Rides are much better on properly suspended motorcycles. Just sayin'
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Lol I know... especially in dirt...but I am not a pro rider nor do I "need" good suspension for the noobie kind of riding I do...just "would like it"
that's nonsense. properly set up suspension is THE best mod you can make to a bike.
Yes, most people yes...but I started on 72 XL250 -> 79 KD125 -> XR80 -> buncha bikes -> 94 YZ20
They say you know what a good suspension is once you ride one. But I just started on such $hitty bikes that the YZ is one of the best bikes I rode :lol:
If you can bottom the suspension by hand, no one should be riding it.
Riding with the wrong springs is a fools errand. I ordered the right springs for my new bike before I even had it home. I would be nice if the right springs for you were part of the normal price.. LMAO.
For reals. Get that shit serviced and get the right springs for YOU. Once you ride a well set-up suspension you will never go back
Ughhh.. fine :lol:
I was told turnaround would be 4-5 days...I will mail it next week
Soooo...I never got around to pulling the shock and headed to desert Wednesday
Found a cheap shock on eBay at a Moto shop in the desert, called ahead, did buy-it-now, drove 2hrs and picked it up lol. Shaft isn't dinged and no leaks so I will run that Tuesday and mail out the original shock for following ride on 3/24 weekend in desert.
April/early May is the latest you typically head to the desert because of the heat...so best do the shock and get on some rides...summer = head into the cooler forests :hellyeah:
YZ325 sumo commuter...
https://youtu.be/n5bayL-BW0Y
LOL...ya I met him before...he's got a 99+ YZ (EXCELLENT motor) with a wide ratio trans and the 324...bike is pretty nuts
Brave or insane on some of that riding........
6:09 mark :doh:
Yeah, like the bike (ESR cylinder kit I'm guessing) but was cringing at the riding. Nooooope!
Haha I have been on the pipe 60-80 mph for 50 miles round trip chasing sportbike in Mexico...done my time. I don't do much of that anymore
Well it's 3am...
so far I spent the last 2-1/2 hours finding/laundering gear, gopro memory card dump, charging peripherals, packed part of gear bag, lost my base layer and jersey, found them in a pile with used towels, cursed at not cleaning them from last ride, threw them in th laundry machine, cleaned the kitchen, set the coffee maker, packed my tool bag, left it outside to start swapping the shock where it got wet amd muddy in the rain, now have a fan over the bag to dry it back off, cursed myself since I had the seat off and now I have a soaked air filter and water in the air box, can't find my backup air filter, threw some chicken in the crock pot, rice in the rice cooker...
..and still haven't swapped out the shock.
Will I wake up in 3 hours to do it? Then leave in 5 hours to head out for ride?
Sleep needs will tell :lol:
...reminds me of the first time I did a TTD...
well, woke up late, didn't swap the shock, and rode another day on the blown one...now that everyone's ridiculed it, I know ride it thinking "this thing suuuuucks"
https://i.imgur.com/oLPpbjQ.png?1
oh well, just spent a couple hours following a Yamaha Viking 700 around open desert...so it was better than nothing...
working another 6 days straight, then will hopefully have some time to work on it...
some video from Landers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mONPBvPf7RI&feature=youtu.be
your buddy needs an upgrade :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_MaC45JJFE
Whoa! So rad!
Man I wish I could have one of those... that's a reason to leave the YZ...street legal and can really handle some gnarly stuff!
I have looked at Baja Bugs and Meyers Manx buggy but they don't look as capable...
He also has a 1,000cc Yamaha triple... it's crazy fast...no belt drive...and full transmission...it had 3 flat tires that day tho and he said it's close to $700 :(
scrambled to get ready for today's ride, so at the very least I cracked the radiator cap and topped off the coolant - to my surprise, I barely had to put anything in (maybe 30mL?) before it was overflowing. Great news! my cooling system is working
hopefully had my last day on the pogo-boingy rocked out shock
https://i.imgur.com/m7ai4sc.png
even rode a GS!
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/796/4...179416cf_z.jpg
We all met up at the Best Western in Cal City.
Location was pretty good; we literally rolled out of the hotel and hit dirt in under a mile
https://i.imgur.com/kETza2q.png?2
All the main/graded roads for the city development = TONS OF BIG BIKE FRIENDLY ROADS!
with the recent rain, we hit one mud puddle...my experience always says slow down, pick the shallowest line, and crawl through:
https://i.imgur.com/MnVYYMh.png?1
my routine is always: ride 10-15 mins, take a break
without a destination in mind, we rode until the terrain got hairy for bigger bikes, then took a break
[img width=800 height=461]https://i.imgur.com/6iL3BuZ.png[/img]
https://i.imgur.com/RajFW8G.png?1
We checked in with the riders - talked some shop - and experimented with tire pressures
https://i.imgur.com/9qTG8Ii.png?1
then double backed when Rogue got stuck in the mud LOL
https://i.imgur.com/8a4zLf1.png?1
@ Rogue - I know you were bothered, but the good thing is you will *rarely* see mud living in SoCal. Consider this a minority.
