2020 OTMX Kicks Off IN AZ

2020 OTMX is Underway!

The Oldtimer MX series kicked off at Canyon Raceway in Arizona and had a decent turn out with a lot of old faces (pun intended) and a few new ones. The weather was great, not too hot, not too cold, kinda like we were racing at Goldilocks place.

It was fun seeing people I had missed for quite some time and riding the track with others I had ridden with recently on trail rides. Great fun.

The track was a good layout but the drawback is the fact that when they have to water to control dust it becomes an ice skating rink. Nevertheless, the racing was good and I watched a few good battles.

Sierra OTMX rider Tay Gragg was the smartest and most consistent in his class (50 Exp) and took home the win. It may have had something to do with his new $1500 dollar front brake. Well, maybe it was the $400 motor mounts. But then again it could have been the $850 foot pegs. Naw, probably just his 50 cent earplugs he wears while he rides. Keeps him focused razor sharp! Lol!  He rode smart and let the others crash, break their bikes, get poor starts and took advantage of their mistakes.

Meanwhile Keven Stewart #359 of SOTMX fame did his best to inflict pain on the 60 Exp class. He was doing a pretty decent job most of the weekend. The operative word being “most”. Seems #359 sometimes is a bit inattentive when they tell everyone on the gate they are now in the ‘2^nd’ gate for safety purposes. The decision was made to split the gate because the 60 Masters and the 60 Experts were a bit too much to wedge through the first turn all at one time after trying it once. It seems none of those guys want to give an inch! So #359 is on the line getting ready for his moto and forgets to wait for the second gate drop! Away he goes with the 60 Masters. Gets a decent start and rides his butt off thinking the whole time, ‘man these guys are rolling, I can’t get by anyone’. After the moto he realizes his mistake and finds out he did in fact go on the wrong gate. I can only imagine the despair he must have felt that he may have thrown away the whole weekend.  His club rep rallied for him and got the Arizona Chapter to do an average score somewhat like when they bump a rider up in class. It worked out that he didn’t ruin the whole weekend and ended up with 2^nd overall. Kudos to the Arizona Chapter for not ruining someone’s weekend for a simple non malicious bonehead move. I think it just may have taught #359 a valuable lesson, attention to detail.

The second lesson is how you go about earning the Not So Coveted Fish Award! The Fish trophy, or Grand Geezer award as it has been labeled/named is an award that was started many years ago by a SOTMX member to be earned by the person that pulls the biggest bonehead move of the race weekend. Going off on the wrong gate certainly qualifies you for the Fish. In the event of more than one person doing less than stellar things in his or her racing endeavor then the Fish Council is convened and a vote decides who will be the recipient. It has on occasion gone to the Fish Council and been decided by popular opinion/votes. It then remains with the recipient until the next person commits an act at the races that qualifies as the new owner of the Fish! Congratulations Keven #359 Stewart you are the proud new bearer to start the 2020 season. I would be watching everyone else very closely at all the OTMX races if I were you in order to hand that sucker off as soon as possible! You know how bad Fish start to smell the longer you keep it. Just sayin’………………………….

The other race I was able to actually watch up close and personal was the 60 Master class. I (#33) was able to watch #64 wax that class from my front row seat, chasing him both days. Mark Kaestner #64 was head and shoulders the king of that class. Mark rode fast, smooth and never slowed down.

If you missed the opener you have about 5 weeks to get ready for the next one at Glen Helen. So quit messing around, you are getting older by the minute!!!

#33

“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”

#33 Logs Another Milestone

"Don't Let the Old Man In" ...Keep Riding!

Hinson Clutch Installation...Perfection

I was recently fortunate enough to meet Robert McClure at Hinson clutch components Racing.  I had no idea of just how fortunate it would turn out to be. I got a tour of the production facility and an explanation of how things were manufactured from start to finish. However, most of it was way over my head and I could only marvel at how much time and effort it took to make these jewelry quality pieces of art they call clutches. I no longer wonder why high quality clutches are so expensive; you get what you pay for!

