416 Rocky Trails

This past Sunday's Pachaug rock pile ride was decent up until the last 1.5 miles of it, when I fell and landed on my left shoulder.
Ouch.
That's not me in the above pic.


Sunday's ride was shaping-up to be half-way decent.
Although the temps were seemingly not too shabby for December 23, once out on the trails I saw that there was, in fact, some thin ice to be wary of on the numerous standing water puddles left by Friday's rain.
So, I just took it slow and easy around those parts and carried on with an air of caution in my mind.
The bike felt pretty good, as I did, and other than the standing water with thin ice over parts of it, the trail conditions and weather were decent.

One of the hazards of the ol' Pachaug enduro loop is that 4x4 trucks and Jeeps and all sorts of ATVs will go out on parts of it because these guys are looking to have some off-road fun, too.
These are two problems with that, though:

1) They're not legally allowed out there to begin with.
2) They tend to kick rocks that are either on the side of the trail into the middle of it, or stand up rocks that used to be laying flat, and this makes for a more risky ride when it's at it's worst.

While riding back toward the official start/finish gravel lot of the Pachaug loop, there is a neat little natural terrain jump where the trail (more like a rough and rocky gravel road wide enough for a 4x4 truck) suddenly drops down.
At the top of this drop, there is a conveniently-placed rock sticking up out of the ground a couple of inches, and if you hit this fast enough it is perfect for catching some air, jumping off the ground for a distance, and landing toward the bottom of this drop-off.
I do exactly this every time I ride past there, and over the course of over three years of steady Pachaug loop riding, that's a whole lot of jumps.

This time, I got bit by one of those rocks that used to be pushed off to the side of the trail but found it's way back into the line used by dirt bike riders like me.
These rocks blend-in with the terrain, too.
When I landed from the jump, I got on the front brake to slow for the next puddle of water spanning the width of the trail, and a split second after hitting the brake is when I plowed right into the rock with my front wheel without even realizing it was there.
This is probably my most-feared kind of crash on a dirt bike and one I'm always on the look-out for - hitting something with my front wheel that I didn't see coming and losing the front end and going down.
That's what happened, as the front end suddenly darted to the right and I suddenly fell onto the ground with my left shoulder leading the way.

I got up, inspected myself and the WR-250FP, and thank God there was no serious damage to either.
In fact, all the bike got out of it were some scratches in the plastic bodywork and a bent chain guide cover (that I can repair and continue to use).
The handlebars don't even appear to be bent and the grip on the left side is OK, so, the bike came out of it pretty well, all-in-all.

For me, my shoulder, which took the fall for the most part, was functioning fine for the next couple of hours after the crash (I washed my bike without trouble immediately after the ride was done, as usual) without pain or lack of range of motion or anything abnormal.
After home and relaxing, as expected, it tightened-up and became sore.
The next morning, I couldn't raise my arm very high or hold it out level with the ground.
It's now Wednesday morning (merry post Christmas!), and, thank God, I can see and feel the improvements each morning in reduced pain and more range of motion coming back with the passing of 2-and-a-half days time.

With any luck, I'll be OK in another week or so.
If I had to guess at mid-week, I'll probably pass on riding this coming weekend, unless some kind of minor miracle happens before then.
I really don't want to go back out too soon, so giving it time is the smart money, I think.

-John

415 Cavities in Your Teeth

Sounds like you need to brush more.

What made me think of a dentist is some stupid news story I saw posted on a message board.
Some 50-something male dentist had to fire his supposedly "too hard to resist" 32-or-so years old "blonde hottie" of an assistant of 10 years because the dentist's wife, who also works in the same dental office, caught-on to their secret text messages and wanted to nip any kind of blossoming affair in the bud.
So, the wife demanded he fire this "too hot" assistant, and now, after some legal battle, some Iowa court ruled that the dentist was within the law in doing so.

This seems, to me, like some kind of National Enquirer- type of story that is along the lines of a soap opera on printed paper.
Personally, I could see this happening at any time, in any country, at any point in history you care to point-out.
Just what is so new and news-worthy about some 50-year-old of an aging man getting a stiffie at work every day when he sees his "irresistible" assistant bending over to pick up some dropped files or leaning over a patient with one-too-many buttons undone, and then having the "real boss" wife get in the way and kick the younger girl out?
Huh?
That's news?
Some younger girl wearing tight clothes at the work place so a man can check-out her body is something new?
I can see that at the two local Post Offices around here or at a couple of local supermarkets, people.
Free of charge.

And, the old wife says something about it only 10 years after the younger girl came along?

Dang.
So, that's why the express checkout lane at the supermarket has so many middle-aged guys in it buying more small items than they really need.  ;)

No, what would be the proper thing to do would be to print the WHOLE story about how the old hag wife was tired of the threesomes they would frequently have after hours and she demanded her dental husband get rid of the same-ol', same-'ol and get some new thighs-and-blood into the office and break her in right.
Think it can't happen?
Boy, have you been living under an Ohbummerscare rock, Bucky Beaver.
I think you need to go to the dentist for a tooth polishing.

Today is Sunday, and it's time to head-out for another Pachaug enduro loop ride on the ol' WR-250FP.
The weather is actually better than forecast because it didn't dip below freezing last night as predicted, and the high temp for today is supposedly to reach 41 degrees.
I expect more standing water than usual due to heavy rain we had on Friday, but I can live with that easier than an icy patch covered with leaves.
My rear tire is still the same ol' worn one, but, I'm on a pay cut budget.
This is the longest I've run the same rear tire since my teenager days.

I'm off,
-John

414 Funny Words

I went on yet another Pachaug rock n' roll pile ride yesterday (Sunday), and was actually able to sneak it in before it started to rain, for the most part, anyway.
It did drizzle a bit for a few minutes at about the 3/4 mark, but that was doable.
The ride was surprisingly good, actually, and I put that down to feeling good, having the suspension balance set-up as well as I can make it, and just getting with the program, twisting the throttle, and not worrying so much about the front fork's shortcomings out on the trail.

As you have read with the WR-250FP, it's a great bike for the Pachaug loop, the only fly in the ointment is that the fork performance is not good over those sharp, square-edged bumps that litter the trails around here.
Now, with the thin, custom-blended 2.7 wt fork oil, it has zoomed all the way up to acceptable in that dept., so, for now, that's not a big issue for me.
Hence, that's why I can finally get on with enjoying the bike like I'm supposed to be able to.

There were some frozen-and-in-the-process-of-thawing-out sections that I was cautious over, and I suppose they got that way after some rain earlier last week and then froze over a couple of below-freezing nights.
Seems the rain resulted in a few runoff sections that froze and were still a nuisance out there.
No crashing, luckily, although the leaves covering the ground did camouflage them well.
My rear tire is growing more and more worn with each ride, so it's certainly not getting better.
Being on a budget sucks as far as that goes.

On another funny note, I just read a post on a message board where a guy is looking for some kind of advice or guidance over his recently-acquired new-to-him dirt bike.
The guy has little dirt bike experience, is 35 years old, is 6' 1", and 200 pounds.
His wife bought him (as a present) a 2006 KTM-250SXF, the KTM version of a Yamaha YZ-250F motocross bike.
The guy is complaining about how tall and big the bike seems for him, and that having to kickstart it is a tiring drag-and-a-half.
No kidding.

My feelings are that if this guy is being serious, he needs a shorter bike with electric start like a Yamaha TT-R230 or Honda CRF-230F.
They won't have the outright performance of his KTM-250SXF, but, at least he'll more than likely be able to ride it and start it.
I also feel that, if he really want to learn how to ride and give himself a much-needed wake-up call, he should go riding with a 16-year-old kid (a girl would be best) who knows what they're doing and see with his own eyes how much of a wimp he sounds like.
Goddammit, son, you're over 6 feet tall, 200 pounds, and you feel that bike of yours is too big?
Comical, really, as I wonder what he thinks a dirt bike should be built like.
I really wonder if the guy actually WANTS to learn how to ride and if he should even be on a dirt bike to start with.

-John

413: How Things Really Work, You Jerk

It's Saturday evening, and the weather forecast for a Pachaug enduro loop ride tomorrow looks iffy at best.
I'll have to make final judgement when I awake tomorrow at the crack of dawn.
Actually, before dawn since this time of year sunrise is at about 7:05 am.
God, why so late?

Well, Bucky Beaver, you buck-toothed imbecile, allow some knowledge of the hard facts of:
How Things Really Work, You Jerk to permeate that thick skull of yours, would you?

The reason the sun rises so late and sets so early in December has to do with the 23.4 degree tilt of the Earth's axis, and that tilt plays a part on when the sun rises and sets - and where on the horizon it does this and the position of the arc it traces across the sky - as the Earth makes a trip around the sun over the course of a year.
Yeah, a year, the thing they call a 365-day time span.
Remember?

