Day of Dirtbike riding

[sparky3008]

Went out Sunday for 3.5 hours Sunday morning with some friends I use to ride with years ago. They of course have continued to ride and I just got back into it.

They both have 450's and I was on my 250 but the only place that the power really had an obvious advantage was on the Power Lines.

Anyway I must have dropped it in the turns about 3 times, bounced off one tree, had massive arm pump, missed 2nd a few times, and numerous other mistakes.

I could really tell that as I began to get tired I started to make the most of my mistakes. Today my legs are like jello and it feels great.

I am already convinced that a steering damper is going to be my next purchase and my friends couldn't rave enough about theirs.

I notice that I am staring at the turns instead of looking through them like on the street but I can't get my head off of the ground instead of looking forward. I think this would help a lot but it is my first day back.

My wife and neighbors had a good laugh after seeing me walk that I was getting to old for this stuff but I just have to get back into shape.

Great day of riding and I hope I get to go back soon.

 

[dcarver]

Good for you Sparky! As much as I love street riding, it just doesn't scratch the dirt bike itch. Something about being able to ride at 100% or even beyond knowing that the worst that happens is a broken bone or two...

I really lucky - I have a full on mx/sx track at my modest ranch so I get to ride often - no trailering for this kid!

I haven't been able to ride recently though - my yz426 has a bad crankshaft bearing.. splitting the cases today!

Anyway - keep them dirt bike skills honed to stay alive on the street!

 

[sparky3008]

Good for you Sparky! As much as I love street riding, it just doesn't scratch the dirt bike itch. Something about being able to ride at 100% or even beyond knowing that the worst that happens is a broken bone or two...
I really lucky - I have a full on mx/sx track at my modest ranch so I get to ride often - no trailering for this kid!

I haven't been able to ride recently though - my yz426 has a bad crankshaft bearing.. splitting the cases today!

Anyway - keep them dirt bike skills honed to stay alive on the street!

Nothing like trail riding to keep up the throttle control and moving the bike around in tight spots. After the first 20 minute run or so my right hand couldn't even take me glove off it was cramped so bad. After stretching and riding some more it loosened up.

My knees have bruises from hugging the tank and I was taking the turns at times like a street bike and ended up on my as* a few times but that made me that much more happpy to be back out again.

If anyone has never ridden dirt or trails with some guys that are pretty fast I recommend it at least once to everyone. I think after the first time you will be hooked...

yz426 I hope that is the 4 stroke version. My friend has a wr450 and a yz250 2 stroke and he says the 2 stroke is just sick powerful.

Good luck getting it back together.

Thumpertalk is down right now so I had to post my excitement somewhere

 

[mbottoms]

Hey Sparky,

Man, I love riding through the woods and the occasional MX Track as well.

My wife tries to keep me away from the MX track for fear I will break more bones.

But she will never take trail riding away.

Only problem is, that FJR farkles have seriously put a crunch on Off-road Farkles.

Takes a lot of work and $$$$$ to keep em both going.

Sucks to be me,,, NOT!



Mark

 

[sparky3008]

Hey Sparky, Man, I love riding through the woods and the occasional MX Track as well.

My wife tries to keep me away from the MX track for fear I will break more bones.

But she will never take trail riding away.

Only problem is, that FJR farkles have seriously put a crunch on Off-road Farkles.

Takes a lot of work and $$$$$ to keep em both going.

Sucks to be me,,, NOT!



Mark

Between you and me I don't know that one is necessarily worse than the other. One little mistake in the woods and trees tend not to move.

One of the guys I ride with and is probably an intermediate level rider decided to jump off a hill, across a creek and land on the other side where the hill goes up. He bottomed out and hit his chest right on his handle bars and knocked the wind out of him. Luckily we all wear full gear but he still was a little dazed for a bit.

I have a friend who use to race dirt bikes and I don't even like to ride when he is in the woods. I mean this guy on the powerlines is doing 30' jumps and if I even thought I could keep up I would surely get hurt.

But, at least she lets you do the woods. My wife tells me to be careful everyday on my street bike and the same for the dirt.

Amazing the amount of guys that don't respect these dirt bikes.

