Get your motor runnin’

RED LODGE — Feel like getting a motor running, heading out on the highway, looking for adventure and then taking off on a byway? Then Doug Durward can help you be a bit wild.

Durward’s newly founded Black Wolf Mototours rents Kawasaki KLR 650cc motorcycles to endorsed riders, and will

even guide riders on day trips or multiday rides.

“I’ve been motorcycle riding since I was 14 and moved to Red Lodge 18 years ago,” Durward, 57, said last Thursday. He is also a carpenter who specializes in restoring older homes. “About 12 years ago I thought this was

such a beautiful motorcycle that I should start a touring company.

“Originally my plan was road-based tours,” he added. “But after I bought the KLRs and explored the wilderness areas, I fell in love with backroad riding.”

Split personality

KLRs are dual-sport motorcycles, capable of tooling down the highway or traveling onto dirt and gravel roads with equal ease. As evidence of their adaptability, Kawasaki supplied James Mallory and Steve Wallstrom with two KLRs in 2003 for a seven month ride from the paved roads of Washington state thousands of miles south through the dirt byways of Central America and South America as part of their Bikers Without Borders tour.

Durward saw Red Lodge as a perfect base suited to the motorcycles’ twin abilities. The small mountain town is surrounded by Forest Service backroads into the mountains, dirt tracks into desert-like Bureau of Land Management lands south of town, not to mention the nearby Beartooth Scenic Byway, a paved, serpentine route that climbs to almost 11,000 feet while crossing the Beartooth Mountains. Durward likes being able to find routes that allow him to ride half a day without seeing another person, vehicle or structure.

Shakedown tour

Last Thursday, Durward took a test ride with his two guides, David Alsager and Les Hedquist, along with several acquaintances. The route went from the paved two-lane highways surrounding Red Lodge, east through Bear Creek and Belfry and then onto gravel roads leading to and into the Pryor Mountains, about a 140-mile roundtrip.

Before entering the Pryor Mountains, the group was met at a turnout by Kirsten Koop, Doug’s German-born wife, who supplied ice-cold drinks and a freshly baked apple pastry. Kirsten will be driving the support van on multiday trips, as well.

The most technical part of the ride was negotiating the severely rutted section of the Pryor Mountain Road on the Crow Reservation that has long needed repair. Denise Howard, a lifelong rider, tipped over trying to exit one of the ruts, but suffered only an injury to her pride. Once on the Custer National Forest, the road smoothed out and the ride continued.

Multiday tours planned in the future include a ride later this month to the Gravelly Mountains of southwest Montana, as well as a trek into the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming.

Fun ride

Cristina Hawman, a motorcycle mechanic who joined the tour, was excited to return to her dirt-biking roots, although on a much more powerful machine than her the 250cc of her youth.

“I thought it was awesome,” she said. “It was a whole new experience for me.”

Tim Buckstead, owner of Bone Daddy’s custom motorcycle shop in Red Lodge, echoed Hawman’s enthusiasm. He put the KLR through its paces as he weaved down the highway and roared down the gravel roads kicking up a cloud of dust.

“That was fun,” he said. “I live for fun and I ride for fun.”

Durward said the good part about the four-day tours he offers is the free-time allowed riders to do more exploration on mountain roads.

Words of advice

Before opening his own business, Durward said he rode twice with an outfitter in Baja, Mexico, giving him some insight into what to expect. He requires all of his riders to have had some off-road experience, even though by his standards the routes are pretty easy.

“Off-road riding takes some skills that are different from road riding,” he said.

Riders are also encouraged to pay an extra fee limiting their liability to $500 if they damage one of the motorcycles and sign a liability waiver. They must also supply their own helmet and gear.

Prior to the ride, Durward gave tips on negotiating the rutted section of road that he’d previously scouted and counseled the riders not to feel rushed by the biker behind them.

“Don’t worry about slowing down, we have lots of time,” he said.

He added that even though the KLR 650s look more like a dirt bike than a highway cycle, they are 200 pounds heavier than dirt bikes, weighing in at more than 450 pounds. Durward could attest to that fact after riding his KLR in an off-road motorcycle race that tested his ability, as well as that of the motorcycle. Everyone else was on much lighter, more nimble dirt bikes.

Hedquist, one of the guides and a longtime KLR fan, said the beauty of the KLR motorcycle is that dirt-bike-like ability.

“It’s nice to just hop onto your bike and ride out to someplace and ride,” he said. “There’s no need to trailer it.”

Contact Brett French, Gazette Outdoors editor, at french@billingsgazette.com or at 657-1387.Riders must be 21, have off-road experience and a motorcycle endorsement to rent a motorcycle from Black Wolf Mototours in Red Lodge. No passengers are allowed.

The rental rate for the Kawasaki KLR 650 is $95 a day or $575 a week plus $75 each additional day. The fee includes 300 free miles a day ($0.40 each additional mile). Gas is not included. Mandatory renter insurance is available at $15 a day plus a $3 processing fee.

Guided day tours over the Beartooth Pass are $179 a day. Multiday package tours start at $750 and include meals, lodging and motorcycle rental. Reduced fees are available for local residents or those with their own motorcycle.

For more information, log on to www.blackwolfmototours.com or phone 425-4186.