The tilt of the Earth also has everything to do with one of the great scams put across to people on the very same planet Earth:
The supposed depletion of the ozone layer and how man is making the "ozone hole" bigger and bigger, eventually to lead to destruction of the planet unless we all come together and fight this threat.
Remember that one?
Back in the 1980s, you'd swear we wouldn't see the end of the decade and all of the neon-colored disco clothing that came with it, eh?
Remember MC Hammer and his parachute pants?
Can't touch this!
Good thing, as I'd rather not.

That's right, Bucky, it's another scam dreamt-up by men that believe they are so much better than and brighter than and craftier than and slipperier than you, men who believe they can bullshit you into believing you're wrecking the fragile planet, and it's up to them and their like-minded groups of other slippery and crafty men with the initials U.N. to come up with the "solution" that will make this non-existent problem all better.
Just like when mommy used to put hydrogen peroxide on your scraped knee, blow in it so it wouldn't burn so much, and then put a band aid over it as she patted you on the head.
She should have kicked you in the balls while she was at it, too, and here's why, dipshit:

The ozone way up there in the stratosphere is not what protects the Earth and all of us from the sun's radiation, such as the ultraviolet rays (UV).
That's right.
All of the bullshit we have been told was a big fatty.
It is actually the Earth's oxygen up there that does this protecting, not the ozone, and the supposed ozone layer and this supposed growing ozone hole bullshit scam does not protect us, unless you like getting high off sniffing ozone.

When UV rays from the sun come careening into the Earth's atmosphere, they strike molecules of the oxygen we breathe.
These molecules are composed of 2 atoms of oxygen stuck together because they like being together.
However, when struck with the intense radiation of the sun, the 2 oxygen atoms get broken apart, making them two individual atoms.
These individual atoms are called ions, and they would rather not be all by themselves for very long.
So, they simply become attached to the other oxygen molecules near by, and since those oxygen molecules were already composed of 2 oxygen atoms, this attachment of the third now makes the molecule the stuff called ozone.
Ozone = 3 oxygen atoms stuck together.

It is this reaction - the UV rays breaking apart the 2 oxygen atoms - that protects us, as the energy of the UV rays needed to cause this reaction is used to heat the atmosphere by making all of those molecules move real fast instead of reaching us and frying your ugly face.
Wait, that might be an improvement.
Heating of the atmosphere, in other words, because if you remember your 3rd grade science books, you dropout, heat is defined by how fast molecular motion is - the faster the motion, the hotter something becomes.

The terrible ozone holes only occur at the poles.
Right?
Why the hell is that, if we're all doing our best to destroy it at parts of the world other than the poles?  
Who lives at the poles?
Well, Bucky, if you recall the 23.4 degree tilt of the Earth's axis, you might be able to strain your brain and picture it in your little mind.
When the Earth's north pole is tilted away from the sun in winter, the sun's UV rays strike at such an angle, you won't get the chemical reaction required to break apart the 2 oxygen atoms and make ozone.
Simple as that.

Now, how do you feel?

-John

412 at 6:21

Today's Sunday Pachaug enduro loop ride was OK.
Not great or fantastic or excellent, but a solid OK.
It could have been excellent, but the ground conditions were not good enough for that as things were still damp from yesterday's rain and 8,000,000,000% humidity overnight.
All of those leaves covering the rocks and the tree roots don't dry-up too quickly when the weather is like that, you know.

Although I took it cautiously since things were still damp and potentially slick (especially with a well-worn rear tire and semi-worn front), I still had a decent ride considering that was on my mind the whole time.
The freshly-serviced rear shock worked noticeably more plushly and cushy with the proper KYB K2C fluid in there, and the front fork was still absorbing the sharp, pesky hits from those rocks and roots all over the place with the custom-blended 2.5 wt fluid in there.
Actually, after doing some 3rd grade math (or, in order to keep up with the times with today's education, 7th grade math), I now know it's more like a 2.75 wt.

I felt pretty good on the bike and pulled-off some decent maneuvers, not least of which was getting past a convoy of (illegal, of course) ATVs and side-by-sides riding the trail early in the ride.
What's a side-by-side?
A P.O.S. that costs much more than it's worth and has seating for a driver and passenger, and it looks like a miniature pickup truck.
Pretty dumb, in other words.
Other than that, they're fine.  ;)

I really should buy a new rear tire and mount it before the next ride as it is worn to the point that the quality of the feel of the bike is suffering.
I'd get a new front tire as well if I had the moolah.
Being the off-season at jerk, I am on a budget, so I'll have to print a few more George Washingtons.  ;)

411 Drops of Fork Fluid

This past Sunday's Pachaug rock pile ride with the custom-blended thinner fork oil went pretty well.
This is because, for the first time since I started riding the WR-250FP on the first weekend of this past August, the front fork finally shows a willingness to move enough when hitting all those sharp and pesky bumps out on the trail.
The thin fluid in the forks is now about a 2.5 wt instead of the original 5 wt, and thin fluid means the hydraulic damping on compression will be reduced.
It was quite a difference and a welcomed improvement.
Even with a well-worn rear tire, I was regaining some of my lost confidence through the rocky sections where the stock fork did not work to my satisfaction, and that was a good feeling.
With two new tires, things would feel even better, and for the time being, at least, I will run the fork with this fluid inside of it.

This is not a perfect and final solution, however, as I believe only internal revalving mods will be a final solution.
The reason is that thin fluid also reduces hydraulic damping in the other direction:
Rebound damping.
Where the reduced compression feels like it's just what the doctor ordered, rebound damping now feels a bit too light, meaning the fork bounces back a little too easily.
Thank God it is at least acceptable due to the average speeds on the Pachaug enduro loop being less than quasar (to cop a term from Jody Weisel from Motocross Action Magazine).
If the trails were more like my favorite whoops-through-the-pine-needled-woods section, the faster rebound would be more of a problem.
But, then again, the stock fork performance on that section was just fine and dandy.
So, at least for now, I'm sticking with this latest compromise - it is an improvement in overall action and satisfaction.

As of right now, the rear shock is at Nasin Machine for another routine fluid change, something that suspension guys recommend you do after so many hours of use.
To be honest, the main reason I chose to get that done this week is not because I've logged so many hours since it was initially serviced (this past August), but because I have the feeling the Honda HP 5 wt fluid I chose (because I had some left over from the Honda CRF-450X9 handy at home) is a little bit too heavy with the cooler weather we get this time of year.
The feeling on the bike is as if the oil seems thicker in cooler weather, and this jives with what I read on suspension fluid viscosity comparison charts.
So, I'm having Tom at Nasin Machine put some of the recommended fluid in there:
Kayaba K2C shock fluid, which is a bit thinner at cooler temperatures.
Funny, how a Kayaba shock will be getting Kayaba shock fluid, eh?
I probably should have done that from the start.
Now I know.
Actually, I knew that decades ago, but, I guess I had a moment.  :)

The shit weather forecast for the weekend looks like an on-and-off rainy one.
I'm hoping that they are as wrong about that as they were as wrong about yesterday's forecast, where it was supposed to be sunny and it rained and drizzled all day.

-John

410: That's a Big Ten-Four, Good Buddy

 

It's time for another oil change with the WR-250FP.

It still makes me laugh how lots of guys make doing this once a month sound like it's worse than listening to Culture Club and dressing up like the singer.

I remember when saying ten-four was popular with people during the CB radio fad of the late 1970s.
Makes you wonder how anyone got by without a cell phone and PC.
Don'nit?
God.
How did I do that?

Although this is a week late, I'll write about last weekend's riding, which actually started on Thursday, Thanksgiving day.

Hmmmm.
I'm trying to think, here.
Well, I honestly can't recall any details about Thursday's Pachaug ride, so it must have been an average-for-this-time-of-year ride.
That probably means it was decent - possibly even quite good - although nothing was a stand-out or most excellent.
That's acceptable.
I want to say it was on the chilly side, but I can't remember for sure.
Well, I actually just PCed my ass over to weather.com and looked-up the monthly weather records for Thanksgiving day, and that says it started in the 30s for a low and reached a high of the low 50s.
Hey, Thanksgiving day's weather was pretty good, ya' know.
You can bet your ass I was wearing my blaze orange don't-shoot-because-I'm-a-human-not-an-animal vest, too.
God, I just hope these guys aren't shooting toward and/or across the public trail, goddammit.
It would be a shame if they shot holes in their SUV windshield, wouldn't it?

Friday's day at jerk was a sllloooooooww one since UPS wasn't delivering any UPS Ground packages, and that is what makes-up about 90% of our daily deliveries.
You know - we need that service in order to make a buck and pass around the goods that are imported from China and Taiwan and Vietnam.
That line above reminds me of what is probably the singe most interesting thing I've ever read on the Adventure Rider forums:
A guy from Cambodia posted about modifying his seat of the 2012 or 2013 KTM 500EXC dual-purpose bike he rides over in rice patty and sweat shop land.
He posted pics and words describing how he had a local seat upholsterer dude (local to him, not me over here in the USA, land of the free and 911 was caused by airplanes hijacked by towel heads with beards) modify his seat to his bum-bum's liking for $15.
This $15 covered three hours of labor, the materials needed to do the job, and a tip for the upholsterer dude.

Think about that for the rest of the day, would you?

