Tellico Overland Adventure Destination (T.O.A.D.)
September 27-29

I had the opportunity to attend the first edition of an adventure rally / weekend built for riders of Harley Davidson’s big V Twin for dirt, the Pan-American.

Hosted by Shawn Wells and his team from White Lightning Harley-Davidson in Chattanooga, the first TRAIL JAM attracted more than 30 riders from Orlando to Ontario.

It also attracted rain, as much if not more than any rally I can remember, thanks to Hurricane Helene which arrived as a sub-tropical depression. We were quite lucky, other than losing power the rally site was spared while communities not far to the east were devastated.

If you’re going to rally in the rain, T.O.A.D. is a great spot to set up base camp for a few days. Over the last few years site improvements have replaced rental tents with a pavilion on a concrete pad, a command center and new for this fall, the infamous shower bus is gone and has been replaced by a proper shower house.

Shawn was kind enough to bring me a demo PA to ride for the weekend. I was looking forward to the chance to really get to know the Pan America. I had taken a demo ride at Dirt Daze so I was not completely unfamiliar with the bike and I was looking forward to some riding.

It started raining on Wednesday evening and continued just about non-stop through Friday morning. With a promising forecast we decided to go for a ride after lunch.

I normally run fast and far from a large group ride but I was looking forward to some time on the PA with some of the folks I had met the day before. It was a big group but everyone could ride and we had a great start with our first destination being a scenic spot on a mountain top.

At our next stop after the mountain top my friend Chuck Lambert realized his GPS (Garmin Zumo XT) had some off the mount. We figured it had to be on the road to the photo site as it was somewhat choppy in spots. Chuck decided to go back for a look and I suggested four eyes were better than two and I went with him. We were unable to find the GPS, and Chuck’s loss turned into my gain as we realized we’d never catch the group so it was myself and a great guy, great rider and true local wizard with the trails off for a ride for two. I got to see some sights and bond with the bike.

I was asked what I thought of the Pan America and I would have to qualify my answer with two undeniable facts. First I am a BMW guy as much as a Harley guy is a Harley guy. I love the boxer. Second, I am getting older and I look at my GS as a street bike I can ride on dirt roads and mellow jeep trails; If I want to go “big bike hard” I’m on a KTM 890. With this in mind there’s no way I’d find it practical to spend the money on a PA, but if this bike had come along 20 years ago there’s a good chance I would have come home to Harley.

With this said I do like the PA very much. We call them motorcycles because it’s all about the motor. I love twins and the big V-Twin, which in this bike is the Revolution MAX, pumps out 150hp and 95 ft-lbs of torque. It’s a beast and I love this motor. The bike it’s in is also very nice and for the Motor Company’s first go at a big Adventure Bike is a home run. My only gripes are the high center of gravity and the first generation electronics, stopping to engage “purple mode” ( hard core woods config) is so 2019 but will likely be addressed via a software update. The high center of gravity is the bleating of a rider who is much closer to racing in the “senior vet” group than against the target market for a bike like this..

After a great afternoon of riding Chuck and I returned to the rally site for happy hour and dinner. The Tellico Overland Adventure Destination is also the home of March Moto Madness, aka the mother rally. The Trail Jam was an opportunity to give the new shower house a good test which it passed with flying colors. The feedback from March Moto Madness mentioned the food service and quality of the food to be issues that had to be addressed; the Trail Jam was also an opportunity for a local caterer to demonstrate what they can do and can do they did. Both nights were fantastic dinners, some of the best I’ve ever had at a rally, plus for the first time there will be two food lines so the time in line will be cut in half.

Saturday morning arrived without rain which was a welcome relief from the last few days. The forecast was solid with mostly sunny skies with a few intermittent showers as the last of Hurricane Helene moved north.

Over the last few years the GS GIANTS have been improving the area behind the party barn and creating a fantastic big bike trials course and “proving grounds” where riders compete and attempt various tests of skill. The competition was fierce with a three way tie for first place that was broken with a slow race. I was very impressed with the top riders and I think it would be a great show to see GS and PA riders go head to head on this course.