Robert has worked at Hinson Clutch for over 10 years now and it is obvious he has used his time well and has learned, developed and practiced his area of expertise to a level seldom seen anymore. I can’t say enough about his level of expertise and professionalism displayed during an install when things did not go cookie cutter perfect.

I am currently riding a 2018 Yamaha YZ 450f.  Great bike so far but not quite the power delivery I was looking for, even with the seemingly unlimited ignition and fuel mapping available by the WiFi system. My latest idea to reach my goal was a weighted Hinson momentum clutch basket. Enter Robert McClure of Hinson Clutch Components.

I met up with Robert at the Hinson facility and observed as he showed the way a clutch should be installed. Amazing as well as educational. I had rarely seen anyone do every aspect of their craft with such perfect precision and attention to detail. I was getting an education as well as a new part to try. Robert showed, explained and taught me as he worked. From the removal and reuse of some parts to the use and even the age and type of Loctite. Incredible!

Now the interesting part, what should have been a short, sweet and simple install for Robert turned into a trouble shooting episode. He installed the clutch in short order and refilled with oil to test the adjustment. When he started the bike something was not “perfect”. Meaning there was a noise that was out of character and he did not let it go unnoticed. I could hear something but believe most people would have ignored it and just run it as is. Not Robert, back apart it comes. He investigates and can find no obvious reason for the noise. So he reinstalls in case something was not seated and listens again. He still hears it. So apart it comes again.

I am thinking ok, this guy is going to get frustrated, mad or impatient and start throwing tools. I know I probably would, lol.  Not Robert, he starts disassembling and thinking it through.  He decides to swap out a part he thinks could be the culprit, with a part he took out of another bike that he knows functioned properly. He does, noise goes away and he starts chucking up and checking surfaces with a micrometer on the removed noisy part.  He discovers an imperfection in the basket itself and goes into his inventory and checks each one until he finds one that is PERFECT.  Impressive, because now he has had this thing on and off multiple times while troubleshooting and has wasted almost two hours of his time on my bike.

It was actually nice to see something not go perfectly for such a skilled person and see how to properly handle it.  I thought it was just me this stuff happened to. He was a Saint, as well as a perfectionist.

After putting some time on the newly installed Hinson Momentum Clutch I finally got the desired results I was looking for. My motor is more tractable, easier to ride and works better everywhere!  It improved the whole bike. Something I was unable to do with the unlimited WiFi mapping from the factory.

A big Thanks to Robert at Hinson for making my bike not only much cooler, but MUCH BETTER!

#33

‘Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors’

Adventure Ride Arrives in Loreto

As the adventure continues the next day we split into a group of 2 and the other group will have 4. Our group of 4 make the trek down the inland coast which is a beautiful ride. The other two, Bob G and Bob J, take a more adventurous route out to the Pacific that could be a bit too much for our group with the bigger Adventure bikes. Since Tracy is limping along on a taco front rim that has been beaten back into shape and I am limping along on a mashed foot from Adventure bike wrestling when I got my butt whooped! We decided to take the easier route. We will ride with Brian and Jeff and do some sightseeing along the way. We have a great ride day with a bit of exploring and photo opportunities.

Along the way Jeff leads us on a turn off which is a dirt road and has no real marking indicating there would be much down the road. We ride out 10 miles on this dirt road, lo and behold there is a community of rather large houses right on the gulf coast. These houses are like an upper scale American community with a small airport alongside the community. By Baja standards these would fall into the mansion category. I found this rather interesting and just figured with no markings on the hiway pointing this direction these people must want to be left alone in their vacation homes. Jeff says there used to be a very nice Hotel there but we find it has been long gone and overgrown. An interesting place. Don’t know how you would ever find it unless someone told you or showed you. 10 miles down a dirt road with no real markings.