luckily the saddle bag and hand guard saved his equipment, so he could gently twist his fender/bars back into place and ride on
we took a break from the dirt, and took "20 mule team parkway" towards the correctional facility
https://i.imgur.com/UjFDz8W.png?1
gotta say, I'm pretty happy with the WR transmission in the YZ cases for pavement sections
saw some other people out to play for the weekend
https://i.imgur.com/21sQp3U.png?1
turned off the main road towards the correctional facility...and saw a couple (presumably prison) parked, tinted government vehicles on watch
https://i.imgur.com/2eMQmIZ.png?1
https://i.imgur.com/hELj4pX.png?1
And finally made it to the correctional facility
https://i.imgur.com/3t8V06N.png?1
unsure about how close we could get, we just parked/re-grouped from a distance...when I realized we had one more rider in the group
https://i.imgur.com/q2Mp0SA.png?1
hey it's Ceylon!
https://i.imgur.com/bK4TyZu.png?1
he caught us riding in a group together and followed...can't believe I haven't ridden with this guy. over 75,000 miles in 2 years on his GS. He's ridden almost everything in CA including a 3 day ride to Canada by himself. So rad!!
we then hopped back on pavement, just looked out for dirt turns
https://i.imgur.com/UMLgJy2.png?1
big bikes took the smooth sections, lighter bikes took the technical sections adjacent
the squad
https://i.imgur.com/mRSs2Ng.jpg?1
braaaap
https://i.imgur.com/0ri6yKr.png?1
https://i.imgur.com/OqAm8MV.png?1
https://i.imgur.com/Kur3jIt.png?1
then pavement back the hotel, grab money/phone/drop off gear, and cruise into town for lunch
https://i.imgur.com/0TA7HjX.png?1
Coyote Cafe!
https://i.imgur.com/ulYicWd.png?1
love theses small desert cafe's for a warm hearty filling meal
quick stop at the hotel for check ins, then took off down California City Boulevard
randomly hopped into the desert and found an open area/intersection to fool around:
https://i.imgur.com/SMTzKYq.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/0vPNcYo.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/kWa9xAG.jpg?1
Ceylon even let me try out the GS!
https://i.imgur.com/RhuScKW.png?1
thanks bud! Very nice bike!
We then decided to tackle the smoothest hill we could find
heading towards any hill is when the rocks start to appear
https://i.imgur.com/OE4Ktbp.png?1
right trail looks smoother than the left...
https://i.imgur.com/QWpbBl1.png?1
the approach started okay...
https://i.imgur.com/WFFBPNs.png?1
but began getting worse...
https://i.imgur.com/dnIMkCY.png?1
and worse
https://i.imgur.com/TiuwxYX.png?1
but it's too late...need to finish the trail
unfortunately I made the mistake of stopping, and that likely put at least 1 bike over...so sorry!!
but they all made it up, so by the time I parked and walked around they were ready to go! awesome
https://i.imgur.com/GmwocXL.png?1
these hills were grouped together, so if you want to fool around on more technical sections you can ride between hills
Chris took the left trail from above and challenged us to join him on the next hill
Rogue went first...I then turned on the GoPro and chased him up
https://i.imgur.com/DBKSFqI.png?1
https://i.imgur.com/cwvOcRx.png?1
as we got closer to the top, we began to see why Chris told us to make the trip
https://i.imgur.com/y5bsUvU.png?1
rider memorial to the right, and A M A Z I N G view
https://i.imgur.com/v0GagAt.png?1
OOTV felt a little warm down below, but up here we had nature's A/C - it was windy!
stopped here for a bit to take in the beauty and headed down
re-connected with Chris, then headed across the street
https://i.imgur.com/SEeKxLD.png?1
https://i.imgur.com/X1THTsy.png?1
found a hill...Chris, Rogue, and Ceylon went for it...the top was steep/off camber/and rocky so I stopped OOTV here
https://i.imgur.com/iXywTEq.png?1
we let them run up and run down, then I decided that this was a good time to stop...now ride back to the hotel and chill
more pics to come!
looks and sounds like a fun journey! ... 4mi further from the Correctional Facility and you coulda lapped this :D
http://www.calcitymx.com/wp-content/...ageslider0.jpg
LOL yeah I read about it and saw signs
I'm not a properly skilled rider to lap around an MX track...especially not with a rocked out rear shock...and definitely not with guys on piggy bikes like a DR650/GSA1200/Tiger 800
it's funny...the only pics I get public comments I get on my Imgur are on the big bikes LOL
Darryl, taking it in!
https://i.imgur.com/SwYT4Hf.jpg?1
he makes it look easy
https://i.imgur.com/MB1ZwFY.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/qKFFLxH.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/EpzZaBU.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/LWQATpv.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/4XFsgCG.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/2RzOZKO.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/9byVlkI.jpg?1
https://i.imgur.com/B8Uk1qy.jpg
also stopped by the Hyundai-Kia proving grounds...but couldn't get far enough to see the track...also stopped by Edwards Air Force base, but same deal...and found an airplane graveyard out in Mojave
https://i.imgur.com/0pGMThy.jpg?1
but nowadays you can't very close to the planes like you could in the 90's....
https://i.imgur.com/xZFPfHf.jpg?2
oh well...got a pic with the model plane out front
https://i.imgur.com/85javxU.jpg?2