Getting back to Friday, I went into jerk for an hour or so, then left, intending to come back in the afternoon around 3:00 pm when FedEx Ground came with a couple of packages.
So, I had about 4 hours to get my keister home and try yet ANOTHER front fork experiment with the ol' WR-250FP:
Changing to a different fork oil in hopes of relieving the high-speed compression damping spikes from all of those pesky sharp impacts out on the Pachaug rock-and-roll-pile loop.
I bought some Ohlins RT43 fork oil we had at jerk without even knowing it's true viscosity weight, but gave it a go, anyway.
The idea was to use a thinner oil - excuse me. Fork fluid - in the forks and get a reduction in compression damping.
Rebound damping would likewise be reduced, but, it was an experimant, after all.
I hoped for the best.
Oil level to be used was the same 145mm.

Well, I did the job, went back to jerk, came home and ate and slept, and got up Saturday morning for the experimental Pachaug Ohlins RT43 fork fluid ride.
As it turned out, Ohlins RT43 is actually a bit THICKER (7.5 wt, so I later read on a forum) than the Honda HP fork fluid's 5 wt I had in it, so it actually was a step in the wrong direction and I could feel it while on the bike.
The ride wasn't a disaster, but the fork did behave as it I'd stiffened the compression and rebound damping to the maximum with the adjustment clickers.
That means I backed the pace down in the sharp-and-pesky-bump-strewn spots on the trail, AKA about 50% of it.  :)
At least nothing bad happened and I did learn what the true weight of Ohlins RT43 fork fluid is.

After I got home Saturday afternoon, I immediately started work to change the fork oil back to a known 5 wt. fluid as I had, before leaving from the ride parking spot, gone upstairs to the Parts Dept. at jerk and purchased three pints (hic!) of Honda SS7 fluid, a good choice since it says 5 wt right on the label.
I went with the same 145mm oil level, too.
Changing the fork fluid is a pretty easy job, really, with the biggest hassle being installing the front wheel since about 50% of the time, the front axle won't slide home easily.
This is probably due to tight clearances requiring having the fork legs and wheel perfectly aligned, and sometime if the world's axis is off a half-degree, it's a toughie.

Sunday's ride was better as the fork was back to normal and working much better, at least as well as it is going to work without more internal valving modifications, something the fork obviously needs for riding Pachaug's terrain.
I remember the weather being on the chilly side since washing the bike wasn't quite 100% comfortable.
It got done, regardless.

So, here it is Sunday morning of the following weekend.
Since hunting season in CT. is now in the firearms season, I'm really gonn'a stick to the no-Saturday riding plan until that's done in January.
Since there was no riding yesterday, I decided to use the time to change the fork fluid AGAIN to something that's quaranteed to be thinner than the usual 5 wt.:
A 2-to-1 mixture of 1.6 wt fluid called Redline Like Water Suspension Fluid (that's the real name, competing neck-and-neck with Smart Performances' 215.VM2.K5 fork fluid for long names) and good ol' Kayaba 01M fork fluid (which is reportedly a 5 wt.), the actual recommended fluid for my WR-250FP fork.

Mixing these two fluids in this ratio gives about a 2.5 weight fluid, and I can easily tell the difference in the reduced damping just pumping the front fork up and down while sitting on the seat.
I'm hoping for the best with today's experimental ride.

-John

Formula 409

I was waiting to use that title.

It's Sunday evening and I'm eating and relaxing after a weekend of Pachaug loop WR-250FP riding.
I went both Saturday and Sunday, and it was pretty good.

Saturday was a solo ride and I made decent time out on the trails.
It was sunny and I decided to use the two-tinted-goggle-lens trick again, and I'm glad I did because I wasn't squinting much.
I rode fairly well, though a bit conservative with the leaves on the ground in lots of places.
I wore my blaze orange don't-shoot-me vest since we're still in hunting season, and although I hope no moron will be shooting his bow across the trail toward me, you never know for sure just how many morons are out at any given moment.
I survived, although I did see several trucks parked along some of the dirt roads.
If they're hunting, fine.
Just walk your ass well off into the woods, buddy.

Today's ride was once again with the guy I rode with last Sunday.
Since this was his second time out there, I went a little bit closer to normal pace in some sections.
I don't think he would mind.
I enjoyed this buddy ride more than last week's for some reason.
Although, as you know, I still prefer solo.

This Thursday will provide another riding opportunity since it's Thanksgiving day and I have that day off jerk.
That's just fine and dandy with me.

-John

408 Trees Down

It's Sunday evening (sucks how 5:30 pm is now called evening since it's already dark) and am done doing the weekend's running around.
I rode on the Pachaug loop yesterday as well as today.
How'd it go?
Read on, Bucky.

During the week, a guy who I met at jerk told me he wanted to go riding out on the Pachaug loop, so who am I to refuse.
We decided to go Sunday morning, and since I hadn't yet been out there on the trails since the stupid hurricane came through the week before, I wanted to ride the loop Saturday in order to learn any trouble spots that might be out there from the hurricane (AKA: Downed trees and big branches blocking the trail).
Well, there were a few trees down, and, wonder of wonders and shit-rotten luck, THREE were down on the whoops through the pine-needled woods section.
Figures it's one of my favorite parts of the whole Pachaug loop.

Well, at least I could simply ride off the beaten trail to get around these mutherfuggers, but somebody's got to get out there with a chain saw and take these things out for good.
They're big enough to where doing it by hand with my bow saw would take hours per tree.
Other than being disgusted at having three blow-downs on my favorite trails, Saturday's ride went pretty well.

Sunday (today) with the new Pachaug rider was OK.
I automatically rode slower than normal because it is, in my opinion, a poor choice to go the normal pace when riding at a spot where a newcomer doesn't know where he's going, unlike the guys I rode with a few weeks ago.  ;)
So, even though that was on my mind, the new guy says he had a great time out there.
There were no mishaps or grim scenes for either of us, I had a decent ride, so all-in-all, I can't complain.

However, now that's done, I want to go it alone next weekend.
I really do prefer that more often than not.

-John

407 Reasons

It's Tuesday morning before jerk, so just a shorty.
No Pachaug ride on this past Sunday either due to a lack of motivation.
Sounds crummy, but it's true.
Bound to happen at least once in a while no matter what, and I've learned not to force the issue.

I am, however, optimistic about the coming weekend as skipping the odd time out tends to up the desire to get back out there and ride.
I am kicking around the idea of trying to arrange the route a bit differently.
We shall see what develops.

-John

406

How's that for a short title, eh?
I'm just trying to better budget your time, you know.   ;)

It's Sunday morning, the first day of going back to Standard Eastern Time.
Now, the sun rises about 6:15 am instead of an hour later, but it also means it sets at about 4:39 pm today, too.
Compromises, compromises.
Where are those longer days hiding at?

I didn't go for a Pachaug ride yesterday, even though I loaded the bike and riding gear up and trucked it out to jerk as usual for a Saturday morning work-freebee-and-then-go-riding gig.
The weather was good for it, but, I gradually started feeling less than enthusiastic about going by the time I got done with jerk.
Why?
Probably because I just wasn't in the mood for it by the time I finished jerk, and also due to a side helping of same-old-same-old, the feeling of having already logged over 1,000 miles on those trails so far in 2012.
In fact, that's a VERY conservative estimate on mileage, as it probably is more like 1,500 miles just this year, so far.
I easily could have gone, but, would have I enjoyed it if my heart wasn't in it?
Not to a large degree, and doing it just to say I did it is a hollow feeling.
So, I brought the bike home without even having started the engine while it was gone.
Too bad, but, it pays to listen to your conscience.
There is always tomorrow, I thought.

Well, Sunday morning, AKA tomorrow, is here.
Will I ride?
I'll know sometime later, as right now, I don't feel any different from yesterday.
It's a 50/50 shot.
The bike is ready and waiting if I suddenly get the urge, and I do mean urge.
I will go if I really want to ride.
If not, it will be a day of rest.

In other news that's not so new, I was getting a small kick out of reading more dirt bike opinions from smart-ass guys on message boards.
The question was why one brand of bike is supposed to be much better than others, and this always brings out the best one-liners and the guys who seem convinced they know how to get their views across in such a way, that all the world is a fool if they don't sit up and take notice.
Pretty funny stuff that I can't take seriously because I know most guys can't be bothered to even wash their bikes regularly or know how an air filter works and what is required of it to work properly in the first place.
So, out of 13-or-so pages of this stuff, about three or four posts seem reasonable to me.
That's out of about 150 posts, in other words.
Pretty good percentage, huh?

-John

405 Hours of Riding

Sunday's (yesterday's) Pachaug loop ride was a bit shorter than Saturday's, as I did 28 miles versus 50 the day before.
Why?
The weather forecast was to be cloudy but dry up until around 4:00 pm.
However, as I was driving out to the riding area at 10:00 am, light drizzle was spotted on my windshield.
It was very light and barely perceptible while outside and standing still, but, I still made note of it.

