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