When I started riding it was in dualsport primarily, with a heavy emphasis toward dirt. About three years ago I became a true "offroader" and learned how to ride and to do it well enough that I enjoy riding just about any trail but I haven't done much dualsport stuff since. I decided to get back into it but still not wanting to waste good offroad tires on asphalt I decided a spare wheel would be justified so after looking for a month I found one fully ready to go with spacers, sprocket, disk and even a half worn Pirelli MT16. A month went by and I did some racing and rode some places I don't frequent often and generally enjoyed the being on a bike. Earlier this week I decided it's time to work on this dualsport bug. Before swapping out wheels I attacked the disk and sprocket with locktite, then checked the bearings and generally looked it over. Of course I forgot to balance the thing. A quick oil change and clean air filter and the bike was ready for some ridin' Prepping for a random race I saw fit to go back to where dualsporting started for me. I didn't realize it but that bike would take me down a road I still can't see an end to...I hope it never ends After playing around on some gravel roads I went and grabbed some gas and headed out to the local trails. The spare wheel came with a 46 tooth rear sprocket that I wanted to test on some singletrack to see if would still be low enough for tight singletrack but still tall enough for a comfortable cruize. We had to move some fallen trees first but prevailed quickly and continued to fumble through the woods A third attempt with some camera tilting and he made it. The rest of the ride was a bit faster pace with no stalls so the camera stayed away. The ride home got cold quick but the 14/46 gearing let me really wind her up the whole way home. For dualsporting its staying This thread will be a journal of sorts for my rides or garage time. It may be slow but i'll try and keep it interesting. Header
Got the bike out Sunday for a great day of riding. While I was loading up Saturday night some buddies called and said they'd be there. The weather was nice at about 60*F making even the singletrack comfortable. I decided to trailer the bike since I would be there the whole day but didn't bother swapping wheels. I figured if the tall gearing didn't get in the way on last week's singletrack it would be fine anywhere if only a bit spacy. I was the first to arrive so I rode around a bit and checked out the singletrack. The leaves are completely off the trees making the singletrack more like floating down a river and bouncing off every log jam than a flowing goat trail on the side of a cliff. The trick is to be in the middle of the pack, that way you can learn (laugh) from the people in front and realish the "planned stops" when the guy behind you dumps it in the same place the last three just did Said "planned stops" make good photo opportunities too The whole morning I had to myself as the other riders hadn't showed up yet. I took the opportunity to play with my new favorite rear tire. The Pirelli MT16. This tire isn't DOT rated but it wears very well and hooks up pretty well in everything i've had it in but what I like about it the best is the predictability. On the Michelin M12's I used to run leaning over and feeling for traction proved nearly pointless while the MT16's practically talk to you. Come around a corner, get over the front, and just stand on it. Meter the back end with the throttle depending on how far you want to hang it out (show off ) There were no pictures of this, exploring the new singletrack was much easier to document. After a quick snack I took a group of riders around and proceded to show them how well the leaves hide trail hazards. In this case a deep rut that I hit revved in second trying to make a nice hill climb. After testing my aerial skills I picked myself up and found the bike balanced upside down on the handlebars and propped up by a large stick on the gas tank. I should have gotten a picture of this but wasn't thinking. After practicing falling down I went and got lunch and rode around at a fun pace with the rest of the guys. I love this pace, its fast in the easy bits but just slow enough in the hard bits that I can start playing. Wheelies going up the hills, small stoppies going down, and slides everywhere else.Repeat for the rest of the day. Just happy to be ridin. This weekend is supposed to have warm weather again, i'm really soaking up the fun knowing these days won't last. I rode in the winter last year but I need the time off to get everything else caught up this winter like a responsible adult. Atleast thats what I keep telling myself...its not working
I'm not known for having the fastest response time but a month is even long for me. I blame the end of the year scramble that is inventory We got an unusually large amount of snow (over a foot!) dumped on us so I took the chance and got to work going over the bike. I didn't do a whole tear down but I addressed a couple nagging issues that were desperatly overdue. I rotated my rear tire, changed the front tire, finally ordered and installed the euro taillight and switched back to the original seat. Rode a couple times and even tried my hand on a motocross track. Then I broke down the bike again and swapped back to the original jetting and checked valves with one tight intake. With new shims, a speedometer, and some airfilters to clean I should be good to go for some time which is nice because I have decided i'm going to race an entire enduro series with the first round mid March. From this: To this: I really like the euro tail light. Its much more compact and really finishes the "enduro" look I think. I'm good for about 40 really hard and challenging miles right now but even with some mixed in road riding I think thats equivilant to about 50 enduro miles which isn't enough. I'm going to run the Appalachian enduro series in southern Ohio which could be from 60 to 120 miles in length I figure. I want to be able to ride atleast 60-70 miles of my normal stuff without killing myself before the first enduro so i've started a new exercise program with a lot more emphasis on Cardio and, as soon as the snow and ice is gone, a lot of time to ride the bike (funds and time allowing). Luckily I know many of the things I need to work on before i'm race ready, giving me a direction to start. More to come with training and bike prep in the next few weeks.
When I changed jetting I was trying to help hard starting and little else but after swapping to a OBDTN needle with a 185 main the only thing I saw was a staggering drop in gas mileage so I swapped back to the stock main. The gas mileage still suffered so I went all the way back to stock. I'm willing to try again though I don't have anything I really need to fix. Maybe some crisper throttle response but thats about it.