As the ride was under way, more drizzle was felt, and this made me decide to cut the ride short.
This was mainly because I felt that with my luck, I'd be washing the muddy bike in a steady rain in the early afternoon, something that was certainly possible but not enjoyable.
So, I chose a route that avoided the water and mud for the most part and formed a compromise:
I got some riding in on a nice overcast fall day with a bike that came back with relatively little dirt stuck to it (and avoiding a need to actually wash it) at the expense of not riding my usual route.

Of course, as luck (or lack of it) would have it, the rain held off until well after sunset.
Nice, huh?
Oh, well.
At least I was out there on the WR-250FP for about an hour and a quarter and felt good doing it.
Notable was the performance of the M22/M23 tires.
You may wonder why I mention tires so much, but the correct tires to suit your liking are a key ingredient in getting the feel out of the bike and the riding experience that you are after.
If you're not out there to ride a dirt bike to feel, once again, how great it is to be riding a dirt bike on terrain you enjoy and how good it feels to put the bike through it's paces and getting a good feel back from the bike while doing this, then you must be out there only to observe the fall foliage that is quickly piling up on the ground.

This morning, I'm reading some writings thrown back and forth on an Internet dirt bike forum.
Some guy is asking the same old questions and getting the same old advice from asking what bike would be best for riding the street 100 miles out to some good off-road riding terrain.
The guy doing the asking already has a dirt bike with a license plate on the back that he claims he's very satisfied with as far as the off-road riding goes, but he wishes for something that basically feels like more of a smooth-running bike for the street, something that has an electric-smooth-feeling engine (low vibrations felt) which has tall gearing for relaxed-feeling highway cruising, a bike that gives him the feeling it was actually made for street miles to be piled up on it.

This is the same ol' story:
I'm looking for a great-feeling dirt bike that also has full-on street bike qualities to it when asked for them.
This bike doesn't exist because it's like expecting an ice cube to last in a furnace.
A bike designed for many street miles in one ride requires things that hurt off-road performance and feel, like very tall gearing to loaf along at 70 mph, tires that feel good on the street yet work lousy off-road, and an engine that's tuned for long-term and high-mileage usage between overhauls, which is another way of saying an engine detuned compared do a full-on dirt bike and makes less power than a dirt-only bike.

In my experience, a bike like the Yamaha WR-250R is an excellent compromise.
It feels just fine on the street and comes with everything needed to make piling on street miles 100% possible - tall gearing, street-worthy tires, an electric-smooth engine, and solid reliability allowing high mileage without worry.
Basically, if you can't maintain one of these bikes, you can't maintain a toaster, Bucky.

The trade-off is that isn't as good off-road as a dirt-only bike because it weighs more and the suspension is of cheaper quality.
You can improve the suspension, but the heavier feel will always be there since a large chunk of the added weight comes from the very heart of the engine, itself:
The heavier crankshaft, heavier generator rotor, heavier vibration counterbalancer, and larger and heavier crankcases to house all of these parts that make the bike so smooth and trouble-free while racking-up miles on the street and running with high-speed traffic.
Practically speaking, these spinning parts make the bike feel heavier and it is highly unlikely a WR-250R rider will be able to do anything about this - it's how the bike rolls off the showroom floor.

With the suspension set-up to work for the rider, it's a fine bike for street and dirt out of one motorcycle.
You really can't, however, expect it to feel exactly like a dirt-only bike AND a street-only bike at the same time.
Unless, that is, you are either not picky at all about what you ride, or are just a good straight-faced B.S. artist.

-John

404 Tons of Leaves on the Ground

What weighs more - a ton of lead or a ton of leaves?
Know the answer?
I'll allow you to simmer on that one, Lenny.

Well, the original plan for today (Saturday) - which was hatched last Sunday afternoon after the ride out of a guy's back yard onto trails not familiar to me - was to go with that same crew of guys I rode with last weekend and do some more terrain-unknown-to-me riding in a town north of here called Putnam.
During the past week, I started to regret saying that I'd go as I was basically longing to get back onto familiar terrain, also known as the Pachaug enduro loop.

Luckily for me, the guy who actually concocted the plan showed up at jerk just yesterday to buy some dirt bike supplies (yes, that kind of stuff is sold at jerk), and when he came over to me and asked if I still wanted to go, I took the opportunity to tell him that I'd changed my mind.
What a wonderful coincidence that was since it got me off the hook.
At least, for him, I was able to give him my used M603 front tire I'd promised him, as my used one was in better shape than his used front tire.
All's well that ends well.

So, today was back to normal - as it's been regularly for the past 3 solid years - and yet another ride out on the ol' Pachaug rock n' roll pile, and going solo as is the norm.
I had two brandy-new Bridgestone M22/M23 tires mounted, the weather was comfy and cloudy (YES!!!), the ground was dry, and I felt good.

So, how was the ride?
It was good, all-in-all.
I backed the pace down a notch in many spots due to not having been out there for two weeks (or, was it three?) and didn't want to:

1) Plow straight on into some tree-hugger's idea of a booby trap as I've done before (yes, folks, there are assholes out there who are brainwashed into believing that my riding a WR-250FP on a STATE OF CONNECTICUT-APPROVED DIRT BIKE TRAIL LOOP WITH A LEGAL MOTORCYCLE ON TRAILS THAT ARE, AT MINIMUM, 40 YEARS OLD is somehow hurting a single fucking thing with the Earth's well being, jezzuschrist. Yes, it is absurd, but their tiny brains have been washed so well.).
I felt that there was a remote chance that the autumn weather conditions would bring these loony-tunes characters out for a tree-humping nature walk, which is when they do their dirty work.

2) With autumn weather comes autumn leaves down on the ground, covering the ground and doing a good job of hiding the very same obstacles I'd rather be able to see.
They can also be slippery.

I'm happy to report no booby traps or other mishaps were encountered, and the ride went off well.
It was too bad I didn't feel confident enough to ride at 100% but it was close enough, and the cloudy sky was just what the doctor ordered - I could see as well as I'm able to without having to squint like a mad man.
I did 50 miles, skipping the southern section because I felt it probably had numerous water holes left from the rain the Friday before last (yes, it takes a few weeks of dry weather to dry it up reasonably well), and basically had an decent ride.
The bike felt fine beneath me, it ran just fine and strongly, the suspension was working well, and the M22/M23 tires were feeling very good, as usual.
Those tires are basically like magic, gripping the ground, rocks, and tree roots like nothing else in such a well-rounded and balanced manner.
That means the tires feel good both accelerating with the bike straight up-and-down, and while cornering, too.
Braking, as well, is great, and the overall feel of these tires is still as of yet unmatched by any other tires I've used.
A front M603 is another good front tire I like out there, but even that must be used with the M22 rear for me to be completely happy.
The interesting fact about the M22 and M23 is that they made their debut in 1981, and still to this day are Bridgestone's hard terrain tire for their motocross tire line-up.
That's right.
It's still their tire 31 years later.

So, the ride is over, the bike washed and lubed, and I've eaten supper.
As long as the weather forecast is accurate, we'll have the same kind of weather conditions for tomorrow up until around 4:00 pm.
Hmmmm.
Another Pachaug ride?

-John

403 Wrong Turns

I went out to the second new riding spot today (Sunday) on the ol' WR-250FP, and this time it truly was 100% new for me.
The town was not Putnam but Brooklyn (I guess it's near a brook, eh?), and we hit the trail right from the back yard of one of the guys in our group.
Can't get more convenient than that.
The trails were tight and leaf-covered in most spots while we were in the woods, and there were plenty of tree roots and the occasional well-placed rock to keep you on your toes, or on your ass if you were to screw up.

Even though I didn't know the lay of the land at this riding spot, either, and the trail was practically non existent in many spots (the trail was not well-traveled and it was hard to decipher where the trail actually was and in what direction it went), I still had some fun and pulled off a few good-feeling maneuvers on the bike.
Nobody died or lost any fingers or toes, so I think the other guys enjoyed it, as well.

The bike performed well as always and the suspension balance felt good.
We also hit a few open fields where we opened the throttles as we rode along the outside perimeter, as well as some power line trails (which are basically rough gravel roads following high voltage electric power lines).
The bike felt good while ripping through these sections, too, so I guess I can feel the suspension setup is in the ballpark for the riding I'm likely to do.
As usual, I'm very satisfied with the engine performance and how easy it is to torque through tight woods sections, yet there is ample power on tap for open sections.
This is combined with that great light-weight feel of a mid-displacement bike.
Amazing what 250cc can do for you.

Total mileage was 23, about 20 less than even a short Pachaug enduro loop, but, that's how the cookie crumbles.
It still felt like a decent ride, lengthwise.
The challenge of trying to figure out which way the trail went made up for the shorter mileage, I think. :)

Next weekend (Saturday), I'm planning on going with these guys to yet another new-to-me riding spot.
Stay tuned.

-John

402 and Something New

No, not another new motorcycle, as I think I've done enough of that for now.
I actually went out to a new riding spot today (Saturday) with a couple I know from jerk and a few of their friends.
It was on some acreage of land around part of what is known as a "rail trail".
What's a rail trail?
It is an abandoned railroad bed with the tracks and wooden ties removed, leaving the trail meandering through the woods.
This trail is all that's left of the old railroad line without the steel rails and wooden ties, so that's where the name comes from.
Geddit?
Good.

