Ridin’ with Old Friends

Do you remember the guys you used to ride with years ago? I know I do and as I look back I quite often laugh remembering some of the great times we had.

Since I am freshly out of a cast from my thumb injury I am trying to ease back into riding shape by trail riding instead of heading straight to the tracks or the races. So I recently hooked up with two old friends that have not ridden in quite some time. Ed and Jess are their names. Ed sold his bike long ago and just owns a chopper now, I think it is a Harley. You have to know that since I am an off road guy, anything that is ridden on the street is a chopper to me! I know this irritates the street guys.

So I go to visit my buddy, Ed, and what do you know, I just happen to have two bikes! I get Ed on the KX 450 while I ride the Honda 450-X. Then part way through the day we switch bikes so he can compare them and he has the time of his life. We went out exploring the back country around his house and found our way into some great areas with some fantastic views he had never seen. We made it up to a Fire Look Out that he had always wanted to ride up to but never made the trip. I am having a great time because I am riding an area I have never set wheels on before.  There is not much I like better than riding an area I have never seen, just riding new trails is the most fun no matter what speed you ride.

So after a couple of days of exploring the area, Ed decides he just may need another dirt bike! The suspension and power has impressed him since he sold his last bike many years back. Another thing that he was amazed at is how easily the new bikes started. Ed is now in his early 60’s and was a bit fearful of wearing himself out kick starting the bikes. I guess these were a bit better than the Maico’s and early Hondas he remembered! He especially liked the electric start on my Honda 450-X. So Ed makes the mistake of telling me he would like to get a bike.

I immediately go to work scouring craigslist and find an inexpensive but solid bike. I gather the contact information and hand him a slip of paper the next day with all the info about the bike, price, and owner. Ed calls and finds out it is somebody I know in the motorcycle world, so he agrees to buy the bike. When I leave to continue my journey of rehab (thumb) and motorcycle infection of friends (Jess next) Ed is working out the details to pick up the bike. I just got a phone call from Ed telling me he was driving down to pick up the bike next week.

My job is done here! Time to move on and spread the word, Ride!!!

Part 2 will be about how it went visiting Jess, stay tuned.

#33

“It’s not about how long we live, but how we live.”

The Boys Win Baja Again!

2013 Baja 500x Team

Well, the current 50 class champions in Baja Off Road racing down in Mexico scored another victory at the 2013 Baja 500. The team of Marc Prince, Doug Smith, Dave Potts, Steve Williams and Bob Johnson rode a calculated race taking one step closer toward keeping their 500X (#1 in 50yr old class) plate for another year. Not only did they win the class but rode fast enough and made so few mistakes that they caught all of the 40 year old teams and most of the 30’s!    I was told Steve was about to overtake the 40 class winners when he came across a rider down and pinned under his bike so he stopped to make sure the guy was ok and get the bike off him. Says a lot about the people on this team doesn’t it?  

                    

I had to sit this one out with my thumb in a cast from a motocross mishap. So #33 had to watch from the sidelines as they commenced to whippin’ some butt without me!

They all did a great job!  I am proud of them and glad to have such a great bunch of guys to ride with. It is always a lot of fun because of the people on the team. The commitment and enthusiasm of all the riders and support crew is often hard to find when you put this many people together to work toward a common goal. This is one race in a series of 3 races and that is why I appreciate the time and effort everyone puts out to pull this off.

I am now out of my cast and working on rehabbing my thumb to get back on the bike in a couple of weeks. Maybe if I get myself back in riding shape they will let me come back and ride with them!

Fantastic job guys!   One more to go, Baja 1000 November 2013.

Lefty (at the moment)  aka #33

“It’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years!”

Garage Mechanic Extraordinaire

We all know professional mechanics that make a living working on bikes at the local shop. But what about the guys that do it in their garage for the love of wrenching?  They spend hours tearing things apart and rebuilding things, usually on friends’ bikes.