Back on the main road and we roll on down to Loreto. We stay at another hotel Bob G likes and it is right on the water with great sunrises and a view of the water right out the door of the hotel. Our group of 4 pull in and check in. We hop back on the bikes and head for the rooms to off load our gear. I am unloading my stuff and Tracy comes in pushing his bike. He says it wouldn’t start once he shut it off at check in. Of course my first thought is he hit a kill switch other than the key and I ask. He said no, he had already checked. Gotta be a simple solution, we almost never shut a bike off and just not restart 5 min later. I am thinking battery; I have had batteries go dead instantly when they go. But Tracy says it cranks over just fine but won’t start. Uh oh, that becomes a bit more serious like an ignition problem or fuel pump, neither of which we can fix on the road. Everyone messes around with it for a bit and no one has an instant solution so after a while it is decided since it is late now we will go have dinner and then come back to work on it or continue diagnosing tomorrow since we were planning to stay a day anyway. Good plan, rest and thinking are a better first step.

Dinner was nice, very nice with more of a restaurant patio atmosphere overlooking the water that we would have taken our wives to instead of sitting here with 5 other Geezers!

The next day we start to work on the big KTM and several of us had reached out the night before seeking input from our contacts back in the USA as to what we should be looking for. I had a couple of people scouring message boards and service manuals for potential causes. The others had feelers out to people at dealerships and we got a fair amount of response. Thanks everyone (BearMeister) who took their time to try to rescue us!

I have had KTM fuel filters clog and the bike starts but won’t run with throttle. So I looked toward fuel pump filter issues. Other ideas came in with all sorts of magical remedies, turn the key on for 15 seconds, turn the throttle 3 times, turn the key off and back on for 15 seconds then hit the starter button. There were several variations of these ‘fixes’ but none of them worked or maybe we didn’t hold our lower lip just right. So after trying everything suggested it was still not running. Next internet suggestion was a possible low voltage that wouldn’t allow the bike to start, so we hooked a jumper box up to the battery and still no luck. So now desperation is beginning to set in because if this thing doesn’t run we are looking at having to have it trucked back to the states, Doh! So now even with all the help from our friends back in the States we are running out of options. So the next step is to remove the fuel pump from the tank and see if it may be the filter. It seems Brian has removed a fuel filter on one of these bikes before so away he goes. He jumps right in and starts dismantling with some help from the peanut gallery, mostly giving free unsolicited advice! I mostly stay out of the way and watch, I remember hearing someone once saying something about too many cooks. We do hand him tools time to time. Not only does Brian get it out he disassembles the pump which appears to be designed as not to be disassembled. You go Boy! As each new step or challenge arises we go looking for the next needed tool that may work. By now we have everyone’s tool packs open and spread out all around the bike which sits directly in front of our hotel rooms. Good thing they assigned us dirt bag motorcycle riders the furthermost rooms at the end of the hotel. Made for a great outdoor workshop and we didn’t have a bunch of lookie loos gettin’ all up in our business and complaining to management.

Brian gets the pump disassembled and removes the filter, it is indeed discolored and restricted. The bike has about 16k miles on it. It is a specialty filter of course and we now have to decide to attempt to clean, modify, jerry rig a replacement or remove it altogether. The general consensus after all the brainstorming and with all of our combined intellect, it was a rather small storm, it is decided to reinstall without a filter to see if it ran at all. Brian, the now Head Mechanic reassembles and installs the pump. Checks for leaks, turns the key on and……………..Nothing but a cranking motorcycle.  One attempt is made to take apart the Fly by Wire throttle assembly, no throttle cable just a twist grip with sensors, a gear cam system and a last item that Jeff called a ‘sypgmomanometeroccullator’, or something like that! I had no idea what the hell that was but it sounded kinda like a rheostat for a throttle. Someone said if it got dirty it could quit working. Didn’t seem logical to me on an Off Road Adventure bike, but it seems we have run out of ideas, options and time since it is now most of the way through our Rest Day in Loreto.  Apart, cleaned and back together. No dice! Snake Eyes! So Tracy throws in the towel and begins to look for ways to get the bike back to the states while exploring flights that he could book to get himself home. He finds a flight if he stays over a day and arranges with the management to store the big Adventure bike at the hotel until it can be picked up in a couple of weeks. It seems a plan is coming together but not one any of us wanted to have to arrange.