The rail trail is the former New Haven railroad line going through the towns of Oneco and Sterling, and the land beside it that we rode on is privately owned by a friend of a friend of one of the people there today.
Works for me just as long as I don't get shot or arrested or fined for trespassing.
In actuality, it wasn't 100% new to me because one of my olden days riding buddies and I went out to this very same spot back around 1986 once or twice (twice, if I recall), but since the last time I was there was 26 years ago, it was the next best thing to a new spot.

How was it?
It was about how I thought it would be:
Short sections of wooded trails going around the hilly terrain with a sand pit thrown in for good measure.
That's how I remembered the place.
We didn't actually do a whole lot of riding in the 2-or-so hours we were out there (10 miles in total), but that was what I expected, as well, since me going riding with others I've never ridden with before means anything can happen.
So, I'm not disappointed about the low mileage for two hours at a riding spot considering I wasn't familiar with the lay of the land and didn't know where I was going to a great degree.
It wasn't my land to begin with and I was basically a guest there, and we all did a lot of resting and talking and making jokes.
That's OK.
If I lived there and had unlimited access to the place, I probably would spend time out there and get to know the lay of the land pretty well and put together some kind of a trail loop that's to my liking.
That would be fun.
Aaahhh, to have a spot for dirt bike riding where you live, anytime you feel like it right outside your front door.
To me, that's a form of heaven on Earth.
And, convenient.

The WR-250FP, by the way, performed very well and felt good.
When you get out of your usual riding spot and go someplace different, the potential is there that the bike which feels good at your old stomping ground may feel a bit funny at a new spot.
Today, the bike felt just fine and ran pretty strongly, I'm happy to say.
Out on the new-to-me trails, there were numerous hill climbs that loomed unexpectedly around sharp corners, and the bike pulled up them without trouble and made the ride go pretty smoothly.
I still have the Michelin AC10 rear tire mounted, and I'm glad because there was plenty of soft dirt out there that suits this tire.

The balance of the suspension was good, too.
I could feel that when riding across the open sand pit, the front fork was a little soft when backing off the throttle (due to the 5mm lower oil level to achieve a more supple fork action on the rocky Pachaug loop), but not enough to cause a major imbalance that would make the bike feel bad.
Minor, yet noticeable, and it was acceptable.

Here's more news that's about new:
Tomorrow, I'm meeting the same crew and going to another one of the crew's riding spots around the Putnam area.
Never been riding at this place, so it will be 100% new and uncharted by this guy.
I just hope I remain in good health and that no arrests are made.  ;)

-John

401 Bum Weather Forecasts

Yeah, that's right:
Another weekend without riding the WR-250FP because of worrying about hunting season in the Pachaug state forest on Saturday and another rainy Sunday morning that wasn't even in the weather forecast right up until I went to bed Saturday night.
Why don't I just say, "Fuck it.", and ride anyway?
As I wrote not long ago, this ain't my first rodeo, but more like my millionth-and-first rodeo, so I'm inclined to be a lot more picky than how I was when I was 17 years old, Lenny.
Back then, I'd basically ride anytime I could.
Now, I don't feel like potentially getting in some hunter's way on Saturday (even though I feel I also have a right to ride that official state of CT. motorcycle trail (but, we have to use the same land)), and I was turned off by having the thought of just tip-toeing around over the slippery (take it from me) wet leaves and wet rocks and wet tree roots on the ground.
Sure, I could have ridden over them, but it wouldn't have been in the conditions that are fun for me.
That's the whole enchilada right there, and if I'm loading the bike, my gear, and myself up and driving out there, I'm doing it if I feel it will be worth it.

So, how did I get my exercise for the weekend?
I went out with my trusty bow saw and moved several pesky trees out of the way that were laying across the trail, ones that were big enough to make riders find a detour around them.
They've been there for a year or more, so, I felt it was high time somebody made the hike out there and got that clutter out of the way and dragged off into the woods where it belongs.
Mission accomplished, and that was good for about three hours of physical exertion.
The time went by quicker than I thought out there, so I must have enjoyed it.  ;)

You can be sure I'll be watching this weekend's forecast, just as I did last one and the ones before.
And, crossing my fingers.
I even have two brandy-new Bridgestone M22/M23 tires waiting here in the house to be mounted.
It would be so nice to have a good ride more than once a month, you know? :)
Lately, it ain't been happening, but I'm hoping for this coming one.

-John

400 Drops of Oil in the Bucket

 

 

Time for another post-ride oil change.

The sad thing (for them) is that more than a few riders on Internet forums make this job sound like it's such a pain in the ass, that they'd rather be doing something else, like cutting off a couple fingers.

"High maintenance", is what they call it.

Little do that know that no matter what dirt bike they choose to ride off-road, this has to be done regularly, as in fairly often, not once in a blue moon, son.

Same for the air filter maintenance, another often-overlooked (intentionally neglected out of ignorance and/or laziness, more like) thing that gets put under that heading of, "high maintenance".

Chumps.  ;)

 

 

 

 

It's Sunday afternoon, and I just got back from another Pachaug rock n' roll pile ride on the ol' WR-250FP.

How was it?

Pretty dang good, I'm very happy to say.

Although the ground was covered with wet leaves in spots due to overnight rain, the sky was mostly cloudy, allowing me to see without squinting like a mad man.

That means a whole lot.

I simply took it cautiously over the slippery rocks and tree roots sticking out of the ground, and actually had a decent ride.

Temperature was around 60 degrees, the air felt reasonably dry and crisp, I felt good, I could see well (for me, anyway), the bike felt good and the suspension had a good balance to it, and I felt like I rode in an acceptable manner.

God, I can only imagine how great I'd feel right now if the ground were dry.

I'd probably be on cloud 9.

All-in-all, things seemed much better than the last ride two weeks ago when the bright sun seemed to bother me more than usual.

I once again feel good about riding the WR-250FP on the Pachaug enduro loop. 

All it takes is the proper conditions.  ;)

 

About the only thing I need to change on the bike is the rear tire, as the Michelin AC10 - which I just HAD to try out of curiosity - really needs to come off of there.

Why?

It is wearing pretty well, but it just doesn't have the same feel or grip on harder terrain as the Bridgestone M22.

It feels very much like an intermediate terrain tire, where it feels at it's best when you can actually sink a knob into the ground.

There is not a whole lot of dirt out there like that, where the M22 excells on the vast majority of what is out on the Pachaug loop.

And I mean: It feels great.

So, since nothing else does perform like the venerable M22 (although I would settle for a Bridgestone M604 if I had to if an M22 were not available, as I have done in the past with the WR-250FY and the CRF-450X9), I'm gonna remove the AC10 before it's worn out and go back to the proven winner for me.

 

I did 47.6 miles, about 10 less than what I've been doing lately because I skipped the southern portion of the loop that goes near Wyassup Lake in the town of North Stonington.

Why skip it?

I really didn't feel like dealing with the dozen-or-so brown water holes that are out there after it rains.

And you know what?

I'm OK with that, as 47.6 miles was just right for today, Lenny.

I can wait until things are drier down that a'way.

 

At about the 30 mile mark, I met a pair of riders stopped for a break.

One guy was on a KTM 4-stroke, and I'm guessing it was around a 2006 model and between 400 and 500cc.

I know little about KTMs, so that's all I can reckon.

Oh, it was orange, too.

The other was on a 2005 (so I was told) Honda CRF-250X, the 250cc version of the CRF-450X9 I used to ride, and the Honda version of the WR-250FP I now ride.

We chatted a few minutes about where we're from, where we're going, and how the trails were on the day.

 

As mentioned above, the suspension seemed to work well, and front-to-rear balance feels good.

I'm expecting the bike to feel even better next time out once I change the rear tire.

I'm also crossing my fingers for similar weather conditions as today, but without the rain the night before and dry ground.  ;)

 

I wore a piece of clothing today that goes well with the fact that Connecticut is now in hunting season:

A blaze orange vest, like you see the hunters wear.

It is just a cheap one that sold for $4.95 at Walmart, and I wear it over my riding jacket.

Even though it is illegal to hunt in Connecticut on state land on Sunday, my conscience told me it's a good idea in case I run across somebody that claims they're out there on the Pachaug loop "just target shooting".

 

-John

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

399 Drops of Rain

Not much news for this past weekend since I did not ride the WR-250FP this time around, the first weekend I've skipped in quite some time.
Why?
I'm a bit down from having the past several rides in a row with shitty conditions, be it bright sun ruining my vision and making me slow down, or, like this past weekend, rain spoiling the traction and leaving big puddles of water all over the place.
The ground never dried.

I am to the point, after all, that being super-eager to ride in any conditions at any time is unfortunately in my past, back when I was a teenager with big dirt bike starts in my eyes, back when this was new to me.
I mean, after 32 years of this, I'm much more choosy about what feels right to me, and it is, after all, a good feel from the bike I'm after.
I couldn't imagine it any other way.
Unless you're brain-dead.

