5 Miles of Hell!

Yes, there truly is a trail that has been given this name. It is outside of Green River, Utah.  I had heard of it from a couple of riders and figured since I was going to meet a few buddies in Moab, Utah I might as well swing by and check it out.
This area has some spectacular rock formations because of the upheaval in the earth’s crust over the past umpteen million years! It has also provided some very challenging terrain to test a dirt bike riders’ skills. One of those test area has been named “5 Miles of Hell” and marked with patches of white paint so a rider can follow without getting lost and riding off into an abyss.
 Another thing the paint does is make it very easy to find the established route while he or she is tired! Believe me when I tell you that you are going to get tired. It took me somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 hours to cover the difficult section which turned out to be closer to 7 miles!
Only one tip over when I failed to make a climb that resulted in a skinned up forearm, then a few wrenches were necessary to loosen the throttle assembly and bark buster so my throttle would turn freely.
While blazing along at a whopping 2.3 miles an hour I met a couple of riders on the trail that were from Colorado. Scott and John who were riding 250 & 300 2 stroke off road bikes, smart boys! Or should I say smart men! I stopped to chat with them and discovered they were 68 and 67 years old respectively. These guys became my heroes instantly! To be out tackling that trail at that age showed a lot of skill, determination and courage! I was apprehensive and I am a full ten years younger. I want to be like them in ten years!

After our chat we rode on and became a group of three which was fine by me cause now I had someone to call 911 for me! We soldiered on until we came to a wall I was told by my new riding partners was known as “The Crux”. Holy smokers, I was wondering how other riders go up this but thought if others can get up it so can we. So we parked our bikes and walked up for a closer look and to plot our intended route. There were several options but we settled on what appeared to be the safest but included turning our bikes around by hand at one point to have a better shot at making it. It worked perfectly with none of us crashing and breaking anything or injuring ourselves.
When we finally got to the top of the Crux we stopped and noticed a tree decorated with several remnants of others attempts at the Crux. There were broken brake and clutch levers, a radiator louver, a bent up radiator guard that obviously didn’t work well enough and a twisted and busted up radiator! Oh and a couple of left over radiator shrouds that had been ripped from the bikes. We may have been overly cautious but none of us was ordering parts.
Right after we conquered the Crux we came to a marker on the trail that was marked as a bail out point from 5 Miles of Hell leading back to Lone Man trail. A short break and discussion and it was decided that Scott and John would take the bail out as John was having a problem with cramps in his hands. So we said our good byes and I was off on my own again to see what the rest of the trail had to offer.
As it turned out more of the same without the “Crux”, but plenty of substitutes to keep me guessing as to whether or not I would survive this ordeal. It seemed every few hundred yards there would be some sort of stair step climb, a crevasse to scale or a decent into an area I just hoped I could get back up out of. I stopped once to take a picture and wondered how in the hell did someone figure out what path to take, then it dawned on me. Stupid, just looking at the surroundings and I realized it was usually the path of least resistance. That was sort of scary!
I finally got through the difficult stuff and found the end of the trail with a sign designating it as “5 MOH”. I was so proud of myself I signed in the book, as #33 of course, and then took Lone Man trail back to the truck. Funny how those 2-foot-deep whoops on the return trail didn’t seem very difficult!

If you think you need to challenge yourself, give me a call.  I will tell you how to find 5-MOH!!!  You didn’t really think I was going to offer to go with you did you!  

#33    

“Make your life a mission, not an intermission”    

Lil LIGHTNING Power Pack

Riding so many miles so far away from anyone and quite often by myself, I had an epiphany. I am all alone out here exploring new areas in canyons, sand washes and deserted hills and must rely on my bike and myself to fix anything that goes bad or it is an overnight stay and a very long walk to help. More often than not I do not have cell phone reception, so it is that kind of remote.
My current off road bike is a KTM 500 xcw that has an electric start with a kick start back up. Just one of the many reasons I chose it. Batteries fail and the kick starter is my insurance, but since I do ride on occasion with others that ride bikes without kick starters I don’t want to choose between riding a very long way out double or leaving the guy there.
A while back I was shown a slick little device called the LIL LIGHTNING jumper pack by a buddy, Matt, that owns a motorcycle shop in Butte, Montana. It was very compact and Matt said it would jump his street bike several times and could jump a car. I was a bit skeptical at the car part but ordered one and have been carrying it for a year now.

