Isn't there an ATV park between Stanton and Big Spring on right off of hwy 20 old 80?
That's the one I was referring to, I should have specified that there was an ATV park there.
There's more than just the salt flat to ride on, lots of trails all over the place.
You'll know it when you see it, there's a dirtbike with a rider sitting there by the gate 24hrs a day...dude's been there for like 10 years at least.
He doesn't even move, I'm thinking nobody fed the guy but he's on a dirtbike so it wouldn't have been too hard to drive through McDonalds.
How many miles can we get out of the LT ? Like I said I'll start checking out routes and measure distances with my truck
That's a tough one.
First it depends on terrain, if you need paddles or if dirt tires will work.
Second, is it a balls to the wall race, endurance, sunday drive, exploring new trails and occasionally stopping?
Third, the 250, 500, and hybrid all have a different range.
I've found that the 250 has the shortest legs out of all of them, because you have to keep it closer to being on the pipe at all times.
The 500 can be lugged down some, it has enough power to keep the RPM's low and save fuel.
A hybrid has a smaller tank than a zilla, but the zilla's larger fuel tank is somewhat negated by the heavier frame.
In mixed dune/sand trail/whoops (perimeter trail here in Kermit is a great combo of both), going at a relatively fast pace between 3rd and 4th gear, my 250 would hit reserve at 16 miles round trip.
I'd say it had another 5 miles or so left in it.
My hybrid would run the trail ALMOST twice, ran out of fuel with probably 2 miles to go (roughly 30 mile range from top-off to empty)
It's crazy how a larger engine will go so much farther on the same tank.
I wasn't keeping very close tabs on 210zilla's fuel mileage when he came out here to ride, but it seemed to be somewhere between the hybrid and 250.
Time enroute through the perimeter trail varies a lot.
Best time was 24min, and depending on rider experience somewhere between 45min and 1hr so you can get an idea of of fuel burn per hour.
The real problem is that your trails are too rough for paddles, so dirt tires are a must.
When you run dirt tires in sand, mileage and power go WAY down due to tire slip.
If you run in pure sand (sand that's at least 2ft deep without topsoil mixed in, so it flows around the tire and slows it down), then expect to see 50% performance compared to pavement.
With paddles, they should bring you up to 75-85% performance (depending a lot on tire choice) compared to pavement.
Sandy trails (the ones you wouldn't run paddles on) aren't nearly as bad on dirt tires, there's enough topsoil and/or rocks mixed in to maintain traction and flotation.
Expect to see about 80-90% performance compared to pavement.
Straight dirt varies a lot, since some dirt trails have loads of traction and others slip like crazy, but in cruise configuration fuel burn should be nearly the same as pavement depending on smoothness.
Buy yourself a 1gal gas can and strap it to the grab bar, top it all the way off, move the petcock to reserve, and GPS the distance covered (or set up a measured course to ride on).
Ride it till it quits, pour in the fuel, and head back.
Try it again under different conditions (all out racing, low speed, cruising, etc.) to get the best idea of how far you can take your LT.
It's one of the most important aspects of endurance racing, not the all out speed but conserving energy (and fuel) so you can make the finish line.