So, I decided to take the weekend off from Pachaug riding and wait for next weekend.
With any luck, the ground will be dry and maybe even with a sky that's a little cloudy.
Now, that's a nice thought.

So, what did I do?
Watched old Charles Bronson movies on YouTube.
Charles Bronson, along with Clint Eastwood, stared in some kick-ass movies in their prime, and even though I haven't seen one in at least 10 years, it was fun to watch one for a change.
I like those movies from that era, the late 1960s through about 1975.
I grew up watching stuff from back then.

-John

398 Wood Shavings on the Ground

Yesterday, I skipped a Sunday ride and went out to clear the fallen tree parts as planned, so not much to post about, other than saying I brushed-up on my bow saw technique.
Although it seems like a drag not going for another Pachaug ride, I simply didn't have much desire to do so since conditions were as they were yesterday, and I felt as if I'd already ridden enough for the weekend with my vision being compromised.
Plus, it really was more important to clear the tree fall out of the way.
Now, any Pachaug loop riders may pass unhindered.

I sometime wonder how many more times I can ride the Pachaug loop before I become completely sick and tired of riding every weekend in the same place.
I did feel a bit like that yesterday, but, I know all it will take is one more ride on a cloudy day when I'm feeling good to make me feel otherwise.  :)
Plus, I'm curious to ride the bike in my normal manner in order to really test the results of the softer shock spring and make any fine tuning clicker adjustments if necessary.

Also, as the harsh realities of the autumn season are now here, I do feel it won't be long before my weekly pay at jerk gets reduced to my "winter pay", even though fall just started a couple of days ago.
When that happens, I reduce my hours to match, and that leaves more time for other things.
Like riding.  ;)

397 Slippery Rocks

Today (Saturday) was another Pachaug rock pile ride on the ol' WR-250FP, and today was the first ride with the new, softer-rate rear shock spring (the stock spring is 5.0 kg/mm and the new one is 4.8 kg/mm).
So, what was the first impression?
Much better balance between the front and rear, and the bike feels good in that respect.
Not surprisingly, now that the front and rear are sporting softer spring rates, the suspension feels noticeably softer overall.
Not a bad thing, but it did lend a different feel to the bike, a bit more like a softly-sprung luxury car than it used to be.
I'm willing to give it some decent rides in order to see how it really feels.

So, what's the present verdict on the cushier suspension settings?
To be honest, I'm still waiting for a ride that has good conditions where I'll feel good about wicking it up a bit and riding at my usual pace, and today was another bummer as far as that goes.
Today was not only bright and sunny, but it fucking rained sometime overnight and doused all of those lovely rocks and roots with water, making things more slippery.
God, where the hell are the cloudy and dry weekends hiding at?
My feeling during the whole ride was to basically back it down a notch and err on the side of caution and not risk getting out of shape.
I hate it when that happens, but, I listened to my conscious.
So, riding the bike as I'd really like to - and experiencing what the bike can really do and feel like - will have to wait a bit longer.

We must have had some kind of wind storm a few days ago because there were a few spots where tree branches fell down across the trail and I had to find a way around.
Big ones, too.
What I plan on doing tomorrow is driving out there in the truck with my trusty bow saw and clearing that shit out of the way - who knows how long it might be there, otherwise.
So, no ride tomorrow?
Well, the goddamn weather forecast is for more rain overnight and a sunny day, so, it sounds like a replay of today's weather (fucker).
I think the day would be better spent clearing that junk out of the way.
If I change my mind, I'll let you know.

-John

396

That's a pretty short title, eh?
I haven't done that in a while, me thinks.

I went out for another Pachaug ride yesterday (Sunday), but this time I changed things up a bit.
I went late in the day and rode from 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm, until sunset.
Since I had one hour of riding time, I concentrated on my favorite whoops through the pine needled woods section, making the usual 2.7 mile loop out of that.
I did 22.2 miles, so that means 8 times around.
Funny, it seemed like more laps than that.
I guess the odometer don't lie.

I decided to go late in the day because for the past two weekends, the bright sunshine mid-day has made me squint like a mad man.
Light conditions were much better this time, I do say.
If this coming weekend is bright, I'm using two tinted goggle lenses at the same time.

How did the suspension work on the whooped section?
Since this section of trail is faster than most of the Pachaug loop, I can easily feel the imbalance in the front-to-rear ride heights (due to the lower fork oil level which allows supple fork action, but effectively results in a softer fork spring rate) whenever pressure is put onto the front fork, as when braking for a corner, or even just rolling off the throttle.
On the slower sections of trail, no big deal.
So, while the supple fork action is fine in the slower going, I still want to try to get a better front-to-rear balance with the spring rates, and the next step is to try a rear shock spring that is one step softer.
I'm guessing that it will make an improvement, but to what degree can ony be discovered by testing it.
So, I hope to have the softer rear shock spring installed for this coming weekend's ride.

-John

Interstate 395

Bright sunshine.
Ignore the bird.

I went out yesterday (Saturday) for another Pachaug rock pile ride on the ol' WR-250FP with it's new/old fork settings.
I think what I have now is a good compromise, giving a good feel and a ridable front-to-rear ride height balance, along with fork action that is willing to absorb the pesky sharp bumps out there.
What did I settle on?
The internal valving was done by Tom at Nasin Machine (the re-revalve), featuring a different base valve piston that is not as restrictive to oil flow, along with shim specs that are to allow for more supple fork movement out on the trail (the stock fork setup was similar to that used in motocross where you don't see the pesky rocks I have to ride over for 60-or-so miles and gives a firm feel with little front end dive under braking).
The oil height is 5mm lower than stock at 145mm from the top.
The fork tube height is lowered 5mm (the fork legs have been slid down 5mm in the triple clamps) in order to raise the ride height back up due to the softer overall fork settings resulting in a lower ride height.

This worked well enough so that I felt satisfied, and, at least for now, no longer feel compelled to mess with the fork settings after each ride.
The sharp bumps are being absorbed in a good manner, and the front height of the bike feels decently-balanced with the rear.
The front does dive a bit more under braking and deceleration, but, at least for now with the current fork internals, that's a trade-off I'm going to have to accept until I feel like pulling the forks off again and try yet another re-revalve.
A re-re-revalve?

The Pachaug loop ride, itself, was only fair, all-in-all, and that was because the sun was out brightly and I had to squint like my life depended on it all over the place.
Well, it does actually depend on it, as hitting a big rock I can't see coming can result in a big crash, you know.
When you can't see well, that puts a big damper on the fun, and things were bad enough that for today's ride (assuming the weather forecast for more bright sun is true) I'll try the two-tinted-goggle-lenses-at-once trick to cut down the brightness and give my eyes a break.

Another thing about yesterday's ride was the use of a new rear tire:
A Michelin AC10, size 100/100-18.
This is a DOT-approved knobby tire, and the Michelin spec sheet lists it as being intended for harder terrain.
My opinion?
As is always the case, it can't match the feel the Bridgestone M22 gives me - even a worn M22.
No other tire has worked as well.

The AC10 was left behind at jerk by some meathead who ordered it but did not pick it up, so, out of curiosity, I decided to try it.
It may be listed as a hard terrain tire, but it simply doesn't feel (or even look) like one.
As all tires I've used seem to be (other than the M22), it prefers dirt where you can sink a knob into it, like loamy dirt with some grass on top of it.
Well, Lenny, there ain't much of that out there on the Pachaug loop, and it's performance over the hard ground and miles of rocks was, basically, a bit skittery-feeling.
It wasn't bad, but I knew the rear grip wasn't as good as the M22 delivers.
If I rate the M22 a 10 (on a scale of 1 to 10), the AC10 is a 6.5 .
Could be better, but at least not a disaster.
Guess what tire I'm putting back on before long.  :)

I plan on another ride today.

-John

394: Pillow Soft for your Bum-Bum

Aaawwww.
Ain't that a cute little kitty-cat?
No, I just grabbed the first image I saw that said "pillow soft".

Went on yet another Pachaug rock pile ride yesterday (Saturday) with the re-revalved forks on the WR-250FP.
Result?
Much better at absorbing all of those pesky sharp bumps, so the base valve piston with the bigger oil flow ports combined with a reshuffling of the valving shims of the base valve worked as far as getting a more supple feel over the sharp bumps.
The fork now feels like it actually wants to move when I hit a sharp bump, and in this respect the fork is working OK.

There is a trade-off (as with most things in life and with dirt bikes) that I had anticipated, and that is if the fork is valved for a softer overall ride, it will sink down a bit further into the travel and ride at a lower height, making the front end of the bike feel lower.
Since I lowered the oil level 5mm last Monday morning (before the re-revalve), that is adding to the low front end feeling.
It is not such a problem that I can't ride the bike, but it does go against how I like my bikes to feel while in motion as it tends to take away from overall stability while at speed.
So, the first thing to do is to add fork oil and get the oil level back to the original 140mm level and see how that feels.
I added a bit of oil to each fork leg after I got home yesterday via the shortcut method of injecting it through the air bleeder hole in each fork cap.
While this in muuuuuuch faster than doing it the precise way of disassembling the front of the bike and actually measuring the oil level in each for leg, the trade-off (another one?) is that I'm simply guessing as to how much oil I actually added.
In a conservative move, I added just a tiny bit (a few CC of oil), so we'll see how it feels on today's Pachaug rock n' roll pile ride.

