Sunday Morning

I'm not sure why I get a kick out of the company that revalved my Phase 4-modified forks.
I do know that the name for this special fork oil the guy running the show is using is just too long and hard to remember because it's not catchy.
It's rediculous, really.

The flip side of this is actually used in the same company.
He also has a revale modification for other forks that he calls the "Del Taco" treatment, which sounds like it came out of a Taco Bell board meeting.
The oil used on these forks is called "Taco Sauce".
Really.
So, we have both ends of the spectrum being used by this guy.
We've got oil with a complicated name, and oil with a cave man name.

I think he needs to strike a balance with what he calls his oils, and I'll comment on balance later in this very post. :)

Didn't get a call from my XR-650R buddy yesterday about doing any tire changing, let alone doing any riding.
Now, I just hope that he doesn't try calling me this morning because Sunday is my riding day, dang it, and I don't have the time to do that shit and still hit the trails at my usual time.

I didn't do any riding yesterday, either, because I decided to spend the afternoon taking my time doing some routine maintenance on my firebreather WR-250FY.
Besides servicing the air filter (and you wouldn't believe how many riders completely neglect their air filters on their dirt bikes), lubing my clutch cable (a freshly-lubed clutch cable is one of my quirks :) ), lubing my rear brake pedal pivot, and putting the plastic body parts back on that get removed from the bike when I wash it, I also installed a new clutch kit.

What's a clutch kit?
It's a box of parts that replace the worn-out ones if your clutch got abused one time too many, or if the clutch simply wore out from lots of normal use.
It contains all of the clutch plates, springs, and a new clutch cover gasket.
The kit was a genuine Yamaha item, which means I used genuine Yamaha parts to do this, not some potentially cheap aftermarket copies.

Although my clutch still worked perfectly and didn't slip, I'd been planning to do this for a while since I did buy the bike used to start with, and I've already ridden the bike nearly every weekend for 11 months, now.
So, I figured better to do it and start riding with a known fresh set of clutch parts and enjoy life to the fullest. :)

Gee, 11 months have already passed since I decided to buy the WR-250FY.
I almost didn't, you know, because I was actually looking for a good used WR-450F at the time.
I found this one by accident, mulled it over, decided against it, and then eventually broke down and decided to go for it.
I'm now VERY glad that I did. :)

In all honesty, and not just because I'm a small guy, the WR-250FY is a better choice out in the Pachaug rock pile than a WR-450F would be.
The trail conditions are tight enough to where the additional power of the 450 would very often be offset by the heavier feel of the bike.
Having more roost-throwing torque and power on tap would be great fun, but I really am not sure if I'd actually be able to finish the loop any quicker on a 450 versus my 250.

The WR-250FY is what you call a "balanced" bike.
Balanced means it has enough power to do the job just fine (very effectively, actually) while having light and easy handling.
In other words, it has less power than the WR-450F, but has easier handling.
It's a compromise, and a good one for the conditions - the power vs. handling equation is balanced very well.

I'm still looking for a good used WR-450F, actually, and I'm just waiting for one that's not beat-up and going for some rediculous price to appear.
I'd really like to find one already registered in CT. and use that as my back-and-forth-to-jerk transportation and dual-purpose-type trail riding when the mood strikes me.

That's always been my kind of dual-purpose bike:
A bike that's actually a real dirt bike with a license plate on the back, and one that wouldn't wince at some real off-road usage, not just sight-seeing down a dirt road or rediculously smooth trail, which the majority of dual-purpose bikes really are, I hate to say.
At least, that's how they come off the showroom floor.

With a WR-450F, I believe the additional power of the 450cc engine would allow me to gear the bike taller, allowing it a chance to actually run with 60mph traffic that you get on even secondary roads these days, while still having enough torque and horsepower to not feel like it's way too overgeared while trail riding.
We'll have to wait and see if this ever happens.

-John