Second Annual Pilot Jet Riding

Well, my second Annual Pilot Jet Riding trip is now in the books.

I was concerned that this trip might be a letdown after the almost incomprehensible trip I experienced last year. However this year turned out to have every bit as much flavor with a few new twists along the way with new riding partners and mechanical issues. 

The riding partners were an interesting mix of riders from very advanced off roaders all the way down to, well, advanced off roaders. These guys could all ride!

Paul seemed to be a bit concerned about holding the group up.  Believe me he didn’t hold anyone up except when he was stopping at the creek crossings to refill the radiators on his Gas Gas.  For those of you that may need to refill a radiator on the trail, try carrying and using a zip loc baggie as a water carrier/container. Paul did this on several occasions and seemed quite happy each time he did it. Something makes me think he has experience doing this sort of thing.  For me it was a lesson learned, I now carry a spare zip loc in my pack.

My next lesson came during a ride when I smashed my chain guide hanger on a rather large boulder just as we were nearing a summit with a look out post that affords incredible views of the area. I carry a stout set of pliers but  had to borrow a pair of vise grips to finish the job. The vise grips worked for clamping and twisting beyond what my little girly man pliers could provide.  So with that repair made (no chain guide) I was sent limping back to the truck by myself while Dave and Brad finished the rest of what I suspect was another epic ride.

Those guys were really concerned with me finding my way back to the truck, I could tell by the way they burned out as soon as I told them I would be ok. I spent the next 2 hours retracing the route back to the truck in 1^st and 2^nd gear since I was now riding without a chain guide. I had 2 goals on this ride and added a 3^rd on the trail. My first goal was to not derail the chain at speed or under a heavy load for fear of throwing the chain through my cases and ending the week of riding along with adding the expense of a catastrophic repair.  My second goal was to not get lost and have to spend the night out there in the higher elevations where it gets cold and dark!

Then as I rode along my third goal came to me.  Why not use the new to video all of this 1^st and 2^nd gear riding and do a little narrating while I had the time. Riding by myself with no one to say hurry up, making any dust or having to keep them in sight so I know which way to go in an area where I don’t have a clue as to where I am. Besides if I never made it back I was fairly sure they would find the goggles and  would be able to use the video to find out what happened...

Since I did make it back and shot over an hour of video on just that slow return ride it was not a wasted day for the mx43.com viewers. I actually enjoyed the slow ride back giving me even more of an opportunity to look around and use the Liquid Image video goggles to see and record some of the incredible views and trails.

The next day was a repair day for me as Vern (Dave’s dad) and I took my bike in search of a Heli-Arc welder to straighten and re-weld the broken hangar. I lost a day of riding because we had to drive about 80 miles each way to find a welder.  We had a good breakfast, visit and met some really cool people along the way. The Heli-arc guy, Byron, had a heck of a story to tell us about when he used to ride motorcycles, then he moved on to dirt track cars and then Bonneville for land speed record runs. That was one clever old timer! I never imagined those guys would go to all the trouble to move a motor an inch and a half to the rear to increase traction on a dirt track. That was one of many tricks he let us in on. He talked for awhile about racing and told more than one fascinating story. I really enjoyed having the chance to meet him and hear some of the racing stories he had.

Byron fixed us up and we were back in business with the chain guide repaired. He saved my week of riding since this was only the second day.

The next couple of days provided some of the most challenging trails and awesome views an off road rider could ever wish for. There were rain showers throughout the week and this kept the trails in an almost unbelievable condition. With those rain showers came a few lightning storms. On more than one occasion my tour guides Brad and Dave stopped and took a break under some cover until the lightning moved on. We were able to catch some of the lightning on camera and video so I guess their caution had merit. I was too inexperienced (read dumb) to know any better.

One day in particular stands out with the lightning, rain and creek crossings. Our group had grown to 8 riders on one day and had turned into quite a long day with people carrying extra gas in jugs and bumming gas from some that had gas tanks like the Exxon Valdez.

We had hidden from lightning during this ride, stopped to dry out after getting caught in a shower that passed over us and dumped everything it had on our group, then we did the fuel transfer thing to get everyone to the end of the ride. This ride ended up showing about 108 miles on my odometer.

Just toward the end of the ride we had to cross a creek. Well, creek is what some of the more experienced trail bosses called it. I looked at it and immediately took it out of the creek category and reclassified it to the small river category. These guys seemed to love to fill their boots with water for some reason!  I had long given up on keeping my socks dry a few days ago, but now I was more concerned with not submerging my air box!  So now I watch as the first few riders take their turn crossing the “creek”.  As I watched I decided it didn’t look too bad as long as I used my legs to keep myself upright with an occasional dab. That seemed to be the norm for the first 6 riders. A couple of close calls but no one went down as long as they used their legs as outriggers. Did I mention their boots were full of water when they got to the other side?

Now it is my turn as the 7^th riders across. I don’t have a really good feeling when I look across and every rider that has already crossed has parked his bike and is now standing on the other side of the “creek” waiting for the next chump, I mean rider. I then notice that a couple of them have their video cameras rolling and a couple of them are holding cameras. I am starting to wonder if I really like these guys.

I take the plunge with my legs out, a hand on the clutch and a little bit of throttle to make sure Big Red doesn’t quit. Things go quite smoothly and I think I disappointed all the would be photographers by making it with only a minor dab or two. As I emerge from the other side feeling good and lucky at the same time I now I have to park my bike to watch the last rider make his attempt. By the time I get my bike out of the way and walk back to watch the 8^th rider, his name is Rett, he has not only started crossing but has fallen in the “creek” and is having to push the rest of the way across. Rett rides a 250 KTM and it was submerged completely. I can’t wait to see the video. When he finally gets it across everyone is very helpful and willing to help him get it running.  You gotta love these guys.

He gets help taking the spark plug out, draining the float bowl,  removing the air filter to wring it out and then turning the bike upside down to pump the “creek” water out of the motor.  I didn’t know a small 250cc motor could hold that much water!  I think a lot of it must have been coming from the exhaust pipe which I am sure was fairly full.

So when all of this is accomplished and he gets the bike back up right he gets it fired up in 10 or so kicks. Impressive.

Away we go with only another 20 miles or so left to get back to camp. At the final split we say our goodbyes since part of the group is heading home the following day.

It was quite a memorable trip and fantastic riding in Idaho as usual. The new riding buddies taught me a few things and provided a ton of entertainment along the way. I hope to ride with them again and am looking  forward to it.

But the thing I am really looking forward to is my next trip to these incredible trails they have in Idaho and seeing what new adventures we encounter.

As long as it doesn’t involve me and a “creek” crossing.

See you on the trail and keep your socks dry!

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