The actual ride was a decent one.
I felt OK and pulled some nice moved on the bike.
I hit a couple of bumps that I didn't see coming and had a couple of squirrelly moments, but nothing I didn't survive - I'll be aware of them, today.

There were several tree limbs down across the trail in places, and I wondered if they fell there all by themselves, or if some nature-walking yahoo did it.
I stopped and moved one of the smaller ones out of the way, so I did my good deed for the day.

It rained overnight so the ground is wet at the moment, and I'm going to wait a bit in order for some of that water to dry-up - those tree roots and rocks can be very slippery when they're all wet and shiny.

Edit:

I went for a Sunday Pachaug ride today, but I think it was done under an omen of some sort.
Just before I was to load the bike up into the truck, I realized I had a flat front tire.
Nice.
I was a slow leak so I didn't even know I had a pinched tube until the air hissssssssssed out over night and into the wee hours of the morning and into late morning and into departure time.
Good thing I keep spare tire tubes around.

Changing the tube cost about 45 minutes but I eventually made it out to the ol' Pachaug enduro loop.
It was there that I realized two more things:

1) The oil I added to the forks didn't make things better, but worse.
The forks now felt like there was too much oil in them, so the plush feel they had yesterday basically vanished and they felt more like their old selves.
God, and I only added a drop, too.
Touchy.
They now rode higher like I wanted them too, but I missed the plusher feel over the sharp bumps.
Jesus, talk about having to choose between the two.
During the week, I'll ONCE AGAIN remove the forks (for the LAST FUCKING TIME for a while, I do hope), lower the oil level to 145mm, and LEAVE IT THE HELL ALONE!!!
If I want to experiment with ride height and front/rear balance, I'll do it with fork tube height and/or rear suspension settings.

2) I didn't feel as aggressive or ride the bike as well as yesterday.
Partly because the crummier-feeling forks bummed me out, partly because the bright sunshine reflecting off those pesky rocky trails fucked with my vision, and partly because that's just the mood I woke up in.
Sue me.  ;)
I resorted to riding the bike pretty dang slowly since I didn't feel all that great and my vision wasn't as good as yesterday's cloudy day was, but it was better than crashing, Bucky.
I still did 55 miles and became more familiar still with the southern portion of the loop, so, it wasn't a total loss of a day.

On the bright side, the forecast weather for the coming jerk week is dry and sunny, and that will dry-up the rain water we got over the weekend.
That's always a good thing because there will be less mucky shit to deal with on the next ride.
Plus, I'll have the front suspension dialed-in to where it was yesterday, which was certainly ridable.

Until then,
-John

393: Fork Off - Again

Well, it's time to fork off once more.
Take the forks off the WR-250FP and bring them to Tom the suspension guy at Nasin Machine, that is.
Gee.
Seems I did this just a couple of days ago.

I spoke with Tom yesterday (Tuesday) about how the work done has changed how they feel, and Tom took that info and told me to get the forks back to him today so he can perform another valving change in time for the weekend.

He mentioned he wants to modify the base valve shim stack (little flat washer-looking thingies that control damping oil flow by bending on demand and uncovering a valve hole or port when the fork hits a bump) for a softer feel over sharp bumps.
He also said that he has just discovered that he should enlarge the base valve port size in order to flow more oil, period.
Hmmmm.
Stay tuned for the shakedown ride coming up this weekend.

-John

392 Drops of Oil on the Floor

I meant to post last evening (Monday), but I forgot to do so.
Being tired and hungry probably had something to do with that.
So, here it is on Tuesday morning.

I woke on Labor Day morning feeling considerably better than the few days before because I got closer to eight hours of sleep.
That always starts me off on the right foot.

I decided to roll the dice and lower the oil level in the forks of the WR-250FP in an attempt to reduce the feeling of too much high-speed compression damping over all of those sharp (and pesky and numerous) bumps out there on the ol' Pachaug enduro loop.
The oil level was at the standard 140mm level, and I reduced it to 145mm.
How is 145 a lower level than 140?
It's measured from the top of the fork down to the oil, not from the bottom up to the top of the oil.
That's at least partially because the reason for doing this is to increase the amount of trapped air that is between the oil and the cap on top of the forks.
It's also done like that because it's easier.
This air gets compressed as the fork compresses, and not surprisingly, it also acts as an air spring.
The larger volume of air (because there is now less oil making room for more air) is easier to compress because the fork is now trying to compress the air into a larger space instead of a smaller space.
Geddit?
Physics is all around us, folks, like it or not, so you may as well like it, Bucky.

And, the result?
A noticeable improvement in the area where the fork suffers - the pesky sharp bumps were a bit easier to manage and weren't quite as bothersome as the day before, so it was worth doing the work.
The trade-off is that the front of the bike rode a bit lower (enough to notice), and that's usually something I don't like to feel.
It's the same case here, but at least it wasn't so much that is was unacceptable, so it seemed like a decent trade.
What I'll do before the next ride (assuming Tom doesn't get a crack at another revalve session before the next ride) is to lower the fork legs 1 mm to compensate for the lower ride height.

Of course, this is all a Band Aid until I get the fork valved to my satisfaction.
It is at least ridable right now, but not any better than the stock specification.
Worse, actually, because the current spec seems to not work too well over more trail mileage.
At least Tom will have a better understanding of what is needed for session #2, which I guess will be next week since this is a shortened work week due to yesterday's holiday off.
See?
Another trade-off.

Other than that, the ride was better than on Sunday.
I generally felt better and a bit more alert with a less tired feeling, although I should have had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich just before I left because my stomach felt a bit empty during the ride.
That tends to steal concentration away.
I made a few stupid maneuvers on the bike where I stalled the engine because I was trying to be too cautious for some reason, but no catastrophes, thankfully.
Blame it on the stomach.
The bike ran very well, by the way.

Off to jerk,
-John

I Just Caught 391 Germs

It's Sunday evening, and I'm relaxing while eating supper after today's Pachaug ride.
How was it?
Read on.

All-in-all, it was only a fair ride today, and that all started when I woke up feeling less than refreshed since I got about 6 instead of my preferred 8 hours of sleep.
I went to bed plenty early (by 9:00pm), but woke up in the middle of the night for some reason and wasted at least two hours trying to fall back to sleep.
I didn't feel like a total loss while on the bike today, but not 100%, either.
More like 70%.
So, that basically set the tone for the day.

How did the revalved fork perform?
In all honesty, there's no real improvement when the whole ride of 57 miles is mulled over.
Actually, I have to say the stock setup was better overall.
The work Tom did does make for a fork that feels differently, no doubt, but while the absorption of the sharp and pesky bumps (the bigger ones) seems to have improved a bit, the feel of the fork in most other situations is that of now having a firm overall feel where it did not before, similar to how the CRF-450X9 was.
So, while the bigger sharp bumps improved slightly, the smaller sharp bumps are now a problem to deal with - and there are a whole lot of those bumps out on the Pachaug rock n' roll pile.
And, as was with the CRF-450X9 after the revalve done on that bike, the fork seems to work best on my favorite section of pine-needled whoops through the woods (near a pond called Hodge Pond, so I read).
If the whole Pachaug loop were like that, I'd be all set right now.
Well, it aint, so...

What this means is that another valving adjustment is more than likely in store, something that is actually pretty common when trying to dial-in your suspension in this manner.
At least Tom will now have one session in the books and have some results to go on while performing session #2.
What I may try before tomorrow's Labor Day ride is to remove the fork from the bike and lower the oil level 5 or 10mm.
We will see.

I do wonder whether I should simply tell Tom to valve the forks to work on rocks and roots and not to worry about it feeling soft through the Hodge Pond whoops, which has been what I've stressed to him up to this point.
Next time I talk with him, I'll bring this up and ask what he thinks about that idea.
Since 90% of the loop IS full of pesky rocks and roots, maybe that would make sense and I should quit messing around with trying to achieve some kind of (unrealistic?) compromise that works well everywhere..
Yes?
No?
We shall see.

Other than the fork performance, the ride was a decent one.
I did the usual route, and by now that means including the southern part AND the Baby Head Hill trail, although I did take the bypass trail that runs alongside the Boulder Head Hill section.
This second pass through this trail was actually a fair bit easier than the first time last weekend, and that's mainly because I was much more familiar with the lay of the land and was able to know fairly well in advance what was coming up.
I liked it, and I should add it to my normal route.

The bike performed well, as usual, and I now think I'm definitely done with carb fiddling for the time being - no complaints with how the bike ran and responded.
Once again, I was impressed with the low-end torque and light feel of the bike while negotiating the numerous rocky uphills on the southern section.
Good stuff.