With the current swing toward 4-stroke engines a lot of people are left out in the dark when it comes time to rebuild a blown motor or just freshen up a tired one. This is when the local wrench that does it for the love of wrenching can end up being your savior. He more often than not does it for dinner, a pass to the local track or a new tire or two. When you compare this to the shop rates being charged these days it makes the garage mechanic look like a bargain. Another bonus is that you don’t usually have to drop your bike off and wait a week or two until they can “get to it” since he usually only works on things for people he knows.

There is just such a guy named “Alex” in the Sacramento area that likes to work on bikes I believe as much as he likes to ride them. Whenever I stop by his place he always has a couple of things he is working on. Unlike a Honda or Yamaha shop that only works on that brand Alex seems to tackle almost anything that is ridden off road. I have seen Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki’s in his garage. Alex has done top end rebuilds on a couple of bikes for me on different brands of bikes. He has done steering heads, linkages and fork seals on many of my friends’ bikes.  But I am always impressed at how well he does on graphics installing. That is something you either have the knack for or don’t. Unfortunately I don’t!  Alex usually gets the graphics on very nicely and rarely has any bulges or bubbles.  He seems to have that graphic install gene!

So if you have been around long enough to have wrenched on 2-strokes and find yourself a bit intimidated by the current onslaught of thumpers you may want to start searching for a local guy with a bit of experience that just loves to work on bikes. If you can’t find one then give me a holler and I will set you up with Alex/Garage Mechanic Extraordinaire.

Catch you later, I am off to change………….my spark plug,

#33

“Remember, fast is relative”

Injury Leads to Boredom!

4 Wheel Weed Whacker

Ok, sometimes when you can’t ride for a while you probably get a bit crazy right? It seems maybe I have gotten to that point while wearing this cast on my broken thumb. I needed something to do so badly that was “off road” that I went out and bought a 4x4 Geo Tracker!

You have probably seen them but never paid any attention to them, I didn’t. But now I own one just so I can get out exploring off road in a small economical little 4x4. It is quite capable of covering most areas of off road as long as you don’t get too crazy or try to go too fast. Short wheel travel and a small motor limit your speed. But with a cast on my arm how fast should I really be going anyway and it is keeping me from getting on the bike when I know I shouldn’t. Besides that, I can carry an ice chest with a cold beverage while I am exploring and that may not be all bad. 

My buddy Mikey (Mike Harper) called to see if my “Weed Whacker” made the trip home without any problems. I almost fell out of my chair laughing!  So from this day forward the Geo will be called the Weed Whacker!

So off I go to see what kind of trouble…..I mean what I can find in my little Weed Whacker.  Only a couple more weeks and I will be able to climb back on the 2 wheeler and as we all know THAT is when the REAL FUN begins!

Talk to ya soon,

#33   aka Lefty

Let’s Go .....Shopping?

Yeah let’s Go Shopping!

Week 3 of any injury is about the time a guy starts losing his mind because he can’t ride. I have been out to the races and practice tracks to help some of my riding buddies but have time to kill when I can’t do that. So I take a trip to see a nephew’s (Rob) store that I haven’t seen yet. It is a Consignment store in Chico, Calif. It is called “Home Consignment Plus”.

Wow! What an eye opener, I know where I will be doing my Christmas shopping this year. I think he had every category you could think of in home furnishings, toys, jewelry and sports related items.

I was impressed with some of the things people consign to sell. If I were furnishing a house I would definitely shop there. Best of all we spent the majority of the time talking about motorcycles since Rob and his son Shane are Moto/gearheads. They were about to load up and drive down to watch Hangtown the first outdoor National. 

While I was there I tried out a few of his recliners on the floor and found several to my liking. One in particular that I lingered a bit too long on and got caught napping, kinda like some of my starts. I never thought I would enjoy “shopping” so much.

Next time I am out of action I think I will stop by and see what new recliners he has on the floor.

#33     aka “Lefty” for 3 more weeks