I have a rubber strap for my 990 side stand so I'll keep in. In fact the bike that we raced in our last baja did not have a side stand ( broken tab ) and it was a pain in the ass during the race. When I broke down and had to fix my chain, wheel, and chain guide I had to hold the bike up with my head as I worked on it as I did not want to lay it down in the silt. It really sucked. But I have been thinking of tossing the center stand for the race. I'd like to save that weight even if it is down low. I'm torn on that point. If I flat I probably can zap stap the tire and run to a place where i can fix it without the center stand and in the pit we can lift it onto a stand to change wheels.
Hey Radek, love the prep. Can't wait to see how this goes. I'm happy you put your Baja video up on youtube, since it disappeared off Pinkbike. The so-mo of the bike in the whoops is awesome, so it will be a thing of beauty to see the 990 doing the same. Did that footage come from the organizers?
Well I'm having a little problem with my bike right now that I'm trying to resolve http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=823134 No we filmed it all on a panasonic AG-HPX170P. One of the sections was right by the road so we actually had our camera guy with a tripod in the back of my truck and my buddy drove the truck as I rode. We were going about 140 km/h on that section so Ambrose had a hard time holding on in the truck.
Looking good. Myself and a buddy are planning on prerunning on our 950's towards the end of Oct. Would love to get together for a little bar banging..
How long are you going to be perunning Darryl??? Would like to meet the guy that is helping us out so much. Brett
Still up in the air Brett. Ill be sure to let you know once we firm up plans.I would love to meet all you guys in person.
Time for an update.... I just got back from a 1500 mile ride to Bend, Oregon for the KTM Rally. First time in Bend, and it seems like a great place to ride with terrain ranging from desert to wooded single track. Posted a video here http://advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=19623082&postcount=317 of riding my 990 loaded up on some baja like tracks. Sandy desert trail with some small whoops and rocks sprinkled in. I also rode this stuff at night to test out my lights and of course the guys here were right. Screw the helmet light. I tried some helmet lights and they really seem to light up any small amount of dust or even just the moisture in the air causing you to not see the ground quite right. The dual HID setup on my bike worked well. The low beam flood was great and the high beam gave me light further ahead. It was nice though to have the standard switch on the handle bar to turn off/on the high beam when I got into dust. It was much easier to see with less light in the dust. I still think I need a spot for long range as at around 75mph I was starting to outrun the high beam. Also having a light on a different circuit as the main HIDs would be good incase of some electrical snafu.
I haven't given my helmet light a try yet, but will see what I think during the pre run. I know that is what Ed was saying about them.
Last year when I ran the 1000 I passed (left?) 4 bikes that were SOL because they were having lighting problems. I have an 8" HID and like the helmet light to fill in the spots, but it is a luxury. I will however say that after stopping to help all 4 of those bikes and leaving them in the night I was very happy to have a viable backup if something when wrong on the main system. On the 990 an electrical failure may be less likely, but once the lighting goes, it gets evil dark out there. Good luck on the big bike. Make sure to share your spot. I definitely will follow.
Ride on my friend! I'm def tuned in Your video makes me miss my duramax but my exc 450 took its place
One issue of racing the 990 is that it's a pain in the ass to change the air filter, so during the race you have to disassemble a bunch of the bike to get at it. To remedy this I picked up a prefilter kit that Pyndon came up with. This allows the installation of a large prefilter that can also be equipped with skins so you can access it from the glove box. You have to cut out and destroy the inside of the glove box, but I hardly use it anyways. This larger filter wont plugged up as fast and still flow longer while dirty. My old prefilter New filter compared to old one You have relocate your air sensor to make room Installing All finished This way i can pull off a skin just by opening up the glove box. This is a great product with the only exception being that the mounting hardware is imperial instead of metric...grrr One step closer to having a 990 ready for baja.
Ok, it's faxed in and all done. Gulp. It was suggested to me that one should try to start as early as possible so I entered pro class 22. I'm only a pro at eating donuts, but I listen the advice of those who are more experienced.
I used panty hose and a uni on my SE for vegas to reno. Tied a string to it and was able to pull the string and get a fresh spot. It worked pretty well. But it doesn't have the glove box access like the 990.
Exellent Radek Glad your going threw with it. hoping to head down after the 24hr at Goldendale..If you need a hand let me know.
All Right Radek!!! I'm guessing the training is going to begin in earnest now. No more double fisted Drum Stick curls for you.
