News:

Come on, summer...

Main Menu

Fall Rally Planning

Started by The Yeti, June 28, 2013, 01:27:04 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

akfalla

What a great weekend of riding! The weather couldn't have been nicer.

I wanna thank Fletch for taking our group on an awesome ride Friday. You're fun to ride with and very accommodating for everyone's riding level. I had a blast, and I am surprised that I  didn't cry about the Moon Rocks. I'm pretty stoked I have that on my list of places I've rode. I might have to give it another shot and see if i can do it without any help- I'd like to take more time and look around up there.

It was exciting to see more than just men this year too!  :)  Hope they enjoyed the ride on Saturday.


Ride safe everyone! Until next time....
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming– "Wow! What a Ride!"  :o -Hunter S. Thompson

Fletch

there's no crying in dirtbiking... :)

I was very impressed with everyone and had a great time as well. Anytime you guys want to come out let me know, there are a few more little tricky spots I would like to show you ;)

p.s. I still can't believe those XR's do as well as they do on the tight stuff ???
stupid is my middle name, but my first name is Mike

tannerc

"Retreat, hell! We're not retreating, we're just advancing in a different direction."

Fletch

Nice Tanner!!  it looks so much easier on the video ::)
stupid is my middle name, but my first name is Mike

Hank

Man I'm sorry we missed it.    Thanks for the pics and vid.

tannerc

Quote from: Fletch on September 24, 2013, 02:52:34 PM
Nice Tanner!!  it looks so much easier on the video ::)
Yeah.. always looks easier.. and not as steep

Quote from: Hank on September 24, 2013, 03:11:30 PM
Man I'm sorry we missed it.    Thanks for the pics and vid.
More vids to come..  8)
"Retreat, hell! We're not retreating, we're just advancing in a different direction."

greatbuffalo

Saturday was the best day for me. I had made the decision to ride the Tiger Friday night. All day Friday I rode the WR250F and had a ball. That bike is so much fun to through around and catch some air on the waterbars. the problem is the seat. With my recent health issues I find myself sitting more than I usually would. After the day was over, my sacroiliac joint was screaming. So the decision came down to; ride the WR and deal with it, trade bikes with Nathaniel, or take the bike orange beast out and prove to myself that even with the issue I have, I can still successfully negotiate the trail with the Tiger. the WR is also making a bit of piston noise and really didn't want to have it detonate 60 miles from camp.

There were some detractors of my decision around the camp fire but I think that solidified my resolve even more. My only concern was the risk of dropping the old feline and messing up he paint my kid poured his hard work into this spring. But he said "When I painted it, I knew what abuse this bike takes..... go for it."

We set out Saturday morning, and what a gorgeous morning it was. The sun was shining, only a few clouds in the sky, and the temps in the low 70s. We left camp and crossed over to 385 by gravel and started to long pavement beating to Custer. I was feeling pretty good about my decision to take the big bike. I was comfy. no single lung buzz to make my hands numb, and a wide seat to make my back side thank me. It was an uneventful transit to the trail.

We filled up with fuel in Custer. the thinking was that if we went where the plan was taking us, we may need the tankers in the group to refuel the bikes with smaller bellies. We then headed east almost to Custer State park and headed into the trees.

The trails were great. All different terrains to cross; rocky, grass, fields, sandy areas, some tight 2 track, and hard pack. It was nice that the trail kept changing so one didn't settle into a routine and make the mind wander. I had to be very conscious of the fact that I have no bash plate on the Tiger so good line choice was was important. I was glad to see that I was not the guy holding folks up. That's one of the things I like the most of this group is that no matter how slow you ride, folks will wait, and not encourage you to ride beyond your ability thus getting hurt. If you want to ride ahead, just know your going to have to wait a few till others catch up. There were a few that wanted a bit more spirited pace and split off to their own thing. Its great you have that option as well.

A couple of tricky spots kept me on my toes and the 955 was willing with gobs of torque to keep the rear wheel turning on the trail. The big bike is difficult at times to change direction but a bit of judicious throttling and decelerating keep the big bike going forward. I've said in the past that with a bike this big, one doesn't flick it, through it, or even turn it. One must will it into a turn and convince it that it really does want to go there. Lots and lots of body english and weight transfer keep it upright.

On we pushed, a couple of people, including my son has very miner offs but no one got hurt. We came to gate. Bogus Jim jumped from the WRR and released the gate. One of the young guys from North of the border, ND, dropped into a gully and started up the very rocky hill on the other side. I moved up to the edge, looked at Jim and asked, How bad is that hill?" he just looked at me and smiled. So after a short moment of hesitation, I thought, there's no time like the present. I dropped in and as I looked up the hill I could not see the top. So as to not worry about the top I looked 30 or so feet in front of me to chose my line. The blue KLR that had gone before me had stopped half way up along the side of the trail. More than likely to get a better view of me putting the orange pig on the ground. No way was gonna let that happen. I kept the Triumph in 2nd gear as to not produce too much torque to the rear wheel. About 2/3 of the way to the top my speed fell some so I had to jam the tranny into 1st. No time to clutch, just shove the shifter down and hope it it finds 1st and not neutral. The shift was perfect and up the hill I continued till I found an area good enough to stop without being in the way of others. I reached down and petted my big orange lump for being a good kitty.