Saturday night we enjoyed another fantastic meal, a band and big bonfire. It was a great way to cap off a wonderful weekend. Yes it rained a lot which kept riding down a bit but once in a while if you have the right people to hang out with a rally in the rain can be a heck of a good time. Plus as a first edition of what I am sure will be an ongoing success we all get to say “We were here for the first PAN AMERICAN TRAIL JAM and a Hurricane too!

Thanks again to Shawn Wells for the special invitation, the demo bike and for being an all around great guy and to Mick Fouts and Rebecca Johnson, owners of the Tellico Overland Adventure Destination and great hosts and all the riders who showed up to ride their PA’s in the muddy slop we call the woods.

I had a fantastic weekend.

When I first visited what would become our spot in Vermont, it was love at first sight. Not for the single-wide, kit built “manufactured home,” the dilapidated barn, or the marijuana patch out back but for the sense of isolation, privacy and the kind of quiet that’s getting hard to find.

When you’re here it’s easy to imagine there are not another 20 million or so people within 500 miles. Unfortunately one of them is part of a family that owns property up on the hill top behind the cabin and they have an axe to grind. This property has been in his family for along time and abuts a state forest. They live out of state, have no winter access yet they hate the noise from snowmobiles. They want to close a legal road to the public. It is a critical road connecting a few towns that gets more use in sled season. Not on any published moto routes and never will be. Too hard.

I’ve heard Vermont described as a state that is a national park and in some ways it’s accurate. Like a national park the environment and aesthetic are priorities; the guy in charge of road signs calls them “litter on a stick.” You will not find billboards in Vermont. Access to the woods is precious.

Vermont has the more dirt roads than paved. Vermont also has close to 1,700 miles of Class IV roads which are unmaintained legal rights of way open to motorized traffic in the summer and limited to snowmobiles in the winter. Maintenance and post flood damage on these Class IV roads are done by local snowmobile clubs, to legally ride a snowmachine in Vermont you must be a member of a club that is part of the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers (VAST). The VAST network uses public (class IV) and private land to create a trail network that allows one to go from Southern Vermont to the Canadian Border. If you ride the Northeast Backcountry Discovery Route (NEBDR) there are a few places were you’ll be riding on a class IV that is also on the VAST network.

It is a big deal to get a class IV road to be “given up” by the town. It’s a process that requires a vote at an open town meeting and it is very rare that a landowner can succeed. In the case of my neighbor on the mountain he’s been suing the neighboring town regarding their classification of the road, putting it on the VAST network on so on. He picked it up again over the holidays with our town and tried to play games with scheduling, agenda items and the calendar to get a quick vote when nobody was paying attention. It failed because we do and the room was full of concerned citizens. The motion was tabled pending review.

As the review will involve researching maps, boundaries and landmarks from 1931 to present this is being done on horseback and GPS to disprove the landowners claims. We want this road, not only for our own enjoyment but in this case safety as well, when the floods came last summer for those with proper equipment this provided access days before the class III road was open.

Scenes like this play out across the country all the time. For the last 20 or so years I’ve been involved in doing all I can not only to protect our rights to ride but to preserve them as well. The reality is protection has to happen when preservation has failed, usually because of bad behavior.

In this case we’re lucky that the opposition doesn’t have any specific complaints or events with motorcyclists to sway votes, all he has is the law, a bunch of maps and questionable interpretations; we’re confident we will prevail. This is in contrast to what happened in southern Vermont a few weeks after the Backcountry Discovery Rides published the NEBDR when a few hundred feet of road near a park was closed to motor vehicles due to constant complaints from residents.

I support the American Motorcycle Association and am glad to serve on the Recreational Off Road Riding Committee. I firmly believe all riders benefit from the AMA and their efforts to represent us with Federal and State Governments. I’m not looking for a wave of appreciation; I do this because I enjoy it and believe that once in a while I might make a difference. What I am looking for is help with preservation of what we have.

By the time the AMA gets involved with a riders rights issue chances are preservation has failed. In the case of a HOA board it’s because a few riders just had to have straight pipes, be hooligans near cross walks and so on.