I know 2 guys that ended up having a hellicopter come get them because they swor they knew how to ride.

One guy at the very woods I was at Sunday had just gotten married ended up permanently paralyzed and his new wife soon left him.

Be safe but it does make me feel alive.

 

[yamaholic]

Cool. I ride off-road as well. 05 YZF250. Formerly KTM 250EXC, Formerly '00 WR400F. THe YZ is an incredible trail bike, even though it's technically a motocrosser.

Love it. Keeps the riding skills real sharp! I KNOW I'm a much better street rider because of it. Especially when conditions are not perfect (ie some slippage).

But boy if I had not ridden it in 8 year--you can be darn sure walking the next day would be a challenge! Reminds me of the first time on a jetski. Rode the piss out of one for 40 minutes straight. The next day I needed help walking up stairs. I was about 25 at the time.

As far as injuries go, I crash nearly every time out! Aside from two sprained ankles years ago, no problems yet. But I do have a friend who crashed in front of me about 4 years ago. Broke his C5 neck bone. He was paralyzed from the waist down for a few minutes until he moved somewhat and the feeling came back. Friggin scary stuff. HIs problem was he was riding in mud with hardpack tires. A definite no-no.

Wifey thinks the dirt is safer, and I agree. No moving objects, no one is out to kill you, no drunk drivers, etc. Now if you are not skilled in the dirt, then all bets are off. It's very dangerous if you are new to motorcycles or if your ego gets out of control. I use of the same rule of thumb as street riding: ride my own ride. I don't have to climb all the hills my friends do. And there is no ribbing between friends if one of us doesn't want to ride a certain (dangerous) section on the trails. We all want to live to ride another day.

 

[sparky3008]

Today is the third day and while my legs are still sore I am starting to be able to go up AND down the stairs without having to hold on.

I haven't worked out in a while so keeping my legs in shape is going to be a must this summer.

The two friends I ride with are very good. I have one friend that use to race and none of us like riding with him because keeping up is almost impossible and he is one to try and push you.

I know what ya mean about taking an easier trail. Sunday I was following one friend who years ago was the weaker of the riders who now is very good. I kept following him because the other rider was always the better rider so I figured when they split he would be taking the harder trail. Well, I quickly learned that we have all grown older and some better and that choice was quickly the wrong one. :lol:

I still need to put my jet kit in and I have hand guards and a steering damper on order.

My front tire might need to be changed as it is going out from under me in the turns a lot and one of my riding buddies has an 05 wr450 and he changed the front tire as well but I don't recall to what.

Happy riding

 

[mbottoms]

Try the Dunlap D739FG for the front and D773 for the rear.

They work great together.

The D739FG is rated for 4 strokes, I think it has a stronger sidewall, which gives more stability when you come off the gas.

4 Strokes are notorious for "Nose Diving" when you let off the gas, which causes the tire to spread out and results in traction loss or instability.

I have been running these tires for the past 2 years (20 Enduro's in 5 states) and love them. Trail conditions range from sand to mud to hard pack to slick rock. Course the 739 and 773 aren't perfect for all these conditions, but I have found them to be the best overall.

Mine are mounted on an old YZ400F.

Old, heavy and has to be repaired between every race, but still gets the job done.

Mark

 

[sparky3008]

Try the Dunlap D739FG for the front and D773 for the rear.They work great together.

The D739FG is rated for 4 strokes, I think it has a stronger sidewall, which gives more stability when you come off the gas.

4 Strokes are notorious for "Nose Diving" when you let off the gas, which causes the tire to spread out and results in traction loss or instability.

I have been running these tires for the past 2 years (20 Enduro's in 5 states) and love them. Trail conditions range from sand to mud to hard pack to slick rock. Course the 739 and 773 aren't perfect for all these conditions, but I have found them to be the best overall.

Mine are mounted on an old YZ400F.

Old, heavy and has to be repaired between every race, but still gets the job done.

Mark

Awesome, thanks for the advice.

I will try and check them out... I hate changing a brand new set of tires but on just about every dirt bike 4 wheeler I have had the stock tires sucked.

On my last raptor the tires were very weak in the side walls so in turns it would sag a lot. Change of tires made a huge difference.

