Red Neck Engineering Tire Repair

It has come time to rollout on the 2019 #33 rolling Circus and the first stop on this year’s tour was at my buddy Jess’s house.

It is always a fun filled month long extravaganza of wood choppin’, fence bildin’, gun shootin’, grass mowin’, tracter runnin’, an sumtimes motersicle tare fixin’!  For those Non Red Necks reading this article here is your translation. We split wood for the winter, repair perimeter fences, sight in newly mounted scopes, mow and weed eat (a lot), remove stumps with a backhoe, and do our best to fix flats or improperly installed tires.

The motorcycle tire repair was the one that got my interest this time. Mostly because I am usually the one doing the fixing and although it is normally tedious and boring mounting and dismounting tires it rarely involves me running away!

This time it was my buddy Hose-b (Jess) doing the hands on since it was his bike. A quick side note: Jess will call me Jose’ so it only makes sense that he must be Hose-b!  So back to the bike tire, Hose-b was being bugged by the fact that his tire was slightly out of round since the bead never seated on the original tire install.  He decided we should remount or seat his tire to run true and I said it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. I have mounted literally hundreds of tires in my 40ish years of riding. However, let me make this disclaimer before we begin, I have always used soap and water or just plain water when out on the trail during my tire repair.

So Hose-b removes the wheel, dismounts the tire in an attempt to seat the bead. He then reinstalls and starts to use WD-40 as he mounts and attempts to pressurized it to seat the bead. I am not in charge, but offer the information that I always use soap and water. Hose-b sees this extra slippery solution as the answer to seating the stubborn bead on the rim. Ok, you go boy! I just may learn something here. So as I watch him pump the tire up sure enough here comes the stubborn bead creeping out to the rim. I am thinking maybe it is time to stop pumping it up and wait for the bead to completely seat itself on the rim. Jose-b obviously is in the camp of, if a little air is good a lot must be better. After this experience I think 80 PSI or so may be too much.

Just about that time I am getting a little nervous and start to say something when I notice the tire has reached the seated position and is still creeping outward. Oh CRAP! That thing is not going to stop and I begin to voice my observations but decide I can run and talk at the same time!  As I turn to run in a panic it never occurred to me that the bench and the stand alone vice were in my exit path. I bounced off the bench just as I heard the explosion when the tire slipped off the rim.  I careened into the vice gouging my hand and arm which helped slow my retreat. Boy am I lucky or what!

So when the dust settled we both survived with only a couple scrapes. Hose-b had a surprised look on his face and had obviously retreated in the other direction, with no obstructions! Lucky him!  Once I got a paper towel and stopped the bleeding on my arm it became pretty funny cause no one was really injured. Remember when I said I just may learn something here? Well, I did. I learned that I will NOT use WD-40 as my tire mounting medium.

So we dismounted the tire, got a new tube and reinstalled everything using a little soap and water. Old Skool!

#33

“Be daring, try something new”

Passion Defined!

Just another casual trail ride with #33. Who else do you know that rides 15,000 off rode miles every year? 

3 Amigos Ride!

 Just a couple of weeks ago I finally got to do some woods riding. It was with Buckmeister, (Buck at SBB suspension) and Gino Belino, (Gene is from Folsom Prison). Well, let me clarify that Gino WORKS at Folsom Prison. So it was not on a weekend pass, parole or anything. He actually had the day off! Then there was Doo Rag, (Darrin) also fresh outta prison, with a Kitchen Pass and Matt. Matt had paroled a few years earlier when he got a creampuff job working at a Fire Camp in Nor Cal.

We were all pretty excited to hit the trails since it had just rained a couple days before. Apparently not enough since it was much dustier than we anticipated in the open and exposed areas. The tree covered areas were still pretty good as the shade of the trees held the moisture much better. So in some sections we could all ride close but had to space out when the dust reared its ugly head. I had a great time, since they let me ride in front all day!  I guess age does have its privileges, lol.

We rode most of the ride with big grins on our faces with an occasional stop to regroup and catch our breath. In just a few short hours Matt reminded us he had to head back as he did have to work a swing shift that day. We said good bye and were now down to four riders. Doo Rag was beginning to feel the pace as he doesn’t get a kitchen pass very often and subsequently has had very little seat time. Doo Rag spends his free time hanging onto a fishing pole, not a set of handlebars. So Doo Rag says he will meet us down by the river crossing and away he goes.

Buckmeister, Gino and I explore a little on our way down the canyon into the river, where we finally catch up to Doo Rag. I forgot that Doo Rag carries a collapsible fishing pole in his pack when he rides. So guess what he was doing when we rolled up. We took a rest break while Doo Rag fished and proudly displayed his trophy when he caught one of those whoppers!

While we were there it was kinda hard to miss the newer Toyota SUV 4x4 that was lodged in between a couple of trees just above the river. It had not been there long as there were no bullet holes in it yet!  Also, there was a bit of debris scattered indicating it was a new arrival. This compared to the old Toyota car that had been down there since the 80’s that I can remember. That one had a few bullet holes.

