360 Knobby Tracks on Mother Earth's Face

This is a Pirelli MT16 rear tire.
The tire is the black round thing.
The thing behind the tire in my Fender electric guitar amplifier, something I haven't used regularly in a few years, now.
Want to buy it?

I went for yet another Pachaug rock n' roll pile ride yesterday after another Saturday morning freebee at jerk.
I hit the trail about 12 noon and had a good time out there.
I felt good, the bike felt good, it ran flawlessly, the suspension felt good, and I enjoyed the feel of two new tires:
Bridgestone M23 front and M604 rear.

On the way back to the start/end of the trail loop, I had to come to a stop in order to allow a train of idiots going in the opposite direction room to pass by.
This sucked for three reasons, and the third reason is one of the things that concerns me about the longevity of the Pachaug Enduro Loop.

1) I had a good pace going, and seeing these retards coming was a bummer since I knew I'd be the one stopping to make room.
Why was I stopping and not them?
It was because of reason number three.

2) The guy leading the parade of three 4-wheeled ATVs and one pickup truck was a guy I worked with for a (thank God) short time in the late 1990s, and he is the brother of another guy I also worked with during the same time period and also later at another place (both motorcycle dealerships).
The leading guy is a goddamned dimwit.
I mean stupid to the nth degree, folks, complete with low IQ and an ugly face to match.
I did not feel good seeing him again.

3) ATV are not allowed out on the Pachaug trails or anywhere within the Pachaug state forest.
Period.
End of story.
Not under any circumstance, no matter what kind of ATV or off-road registration you may have for it, and I wonder if retards like this will speed-up the closing-down of the Pachaug Enduro motorcycle loop, something that environmental wackos and horse lovers and posy sniffers and leaf watchers would love to see happen.

Having to stop for this guy and his band of idiots, who shouldn't have been there according to the Pachaug forest rules that I have to play by in order to ride my CRF-450X9 out there, was the only sucky part of the whole ride.
Of course, the smug look on this retard's face was one of, "Ug. Here come man on bike. I no slow down because Korg king of forest. I show him. Ug."

Yes, folks, seeing the smug (and hideously ugly) look on this caveman's ugly face said it all and reminded me all too much of how it sucked working in the same building as him all those years ago.

Damn, and I'd just about forgotten about him up until yesterday, too. ;)

The tire in the picture above is a Pirelli MT16 rear tire.

I tried this on a 42-mile Pachaug ride after jerk a few days ago on a whim because it looked like a beefy tire, I'd heard so many good comments about it from local riders and Internet forums, and also because curiosity got the better of me.

My verdict?

Traction on most ground surfaces was good to excellent with enough outright grip on the ground to hoist the front tire up into a wheelie without trying while under acceleration, accelerating at points of the trail loop where the tires I usually use wouldn't do that (they'd just accelerate with a solidly hooked-up feeling).

Also, much to my delight, the shower of roost coming off the rear tire while doing this throttle twisting was a fine sight to behold, and the tire basically lived up to it's visual impression of being a bad-ass Earth muncher.

Environmentalist (AKA brainwashed fanatics) are probably shedding a tear right now.

Either that, or reaching for a fresh box of tree spikes and piano wire. ;)

The down side to this MT16 tire was mainly the added sidewall height, or how much the back end of the bike felt jacked-up compared to my usual Bridgestones, the M22 and M604.

While all three of these tires are listed as being 110/100 - 18, the same size that the bike came with as original equipment, not all 110/100 - 18 tires from all tire manufacturers will actually measure-out the same, and this is one of those situations.

The back of the bike was about 1/2 of an inch taller, and this is a big deal in bike feel, folks.

This threw the balance of the bike off for me, and it was bugging me the whole ride.

The rear felt too high, the front felt too low, the bike's excellent straight line stability felt reduced and I felt that I had to use more bodily energy to steer the bike as needed.

In other words, the good feel of the chassis setup seemed ruined.

It just didn't feel right to me.

Too bad, because I liked the feel and traction of this tire everywhere except on the hardest conditions (AKA the rocks), and I was willing to put up with it's tall and squishy-feeling sidewall in the numerous rocky sections in order to experience the Earth-munching traction from this very old school tire (looks like it comes from the mid-1970s).

But, the tall-feeling rear won out and I removed it after that one ride.

Without a rear ride height adjustment feature on the rear suspension (which would basically shorten the length of the shock or move it's mounting point upward), the only way to reduce ride height would be to reduce spring preload and allow more than the recommended 100mm of rear suspension sag (with me sitting on the seat).

I can't even do that with the stock shock spring because, believe it or not, the Owner's Manual says I can turn the preload adjuster out a mere 3/4 of a turn (!!) before the spring becomes too long, and therefor too loosely preloaded.

Hmmm.

I will probably be going with the next softest springs both front and rear since the stock springs are meant for a 180 lb. rider, and I weigh 150 lbs.

