Spring 2012 Wisconsin Adventure Trail Ride is a Success

Wisconsin Adventure Trail Ride is a Success.

A group of 11 riders took off Wed May 16th for a 1400 mile loop around Wisconsin, all were back home safe, but sore Sunday night.

It’s all NORTH from here.

It was a very warm and dry ride this year.  Temps from 60-95F.

We wandered into Iowa, criss crossing “The Mighty Mississippi” a few times.

Enjoying some great two track that didn’t last long enough, but was well worth the ride to find it.

Running short of daylight, we made a bee-line to Black River Falls.   Very happy to find ”108″ on our route north.

http://www.statetrunktour.com/108.php

What a fun road, even on Dirt tires.   Arrived in BR Falls in time for dinner and a few beers.   What a great first day.

Clark County Trails.

Only a few days left!

It’s been a busy weekend.  Bike is coming together very well.  Lots of trick new ideas/products and gear that I have to test out and get some miles on. ;)  The TWAT ride is a great ride for that.

First test ride today.  It felt so good to be back on the 950 SE.   What a FUN bike!!

Finishing up some last minute things on Monday.

GPS Tracks next on the list.    What good are tracks with no bike to ride???

We leave Wed morning-8am.  Follow my SPOT tracker link to see where we are on our treck.

CJ Designs will be closed May 14- 23rd.   Please contact Dual Sport Warehouse for any product support and order needs while we head to the North woods for the some spring product testing.

Thanks for your support,

Craig

Spring TransWisconsin Adventure Trail Ride; t-24 days!

We are really excited for this year’s Trans-Wisconsin Adventure Trail Ride!  This year we have 12 riders attending this event.

So, what’s the scoop with this ride? The Trans-Wisconsin Adventure Trail (affectionately abbreviated to the TWAT ride) is a 540+ mile ride across Wisconsin.  A few of our good friends put together a connecting route between the South and North parts of the state.  Over the years, we’ve added our own favorite trails.  You can find the published TWAT ride here: http://www.lonewolfexpeditions.com/twat.html.   This ride has evolved into an annual event at CJ Designs, with this year being our 3rd Spring ride.  We’ve also done 2 Fall rides.  The great thing is, there are so many trails and cool things to see/do/ride in Wisconsin, that the trip is a little different each time.

This year, our ride will be a little longer than previous years; 5 days. The route will be about 1400 miles.  Our rough itinerary is as follows:

1. Milwaukee to Black River Falls

2. Black River Falls to Drummond

3. Drummond to Manitowish Waters

4. Manitowish Waters to Lakewood

5. Lakewod back to Milwaukee

This year, we also have a large variety of different bikes represented during this ride.  It will be good to get an idea of how different types of bikes handle this terrain.  The bikes/riders are as follows:

Craig- WI – KTM AWD 950 ADV S or Christini AWD 450 DS
Wayne- WI – KTM 690
Bo- WI – KTM 990 ADV
Matt- WI -SUZUKI 650V-strom
Dave- WI – KTM 640 ADV
Matthew- OH – KTM 950 ADV
Dan- IL – KTM 690
Jeff- WI – KTM 690 / 950 ADV
Bob – WI – KTM 530
Nick- WI – KTM 990 ADV R
Joe- WI – KTM 950 ADV
Jim – WI – KTM 450

We’ll keep you posted with some of the places we’ll be visiting and some of the maps.

CJ Designs and Rev Motorsports of Mukwonago, WI team up to bring AWD Christini Motorcycles to the Mid-West!!

AWD is Finally Here!!

It’s been a long time coming for Steve Christini, but he now has his own line of Production bikes from 300CC 2-stroke to 450CC 4-stroke street legal Dual Sport bikes!   We are excited to be getting 2 of our Christini AWD 450 DS into the shop in a few weeks!

Rev Motorsports is located in Mukwonago, WI – Centrally located between Milwaukee, Madison and Chicago.  Charlie, the owner, is a great guy and has built a wonderful reputation for his shop.  With our combination of Location and Bike Skills we aim to offer you the BEST AWD bike purchasing experience.   If you are interested in one of these HOT NEW bikes, please contact Charlie to get one saved.   He will have these on display in the showroom soon.

I have several years of experience with this AWD system as I added this to my AWD KTM 950 ADV and am excited to get my hands on these production bikes to see what kind of CJ Designs tweaks we can perform to build the “Ultimate light weight Dual Sport bike”.   Our plan once we get our Demo Bike is to outfit it with gear required to tour Wisconsin trails and back country.  It will be a change for me going from a 950 to a 450, but I look forward to riding something half the weight.

1st Trip!!

May 16th we head out for a 1300 mile dual sport loop around Wisconsin on our “Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail“.  We will offer a real world trail product review and a “Day in the Life with a Christini AWD”.  I hope you follow along as we prep this bike for travel and report back as others get a chance to see and ride it first hand.   For those that got signed up for this ride, you’re in for a real treat.

For those of you thinking….. this new contraption just won’t cut it.  Please look here to see who else has chosen AWD Christini bikes.

Looking to hit the trails or get to your favorite hunting spot on something other than an ATV?

We’re starting with the AWD 450 DS, but if you are interested in ordering any of the other models, please let us know.