I talked to a pair of KTM 2-stroke riders out there today, and we had a decent 15 minute rap session about riding the Pachaug loop and our bikes.
They seemed fairly gung-ho with KTM motorcycles, and that is just fine with me.
Me?
I like blue dirt bikes.  ;)

I'll post tomorrow.

-John

I Got Forked 390 Times

These aren't my forks, but they do look like the ones from my WR-250FP.
Today, I got forked-up by Tom at Nasin Machine.


One characteristic about the WR-250FP that I do belive I've mentioned is that, just as with the WR-250FY before it, the rear suspension works better than the front does.
How, specifically?
In situations where you hit sharp, square-edged (or seemingly square-edged) bumps that require the fork to move very quickly if there is any hope of the bump being absorbed in an acceptable manner, the fork needs help.
Kinda' like driving over a speed bump in a parking lot at a high speed and then feeling the sharp jolt sent through your car, the front fork of the WR-250FP, as delivered off the showroom
(10 years ago  ;)  ), gives a similar result.
That is, bump absorption in this situation could be much better, and after I thought about the fork's performance after last weekend's rides, I decided to have my friend Tom from Nasin Machine revalve the fork to achieve a more supple ride over these pesky (and numerous out on the ol' Pachaug enduro loop) obstacles.

As mentioned in previous posts, the parts that control the flow of the damping oil inside the fork (and rear shock absorber) are able to be changed in order to achieve a suspension setup that works better in certain trail riding situations.
Basically, I brought the forks to Tom and described to him how the forks felt to me, and since he knows from experience what parts need to be changed in order to get the fork performance I want, he went ahead and did just that for me.
Or, he performed what is called a "revalve".

So, I got the forks back today (Saturday), put the bike back together this afternoon, and it is now sitting, ready to go for a Pachaug rock pile ride tomorrow with it's newly revalved fork.
I'll let you know how it works over those sharp bumps that litter the place in numerous spots.

Two other things I did to the bike during the jerk week were to better clean-up and better route my home-made wiring for my taillight/brake light, and I also mounted a mucho better license plate holder, one that angles the plate downward enough to be easily seen from behind while also being much more rugged and apt to withstand thousands of Pachaug miles out in the sticks.

When I got the bike past DMV inspection/registration, one thing I absolutely wanted to do when putting the bike in it's post-inspection setup was to retain the original rear fender which has a taillight already built into it.
Why?
I like the styling, it fit the bike perfectly (since it's the one that belongs there), and the original taillight already has a dual-filament 1157-type bulb in place as well as a bulb socket with an unused third wire that would be capable of illuminating the second brake light filament.
So, all I had to do in order to have a functioning brake light was to connect my rear brake pedal switch to a couple of wires that would power that third tail light bulb socket wire when I step on the rear brake.
Done, uncle Leroy.
Nice, neat, tidy, and using original parts, too.

So, after tomorrow's ride, I'll post back on fork performance and the ride, in general, General.
This weekend is, by the way, Labor Day weekend, so that means Sunday and Monday off from jerk, and I also wonder how many horseback dykes and hikers I may see out there.
Sunday AND Monday rides?

-John

389 Donuts in the Donut Shop

Today was another Pachaug loop ride day on the WR-250FP, and it was another good one.
I woke feeling more refreshed and energetic than I did yesterday, and that was because on Friday night I was up later than I'd a' liked since I was putting the finishing touches on putting the bike back into it's trail riding set-up and removing the DMV B.S. that I no longer need.
The sun was out brightly and up high in the sky shining almost straight down through the openings in the trees, and while that caused a problem with my eyesight's dislike for brightness, it couldn't prevent me from having a good feel for the bike and pulling-off some good moves.

No doubt about it - this steel-framed WR-250FP has a better feel for locking the rear wheel and using brake sliding to change direction (something I've always liked to do) than the aluminum-framed bikes I rode before it, namely the CRF-450X9 and the WR-250FY.
According to motorcycle chassis wizards, aluminum really isn't the best metal to build a dirt bike frame from but the manufacturers do it because it is "trick", everyone expects to see it on the showrooms, and, maybe the biggest reason, I have read that it actually costs less to produce.
You just know the money grubbers in these major corporations are getting a big woody over that last one.  ;)

So, why isn't aluminum the best material for this?
I understand it has to do with it's properties of stiffness, natural vibrating frequency, and resiliency, or lack of it.
Since aluminum is a light metal, the frame spars have to be pretty beefy to be strong enough to do the job.
The side effect of the beefy metal frame parts is that the manufacturers have had to work hard to come up with aluminum frames that have the same feel of the steel frames they replaced.
Or, trying to replicate the feel of a steel frame.
Where the aluminum frames can feel too stiff or make your rear wheel slide out more than you wanted it to while brake sliding, the old-fashioned steel tube frames flex a bit more, absorb bumps better, feel more forgiving, and, allow me to brake slide to my heart's content and allow me to feel precisely what the rear wheel is doing.
And today, I was sliding that rear end around corners left, right, and center.
Great fun, great feeling, and it reminded me of how I rode back when I was a teenager.
Good stuff.

I parked at my normal place, didn't bother to do any carburetor fiddling (since I'm satisfied with how the bike runs, at least for now), rode the usual loop including the southern part, and did 60 miles all together.
I even added another trail I'd ridden only one time before on the CRF-450X9, and that was in the wrong direction.
This trail is nicknamed Baby Head Hill because of the uphill, rock-infested, dried-up stream bed that makes-up the floor of the trail on this one particular hill that the trail's nickname comes from.
I've never enjoyed that kind of terrain because I'm riding a dirt bike, not a rock bike.
So, when I approached the Baby Head Hill section of the trail, I simply ride up what other riders call the bypass trail running along side of it.
It's a tight and twisty trail since it's basically a hastily done afterthought but, it beats riding over boulder city.
Some guys like that stuff, though.

Probably the best thing I got from today's Pachaug rock pile ride was getting better acquainted with the WR-250FP and getting a better feel for the bike and becoming more familiar with riding it.
By now, it's feeling like a good-fitting glove.
I like it.  :)

-John

388 Jets in the Sky

To jet, or not to jet.
That is the question.
Where is the question mark if it's THE question?


It's Saturday evening, and I'm relaxing with a big bowl of spaghetti as I type this bloggy post.
I went out onto the ol' Pachaug enduro loop today (with a nice and shiny new CT. motorcycle license plate attached to the rear fender of the WR-250FP) intending on doing some more carburetor jetting experimentation.
As it turned out, all of my experimentation boiled down to opening the fuel screw back out to 3-and-a-quarter turns out (close to where it was on the last ride), and that was that.
Basically, I felt that while the carb jetting and throttle response probably isn't as good as it could be, it certainly was just fine and dandy for riding and riding a bike that ran pretty darn good, too.
So, I just left well enough alone with that.
Sometime soon (probably during the jerk week sometime in the near future), I'll try a larger leak jet in order to reduce the amount of gas in the accelerator pump squirt.

Another thing or two that is new is the FMF Powerbomb header and matching FMF Q4 muffler I installed on the bike last night before beddy-bye time.
This is the same brand and model of exhaust parts I used on the CRF-450X9 and the WR-250FY, and as with those other bikes, the WR-250FP now weighs a couple of pounds less and runs even better without being loud enough to be heard in the next county.
The stock muffler is pretty plugged-up in order to meet wicked-low decibel ratings, but with the FMF items, the bike is now breathing well.

I parked the truck near my favorite pine-needled whoop section, made a few laps around it, adjusted the fuel screw on the carb, and then decided to venture out and ride at least most of the Pachaug loop since I was no longer tinkering with the carburetor.
I rode out to the point that is approximately the 15 mile mark on my usual loop route and took it from there, riding the usual route from that point and including the southern part of the loop.
When I got back to the truck, the odometer read 41 miles so that was a decent ride considering I didn't even intend on doing much more than playing with carb settings.
The bike is feeling more familiar to me now that I've ridden it three times, now, and the feel of the bike is very good, indeed.
I do like the steel frame, for sure, and the rear suspension is very supple and does a great job on all of that typical New England rock n' roll terrain we have around here.

As with the ol' WR-250FY, and especially now since putting the FMF exhaust on the bike, the low-end torque and pulling power is very, very good, and combining that with the forgiving nature and bump-absorbing nature of the steel frame, the light-weight feel of the bike, easy handling, and great clutch lever feel and action, this bike really feels good while negotiating the trails.
While climbing numerous rocky hills out on the southern portion of the loop, I thought to myself more than ounce that I'm really liking this WR-250FP.
I'm glad I made the switch.  :)

I'm also to the point to where I no longer need my route sheet for the southern loop, too.

When I first pulled in to the parking spot today I saw another pickup truck there, and a few minutes later a guy riding a late-model KTM 200cc 2-stroke pulled in.
A few minutes later as he rested on his tailgate, I went over and chatted about bikes and the Pachaug loop.
Nice guy.

Tomorrow (Sunday) is another normal Pachaug loop in the usual route.
I'll post results of that ride.

-John