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That video was one I had planned to shoot, since rigging the Cyclone 13 can be a little counterintuitive, however I sold the boat in August of last year and no longer have it! Google Images has a few good rigging images for the Cyclone 13, and what I based my rigging on initially.

@@temperedstate8963 it does! They're a little tighter than a USGI mag body, but it works fine.

@@jwerner3903 thanks for the feedback! I make videos to help folks out mostly. A following would be a side benefit of helping people make good gear decisions!

@@-Agent_47_ I do not have an AK platform to experiment with, so another user will have to verify. There is plenty of room in the carrier, I don't see why 3x AK mags would not fit.

@@NoahWyka ak mags are a little bit thicker

@@IzheXIII I just measured mine again, it is 5.5in/140mm deep. Hope I could help!

@@jayhopkins1337 Great tip!

@@Winters11 interesting! What insert specifically? There was absolutely no way any triple insert I had on hand would have fit without widening the velcro pouch.

@@rp6122 The vast majority of my techical riding was in the deserts of El Paso and New Mexico where water crossings are incredibly rare. I've done a lot more since shooting this video last year!

Glad they work for you! A hybrid system sounds good! I run a tail bag for longer trips that works well for my lightweight or quick-access stuff.

@@NoahWykaNice I’m using one of the larger Apache harbor freight cases and my plan is to secure a cargo rack to the top so I can expand my storage on top of the box. Some days when you are taking gear in and off and maybe picking up some food for camp it’s nice to have a way to just strap crap to the top for a short ride. Great review btw

No, we sold it last summer before moving back to Colorado so she could continue her adventures in Georgia!

The last time we capsized in her, she nearly sank! We learned she is not neutrally buoyant and is extremely difficult to un-turtle.

The first time I ever sailed my Cyclone I had zero sailing, and it was a breezy day. I capsized in short order, turtled long enough to get a lot of water between the inner and outer hulls. I quickly figured out that maintaining a water tight seal between the two hulls is vital. I put a dense foam seal around the inner side of the forward hatch and then put a hardwood brace across it that I could dog down tight. I also filled the inner voids with old rubber balls, the kind with lots of air in them and anything else that would provide maximum boyouncy. I made my boat unsinkable and where it would take on no water between the hulls. Also, I step my mast with the boat on the trailer. Just pick it up while standing on the pavement and stick it in. I rig my boat completely before backing it down the ramp so I can get out of the way quickly to make room for other boaters. I have probably sailed my Cyclone at least 70 times over the past 3 years since I got it. I really learned to sail on that boat. I now have four other sailboats, all bigger, but I still take the Cyclone out regularly. It's so easy to rig and get going on the water. It's great in winds between 7 and 15 mph.

The Cyclone is about like a 175 dirt bike. In both cases the rider is heavier than the boat or bike, and you can really throw that think around with your body weight. About the size of a Sunfish but with a much better rig and faster.

I built it myself out of aluminum plate.

I agree! I've put about 6 hours on the bike so far and it's been fantastic! I'm waiting for the snow to melt in Colorado on most of the trails before I can take it out for real.

The KLR was a decent bike for me, but I love my T7 more!

It's the Saddlemen Adventure Track seat. Super comfortable, breathes well, and it looks great! Just takes a little more tending than a stock seat because it's leather.

I agree, and a lighter bike for enduro and technical singletrack riding is in the works. Looking at a KTM 350 or Beta 300, but they're incredibly expensive for a hobby item. I don't have a dirt bike or enduro background whatsoever, so I'm still learning! For 95% of the riding I do, though, the T7 is perfect. It's just when I get into the tight stuff and end up off-line, I have trouble.

We had straps, but it made more sense for us to use a footpeg push on the very few level or uphill sections so we weren't stressing the T7 transmission and clutch with towing for extended periods.

Thanks for the tip. Pointes West is a private-access Army resort with very low traffic in the early springtime. I assure you that no one was waiting for us to get out of the way while we "took up a whole ramp." We finished our rigging at the very end of the jetty as well, so if anyone did need to get by, they could easily.

It is much easier to rig the boat on the trailer, especially setting the mast. That light little boat is super tippy. I could just imagine setting the mast like that and then when it's time to hoist the sail realizing you forgot to run the halyard to the top pulley before you stepped the mast. Been there, done that, but you can take the mast back down quickly in the parking lot and then re-step it. I have no idea how one would take the mast down on that boat while it's on the water without going for a swim.

On a large heavy bike, we all need to be practiced at our low speed manoeuvring like being able to power turn the machine instead of man-handling to turn the bike. I've been riding since I was about 10 yrs of age & have always had motor bikes in my life. I've ridden & owned all kinds of bikes & ridden in all kinds of terrain & riding too slow is the hardest riding of all with a big bike. The GS is a very heavy machine & not the best choice for a rider with minimal experience. The best way for you to step things up & give you more confidence is to ride those same trails again with a much more experienced rider who is well aware of your experience level & can push you along a little faster on the track. By trying to keep up with a more advanced rider, you will quickly realize the true potential of the bike when ridden & handled more appropriately for that type & weight of bike. You basically just need to find someone to get things moving a little faster which will almost immediately boost your confidence which, is very evidently, most of your trouble at this stage. To be very honest, both you & your friend need a little pushing along by a better rider. Since we all have to start somewhere, don't be too proud to ask for help. It's the smart way of learning anything in life.