I will probably try tires before messing with the suspension although I know the wr250f is not setup from the factory for someone 210lbs...

 

[mbottoms]

As far as setting the suspension, I as well am a member of Team Clydsdale (bike+rider=500+lbs) and my advice would be to hold off on any big doubles or tripples, until you get your suspension revalved and the sag set.

All it will take is casing it once and your suspension will not absorb enough of the force and neither will your bones. I speak form experience, trust me on this one.

Having the suspension revalved will keep your front end on the ground more often and that will result in better handling and quicker transitions from one turn to the next. The front tire wont wash out near as often.

Mark

 

[sparky3008]

As far as setting the suspension, I as well am a member of Team Clydsdale (bike+rider=500+lbs) and my advice would be to hold off on any big doubles or tripples, until you get your suspension revalved and the sag set.
All it will take is casing it once and your suspension will not absorb enough of the force and neither will your bones. I speak form experience, trust me on this one.

Having the suspension revalved will keep your front end on the ground more often and that will result in better handling and quicker transitions from one turn to the next. The front tire wont wash out near as often.

Mark

Yea, I am looking into suspension as I type this. I really don't know if I should buy the parts and have a local dealer do the work or to try and find someone local that is a suspension expert like FCRsuspension and just take my bike to them.

I know I am at least 40 lbs over what the front suspension what made for.

I haven't measured my sag yet but I am pretty sure I need a rear spring as well.

 

[sparky3008]

MX-Tech website says my stock is following.

Fork .43 kg/mm

Shock 5.1 kb/mm

Recommended is Fork .46 kg/mm

Shock 5.2 kg/mm

Then they give their fork and shock numbers at about $99 for fork springs and $99 for shock spring.

This still doesn't include revalving the forks which I assume should be done also...

 

[bikerskier]

I also love the dirt having played in it with a variety of toys for about 35 years. Now that I'm north of 60, it sure takes a lot longer to get up after a spill tho, so I have slowed a lot. I love the great adrenalin rush after making a long difficult climb and miss the wild banging through the rocks and creeks and logs etc. We rode for years in the western foothills and mountains of Alberta, southwest of Edson and west of Rocky Mt House. I really miss that riding. I think a weeks vacation around Cadomin is in order with my XR250R. It was a great cross training activity for the summer to keep the skiing legs ready for winter.

 

[dcarver]

This still doesn't include revalving the forks which I assume should be done also...

Send the silverware to a reputable shop. They have all the special tools, expereince etc to do the job correctly without buggering parts up. Additionally, most shops will really work with you to fine tune the suspension after the sale.

I use a shop called Independent Racing in San Luis Obispo CA. Their work is very good and much less than the big name shops like Race Tech, Pro Circuit, etc. They don't do fjr1300's though.. they are dirt based.

 

[I'mAllIn]

Went out Sunday for 3.5 hours Sunday morning with some friends I use to ride with years ago. They of course have continued to ride and I just got back into it.They both have 450's and I was on my 250 but the only place that the power really had an obvious advantage was on the Power Lines.

Anyway I must have dropped it in the turns about 3 times, bounced off one tree, had massive arm pump, missed 2nd a few times, and numerous other mistakes.

I could really tell that as I began to get tired I started to make the most of my mistakes. Today my legs are like jello and it feels great.

I am already convinced that a steering damper is going to be my next purchase and my friends couldn't rave enough about theirs.

I notice that I am staring at the turns instead of looking through them like on the street but I can't get my head off of the ground instead of looking forward. I think this would help a lot but it is my first day back.

My wife and neighbors had a good laugh after seeing me walk that I was getting to old for this stuff but I just have to get back into shape.

Great day of riding and I hope I get to go back soon.

Sparky,

I also play in the dirt, currently abusing an '06 KTM XC450, which I should be doing right now, come to think of it. You mentioned a 250....not sure how old your bike is, but I would definetely recommend a full suspension job and a steering dampner. I"m 6'0 - 210lbs and my bike feels like a totally different machine after the mods.

As for the "monkey butt" problem, I've been wearing bicyclist compression shorts, with gel pads, for the last couple of years ( not continously...!) when riding. You should give it a try. Feels like you're walking around with a poopy diaper at first, but you get over that.

