11/30/2025
Every vehicle I brought on this tour managed to leak a new and exciting fluid! Oil from the 850 side case ( easy enough to tighten bolts at camp), a blown fork seal and bushing on the 790, and worst of all, gear oil from what ended up being a grenaded rear pinion gear on my 4runner that nobody in Flagstaff could fix because it’s regeared. I towed the bikes home, topping off gear oil as I went, then got to careen down I-17 ( checked my roadside assistance and life insurance beforehand) to Westcott Designs in Phoenix to get my rear gears inspected and replaced by offroad pros. I had to rent a car briefly in there, and it got a flat, too. 🫠🙃😵💫 is it even an adventure if you truly didn’t know if you’d ever see pavement again?