Tag: Honda

Some y00per Fun!

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Well this past weekend was spent re-energizing my riding batteries. A lot of time spent on the bike, in a non-competitive, non-race situation. Granted I still pushed myself while tooling around, but in a way that just puts a big ol smile on my face. Me & 2 other riding friends loaded up the toy-hauler and drove due North to the great y00per (The Upper Peninsula of Michigan). The plan was to ride some fun 2-track loops based around our camp & if we were up for it, hit up some of the local singletrack. Some\most of the pics courtesy JZEE

The 3 bike crew:


JZEE on the KTM 530xcw
Jburroughs12 on the Honda XR350R
Me on the Husky WR250

We were all having a blast out there. Essentially all of the 300ish miles we rode, we didn’t pass a single other dirtbike\4×4\ATV\UTV\ORV\Car\Truck\Bus\Logging operation. It was just some good pure fun. I realized immediately I shoulda re-geared my Husky. The OEM 13/48 gearing left a lot to be desired in the speed department. On these same trails on my 450, I could cruise 10-15mph faster and not feel like I was revving the snot out of the bike. My fault for not gearing up for the ride properly. Not the end of the world, but in some of the more open riding (and sandy areas), I really like to open the bikes up, and being topped out around 65-70mph, just wasn’t enough.

On the 2nd day of riding, just after a rockier section….followed by a high speed whoop section, I was flagged down, with John & Joe pointing at the rear of my bike. I thought I had some deadly animal attacking me, but soon found the problem.

A rock (presumably) shot up a hole through the center of the rear fender, and the following whoop section sealed the deal and that rear fender was toast. No biggy. First some duct tape, which was the replaced by just looping the thing onto my Nomad Rider pack. Initial repairs took place at the local Ace Hardware:

After that, we continued riding, and remembered part way through the 2nd day that the loop we were on, was one of our least favorite. It had a few road sections & way too much gravel road for our liking. It wasn’t much, but more than we’d care for. There were a couple more spirited sections, but nothing overwhelming. It’d be a better loop if you’re worn out on harder riding & just looking to have a more relaxing final day of riding. When we got back, Joe had the look of “I need some singletrack”, so we tossed our gear back on, filled up the camelbak & around 6:30pm rolled out to go hit up the Bass Lake singletrack loop (videos earlier in thread).

I started out on the Husky and Joe on the XR. I figured I’d offer up the Husky to him, since he’s more used to a 250 2T. He gladly swapped, and I gotta say I was quite happy to really ride the bike on some more aggressive trails. What a blast. That bike was so much fun. I was able to maintain a 15-20mph speed on the loop without trying too hard and was just having a blast while doing it. The only downer with the bike was the rear drum brake. I may have overshot a few turns and ended up in the weeds, but what a blast. I’m really loving that little bike.

Day 3 was our last, and unfortunately cut short. Before we rolled out, I pulled the Rekluse autoclutch from the bike. I didn’t miss it on the XR the day before and figured it’d be a good chance to really test the bike out without it in there. Things started out really well, but unfortunately about 20 miles into the loop, I came down from a roller, and noticed when I got on the gas, that it felt like the rear wheel was spinning. Odd, but it seemed to grab again, so I figured it popped out of gear. Again, another roller and this time it felt out of gear for good. I pulled the clutch cover and immediately saw the problem. My primary gear (on the crank), the nut had backed off and was somewhere in the engine.

I tore things down mid trail and found that the nut thankfully fell in an area where it caused NO damage, but then found that the keyway on the crank\primary gear had sheered itself. I also destroyed my clutch cover gasket in the process of all this, but knew at this point, I wasn’t riding that bike under it’s own power back to camp:

With that we figured the weekend was done. We just had to get back to camp. Luckily we were only a couple miles from a paved road, and luckily I had a tow strap in my kit, so we were off…….and with that I have the pic of shame:

Stuff happens, I’m just glad nothing more went wrong. A 2$ keyway, and 10$ in gaskets and the husky will be back in action for another day. I learned a lot though on the trip. For one, I immediately listed my Rekluse for sale. I just don’t need it. Shane Watts was spot on with his assessment on how it affects the bike. I just had to see\feel it for myself. I found I also learned to ride wheelies on the WR really well. Apparently all the tooling around on the XR translated over, as I can now click through all 5 gears and just rest at the balance point for as long as I want.

I also feel I need to do some work to my suspension. Higher speed stuff, the Husky is pretty good. Low speed stuff, the XR feels so confidence inspiring, and feels like you’re riding on pillows. Low speed the WR feels like it’s being jarred like mad. High speed on the XR…..well you just don’t. lol I’m really looking forward to my next race, whenever it may be. I’m just gonna go have fun with it. I found while riding the singletrack loop, that yes I could push myself super fast right off the bat, but I lose energy too quickly, and overshoot things. If I tone it back to 80-90%, I overall end up much faster. Heck, we rode the loop in 1:35. Not bad at all, considering the last time I rode it, I finished in 1:45.

