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