Tracy begins to off load his gear from the bike and pack it into backpacks and plans on buying a sports bag at a local sporting goods store to pack what won’t fit and carry it home with him. I am sharing a room with Tracy, we have been cellies for the week so far. So I hear him mumble, ‘O-shit’ as he is organizing and packing his gear and wonder what else could go wrong. He doesn’t say any more and heads back outside with his key for the KTM. Inserts the key, presses the starter button and the big Adventure bike comes to life!!!  I see this and wonder how the hell did he do that. The rest of the crew is hanging around outside and turn to see why Tracy was starting someone else’s bike. When they realized it was his bike the looks on the faces were raging from dumbfounded, to incredulous and all the way to ‘what the Freak did you do to fix it’!

It seems at check in Tracy had shut his bike off, put his key in his pocket and when he returned to start the bike grabbed ANOTHER key he carried for the gas tank that DOES NOT RUN the bike!  We had been working with that key that was NEVER going to start that bike for the last 24 hrs. I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or cry. I think everyone else was in amazement not quite sure how to react. When everyone gathered around the now running KTM it was time for Tracy to explain how he ‘Fixed’ his bike. The story was told and none of us knew of the second key until he laid it out to us. So from that time on he is going to be known to me as Tracy “2-Key” P*******.  Now you didn’t really think I would use his whole last name did ya’! I can’t throw a homie under the bus, but I can tell the story, lol.

So it was decided that the other four, Bob J, Bob G, Brian and Jeff would continue on the intended route and 2-Key would head back directly on the shortest route. Since he was now riding with no fuel filter in the tank on a fuel injected bike. As his cellie and wing man I figured it would not be a good idea for him to ride alone 800 miles in Baja without a backup. Everyone else agreed and we parted ways the next day. The Boyz headed for St Javier Mission and on over to the coast. 2-Key and I headed for the border at Mexicali with a stopover in San Felipe. We had a good ride with zero issues going home and enjoyed our shortened ride every bit as much. We made good time and 2-Key’s bike never missed a beat. We crossed the border easily on the motorcycles, Mr. Border Patrol at the crossing needed a class in public relations though, and parted ways after a quick breakfast. My ride home seemed a bit longer since now I was riding alone, but I occasionally I caught myself laughing as I heard myself say 2-Key Tracy out loud in my helmet.

I guess now I will have to upgrade the little V-Strom to a more off road worthy bike if I ever do this again.

#33

‘It’s not the destination, it’s the Ride’

Adventure Ride?

Sure Why Not!

Having just completed my first ever Adventure ride and found there is a wide range of riding and bikes in that category.

My trip started out with a text from my buddy Bob asking if I wanted to do an Adventure ride down to Baja, Mexico. Funny thing is I was on an off road ride sitting with a group of guys at lunch when I got the text. I told him to let me see if I could get permission from the warden and I would let him know. So when I got home and asked I sent him a message saying I was in!

The group was five riders and I apparently was the needed 6^th guy to round out the group. I guess it wasn’t my magnetic personality and charm that got me in. They needed to round out the group and I was the only one available since the ride started in 6 days. There is some preparation and bike set up required to do an adventure ride if you don’t use a support vehicle; which is my favorite kind of adventure. So I set out setting up what I thought would be needed for a week or so of riding and did my best to secure it on the bike over the next few days.

Bob gave me a few specifics, length of time gone, general direction we will travel and names of the guys going. I knew a couple of them and would meet the others on the road. I was told to meet the group at the Tecate border crossing Sunday morning. I arrive early to exchange some American dollars for Mexican pesos and sit down to go over my equipment since it is all new to me, first timer and all. The group arrives and I meet a couple of guys. The group consists of Bob G, Bob J, Brian, Jeff and Tracy (aka 2key) but we will get to that later. I take a look at the riders, the gear, the bikes and realize I may have brought a knife to a gunfight! I see all late model KTM adventure bikes and a Honda Africa Twin!  Did I mention I was on a 15 yr. old V-Strom 650? Oops, guess I will have to make the best of it.