I’m ready for riding.

Andrew

Another tough day at the races

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The morning started well, a good breakfast, followed by loading up the truck and getting off on the road.  The weather reports showed that rain wouldn’t be a factor until the later evening, and the sky seemed to echo the same.  We arrived at Fox Valley Off-Road in time to see my friend head up to the starting line for his earlier race.  Just as the flag was dropped, the rains came.

For the next 30 minutes, the rain poured down.  I made the hike down to registration, and despite my better judgement, thought “this is gonna be fun”, handed over my AMA\District cards and money and get signed up.  About 40 minutes into the rain, it let up a bit, so I got myself geared up, thinking it’d be raining for the rest of the day.  As I finished gearing up, I saw my friend riding up to my truck.  I thought it was odd, as it was only 45 minutes into his 90 minute race.  He looked spent, and said the hills were terrible, and it seemed they were cutting some of them out.

My time came to fire up the bike.  The sun was beginning to show itself, and the rain had all but subsided at this point.  I did some practice loops on an oval next to the pits.  The XR felt good, but definitely wasn’t the Husky I would have rather of been on.  Starting an older 4-stroke is a little different than it’s newer 2-stroke counterpart, but it was what it was, and I was glad I was able to make it to the line.

The starting line was just slop.  As soon as I set my feet down, the mud caked onto my boots.  It was more of a soft and squishy clay than a wet dirt type mud.  I knew it was gonna be hell, and really wished I had the Michelin S12XC tires over the tires the XR had on it.  I knew the tires wouldn’t shed the mud as I needed, but it was what it was.  I got my game face on, and when the flag drop, was thrilled to have the mighty XR fire up first kick and pull me off and away.  From what I gathered from the start, I managed to take off in 2nd or 3rd place.

Things got more and more sketchy as the course went on.  My tires instantly caked in with mud.  No matter how much I spun up the rear, the tire wasn’t shedding the mud.  I did my best to keep the tips Shane Watts gave me in mind, but it grew more and more difficult.  There were really only 2 real hill-climbs in the race, and they were pretty mellow.  Unfortunately, if 1 person gets hung up on one, it messes you up pretty quick and its just a domino affect.  Each time this happened sapped more and more energy from myself.

First lap wasn’t pretty at all, and the 2nd lap wasn’t getting any better.  In normal conditions, this track woulda been easy, far too easy.  Unfortunately my bike was going all over the place.  No matter how fast I’d push myself, the front tire wouldn’t shed the mud and slipped around like a sportbike tire in the slop.  After running through timing and scoring, I found myself coming to an off-camber section.  Earlier laps I went high and shoulda stayed a bit lower.  This time I messed up, went low and upon doing so, spun out, casing the bottom of the bike into a tree.  Nothing major, but by now, the sun was out and me & the bike were feeling the heat.

My body was over-heating sitting on top of the air-cooled beast.  The bike for some reason was being a royal PITA to start, and I was stuck in an odd precarious position on the trail.  I managed to push the bike into a position where I could kick the thing.  Unfortunately due to all the mud, the kick starter would continually stay down after each kick.  Suffice to say, I was at my witts end.  I saw my buddy who raced earlier standing on the trail by where I was.  He was getting a good chuckle out of my situation.  I set the bike down (gently mind you), and walked off a couple feet to cool myself from the bike.  I needed energy to get the bike going and get up and running.

Unfortunately when I got back to the bike, it was no easier to start.  This seemed odd, as normally even when hot, the bike would start 1st or 2nd kick, every time.  After plenty of kicks, I finally fired it up, only to hear an awful tick coming from the head.  At this point I cursed the day 4-strokes were born, assessed my situation, and realized at this point I wasn’t having any fun.  I was frustrated with the bike, myself, and the mud.  I knew I had to just call it before I hurt me, the bike, or anything else.

I rolled back to the pits, feeling defeated, but better as soon as I got my gear off me.  We loaded up, and made our way home.  I accepted the day for what it was, and looked to ways I could improve things.  So despite the race itself being a bit of a letdown, it was at least a continued learning experience.  So things I learned:

1.  If there is ANY chance of rain in the forecast, bring the enclosed trailer.  Gearing up in the front seat of a truck is a pain.  No thanks.

2.  Invest in some mud tires.  It’ll cost a little bit to have them on hand, but they really could change the outcome of a race.

3.  Warm weather gear needs addressing.  I need to find an alternative to the pressure suit.  I like the protection, but it’ll make me over-heat in a hurry.

4.  Don’t invite family to first Harescramble of the season…..especially if it’s gonna be a wet\soupy one.  They got to see me get tossed from the bike as I crossed over a tall log by the timing\scoring section.  I’m sure plenty amusing for them. haha

All in all, not a terrible weekend.  I got to inspect the XR, and it was good I stopped when I did.  One of the tappet nuts came off and was floating around in the head.  Thankfully it caused no damage, and I was able to fish it out of the head.  I’m ready to go back for another one, but will feel much better being on my Husqvarna.