I decided to try this before I tried the MT16 tire, and who knows, maybe with the new springs I'll be able to dial-in the rear ride height to where it's acceptable without resorting to too much rear rider sag or too loose of a spring preload setting.

We will see.

-John

359 Well-Used Lines

The WR-250FY as of yesterday, Saturday, February 11th, 2012, the year of "enlightened consciousness" (if you have become brainwashed enough to believe the lies put out by the many New Age fans out there).

I still have not sold the WR-250FY, although I have been chatting with a few people about it.
I do have one guy who wrote to me yesterday as well as talked to me via telephone yesterday, and he says he'll be contacting me today with an answer as to whether or not his buddy will by buying my bike.

We shall see, as there are typically some tire-kickers/daydreamers/guys-with-not-quite-enough-money to sort through when selling a nice motorcycle.
My method is very simple:
My bike is in excellent condition and worth my very fair asking price all day long.
No, I won't come down one dollar, as it is already Jewed-down for you. ;)
This has seemed to work pretty well in the past.

Unfortunately, the weather outside today is colder than normal, so me going for a Pachaug rock pile loop is in serious doubt.
Maybe, just maybe, the temps will hit at least 32 degrees and I'll load-up the ol' CRF-450X9, which is sporting a brandy-new M23 front tire (which it sorely needed).
If I do go riding today, I'll stick to my favorite 1.8 mile (or, was that 2.8 miles?) loop of the pine-needled, whooped-out section through the woods, a proven winner when not wanting to get the bike or myself wet in cold weather (and get some decent mileage out of it by riding that loop many times over).

-John

Edit:

Turns out that one of the guys I was talking to (the guy on the phone) was actually the front man for his buddy who was actually the potential WR-250FY candidate.
Well, they called me up this morning, they agreed to my price, and drove down here from Massachusetts and bought it.

It took five days from first listing the bike for sale to getting it sold.
Not too bad, and the two guys were adults with brains and seemed very nice to deal with.
Hope the new owner enjoys the WR-250FY as much as I did. :)

358: Hardly Ridden. Many New Parts

I will probably be down to one bike in the near future, the bike in the above pic.
Why?


After two fun-filled seasons of Pachaug rock pile riding, I've decided to sell the trusty WR-250FY.
And why is that?
I don't really need two bikes, I've ridden it a fair bit already and got to know it very well, I now have a 450cc bike like I originally wanted in the first place, and, I sure as hell could use the money in my savings account in case I have my rainy day. ;)





Yes, nothing lasts forever, but instead of some drunken, stoned hip-dip rock star singing about the cold November rain falling into his bloodshot eyes, I'm talking about doing more riding on the WR-250FY.
Even though just a few days ago I had my ol' buddy Tom at Nasin Machine take a second crack at improving the front fork valving (and I rode it just three days ago after jerk testing the results), I've looked myself in the mirror and decided to do what I think is best:
Now that I have a 450cc dirt bike (CRF-450X9), I can sell the WR-250FY and get some of that money back into my savings account.

I had a lot of fun riding the bike over two years, but since I was really looking for a 450 when I found it, and now I have a 450, may as well complete the process and ler 'er go.
I hope the bike ends up in the hands of a competent guy.
It deserves it, nice bike that it is.
I had fun with it.

I rode the CRF-450X9 out on the ol' Pachaug loop today, and it felt great, indeed.
The weather was nice, I didn't feel cold, I felt good, and the bike felt great underneath me and worked very well, especially the fine suspension and that awesome power and torque at the command of the throttle grip.
THIS is why men ride big-bore dirt bikes, folks - all of that power and torque is immensely enjoyable and it's a blast hoisting the front wheel skyward as you leap headlong into a rough section, the bike being worked beneath you.
Love it. :)

Both tires are worn enough to warrant replacement soon (and I'd actually change them before the next ride it I were not still in my winter pay cut season at jerk, so, I'm on a budget), but, I'll probably have to milk a few more rides out of them.
What tires will I buy?
Well, more Bridgestones, of course!
Those old-school M23 and M22 are hard to beat.
Period.
Can't be beat in my book, actually, except that with the 450cc bike, the M22 rear doesn't last more than three rides before it starts feeling worn.
Sure, I could still ride the bike with it, but a new one works so well, having a worn one is very noticable, especially when cranking on the gas with the bike leaned over on flat ground.
The M604 rear is a worthy tire for the rear, too, and it seems to last a fair bit longer, but, the trade-off is that it just doesn't offer the same level of performance as the M22 rear on all that hard terrain out there on the Pachaug loop.
Close, but no cigar, but the increased life expectancy makes it a good tire worth using.
It's a trade-off.

Tomorrow, the 5th round of the 2012 AMA Supercross Series, an FIM World Championship Event, is on TV at high noon.
Hope it's a decent race like last week's was, and not a snoozer like the first three were.

-John