Friday the 13th Ride

 I had an out of town visitor who picked Friday the 13^th as the day he wanted to meet up for an off road ride day. So I rounded up a couple of buddies, Ed and Jason and we headed off on our merry way to meet up with Frank.

When Ed and Jason showed up I reminded them that it was Friday the 13^th and they both stopped for a moment and then said, “how about if we just ride easy today and explore a bit with no crazy stuff!”   Meaning of course none of the normal exploring down canyons that lead to large boulders and waterfall climbs.

I agreed and we were on our way out to pick up Frank. We met up with Frank and all the introductions were made since they had never met. In just a few short minutes we were on our way. It turned out to be one of the best days riding in the desert in quite some time. The sand washes had been washed mostly flat with just a bit of moisture underneath to keep everyone riding pretty much dust free. The single-track sections with some fantastic views were just damp enough to provide perfect traction.

The day ended up being one of the best days of riding in quite some time with weather and traction both being nearly perfect!  Not a single mishap, injury or even a flat tire in about 80 miles.  I can hardly wait for the next Friday the 13^th ride!

#33

‘Many an opportunity is lost because a man is out looking for four-leaf clovers’

Ride "maggie wash" with #33

When does a ride go from ‘exploring’ to an Adventure?

For me it is when my low fuel light comes on while riding my 500 XCW with an oversize tank. The light came on at 152 miles and I was still about 20 miles from gas!

I backed off the throttle a bit and took the most direct route to where I could find gas. I have never liked pushing in the sand much.  When I pulled into the station and filled my tank the pump showed it took 3.5 gals. That’s odd, the manufacturer says it is a 3.4 gal tank. Maybe I need a bigger tank!

#33

‘Success is a journey, not a destination’

Typical Trail Ride With #33

Reconning with Recon!

I recently had a visit from my riding and shooting buddy, Recon Don. So after our initial run out to the shooting range to blow a few things up, well just paper and metal gong targets, we prepped our bikes for a day of riding and exploring or Reconning as I like to call it when Recon goes.

We covered a pretty fair amount of ground and in one section I had Recon looking for the trail which wasn’t very well established after a year or so of weather and non-use. That is how Recon became a movie star as I followed and recorded his navigational skills on my Liquid Image goggles. The goggles give a very good picture quality and the ability to narrate while riding is a bonus. Recon kept it on two wheels the whole way and kept me entertained!

#33

To follow #33 and Recon on the way up the trail use this link.

https://youtu.be/KaqodSiVwaE

Geezer Rehab #33 Style!

 #33 takes his buddy on a geezer trail ride as part of his rehab program and this is how he treats people he likes.

“Recon” recently met up with #33 for a day of desert trail riding in the Nevada desert near Laughlin.  We explored an area most riders would only describe as ‘Disneyland on a motorcycle’.  The terrain included sand, rocks, steep climbs and descents, rock outcroppings, negotiating rock waterfalls that were obviously dry and a few ridges on single-track that required we get our feet off the pegs to clear ledges.

We made about half of our intended ride and were in some very steep terrain when Recon’s bike began to stall and stumble intermittently. I looked around and figured there was no way in hell we were going to tow or push his bike out of there if it died. It was too steep to ride double and I was not sure if I would find him today if I had to come back later with help, I thought we should get our butts out of there. I kind of like Recon and my list of able bodied riding buddies seems to grow shorter by the day, So we cut the ride short and headed for flatter terrain then made a bee line for our truck. 

We spent the next couple of hours removing and cleaning the carb on Recon’s WR 450 and finished just in time for him to take off for the Las Vegas airport to meet a flight. This was not all bad because it means there is a bunch of stuff we never had time to see and explore. That only leaves one solution to that little problem, we have to go back!

I can’t wait for part 2 when I get to go back to Recon with Recon!

#33

“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it”

600 Miles of Tire Torture

Shinko Cheater

  This is the follow up on the Shinko 505 Cheater tire I promised the MX43 readers. I reached what I call the worn out stage of this tire. It is probably well beyond the point most of you would run a tire since it is nearly bald and is beginning to tear knobs off.

I do this on most tires for two reasons, first is purely economics. If I changed a rear tire as soon as they fell into the ‘worn’ category I would be changing rear tires literally weekly! I do that on the motocross track tires.  Off Road I generally ride in areas that have the worst ground that is very hard packed and extremely rocky.

The second reason is I find out very quickly how well a tire works while it is in decent condition, but I want to know how well it works or doesn’t work when it is stretched to its limits. Does it become total garbage or does it fall apart, literally, by chunking and tearing knobs off. Do I start getting flats, etc.

I now have right at 600 miles on the ‘Cheater’ tire and it is what I would call worn out! But it still has a little knobby down the middle and the edge knobs are just starting to tear at the base. I am impressed! It performed very well until this point. It was not until my last couple of rides that I didn’t make it up a couple of hills and had to try a second time. Before it got to this point I never failed to get up any hill whether loose or hardpack.

I ran regular heavy duty tubes with about 15 psi to ward off flats and was never on the side of the trail making flat repairs. This always makes me happy!

So as an Off Road tire I would buy another one, so now maybe it is time to get one for the MX track and see what it can do.

For price, traction and longevity I give it 2 thumbs up!

#33

‘Laughter is to Life what shock absorbers are to a car. It won’t take the potholes out of the road, but it sure makes the ride smoother’