Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ADVENTURE Lib ya durin g a desert rac e, narrowl y eva des capture a t -the han d s of 17-yearo ld b ord er guar ds w it h Uzi s; Sm ith .. .stalls ou t crossing a freezing mou n tain r ive r, b are ly pu ll s h ims elf ou t from under the motorcycle. As a previously stree t-only rid er, I'm , amazed a t now nimble these bikes are. Th e KTM between my legs responds in stantl y to a ny in p u t; tw is tin g the throt tle releases a roa r of acceleration, as if it's d riven b y a n e xplos io n fro m behind . The brakes res po nd to the lightest of tou ches - and, as Ha rden explains, th ey 're ta m e by comp arison to their lig ht er , h igher- ou tput two-stroke ' cousins. We're riding two 400s, two 620s and the new Rally Sport 620. Lovett and Smi th add brush gu ards to the handlebars - ha n d in juries are of particular concern with Lovett 's guitar-p laying finge rs along for the ride. Ha rden swaps out the 16-tooth sprockets for 15-tooth versions. I'm a lso d eck ed ou t hea d to toe in rid ing gear, th anks to Lovet t. A t the start of the trip, he had looked me over. "You weari ng k neepads?" he asked . "Those are rea l important." I was wea ring th em, .b u t then he n otic ed a few o the r th ing s I ough t to h a ve. "These elbo w pad s aren't as thick as mine, but they're goo d," .he said , digging thr ou gh his ridi ng-gear bag later. I could see his m ind at w ork as he ad ded a few las t By Jason Lathrop Photos by Randy Kerr O A 8 a ~ 18 n a lon ely dirtroad , deep in the sou th of Chile, I am cho king on the dust of legends. Fa r a hea d a nd wid en in g th e g a p, Lyle Love tt and Ma lcolm Smith rid e KTM 620s , thei r du st cl ou d p u ll i n g away fro m me. Even far ther down the road (about 1500 miles) awaits ou r goal: Puerto Yu ng a y , a tin y town w her e Ch ile' s southern highway end s. Ab ove u s, a rag ged g la cie r han gs over a moun tai n to p, fadi n g into lu sh, green trees below. The terrain dem an d s gaw ki ng-s to ps ofte n. That's lu cky for m e, si n ce tr ying to a ctually kee p up wit h these guys would be abou t like me trying to ru n a few p lays with the Chicago Bull s. The trip is the result of an extraordinary cooperatio n of an online magazine, a m ot orcycl e m anufacture r, a nd th e mus ician . It is s p o ns ore d b y Mungo Park, a n adve n ture 'p u b li ca t io n (http:/ /www.mu ngopark.com). publishing its exploits dail y on the World Wide Web. For its January expedition, Mungo Par k invite d Love tt, Smi th and KTM' s Scot Ha rde n to go motorcycling in Chile. "Com e a lo ng , rid e bra nd -n ew KTM motorcycles in Chile wi th us - and at the end of the day, tell our read ers what you did ." As you can imagi ne, it wa s an easy sell. Lovett provided his powers of wry ob serva tion . Harden generou sl y furnished the mo to rcycles . Smith showed the way. And I had th e mind-blowing honor of wri ting abo u t it as we went. Mo torcy cle fan s will no d oubt ha ve hea rd of Smith and Harden . Smith, who bu ilt a reputation by winning jus t ab ou t all the long-distance desert races re pea ted ly, has also bu ilt a sm all em pire selling motorcyclin g accessories and clothing th a t still fiII sto res tod ay. He also starred in the semi nal movie on dirt-bik- (Above) KTM and Mungo Park - a web adventu re magazine gather ed racing legend Malcolm Smith, KTM's Scot Harden and rocker Lyle Lovett for a 1500mile off-road ride to the south of Chile. in g cu lture , "O n Any Su n day," with Steve McQueen. Harden , no slouch him self, is the marketing VP for KTM USA, is ano ther of Lovett's rid ing pals, and is also a mon ster desert-race winne r. And of course, there's Lovet t, the star of this show . Anyone wi ll have heard of . him . Lovett, it turns ou t, has ac tu ally been riding motorc ycles longer tha n he' s be en pl a yin g mus ic. But h e plainl y approa ch es th e sp or t w it h th e sa m e level of relentless focu s and, paradox ically, laid-back dem eanor. He's a good rid er, too: fast and , accord ing to Harden, he rides with excellent form. I come aro u'nd a corner and see the group pull ed over to take in a view of sweep ing Patagon ian scene ry . Lov ett, through a ge ntle grin caked black with roa d dirt, checks to see how the grou p is do ing. Lovett is. fully aware of the dirt, and he almost grins as if to emp hasize it, . his brow n bad ge of ha rd riding . The co nce rn for th e re s t of u s is typ ica l behavi or . He ' s no t on ly a respectable rider and Gra mmy awa rd winner - he's a darn ed nice gu y. "Lo o k at this, " Smith say s, " it' s ho neys uckle." He squee zes the blosso m an d pops it in his mou th. It' s incredi ble wa tc hi ng Smit h r id e, to wa tc h hi m m ove through the na tural world at 70 mph, yet brea thing in the bea uty arou nd us as if he wa s strolling on foot. Though the mo st senio r and most accom plished rid er, he brin gs to ou r group a child' s Curiosity and spirit of exploration. As w e stand arou nd the bikes, the conversa tio n turns toward mo tor cycl e exp lo its. I lis ten , ra p t, as th e g rou p shares stories of motorcycling mishaps: Smit h flies off a ca nyon rim in Baja, la nds on the windshield of a VW bus pa rked in the dark; Ha rd en gets lost in pieces of gear, paying attention' to every d etail, every stra p. Wa tch ing him carefully arran ge th e ge a r, I g o t a brief glim pse into his driving need to make everything just so. Smith and Harden wandered over and helped as well. Ha rden explained at so me length how having a visor on ,my helm et mad e me look m uch less like a geek. ••• •• Our journey has now taken u s deep into rural Chile . H ouses a p pea r only infrequen tly, and those that d o appe ar look straight out of 19th-century Am erica . We see more folks on hors eback than in cars. Cows sau nter d own the road, on the lookou t for some su cculent new cud to chew . O ne perso n ad vises the motorcyclis ts to watch out for the cows. But, as Lovett accu rately poi nts ou t, "These

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