In the case of dual sport or adventure riders preservation takes much more conscious effort by the rider. Noise is noise but how fast is too fast on an unmarked dirt road? What does reckless riding look like to someone on a mountain bike or out for a walk? What is reckless riding on dirt? How about that lady on a horse? Here in Vermont with 20 million souls less than an 8hr ride away the chances of encountering all of the above on any given ride is quite high.

So… This is where we all come in.

Each and every time you ride your adventure bike, like it or not you’re an ambassador. The big bike, big lights, luggage and the fancy Klim suit attract eyeballs, it’s what they’re designed to do. I figure the average encounter folks have with us are very short, sometimes only seconds and rarely involve conversation. To this day I can tell you about when I was a kid in the backseat of the family wagon when a guy on an R100RS went by at pace. I thought about it yesterday when a I saw a guy going down I91 on an RT. At pace.

Positive impressions are quick, painless and can be rewarding. In the woods or the dirt roads around here this means slowing way (way!) down for pedestrians, especially those with dogs, slowing down for folks on bicycles (how about a cheer for the ones going uphill!) and this one is big, full stop and shutting off the motor for folks on horseback. Waves and smiles go a long way as does respecting gates.

It’s still quite possible to have a great day and let your inner hooligan out to play for a bit, it’s just very important to know where it’s good and where it’s not along with whatever your tolerance for risk is. My rule of thumb is once I see a house, mailbox, or person it’s time to roll off, chill and focus on my fun and theirs too.

We’re all in this together and we need to work with, not against, the rest of the public. The US population has increased by over 30% on my life-time. More people means more competition for resources and for us places to ride in the woods is a very precious resource.

No matter where you ride when you ride somewhere new or your favorite weekend destination why not ride in a way that a local might just invite to a cookout instead of thinking something not so friendly.

#letsridebikes.

In 2004 I started hosting a 24 hour Iron Butt Style rally in New England. It was called the Minuteman 1000 and ran for 14 years.

After some discussion with friends old and new I’ve decided to bring back the Minuteman with a dirty twist.

The Muddy Minuteman will be three events in one.

First is a 33 hour scavenger hunt throughout New England with most of the bonus locations on dirt with some being on class IV + roads, jeep trails and single track. There will be a 9 hour rest bonus where riders can collect extra points for setting up camp and making their own dinner. Riders can take the rest bonus at any location, including the rally site.
This will start at 06:00 Friday August 12 and finish at 15:00 on Saturday August 13.

The second event is a 10 hour version of the same and will start at 06:00 on Saturday August 13.

The third option is to come hang out in Colebrook and ride some of the provided .GPX files.

Dinner will be served Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, breakfast Friday and Saturday, grab n go on Sunday.

The Rally will be based from Camp Bobriwka in Colebrook, Ct. Camp Bobriwka is a wonderful 300 acre spot with a rustic dining hall, bunk houses, pond side camping, a modern bathhouse and more. It’s a great place to basecamp for a ride or post up for a relaxing weekend. There are some luxurious tiny houses available to rent.

The Muddy Minuteman (MM) will be an scavenger hunt rally with no set route. Riders will be presented with a .GPX file with a wide variety of locations with varying point values. The value of each bonus will be based on its distance from the start, the difficulty of the terrain to reach it and the difficulty to accomplish whatever task is required in the rallybook The tasks can range from reading a marker to answer a question, taking a photo, or going on a short but perhaps steep hike to do one or both of the former.

The MM is designed for capable riders of large displacement bikes such as the BMW R1250 GS, Honda Africa Twin, KTM 1290, etc. The lower end would be defined by the Yamaha Super Tenere. There will be a separate class for smaller bikes and big singles.

There will be some mandatory requirements for both rider and machine. The bike will be inspected. GPS will be mandatory as will a tracker that can send data to SPOTWALLA and send / receive messages from rally central. A camera or smartphone that will geotag photos to a memory card is also required.