Said quick hellos, money exchange for the boyz, purchase a few Visas to cross into southern Baja and away we go. We get about a mile or so through town and our first tip over occurs. Baja traffic is something to be wary of.  At a stop sign a car speeds through in front of Tracy (2key) and he stabs the brakes, can’t touch the ground and tips over! Now remember we are on Adventure bikes all loaded down for a 9-day trip, that makes an already big bike very heavy. I was last in line and was about to put my kickstand down in traffic but Tracy is a big strong guy and lifts it up before I can react. No harm, no contact, no foul and away we go. We roll along on a two lane roadway until our turn off which is dirt and goes south about 90 miles toward a small town, Ojos Negros.

The road is scenic with lots of sights from grave yards, to big ranchos, to remote communities.  We climb, descend, twist and turn with all kinds of surfaces ranging from hardpack to rocky to sandy. The rocky and sandy sections slow my progress as the V-Strom is not capable or negotiating these sections like the true KTM adventure bikes. With half the travel and half the ground clearance I need to be careful I don’t end up on my head! When we reached one section of deeper sand I discovered the big KTMs also struggled when it got deep. I watched as a couple of them slowed to a crawl and do their best to wobble through without going down. I felt a little better about my antique V-Strom. We got pretty spread out over the next hour or so on this road and fortunately didn’t have to ride in a lot of dust. When I got to the end of the road it intersected with a paved road. We were headed left toward Valley Trinidad and lunch at a taco stand Bob G thinks makes great tacos. These must be some good tacos because there is no Bob-G or Bob-J waiting there!  I thought about rolling on and catching up but thought I should wait at the intersection to make sure the next 3 riders arrive with no problems. Good call, because our 3 riders plus 4 more roll up intermittently and Tracy has a flat front tire. Not only is the front tire flat but since it is tubeless it becomes painfully obvious as to why he has a flat. The front rim has a HUGE bend in it. So big that the bead of the tire is exposed and will not hold air! It seems that with all of the riders leaving such a trail of dust there were times when the rocks could not be seen clearly. Tracy was introduced to a large one he couldn’t see resulting in a damaged front rim.

When everyone arrived and the damage was surveyed we set out to get Tracy back on the road. There was not a chance in Hell that the rim and tire were going to hold air. We could see past the rim and tire bead into the rim. So it was decided that a tube install was the only way we were going to get rolling. So away we go with the wheel removal to install the tube. About an hour and a half later the big KTM had a tube in the front and we were on our way to Valley Trinidad for some tacos. However, we could no longer call it lunch, it would have to be classified as Linner! When we roll the 40 miles of pavement and find our buddies at the taco stand they were all filled up with tacos and ready to go. Nice hour and a half rest, eh boyz?  So we choke down a couple of tacos and a beverage and get back on the road toward San Felipe because it is getting late in the day.

Half of the following day is spent taking the KTM wheel back off and finding a garage/repair shop of some kind that could minimize the damage to Tracy’s front wheel. We find a Taller/Mechanico shop that is going to give it a shot. Interesting shop, if you were to go back in time to when you were a kid and remember seeing auto and diesel repair shops with big old lathes, drill presses, arc welders and machines probably made sometime in the 1950’s you would be that kid again. I was. It was a pain in the butt to have to do it but I was having fun seeing it!  The Mechanico got to work on the wheel. He heated and bent, heated and bent. It took a while but when he was done it looked surprisingly decent. He covered the ugly with a little black spray paint. These guys were nice enough but fairly emotionless and non-chalant through most of our transaction. Since they didn’t speak English and none of us really spoke Spanish we managed to communicate. However, I had gone across the street to a market and purchased a 12 pack of Tecate.  I saw a small smile from the guy when I put it on the counter. Barely noticeable, I laughed and said Adios!  Midday we were up and running and on our way south toward Bahia de Los Angeles or Bay of L.A.  An easy trip since the government is paving this section in anticipation of making it a truck thorough fare for the peninsula. We arrive at the Hotel Bob G seems to have taken a liking to and check in kind of late in the day.