I’ll post up pics when I get them from my Dad.

-Andrew

Finally a ride on the new scoot

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Finally got a chance to take the new Husqvarna out for a test ride (video uploading shortly).  We had a good 3 mile loop to really push ourselves and our bikes.  There was a great mix of high speed open sections, mixed in with some plenty technical & extremely rough terrain.  Overall I felt really positive about the bike.  The ergonomics fit me really well.  The bike has plenty of power, though the jetting down low in the RPM’s is a little on the rich side.  Minor details, and really the jetting can be solved with me running a bit faster.

I had a lack of confidence in the front end of the bike, though I feel this will be solved with a fresh front tire & possibly some toying with the front forks a bit, get a bit more feeling out of things.  My only real gripe with the bike is the wonky kick start.  The lever is about 3″ further forward than any other bike I’ve ridden & it has a super short sweep.  Extremely annoying if I killed the engine in a rough spot and as I noted while washing my boots, it ripped apart the center of the sole on my Tech 8’s.

All in all, a very positive day riding.  Heck, I even got to test the 85′ XR350R & what a fun bike.  Great 6 speed gear box.  Just the right amount of power, super plush suspension, and my goodness a lazy-boy seat.  Great combo for a fun vintage machine.

-Andrew

Club57MX GP Race…….Epic BUST

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John T & I arrived at Byron Motorsports Park promptly at 7:30am Sunday for registration.  Both of us quite excited despite the somewhat dreary skies.  As we pulled into the facilities, we were both a bit confused at the lack of gate attendant collecting gate fee, and the apparent lack of additional vehicles in the pits.  This was to be a race at a MotoCross facility, surely they would not cancel due to a few light showers in the AM.  We rolled on over towards the bathrooms and struck up conversation with another racer.  Oddly enough, our fears were confirmed.  the Club57MX GP Race had been canceled.

Weather forecast showed light rain until 830-9am.  Not bad, considering racing was to start at 9am (practice).  But alas, we were screwed.  We drove our hour and a half to be informed that MX has gone full NASCAR and was afraid of some rain.  So onto Plan B, or so we thought.  KI Tracks was just a few miles away and surely they would be open.  A handful of other riders discussed heading out there as well to get some riding in.  After doing some quick driving & quick Facebook investigation, we found that KI Tracks too was afraid of the rain and would not be open.

So what to do.  We all knew that Rocky Glen was just up the road, despite not really wanting to ride there.  It was the last and final option for us, so we figured what the heck.  They had just finished the week before, their “new” B Track.  It’s short, it was a bit sloppy, and had not been maintained one bit since the week before.  On the upside, Rocky Glen is open rain or shine and so off to riding there it was.

Like I said, Rocky Glen had done basically 0 maintenance on the track they had just finished creating.  The park manager (from all the times I’ve been there) doesn’t usually show up until sometime around noon, at which point, it’s unclear of what he is actually accomplishing.  The park seems to have a lack of ability in keeping riders informed.  It’s a heavy dose of “sign this, give us your money, peace out” sort of deal.  I’ve yet to hear any riders told that certain areas are one way, UTV’s are NOT supposed to be on the track (are they supposed to even be there in the first place?), Utility ATV’s are NOT meant for the main “MX” tracks.  Just a general lack of common sense things being relayed to the riders.

Yes, it’s easy for me as a paying customer to find things like that to complain about.  I’ve no idea what the operation actually runs like, I’ve no idea who actually owns the place, and how they feel things are operating there.  I do know though that as a rider on the tracks, it is annoying dealing with riders who apparently have no clue as to how anything works.  In the rare occasion  that someone is doing maintenance (I’m using this term loosely here) on a given track, people feel the need to continue riding while there is a big machine in the way.  Not only does this make things a royal PITA for the individual working on the track, but the safety issue is just huge.  On top of that, you have riders that feel the need to ride on\off the track at whatever area they see fit.  Now that is not really an issue, until you have riders that feel as though they can cut across a track at any point in time.  I can’t even count the number of times on my hands that I have had riders cut in front of me, or worse being going the opposite direction as I come around a turn, or landing from a jump.  Completely unacceptable actions that unfortunately can be tied to riders having NO clue about anything, and the staff not even remotely saying anything to them.

But hey, this wasn’t meant to be a rant on things I feel are wrong with Rocky Glen (though I feel they need some SERIOUS improvement).  The 5 of us got to put in a good amount of laps, and by noon, the track was getting plenty tacky and allowed for some good riding fun between Jam0 and I.  I got to roost Jameson plenty good, so that was a nice positive end to the day.  My bike felt great, and it has left me for wanting to push myself more and get even faster.  Can’t really complain about that.

-Andrew

ps – I failed at tossing the gopro on my helmet Sunday.  Jam0 has some pictures, so I’ll relay those when I can.