Cheap Toy Roadtrip

My cousin is getting married west of Dallas on May 21. I have been through lots of options to roadtrip out but finally settled on a final plan.

I am going to take the Montero I bought for $400 and the Honca CT90 I bought for $100 and hopefully have some fun out west. The plan is to leave Thursday May 19 and get to Mineral Wells, TX on Friday. The wedding is Saturday and Sunday I am driving out to Albuquerque to visit my grandparents. After that I am heading north to Ouray, CO and the surrounding area to camp and explore with the CT90. I don't have any definite plans after that other than booking it home for work after memorial day.

The $400 Montero, ran new brake lines and I have put 4k miles on it since:

The CT90 was advertised on GRM for $100. I traded two rx7 transmissions for it that I had less than $100 invested in and with a new battery it has been running decent:

Today I built a quick sleeping platform for the Montero so I don't have to move everything to sleep in the back. The base is 2x4 scavenged from the scrap pile at the lumber yard and the top is made from a sheet of 1/2 plywood with the rear section hinged for easier access.

Sounds like a fun trip.

You damn well better post a lot of pictures. Like 100s of them.

And some words. We like words too.

Sounds like fun! I went on a four wheeling trip up near silverton/ouray last summer - beautiful area. We camped in the back of my Montero on a similar platform - finding level parking was sometimes a challenge!

It does sound like a fun trip!

I look forward to reading about it.

This is gonna be great! Take lots of pics!!

The flimsy hitch carrier isn't exactly confidence inspiring but it should work.

I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and possibly video.

Run a strap from the corner of the hitch carrier to the spare tire mount or something- a little support on one end does wonders for the stability of those things.

In reply to ¯_(ツ)_/¯:

Good idea, I'll give that a shot.

Strapped the corner of the hitch carrier to the spare and it was much better on the test drive to work today.

Sounds like a blast! Can't wait to see the pics and read the story!

Looking forward to this one.

And that looks like a steal for $400

In reply to EvanB:

Hard to tell from your picture but does the bike completely block your right side tail light?

Not completely.

Currently stopped for the night west of little rock. Surprisingly averaging just over 20mpg so far.

Saw a Sonett parked at the house next to Bill Clinton's childhood home.

The ct90 died on some back roads in Texas. It appears to be done for. Has fuel and spark, will not fire on starting fluid. The compression tester I have available is the wrong thread but it doesn't feel like much compression with my finger over the spark plug hole.

New plan is to rent a dirt bike in Ouray.

I will take pictures when I get to the more interesting part of the trip tomorrow.

Wow, that is beautiful. Where is that?

Sandia peak, Albuquerque.

Monday was spent in Albuquerque with my grandparents. I visited the nuclear museum, I had been before but they moved into a new building. It is especially interesting going with my grandparents because my granddad was involved with the Manhattan project.

EvanB wrote: It is especially interesting going with my grandparents because my granddad was involved with the Manhattan project.

That's awesome! I seriously hope he's documented at least some of his chronicles, that's the kind of history that really needs to be recorded.

In reply to petegossett:

He was a mechanical engineer working on the detonation mechanisms for the bombs. Most of the stories I have heard are of the people he worked with and life at the time. I'll have to ask if he has recorded anything.

Just settled into a fancy hotel in Denver. I'll post more when I get pictures off my real camera.

Looks a tad cool there! Hope you packed for it -but I'm sure you knew what to expect.

Mid-80S here today

Great pictures!

Stay safe!

For everyone that updates adventure threads with pictures while on the road you have my respect. I just settled into a motel in Independence, MO on the way home. I'll do a full write-up with pictures sometime this weekend.

In reply to EvanB:

Looking forward to it.