My son, now 18, has been riding since he was (10) and I'm convinced that riding a dirt bike has helped him develop his car driving skills, at least that's what I tell my wife. I don't think there's a better way to sharpen up your street riding skills than to ride a dirtbike.

Let me know if you ever want to head south to ride. Durhamtown Plantation in GA is an awesome place for a week-end ride.

 

[FlyingLow]

Quote

I don't think there's a better way to sharpen up your street riding skills than to ride a dirtbike.

Amen to that. That's how I would teach a street rider to ride, preferably on a dry lake bed or some other flat desert. If/when they biff, the bike won't get hurt and the rider should come out of it okay, too.

I rode a XL600R for about 10 years, into the 90's. Great fun. It was heavy for a dirt bike but manageable. Biffed a lot with only minor damage to myself and the bike.

 

[yamaholic]

+1 on the steering damper. The Scotts' has saved me arse many times over the years. I have the front fender area mount-type now..I figured that is one less thing for my chest to smack into.

+1 for MXTech. Had my forks revalved by them on my old WR400...night and day difference! Highly recommend..they customize to you, not just a generic formula. A friend has these forks now on a YZ426...4 years later they still feel quite good.

I have to disagree on tires, though. If anyone wants a set of D739F's, I have a brand new, never used set off my '05 YZ250F that I'll sell very cheap. Yep, I hate them so much I took them off before even riding the bike! But...your terrain may vary, and likely that is the reason for tire preferences.

Check out the Michelin S12's for mud, M12's or starcross for mixed. Not sure about hardpack, most of the riding I do is pretty gooey. They hook up and last a long time.

What type of terrain do you ride? That will drive your tire selection.

Keep on riding. You'll improve quickly I suspect!

 

[sparky3008]

+1 on the steering damper. The Scotts' has saved me arse many times over the years.  I have the front fender area mount-type now..I figured that is one less thing for my chest to smack into.
+1 for MXTech.  Had my forks revalved by them on my old WR400...night and day difference!  Highly recommend..they customize to you, not just a generic formula.  A friend has these forks now on a YZ426...4 years later they still feel quite good.

I have to disagree on tires, though.  If anyone wants a set of D739F's, I have a brand new, never used set off my '05 YZ250F that I'll sell very cheap.  Yep, I hate them so much I took them off before even riding the bike!  But...your terrain may vary, and likely that is the reason for tire preferences.

Check out the Michelin S12's for mud, M12's or starcross for mixed.  Not sure about hardpack, most of the riding I do is pretty gooey.  They hook up and last a long time.

What type of terrain do you ride?    That will drive your tire selection.

Keep on riding.  You'll improve quickly I suspect!

Yea, I went with 759's on the front but my friends use the Michelins.

We are going to Breezewood this friday to ride.

If any of you live on the east coast check it out.

Breezewood

 

[FJRandy]

Welcome back to the wonderful world of dirtbikes, sparky!

I too have a WR250F and have done tons of stuff to it. The Scotts damper IS worth it's weight in gold for sure.

You may get away with some 2.5w fork oil first if you want to save a little cash on the front end. Swap your springs for the right weight of course.On mine, the fork action (response?) increased nicely with the 2.5w oil.

As for tires I use Pirelli MT16 front and rear. I used Dunlop 756's but they wear too quick for the way I ride. Tried the Michelins too and didn't like them. I tried the Pirellis and had the best results in this NE rocky terrain. One trick with the WR is to use a 110/100 rear instead of the 100/100. Then run 8-9 lbs in a HD tube. Rear sticks like glue! The Pirellis seem to be the only tires I've tried that wear like iron.

Of course, if you're only going to MX it, stick with the former suggestions. Mine are strictly for woods riding.

One of these days we'll meet up and ride. Do you know where Paragon Adventure Park is in Hazelton PA? We're planning a sunday there in the near future. Sure would be a blast to ride dirt with a fellow FJR rider!

Here's the link.....

https://www.paragonap.com/

It's a 2 hr rider for me from Jersey, but with good riding places being closed every week it's worth the trip out there.