AWD 450 DS

DOT Approved Street Legal

• Street Legal Kit (lights, horn, turn indicators, mirrors)
• Digital Computer with Speedometer and Odometer
• Twin Spar Aluminum Frame
• 450cc SOHC Liquid Cooled Four Stroke
• 5 Speed Wide Ratio Transmission
• Electric and Kick Start
• Paoli Open Chamber Forks
• Suspension: 305mm (12″) Front and Rear
• Adjustable Single Shock with Linkage
• Ground Clearance: 356mm (14″)
• Front Tire: 21″ Kings Tube Type DOT
• Rear Tire: 18″ Kings Tube Type DOT
• Brakes: Single Disc 240mm (9.4″)
• Tank Capacity: 9.8 Liter (2.6 Gallon)
• Seat Height: 953mm (37.5″)
• Wheel Base: 1478mm (58.2″)
• Dry Weight: 127kg (280 lbs)
• AWD Drive Ratio: 0.63:1 (10:16 tooth)
• Final Drive Ratio: 0.27:1 (13:48 tooth)
• AWD Engagement Switch
• 1 Year AWD Warranty

See you on the trails!

Craig

 

New this year at the Tech Weekend…..

How to Crash with Style, by Matthew Fehrmann.

Sign up now to WOW all your riding buddies during your next group ride.  This is a must not miss class offered only at CJ Designs Tech Weekend.

Help or take picture first.... We all know the answer to that.

Up and at em, No time for showing off.

See you soon good buddy!

Tech Weekend- get ready!

Joey is flying the 950!

We are working hard here to get some good stuff going for events at CJ Designs this summer.  I found this picture (photographer: Matthew Fehrmann) of Joe Jancoski, our local guru.  Joe has been doing rider training for the past 2 years, and he does a super-swell job at it.  Not only can he teach fabulously, but he can ride the heck out of that KTM 950! 

This year’s tech weekend is scheduled for July 26-29.  You can email me (katie@cjdesignsllc.com) to register.  Please check out the website events page (http://cjdesignsllc.com/calendar2012.html) for more information.

 

Also, check us out on facebook to see a video of the Tech Weekend 2011.

 

•Tophotography• A Photography Exhibit

Five Cleveland photographers offer personal experiences of landscape-near, far, and along the way.

Matthew Fehrmann -On May 15th I threw a leg over my KTM 950 Adventure and set off for Alaska seeking the most deserted back roads and trails to get there.  Over the next 17,000 miles I visited 17 states, 3 provinces, rode on Kodiak Island, stuck my feet in the Arctic Ocean and crossed North of the Arctic Circle twice before heading south to Mexico for a taco.  These were only some of the destinations but it was the space in between that was important for me, these images represent those spaces, where we camped, the roads we traveled, and the vast country that exists if you are willing to try and get there.

 

Winter Movie Night-Times Cinema Milwaukee

THIRD ANNUAL MID-WINTER MOTO-MOVIE NIGHT,

TIMES CINEMA, MILWAUKEE

JANUARY 26^TH 2012

Everything is set for the 2012 winter moto-movie night at the Times Cinema.                

The feature film is “Faster” – Mark Neale’s documentary on the 2002 MotoGP season, narrated by Ewan McGregor.  While most of us have seen it on video, it should be cool to see it on the big screen.

As in previous years, there will be a social hour before the movie – I’ve already talked to the theater management about staffing up to help with the long beer lines. 

We had an “after party” last year at a bar down the street and had a pretty good turnout, so we’re doing it again –O’Brien’s Pub on 51^st and Vliet.  First tap domestic beer will be free with your movie ticket stub.

The crowd has been great the past two years, so I’m suggesting that you buy your tickets in advance on the Times website, to avoid disappointment if it sells out.

So please mark your calendars and please tell your friends.

Thanks!

Kevin Knuth

kknuth@lwmeyer.com

 

 

CJ Designs at PIKES PEAK 2012!!!

I’ve decided at this time it would be best to drop out this year and help be pit crew for a good friend than both of us race.   This will give me more time to develope and test a new LC8 engine I have in the works this season and see what this is more about first hand with hopes to come back next year.  Sorry for the disapointment.  We will still be out there so look for a green AWD KTM 950 ADV.

December 19, 2011

Dear Craig Johnson:

Race #241

Organizers of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) are pleased to announce your acceptance as a competitor in this the 90th running of the “Race to the Clouds”.

http://www.usacracing.com/ppihc

The PPIHC is the second oldest auto race in the United States (second only to the Indy 500), originated in 1916.

The PPIHC is a speed contest for motorized vehicles that runs (with the exception of motorcycles, side cars and ATV’s) one vehicle at a time against the clock. The traditional starting line is Mile Post 7 at an altitude of 9,400 feet. The finish line, 12.42 miles away at the summit, is 14,110 feet altitude for a vertical rise of almost 5,000 feet. There are 156 separate curves, a maximum ascent of 10% and a minimum descent of 3% on the course.

The 12.42 mile course is well- maintained asphalt.

I am excited to be heading out early July with the  CJ DESIGNS “Modified” KTM 950 Super Enduro w/ 17″s.  So far, the ONLY KTM entered in this class.    Maybe toss the dirt wheels in too to hit some dirt trails after the race.

Racing in the 1205cc class, so there’s some room for motor mod testing. 

http://director.usacracing.com/ppihc/files/pdfs/competitor_list.pdf

Our main goal is to learn and have a great time safely.  We take our product testing seriously and this race is no joke.    I hope to see you there.      I’ll post more updates as the bike build progresses.

Thanks for your support.

Craig

CJDesignsllc Tech Weekend 2011

The images are up.  I had a great time and can not wait for next year!

Tech Weekend Images