It was a blast, last year was the first for a winter biking trip and Bruce and I with 4 other riders (none from this group) rented KTM 450's and did the AD Moto LA to Vegas on a custom trip, beat the tar out of ourselves for 560 miles of desert riding to land in Vegas for Supercross. This year was a little further and a lot of fun, so I'm looking forward to next year, maybe Guadalajara and back up the coast?? There was a lot of work done to pave some odd places that are obviously far enough away from any main centres to get regular maintenance, and the budget probably didn't include any considerations for crumbly cliffs, but I would trade our roads for $3 meals and $10 hotel rooms....and the obvious cost of living any day.
KTM vs BMW? They are both great bikes, and they will both dos the job, comes down to personal preference really. When the road got super twisty the 690 was a lot of fun, in the gravel and washes it was just like riding a dirt bike, the rough rocky stuff was transparent, when the curves got spread out the BMW made a gap, and on the road in the wind I'd rather ride the BMW. I rode a KTM1190R and just loved it, but it has 150 hp and I'd ride it like a dirt bike and it would probably bite me pretty hard. I'm going to keep my 690 for my son and going to pick up an Africa Twin, it felt nice and nimble for the size,the 100 hp won't get me into trouble but be nicer at higher speeds, and a little more wind protection. I like the fact that it is a little electronically dumb, I like ABS on the pavement, but don't need or want all the traction control and other functions, I'm pretty good at riding these things.
