 2011 Triumph 800XC invited me to go with him to Moab, Utah to give our new Triumphs a shakedown. We left Albuquerque at 8 AM for the 360 mile road trip. We did take a side trip on a dirt road to see just what Angel Rock is. We have both been by the sign several times and have always said that someday we will check it out. It is a shaped rock on the top of a hill in the badlands area just outside of Bloomfield, New Mexico. We searched for a way down into the badlands but did not have any luck. It's a good subject for a future ride.
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| The badlands by Bloomfield |
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| Our Moab home for the next few days |
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| Why is it called Balancing Rock? |
So we took the paved road out of the park and into town for dinner. Fortunately we were not stopped at the exit as we had no pass because we had come in across country. I did drop my shiny new Triumph while going down some rock steps in too high a gear. The engine suddenly stopped and I had no place to put my foot so the bike was laid down on the right side in a somewhat gentle manner. In hindsight I believe that the engine probably died because the firmware in the ECU had not been updated and that is the problem that the firmware update is supposed to fix. Tomorrow it's the White Rim Trail which is 130 miles of not too difficult 4 wheel drive road.
BIKE SETUP
DAREN
Triumph panniers, tailbag, tankbag, adjustable windshield, centerstand, engine bars and skidplate. Stock gearing, Touratech handlebar risers and Arrow pipe. Recall firmware and centerstand update done.
JACK
Givi panniers and tail bag on homemade mounts. Givi windshield which was removed for off road riding. Small magnetic Cortech tankbag, stock gearing and exhaust. No centerstand, recall firmware not yet done.
I had no idea Moab was like this. I have only seen it from paved roads. Thanks for sharing. I am really liking your Blog.
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