Nice hotel but fairly pricey by Baja standards. It still had the obligatory cockroaches, there was a mashed one as I stepped in the door of our room.  I noticed as I started to unload some gear and change from riding gear to street clothes that a few of the boyz were already over hanging out at the bar in their riding gear. I discovered fairly quickly why this was one of the more favorite stops. The Cervesas, Margaritas and Shots were already underway when I finally made it over there. It went like that until dinner. Then it went kinda like that after dinner………..for quite some time. Everyone told stories, maybe a few were slightly embellished but I didn’t care, I laughed my ass off as arm-wrestling matches broke out and had a great time! Some of the antics got more entertaining as the evening grew late. But as you know, ‘What Happens in Mexico stays in Mexico’. So everyone eventually made it to bed, with help and maybe a bandage or two. Now I gotta quote Forrest Gump, ‘That’s all I got to say about that’.

The next day we roll toward San Ignacio. Tracy and I stop at a road side taco shop in Vizcaino and sit down for a couple of minutes to have lunch. The family running the place are very happy to see customers and welcome us warmly. We had a great lunch, atmosphere, convenient location, a short rest then get back to our journey.  It has been a fairly easy and uneventful day and it is early so Tracy and I peel off to explore a side road that neither of us has ever ridden. It takes us out to Punta Abreojos but it takes longer than we expected. So after making the trip out and back it seems we will roll in just a little after dark. Oops. Everyone gets dinner and settles in for the evening, catching up texting and phone calls since we have cell service in San Ignacio. I decide to pull my bike up in a secure spot between the motel wall and Tracy’s KTM.  As I move my bike which is a bit heavy with all the cargo I lose my footing and start to tip toward Tracy’s bike. Now I am between the two bikes and there is barely enough room for me to stand there. My bike starts to tip toward me and I stop it but not before I bump Tracy’s bike with my hip and it starts to tip away from me! So I am catching my balance and trying to hold my bike upright but now I have to catch Tracy’s bike before it falls over. I grab Tracy’s seat and slow its progress but that sucker is HEAVY! It continues to tip painfully slow away from me while I struggle to hang on to both bikes. It gets away from me and falls over and as I pay more attention to it, my bike is now on the way over too! Right toward me standing next to the already downed KTM. The V-Strom tips over and catches my foot on the way down. I barely manage to stay upright myself and begin to take inventory of the mess I just made with two loaded down Adventure bikes now laying on the ground.  On top of that, now I have a sore right foot. It doesn’t take me long to realize I will need some help with this mess before I really hurt myself by getting a hernia trying to lift them.

So reluctantly I head up to the rooms and knock on Brian and Jeff’s door. Whoever comes to the door says, ‘who is it?’  I thought about saying I am a bandito and am here to rob you, open up! But my foot is sore, the bikes are on the ground and I can’t lift them by myself so I decide not to be a wise guy.  I inform them I need help lifting the bikes laying on the ground. Maybe I should I tell them some vandals came by and pushed our bikes over!  Naw, I fessed up and told them and they came down to help pick them up. Not sure they were not chuckling the whole time! It was a damn good thing both of them came down, that KTM was a hand full for all three of us since it was slightly over center downhill. Wait a minute! I am not quite sure why I am telling all this since ‘What Happens in Mexico stays in Mexico’. I was just happy that there was no damage and I limped away happy.  Tomorrow we will make our way down to our furthest stop going south, the town of Loreto.  There is a layover day planned to relax and do some sightseeing. Loreto is a pretty cool town right on the water, great scenery and there is an old Mission, Saint Javier, that we are going to ride out to see. There is a bit of an interruption, but that is another story………….. I will be shaking my head and laughing at the same time I tell you. Stay Tuned for the day I almost got to see Saint Javier, part II.

#33

‘When nothing goes right, Go Left’