The point of the event is to have fun. Good clean fun. There will be a lot of rules and details to follow for the type A, competitive rider. Doing so well will result in a great ride with what for you may be some challenges a little outside your comfort zone (remember this when you think of riding alone). There will be trophies for the top riders and swag for all. At least a sticker.

I also know how painful it can be to put down a huge effort to get somewhere and get zero points because the camera didn’t work, the marker was gone or I put A instead of An in my answer. Point is we’re going to put the emphasis on the ride so as long as your tracking device works if you reach it, you bag it while the folks that got it right get the big points. There will be a minimum score required to be considered a finisher.

The 10hr rally will have more transits on pavement. I’m hopeful that it will have a good number of bonuses that are closer to camp yet not at all big bike friendly. Rather than have different books for two classes it can be leveled by having the GS rider go further.

Finally for those who love to watch, chill and go for their own kind of ride this is your spot. A big reason for this ride is to support the Camp. It’s an amazing spot. There’s a wonderful dining hall and some adjacent flat field for tents, a big fire pit, places for RV’s travel trailers and car campers. There are a few bunk rooms too. It’s near a bunch of great riding. You could also wear yourself out riding a smaller bike on property. Chef Don Stover and his crew will be providing meals.

This is planned for August 11-14. If you’re from out of town come on up for the Muddy Minuteman and stick around for Dirt Daze the following weekend.

I love to rally. I love motorcycles and the folks that ride them and the best place to find a lot of both is at a motorcycle rally. I attended my first organized event just about 25 years ago and I was immediately hooked.

Since then I have hosted or co-chaired over 100 events including working with Michael Friedle and Josh Asher to put on the largest gathering of BMW motorcycle enthusiasts ever held in North America along with 14 years as Rallymaster for the Minuteman 1000, a 24hr endurance rally held in New England.

Working with the GS Giants I was looking forward to putting on a rally we called Rock Lobster. Scheduled for August of 2020, Covid postponed it to 2021, then were had to cancel when it became clear due to forces outside of our control that we were not going to be able to provide what we advertised.

Thankfully our good friends at the BMW Riders Association invited us to come participate as “junior partners” in their annual Rally.

Held in Waynesville North Carolina we tagged the RA’s Game of Roads Rally as the Game of Trails. Giants being Giants resulted in many members coming together to run some big bike trials, field events and provide the fun and comradery the GS Giants are known for.

From the GS Giants website:

The GS Giants got their start in a western Pennsylvania forest, in 2011, where a bunch of riders who didn’t know each other rode in and became lifelong friends.
Since then, thanks to the efforts of hundreds of volunteers, the club has grown into the international force that it is today. Over 15,000 people around the world, collectively in social media platforms and our website, form one of the largest Adventure Motorcycle Communities.
From experienced veterans to newbs, on any type of adventure motorcycle, you are welcome here.

One early and very popular event was the Gypsy Tours. These were ride ins to events where the Giants built big bike trials tracks. The GS Giants tracks have become a staple of GS Giants events starting with the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America’s annual rallies to the Giants own Go Big annual rally, The BMW RA Rally, Ribfest and a host of other regional events.

With the RA Rally scheduled I decided to host a Gypsy tour of sorts or what I like to call a Rolling Rally. A Rolling rally is nothing more than a few suggested routes to appropriately spaced campgrounds along the way to a common destination, in this case the RA Rally.
I did my first Roller to the BMW MOA Rally in Johnson City, TN. Called the Big Johnson Tour we enjoyed twisty pavement and catered meals at established campgrounds. For this trip we had the benefit of the Mid-Atlantic Back Road Discovery Route (MABDR). This is a very scenic mostly dirt route that runs from PA to Damascus, VA.

Our tour started with a wonderful BBQ dinner served by Tracy Shannon Novacich. One of the founders of the GS Giants, Tracy put out a wonderful spread even though she was unable to join us on the ride. She did spare husband Matt who laid out a wicked fun ride to our first night destination; the Little Orleans Campground in Little Orleands, MD. It was a hot day and we appreciated that our first night on the road was at an improved campground as we all enjoyed some time in the pool, followed by dinner under a pavilion.