Our rest period turned into an hour and a half long break with snacks and a lot of stories being told. Some I will remember and some I will try to forget! None that I will ever repeat……………..Time to go. Doo Rag informs us that he is Fished out. I think that is code for he is too tired to continue on our ride. So he says he knows his way out to a road and will meet us back at the trucks. So now we are down to 3. Buckmeister, Gino and #33.

The 3 of us head up out of the canyon and are having a big time blasting through the trees. I know I am as I now spend most of my time in the desert and only have to dodge bushes and cactus, not trees. This is Great!  We continue on trail after trail until we come to a very rocky, somewhat steep slate/granite trail that is probably now considered to be in the ‘Advanced’ or ‘Extremely Difficult’ rating on the trail maps usually printed for the riding area. I go ahead to the top and stop at the next intersection to make sure we all head the same direction. I wait……and wait………hoping someone got a flat. It had been about 10 min and I figured maybe they didn’t have the tools to fix whatever it was. So I head back down eventually finding Gino holding Buck’s bike.

Doh! Buckmeister is standing there holding his clutch side wrist/hand. I observe that he is standing and walking ok so if we can get his bike to the top of this rocky ascent we should get back to the trucks without calling for outside assistance. Buck says he will walk to the top if I will ride his bike up. I park my bike and get on Buck’s bike and remember, crap, he is riding a YZ 125!  The last time I rode a 125 was years ago on a motocross track and I wasn’t very good at it. It has been MANY years since I owned or rode a small bore. I am a 500cc kind of guy. I weigh about 250 lbs. dressed to trail ride. But away we go, uphill, rocky, ledges and crevasses to traverse to reach the top. 8 to 10 thousand RPMs and a little abusing of the clutch and I make it. Sure glad that ain’t my clutch!

Buckmeister stands there and now has to figure out how to get rolling with a dicked up clutch hand. He does it and we are headed toward the trucks on normal trails and find a road that leads us out. We eventually make it back to the trucks and find Doo Rags truck still there. He should have been back long ago, loaded up and gone. We load up Buck’s bike, our bikes and get ready to go. Gino says, “shouldn’t we go look for Doo Rag?”.  I think it over for a minute and tell him, ‘Naw, he has a fishing pole.” I figured if he got stuck somewhere he would just catch his dinner.  A few minutes later Doo Rag rolls up. We asked him how we could have beat him back to the trucks considering our misfortunes and slow return pace. After all he was riding the road back.

“Uh, I turned the wrong way and went to hi way 193.”   I tried not to laugh, but I never promised not to tell he was directionally challenged. Dude caught a fish though. I have pictures, lol.

So we started with 5. Went down to 4. Finished off with 3 and 1 straggler. Rolled in with 2 intact and 1 damaged.  This may have been The Best Ride Ever!!!

#33

‘Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than the ones you did do. Explore. Dream. Discover.’

Baja Bound

How do you log 10,000+ off road miles every year? If you're #33 you head to Baja for some fast trail riding. Here's Eric doing some last minute adjustments as he waits for his riding buddies at the border.

WORKS CONNCETION ELITE CLUTCH

WC ELITE CLUTCH                                                                                                                               

Here we go, motocross racing as opposed to field squid riding. I just completed my first MX race in OTMX after a five-year layoff from injury to the left hand. It was almost like starting over.  I got a bit of help from my WORKS CONNECTION ELITE clutch lever perch combo. This setup made my return to racing much easier and gave me the help I needed as I now have limited use of the left hand as opposed to before the injury.

I had never had to change my riding style or bike set up before due to physical limitations. Ok wise guys, I said ‘physical’ not “mental limitations”. I can feel you all laughing! That’s ok because I chuckle myself every time I get on the bike, just because I can! Life is Good!

So at my first race back at The International Old Timers MX series I was on a new bike, YZ 450f, and I had my new WC Perch on to help with my diminished clutch capabilities from the left hand. It was an absolute necessary upgrade! Besides being beautifully sculpted, more durable that anything on the market, it probably intimidated a lot of those other guys on the line. You know the guys on Brand X with the hydraulic clutches. Lol.

The smoothness of the lever and the clean pull made any handicap I felt almost disappear. I was even able to fine tune it after the first moto to let me chose the point of engagement for the injured and shorter fingers using the reach adjustment. Perfect! I rode 5 motos, never stalled the bike and got the “Holeshot” award in the second moto!  I have the “T-shirt” to prove it.

Even though I got the Holeshot in 3 out of 5 motos I ended up 2^nd overall. One guy, Mark Kaestner, is just a bit too fast. I now have my work cut out for me. Maybe I should check with WORKS CONNECTION to see what other little trinkets they have that can make me FASTER!

#33

‘No person’s eyesight was ever injured by looking on the bright side of things’