In that years’ time it has been used 3 times! Twice on a guy with a kick start equipped 530 KTM that couldn’t start it on our ride in the middle of a 7-mile-long sand wash and the battery was kaput! No one in our group was looking forward to towing him out of a long sand wash with a strap. The lightning pack fired his bike up and we were back on our way. Twice, he stalled!
Then the third time was to start a borrowed Nissan Pathfinder while I was in San Felipe, Mexico! It actually did start the V-6 Nissan. I was impressed because this is their smallest compact version. They make two more upsized models for heavy applications.

On this last trip to Baja I pulled it out of my pack to show it to one of the guys with no kick start option on a new Husky. To my surprise the Lithium-ion battery had swelled and ruptured the outer casing. The contents were still contained inside with no mess and the pack still showed a full charge on the test lights! When I returned home from the trip I called the toll free number and spoke to Karen who simply asked me when I bought it as it had a one-year warranty. It was one year to the month! She laughed and said “you pushed it right to the limit didn’t you!”
She told me to box it up and send it back to her and she would send me a new one upon receiving it. Now that is customer service and standing behind your product. When I use up this next one I will certainly replace it with another LIL LIGHTNING!
#33
‘wear out, don’t rust out – get out and Ride’

Baja...1700 Miles

Baja suspension matters......SBB Suspension works!

Having just returned from a 16 day riding trip to Baja, I thought I should share a bit of info with the MX43.com readers.
There were a few different brands of bikes on this nearly 3-week exploration ride. There was a Honda, a couple of Beta’s, a Husqvarna and about 5 KTM’s.  I have ridden a few bikes (brands, year models and categories) in my day. Also, having had the opportunity to work with Bucky at SBB suspension has exposed me to a lot of shortcomings on these same bikes.

I rode for 16 days straight and accumulated a little over 1700 miles on my SBB suspended KTM 500 XCW. During that time, I was asked to ride a few other bikes to compare and evaluate. What an eye opener! I knew my bike worked well but after riding the other bikes on the trip I was all smiles!
Each rider that traded me bikes commented on how well my bike was set up and how well it worked. It allowed them to see the shortcomings of their bike setup and they began asking questions on how to make their bike work better. The answer was simple, send your suspension to Bucky at SBB!
Since some of them already had suspension work done by other companies I had to resist smacking them upside the helmet and handing them Bucky’s card. Instead we talked about setup, compression, rebound and spring choices. It was a learning experience for all of us. I learned I was happier with my suspension than I even realized!
I think I will go out for a ride then come back and try to wipe this grin off my face.
#33

‘a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks almost instantly’

Where Is #33?

It appears that Eric (#33) is having a pretty good time touring the trails of Baja. I'm guessing he will have a few stories when he returns.

Stay tuned.

Works Connection Jewelry!

Works Connection Elite Clutch Perch

 
Having just upgraded my clutch lever/perch from Brand-X to a Works Connection I made a few observations.
The Works Connection perch is well built and beautifully finished. While comparing it side by side to the aftermarket Brand-X unit I removed it occurred to me that the Works Connection perch was more like installing a piece of jewelry on my bike than a motorcycle part, it is that nice!
The color choice makes it even more appealing as I was able to choose Honda Red from the Works Connection line up as it was going on my CRF-X 450.
While I had both assemblies off the bike I compared the fit, finish and weight. The Works Connection complete assembly was 7.5 oz., while Brand -X came in at 8.5 oz. Not a significant difference until you look at how much money many riders spend on weight reduction on their bike.

With the install complete I think I overheard the Honda giggling between the two KTM’s knowing who was going out for a ride today!

Watch for a report following three weeks of Baja riding.

#33