Day two and the weather is perfect. We started early and enjoyed close to 250 miles of back roads to our next destination, the Peaceful River Campground.

The Peaceful River Campground is a hidden Gem along the MABDR. It’s more of a long term spot for trailer owners with some nice grassy spots along the river than a daily campground. This means it’s ideal for a mid-week stop as it’s very quiet. I don’t have the courage to try it (or the MABDR) on a weekend.

After another hot day a soak in the river was wonderful.

Day three was to be our most ambitious day of the tour. While there are plenty of places to camp along the MABDR for a tour one needs campgrounds that can accommodate a group and take reservations while being flexible in the total number of campers. In some places such as Little Orleans it’s easy as they have group camping while in a National Forest Service Campground that takes reservations the rules regarding number of tents and such are enforced.

Our destination for the day was the Little Oak Campground in The Cherokee National forest. After finishing the MABDR our route continued south on twisty pavement before diving into the forest. By design each night, after riding all day we would arrive to a campground that was a little more remote with a little less services than the previous location. Where on Monday we had all the amenities including a camp store by Wednesday it was forest and pit toilets. We also never had the same amount of campers each night, riders were encouraged to participate at their convenience and pleasure with the campground fees split equally.

Food each night was a freeze dried meal. I fondly remember stopping mid-afternoon for some fresh meat and veggies, perhaps some rice too. A few of us would get out our gear and cook up a meal to share with the group. Now we boil water, put in a pouch for a bit and presto a nice hot meal with close to zero clean up. Among the many benefits are it’s easier to be bear aware when your dirty dish is a foil pouch. The reduction in weight from the food itself to the cooking gear necessary to prepare it is welcome.

Thursday morning I was up before dawn. We posted up about 135 miles from the rally with a route that was twisty and paved. I drove my sprinter with GS Giant gear down the week prior and it was time to get set up. I left just before sunrise and was at the rally by late morning.

As someone afflicted with Vehicular ADD I’ve bought and sold more cars and motorcycles than I remember. Many I regret selling, others were let go at fire sale prices. This is a bike I’ll miss however some wonderful life changes encourage the sale of this bike. It’s a goer, that’s for sure.

I purchased this bike in January of 2019. BMW had just updated the Boxer motor with shift cam technology which produces more power. BMW was also touting improvements to the electronics, specifically the ride modes and ABS.

I visited the store I opened and served as the GM (Max BMW Motorcycles of South Windsor) for a few years and they had one of the first released on the floor. I was taken by the colors and I asked when they might have a demo. Steve in sales smiled and told me I was looking at the Demo. Being December I didn’t have enough gear with me so I booked an appointment for the next day.

My ride was fantastic. All the gripes I had with the original water cooled 1200’s were addressed. I wasn’t sure how I’d bond with the TFT screen but the motor, transmission and everything about riding the bike was so wonderful I tossed my concerns aside and bought one they had in stock that afternoon.


I have since completely bonded with the TFT screen.

I rode it 200 or so miles right away, then put it on a truck to Las Vegas. When I arrived my first afternoon was spent doing a 250 mile loop as BMW wants to see at least 400 miles on the bike before the first service. The next morning I took it into the local BMW dealer for the first service which is an oil change, check for updates and not much more.

After this I was off; down to Baja and back to Las Vegas a few weeks later to ship the bike home. That was 22 months ago and I haven’t stopped. I rode it back to California last fall, did one long weekend out west before the virus and then rode it back (link) this spring. Without even realizing it or trying I put just over 27,000 miles on this bike in the 22 months I’ve owned it. It’s a fantastic motorcycle. It’s the easiest bike to ride I’ve ever had. The twitch of the first generation fly by wire throttle is gone; the suspension is fantastic and the ride modes along with the ability to switch on the fly at any speed is wonderful. I’ve always been a high mileage rider and this is the first bike I’ve owned where I look at the odometer and wonder “how did that happen.” Even on the stock seat if I had to guess I would have said 10k, it’s that easy.



One thing I enjoy doing with my bikes is setting them up for how I will use them. I’ve built bikes for endurance rallies such as the Iron Butt Rally as well as extended backcountry trips.

