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