Rockies regional randomness

No problem.......im used to the klr

Where's the basement? I want to go.

It still lets me upload images past the limit...for now, at least.

We came across a broken 4x4 yesterday in the middle of the road. I'm starting to think it might have been a mistake to stop and offer help.

His shift linkages (manual tranny) had come undone. He seems to have no idea of what to do, and no tools with him.

First things first, I suggest we coast him backwards down the hill to a pull out. The guy was either really shaken, a bad driver, or both. He proceeded to run his jeep further off the road, right into a dead tree. I pulled out the chainsaw and removed the tree. He then proceeded to drag his brakes all the way down the hill so that he didn't make it all the way off the side of the road. When we got him pushed far enough that traffic could get around, I decided enough was enough and we rode on.

So.... What would you do? In the future, I'll probably only stop if they are requesting help. Folks that enter the backcountry on poorly maintained equipment with no idea how to fix it can become a black hole, sucking up your saddle time.

I think you did exactly right. I would have done same on all three issues. The other possibility was to counsel and use cell phone to call his friends.

I might help push, or get a guy unstuck, or call for help, but there's not a chance I'm working on somebody's POS 4x4 instead of riding.

Two notes from today:

Rode about 45 miles of trails in the Rio Grande and was never as happy to see muddy, slimy, wet slippery roots in all my life. Three cheers for the monsoons

Yesterday I drove to Pueblo and bought a TTR 90 for little Ray, my 7 year old son who had outgrown his PW50 in skill and size. Last night when we got home he gave it a little gas and it squirted out from under him while he did the "hang on for dear life with legs flailing out behind him with the throttle pinned and the bike peeling out on his goods" routine while I yelled LET GOOOOOOOO!!! He scared the hell out of himself and wanted to quit for the night. Tonight I told him it was time to try again and he got all geared up and was sitting on the running bike and told me that he didn't want to do it but he wanted to do it at the same time. I told him to take his time and when he was ready to give it a little gas and get going enough to pick his feet up for a little while then just put his feet down and stop. He did this a few times then all of a sudden picked his feet up rode to the end of the road (about a quarter mile) turned around and rode back all by himself. He was jazzed, and I don't think I have ever been as proud or excited about anything in my entire life.

It was a great day!

PS - I recorded about 8 GB of video with my new GoPro and it looks great, now I just need to figure out how to turn 1.5 hours of video into 10 minutes

Awesome, Pat!

the little bugger is kickin' ass....

I got through on and stopped here. The only relative pain of putting on HDB bars.

Howdy Mr Meterpig,

I just tapped my bar ends, don't use grease...use air to blow out the chips from the other end(this case air from the clutch side). And a little bending of the guards to make sure everything lines up just right.

But when you are done, those things are AWESOME! I had a bit of a stumble today and they did not move, as others would. Picked it up, and rode away, no readjusting to give freeplay to the throttle, etc..

Rick

Folks that enter the backcountry on poorly maintained equipment with no idea how to fix it can become a black hole, sucking up your saddle time.

Yep..Good on ya for getting the guy out of the way. It's an awakening to some that there is not "exit button" like the video games in real life. Like not being prepared to deal with situations like you mentioned.

Just use this method

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Riding Left Hand this spring, I came across a 1 mile long trail of pink oil followed by a SUV full of kids wondering why their rig stopped working.

Speaking of, the fire and shooting ban at Left Hand has made it a tolerable place to visit. It seems that 99% of the bubbas just go there to shoot & burn stuff.

Nice. I haven't seen an episode of Alvin & The Chipmunks since I was little.

Few spots look like a couple guys might have had a little too much fun at OB before riding.

The guy's were saying- I thought Rick had two, so I ordered another. I just nursed mine for a long time knowing that I would be outshined later that night.

Hi Rick,
This is my second bike the HDB guards will be installed upon. The first was my KTM 300 which I removed prior to sale. Now I am installing them on my DR650. It seems that my Fly bars are actually have a slightly smaller inner diameter than my Renthals on the KTM..but I could be wrong. What do know is that it did not take a long bar attached to a box end wrench to make the cuts.

I know one can buy pre-tapped bars from Mr. Paul but I really like these Fly Bars which have a very high bend somewhere inbetween risers and KX high bend or whatever it's called.

Either way, soon the DR will be immune from bar bending/fork twisting. Many folks point to the durability and what not but like you, I enjoy being able to auger the bars into the ground and then just pop up and keep moving.

When I tossed the 500 arse over teakettle the other night the handguards/bars never so much as budged.

While I was in the process of trying to stop my body... I looked at the bike and it was upside down on the guards balanced.. I thought it was going to stay that way for a second

I tell Paul that it's "product testing and quality control"

I've learned to start watching for these tricks you experienced dirtbike guys play.

Last week at Donner I get hung up going up the gut on one of the loose rock climbs and am working my ass off trying to rock my bike free.. next thing I know Ben comes zipping past me, barely breaking a sweat, using some switchbacks you guys evidentially cut in a few years back on the sides. Riding smart > riding hard.