With this bike I had no intentions of boldly taking it places no GS should go. I’ve done that and have the x-rays to show for it. Having said this the BDR’s and other published routes are perfect for this bike and the proper parts can make these rides safer, easier and more fun. Plus it’s fun to farkle.

First and foremost is lighting. While I have reduced the amount of riding I do at night when I do having wicked bright lights is a must. Clearwater leads the way in auxiliary lighting in both quality and price. This bike has a set of their Erica lights. With their can-bus controller these lights are turned on or off by pressing and holding the turn signal cancel switch. They are set to half power with the low beam and full power with the high; they also flash when the horn is activated. On the back I have Clearwater’s Billie brake light.

Clearwater Ericas. Yellow lens is removable cover


In my opinion it would be foolish to venture on a BDR route without taking a look at the bike, identifying the most vulnerable areas and adding some protection or at least having a plan if your sidestand switch takes a rock on the ride. If you watch the NorthEast Back Road Discover movie you’ll see a rider have a minor mishap that resulted in a hole in the valve cover. Had she not been with a group with mad JB weld skills she’d still be there.

This bike has some Touratech parts such as the sidestand switch protector, Headlight screen and fog light screens along with one or two others I’ll leave it to you to find in the photos. On a lark along with the knowledge of what front end parts cost I purchased and installed TT’s Bull Bar XL.

It also has the engine guards from Richochet. Had that NEBDR rider had these her minor mishap would have been a non-event.

Ricochet Engine protection. NB the piece from the backend of the crashbar to the frame. That is the Wunderlich engine guard extension.

I have also installed the Wunderlich ADV Engine Guard Extension. In my opinion this is a must have item as a minor drop can push the engine bars into the cylinder head. Not a trip ending event but on top of being a cosmetic issue a valve check will be difficult in the future. Also from Wunderlich is their screen reinforcement set. In their effort to save weight the engineers at BMW decided that a tremendous amount of movement of the windscreen is acceptable. This revolves this and makes time at highway speeds much more tolerable, if not even enjoyable.

On the bottom is an Alt Rider Bash plate and to protect the radiators a set of Tourtech protectors have been fitted.



I’ve also installed a pig tail (SAE) connector directly to the battery for direct charging and a coax connector for heated gear. Stock BMW Aluminum panniers in black are included as is a second key fob.

Most of my riding has been on pavement. This generation of GS is an amazing bike on the road which is how I wound up with so many miles in such a short amount of time. Yes the bike has been off road, first in Baja and a bunch here in New England, however I have avoided the nasty single tracks, rock gardens and mudholes; I’ve still got my 1200 for such shenanigans.

Yeah, I went to Deals Gap.


I expect the fist question I’ll get is “why are you selling?” and of course there are many answers. First if you don’t know me I am a “youthful” guy who is approaching sixty. Like the odometer on this bike I look at this and wonder how the hell did that happen, however for the bike it’s no shock. After 30 years of BMW ownership, a bunch of Iron Butt Rallies and more cross country trips than I can remember my riding is becoming much more local and much more woods orientated. I have smaller bikes I am riding more and my big cross country trips or Iron Butt Rally days are over. The simple truth is if I was 10 years younger I’d be putting another 50k on this bike in the next 36 months.

For service I am and always have been very particular about who works on my bikes. Other than the first service every service on this bike has been performed not only by the same dealer, but by the same technician. It has never been in for anything other than scheduled maintenance and to get the Clearwater lights wired up.

The bike will be delivered with the 24k service completed and the buyers choice of tires; either the TKC 80’s currently mounted or a very lightly used set of Anakee Adventures. Bike is located in CT, approximately 10 miles from Bradley Airport (BDL). Delivery via enclosed Sprinter van is available at an additional cost, seller’s shipper will be accommodated. Mosko gear in photos not included.

The price for the bike with everything shown is $17,500 fob South Windsor, Ct. with a 4 year unlimited mileage aftermarket warranty. Will not separate.

Gallery of photos

Contact Me.