[flyinturbo]

Alright, so this might be a bit of a long winded post with lots of questions... so, bear with me, please.

I bought my CRF new late in 06 (it's an 07) and haven't really ridden it much. I farkled it with a few cool things such as a works connection skid plate and radiator guards, a trail tech vapor, scotts steering stabilizer, acerbis hand guards and a few other little tid bits.

My bro and I have been talking about doing some extended rides .. except for one problem, he didn't have anything to ride. So I bought him a used 07 CRF that had similar mods as mine.

Our intent is to ride from Phoenix to Cabo and back late November. We plan on doing as much off road riding as we can and I've kinda figured we'd follow the Baja 1000 race course till we get bored of getting beat to snot...then we'll find alternate ways of getting south and back. Basically, our plan is to ride from one beer stop to the next, find places to sleep, eat and drink for 2 weeks. So, here is where the questions come in:

I want to regear the bikes, but not sure what gearing will be an all around good setup to go with. I don't want to lose the ability to ride some good, tight single track, but I also don't want to spin the engine at 6k doing 60 mph. What have some of you tried? As a side note, we are keeping the engines/exhausts stock. Stock airbox as well to keep things clean and tight. So, no HP additions.

Along with gearing is tires. I plan on balancing all of our wheels before going and we'll start with fresh tires at the start of the ride, but I really have no idea what tires to run. I know we'll see quite a bit of pavement but I'd rather have better traction off road and sacrifice a bit on the slab.

We don't plan on riding at night, but we do want the extra visibility of having good lighting 'just in case'. I've been kicking around Rigid D2s but don't want to break the bank putting lights on these things. I'd rather do something that looks OEM and puts out a decent amount of light.

We're gonna need to take our stuff along with us. What have y'all been doing for cargo racks, bags or ???

What should we be doing with the engines? They should make it that far and back without any issues, yes? Of course, fresh oil before the start but how many times should we change the oil on the ride?

Any other advice y'all can offer would be GREATLY appreciated! This ride is really a long term dream for both of us and is basically the start of us doing more adventure style rides.

Ken, I've purchased stuff from you before and you've taken amazing care of me. I'll be making a decent sized purchase from you in the near future, so keep your ears peeled please!

Oh, and if any of y'all wanna follow along on the adventures of two brothers, here's a link! http://longie.us/sicadv/

[Luvofgti22]

Sounds like we're going to have a blast!!

[dlee]

Check out wolfman luggage, it's soft sided luggage, made in Colorado,

As for gearing, check out this web site. it will explain to you how much gain or loss by changing sprocket sizes

http://www.sprocketcalculator.com/

[flyinturbo]

Thanks for the link on sprockets... This website has a sprocket calc too! I was hoping for a more real world report on how well taller gearing works with a stock engine. I don't want to gear too tall and not be able to pull 5th gear comfortably.

I'll check out Wolfman luggage...

[Kyle450x]

I'm running 14/48 gearing and I wish I did this a LONG time ago. I still ride track and trails with it, and I can also go plenty fast (high 80s) if I want to. Granted I do have some engine mods etc, but I would still look to go around this gearing. Maybe 14/49 or 14/50. If you dont plan on going fast then i'd raise that rear sprocket teeth count to get some more low. Although I don't see any need for it personally, if you don't want as much high speed, you might as well take advantage of it int he lower speed stuff.

I agree with Wolfman Luggage, it's great stuff! From there it's going to depend on what all you want to carry with you (tools/ clothes/first aid) to decide on which bag (s) you will want.

As for the lighting: I can't think of anything better than the DDM Tuning HID kit (theres a recent thread on it). It plugs into your stock headlight and is BRIGHT! I would feel very comfortable riding with this at night, especially if your not planning on going 80+ at night, but just regular riding. Its relatively inexpensive @ $35, so I would buy 2 for your baja trip, just incase. Although they do have lifetime warranties, your SOL if a ballast burns down in Mexico... I would also have the stator re-wound by Baja Designs for this trip and the HID kit as well.

Sounds like a great trip!!