@@rotasaustralis I appreciate the insight! We're just out there trying to improve, and if the stakes were a little lower we'd probably push as hard as we do on level ground. As you saw, though, we're literally inches from hundreds of feet of free space. One wrong line at too high a speed and it's all over. I'll admit, I need to use a little more throttle through obstacles so I have more momentum stored to overcome some of the tougher stuff. That's what I'll be working on this week in the enduro park! Last week it was just basic dirt drills to keep retraining the fundamentals. Keep the shiny side up! :)

No worries. Please don't take what I said as a criticism. I've watched a couple of your vids & in my opinion you ride a little too slowly simply from the perspective of giving the machine enough momentum. Riding a heavy, tall machine slowly is much harder, hence, the counter-intuitive aspect. I know when I was learning, it helped me a great deal to have more experienced riders to keep me going at a reasonable pace in order for me to gain the confidence I lacked &, which was actually working against me. Confidence on a bike is extremely important whereas, overconfidence often ends in tears or death. Lack of confidence causes double mindedness which is as bad or sometimes worse than over-confidence. Lack of confidence also causes the rider to be controlled by the bike instead of controlling the bike. Anyhow, it's great to see you out there & having a go &, the vids are good as well.@@NoahWyka

Made the adjustment, thanks!

Lol thanks but was joking a bit. At least you were able to get me to watch all of the video, if it said GS I wouldn’t have watched it. :) enjoyed the video, it was good 👍🏼

Good to know! Appreciate the routes, I'll check them out for sure! I actually used COTREX to plan the route around Mt. Rosa, since 381 connects through that 672 singletrack and back down 379 to 626 and the starting point! I'm looking into a lighter bike (KTM 350 EXC-F or a WR450F) to hopefully be a little less risky on those high altitude singletracks. I dropped the T7 on some Rampart Range singletrack last weekend and caved in a barkbuster...

We found one on the trailside, actually, but ended up not needing it. We pushed the bike uphill for probably 10-15 minutes that I wasn't recording, but the rest of it was mostly downhill. We got lucky.

I'm just glad you're good, man! That was a long way down...

It is definitely one of the quirks of this bag system. It has the advantage of staying put on the bike and offering some redundancy in case you break or tear a strap or buckle, but also the disadvantage of hassling with the straps to access anything when you're fully packed.

Which one strap panniers are you using?

@@Liveandletlive438 Ortlieb ql2 motorcycle panniers. I got em in like 2004 though, I'm sure they're discontinued. Touratech took over and has a model, but it's $600 for a set instead of being $300 for a set like the Ortlieb bags.

Hmm, they may have changed what they ship with in two years, but as far as I know they should include the two Defender 35 drybags. I would contact them! My riding pants are the Klim Outrider CE. Klim stopped making them, I believe, but I bought mine on overstock at MotorcycleGear.com!

Haha, it was more for good luck blessings than anything! The other two are very experienced street and track riders, but brand new to ADV riding. Most of my riding experience is in Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado where it's all sand and rock. I really haven't done much mud riding, even on dirt bikes. Appreciate it, though!

I have! He is seriously impressive! Being 6ft 5in also helps, lol. I think my biggest gap is confidence to push it hard. When I'm in my element and feel like the stakes if I crash are low, I'm much more aggressive. On this ride, I felt like I was underskilled and the bike was underprotected to really push it. I ride and practice literally every day, and hopefully someday I'll be confidently as fast as him!

@NoahWyka Have you asked your buddy for some time on his 660? I'm a small guy too, and with the 660's lower center of gravity and lower seat it's the adv bike I'd like to have.

@@dmsentra The Tuareg 660 is a nice bike for sure. I spent an hour or so in the saddle on some mild gravel and tarmac, nothing too crazy, and it just didn't fit me right. The T7 was an immediate click, though. It had everything I wanted in terms of performance, suspension travel, and reliability. I'm 5'11" with a 32in inseam, so I can just barely flat-foot the T7 at full sag. Not knocking the Tuareg, it's just not the right bike for me.

I'm not sure I fully understand your question, but having ridden both, it really depends on what you want to do. The 690 Enduro is well set-up for technical off road with some camping and adventuring gear on it. It's lightweight, low center of gravity, has loads of suspension travel, plenty of power, and it's smooth for a single. The main advantage the T7 has is its comfort on the highway, and its versatility, though. I rode 200 highway miles from my house to the start point, rode about 90 miles of adventure riding through multiple water crossings and rutted, poor roads, then rode 200 miles home. It was comfortable and easy to manage throughout the whole day! If I could only pick one bike, I'd stick with my T7. The KTM shines when it's a dedicated adventure bike, I think.

@@NoahWyka Thank you. I think that you answered the question. Although I didn't give the question really. So I was just saying if you were going to do the transmerica trail again, which bike would it be? And you answerwd the t7.

A rider from a group right before us drowned his R1200GS in the deeper part as you go to the right up the river. He was there for two days flushing his engine and changing oil. Our big fear was the rainfall would make our crossings fast and deep, but all of the crossings we hit went really well!

@@NoahWyka Yeah, it's a fun area to ride. I end up there often, because it's only 30 minutes from home.

I agree! It's lightweight, good power to weight ratio, and comfortable!

I live north Georgia, not too far from two wheels. I noticed your georgia tag.

The Tenere is both tall and top-heavy, so if you've never ridden a bike before and want to ride off road with it, it might be just a little bit of a steep learning curve. It's also a bit expensive of a bike to drop over and over as you learn, but that can be mitigated with crashbars and handguards. As far as power and engine, though, it's relatively mild-mannered and controllable, so I don't think it would be a bad choice!

Your poor car, haha. It's true, a majority of the SM500 is well-graded roads with minimal technical aspect to it. The water crossings and long, steep downhills are the most challenging part.

I generally agree, you should be able to handle your bike in all conditions without assistance. I'm confused what you're referring to in this video, however.

It's my own design and fabrication. I used 1/4" 6061 aluminum plate.