We rode sometime further till we stopped in the the Jasper burn area in the vicinity of Jewel Cave. I had had it. I was done, tired in pain and worn out. So had Grubby. He had been fighting a shot rear shock all day and went back to to camp and spent the afternoon riding with his better half. I broke off shortly after and jumped on highway 16 and jammed back to Custer and north to camp. the ride back was a nice cruise. Passing campers and Harleys along the way.

I got back to camp, hung with the Grubbies for a bit and then showered. I had had a great day. What a great bunch of folks to ride with. Some great scenery, and awesome riding by all.

The big girl did go down once that day. At the intersection of a trail I pulled off to wait for the next rider. When I came to a stop Iput my right foot down to brace the weiI found there was nothing but hole under my foot and the bike started to tip to the right. I've learned a while ago that when this bike starts to go....... let it. So the bike dropped. No damage except to my ego. Cody from ND was the next rider along and assisted this old guy in lifting he back up. No harm, no foul.

Great day.
Did I ever tell you: " I HATE MUD!" ?

Osnabrock

That's the stuff.
Thanks for the commentary GreatBuffalo!!
"Don't be scared, it's fun.  I'll cheer you on."

grubbie

I missed out on some good riding in the spring with Tannerc and Akfalla, decided this fall I would make it a point to ride with them again. I love the challenge of trying to keep up and pushing my limits. Just a little way into the ride I knew I was in trouble. Fletch was leading and it was a pretty fast pace for me. I was having fun though, even though I wasn't riding very well. We came to a rocky climb and Fletch walked right up with no trouble. Next up was Chris King, he didnt quite make it. Fletch helped him get his machine the rest of the way up, while the rest of us watched from the bottom. Fletch came back down and blazed a trail around the hill climb, which most decided to use. I had climbed this hill  before, and it didn't look that bad. So up I went. I couldnt get any traction and was bouncing all over, ended up headed into a tree and had to stop. Chris and Fletch helped me get my bike up the hill, now I felt bad cause they were already worn out from rescuing Chris' bike. From then on, I couldn't do anything right. Psyched out? Maybe. Whatever it was, I dropped my bike again on another climb and decided to try and hook up with the easier group before I got hurt. Got back to camp about lunch time and no one was around, so I had a quick bite and went out on my own. Found some nice, challenging trails close to camp, turned out to be part of the centennial trail. I shut down late afternoon, the better half had shown up and I hadnt seen her in a couple weeks. Later, I was leaning on my bike while fueling it up, when I took my weight off of it, it bounced, and kept bouncing like a pogo stick. Uh-oh. Looking underneath there was oil under the rear shock. I figure it was a casualty of the Pilot Knob whoops. Decided to go ahead and ride it Saturday anyway, as the planned loop looked pretty tame. Man what great scenery. Wish I could have finished that loop. Hung with the group half the day Saturday, then split off to go take the wife for a ride. Couldn't tell you where we went, some easy trails, a water crossing, great scenery. She had a nice afternoon, she loves her little 230. On Sunday, Gerry1eye and David had a couple small loops and some single track in mind. Myself and Revmartin went along. I rode the wifes CRF230L due to my rear shock on the WR. I wasn't excited about it. Turns out, it was probably the funnest part of my weekend. I was worried, she doesn't do any rough stuff so it doesnt have a bash plate. Took a couple major rock hits underneath, but no damage. Finally bent the shifter 180 degrees backward (from my own stupidity) and figured I'd better not push it any farther. We were close to camp, so I bent it back the best I could and headed back. I had a blast on the 230, I have a bash plate on order, I may have to put some more trails under it! (Please don't tell Heidi I bent her bike!!)

tannerc



as always... change resolution to hd
"Retreat, hell! We're not retreating, we're just advancing in a different direction."

tannerc

"Retreat, hell! We're not retreating, we're just advancing in a different direction."

tannerc

"Retreat, hell! We're not retreating, we're just advancing in a different direction."

Bogus Jim

Quote from: tannerc on September 25, 2013, 09:29:04 PM
Re: moon rocks

Finally a video of 8257 in the much tougher uphill direction... nice job guys (and gal)

woodsrider 53 RCSD

I wonder if I would have baught a blue or red motorcycle I would have got to ride this rally.

Fletch

Quote from: woodsrider 53 RCSD on September 26, 2013, 05:33:51 PM
I wonder if I would have baught a blue or red motorcycle I would have got to ride this rally.

orange, always go orange ;)
stupid is my middle name, but my first name is Mike