Stabilizer or just Good Suspension?

SBB Ride

I did a ride yesterday by myself so I had lots of time to explore and think along the way. That sometimes is dangerous in itself!  My thoughts turned to my suspension and how happy I was with it on my KTM 500 XCW. This is my second 500 and it has about 636 hrs. on it now.

I had someone ask me a while back why I don’t run a steering stabilizer. Since I ride this bike everywhere from tight singletrack in Idaho to fast open desert sections in Baja. I had to think for a minute and remembered I did have a stabilizer and took it off to fine tune my suspension when I started working with Buck at SBB.

I had ridden someone else’s bike a few years’ prior that had a stabilizer and a very impressive set of forks. Then I rode the same bike a few months later without the stabilizer and was less than impressed with the fork. I asked the owner what he had changed on his suspension and he said, “nothing”. Then he told me the only change was the removal of the stabilizer. Wow, what a band aid!

So now all my testing is done without a stabilizer, for better results. It just occurred to me that my forks were so good I never felt the need to put my stabilizer back on! I wonder where that thing is, somewhere in my garage I hope!  Oh well, who needs it. I got SBB forks!!!

#33

‘learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t make them all yourself’

Can You Hear Me Now!?

Can You Hear Me Now!?

As the #33 rolling summer circus made a stop in Middleton Idaho at my buddy Rocky Mountain Dave’s place we got another visitor, Don, aka Recon.  It seemed Recon was in the area providing support for his wife, Laura, who was involved with a Cancer charity fundraiser on bicycles from Oregon to Idaho as one of the legs while traveling from coast to coast. We were recruited to provide roadside support and a Tour de France type cheering section on the side of the road as the cyclist and sag vehicles rolled by. We were able to set up our cheering section complete with spectators clapping, signs and chalk on the road to welcome the cyclists. It was a surprise to the riders which made it all that much more fun. It was the final leg of the ride for Laura so Recon was able to hang out to do a little mountain biking and shooting with Dave and I.  Once Laura hopped on a plane and headed home Recon caught up with us for a few days of riding and shooting.

First on the list was a bike ride. Recon was down for this because Dave and I ride mountain bikes about as often as Recon practices with his handgun.  Sporadically and spastically, lol.  We planned to ride a loop Dave knew and should have been part cross-country and part downhill. It started out great on the cross-country loop and got more interesting as we headed for the downhill. Mr. mountain bike, Recon, was leading the charge on his $5,000 bike and stopped to take a few pictures on some of the features of the trail.  Rock sections, log crossings, small jumps and the like. Then it happened. As I came into view Recon was standing there but was not taking any pictures with his phone. He was cussing, “I can’t find my &#%$* phone”.  Apparently he had put it in a pocket and failed to zip it closed. Oops, since we are rolling along about 12 to 22 mph downhill it could be anywhere back uphill 2 to 6 miles! So when Dave rolls up and after Dave and I quit laughing at Recon we begin to formulate a plan. We can ride back uphill, my least favorite option or we can continue downhill, get our shuttle back to the top and slowly ride it again while looking for an $800 phone. Then Recon says he can call Laura and have her go on the computer and track his phone to see if we can zero in on where to start looking. I think this tracking feature was Laura’s idea which shows where the brains of the family are!

Recon asks Dave to use his phone so he can call Laura to start our search. Dave gives it to Recon but I am almost certain I heard him mumble something about getting a deposit first. Fortunately, mine can’t be lost, I mean borrowed, I left it at home on the charger!  Dave informs Recon that his phone is at about 50% on the battery.  This could get interesting.  Recon calla Laura, she goes on the computer and tracks the lost phone to somewhere near a road. By this time the battery is down to about 25%.  We decide it is a long way back up the hill and opt for the ride down and truck shuttle back up to retrace the route. On our way down we decide to try an escape road that leads out to the hiway. It turns out this ‘escape’ is about 3 miles out and seemingly mostly uphill. By the time we get out to the road Dave and my butts are dragging. Recon is waiting at the road and ready to roll. I guess if it was my $800 phone I would be a bit more fired up too!  We find our ride and head back to the top to start lap #2.  Just about the time we start down the trail Laura calls, on one of the phones we do have and says a kid named Benjamin found Recon’s phone and answered it when she called it. We get Benjamin’s number and start calling to see if we can meet up with him somewhere.

We talk to Benjamin and find out he has crashed and hurt his wrist! It just keeps getting better and better!  We set up a meeting spot on the hiway and wait for Benjamin. He finally arrives with his buddy whose face is all scraped up from a crash also. Between these two kids I re-evaluate our predicament and decide we are on the winning team today.  We are not gouged, scraped and tweaked like these two youngsters!  Life is good!  So now we have Recon’s phone back, are a few hours behind our planned ride, hungry, thirsty and have two injured kids.  We call Benjamins mom to see if it is ok if we give them a ride down the mountain since we are a bunch of geezers offering a couple of youngsters a ride. She lets Benjamin make the decision and he immediately says, Heck yeah!  His wrist is hurting and his buddy’s face is scraped up. So we all pile in and head down the hill to a burger stand at the bottom for some much needed food and drinks. Everyone is hungry and thirsty. Besides it has been decided Recon is buying! Our 3 hr. mtn bike ride turned into a 6 hr. marathon.

Benjamin’s dad meets us at the burger stand where we eat and then say our Thank You’s and goodbyes. We are on our way back to Dave house and I can hardly wait for tomorrows shooting day at the range.

#33

‘If you’re not sure where you are going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else’

Light Up My………..Tire?

I know you have thought of what you would do and what you would buy if you hit the Lottery. Haven’t we all?  I have done a whole lot of wrenchin’ on bikes, not because I want to but because I have to!  I know what I would do if I hit the lottery. Bigger house, Nope.  Nicer clothes, Nope. Finer restaurants, Naw.  Newer truck, Maybe.

I would buy more bikes and way more parts just so I didn’t have to band aid them to keep riding.  As it is I have several bikes, Dual Sport, Off roaders, Race bike, and Adventure bike. Some are duplicated even though I can only ride one at a time.  I justify that by saying that if I split the time between two of them I won’t have to replace them as soon. Clever, eh?

One could say that if you have to have a log book to keep track of oil changes, air filter changes, chain and sprocket changes then you may have too many. I think that just means a guy really cares about his bikes and the maintenance required to have a perfectly functioning machine.  Sounds good.  Well in my maintenance log book I don’t have a section for “riding buddy’s bike”.

Now we get to the moral of this story.  I helped a buddy locate, acquire and set up a KTM 300xcw. It was a used bike, 2014.  Very well kept and in good condition.  So it should not take much to get it in the ball park right?  I found out how poorly some bikes are set up but ridden month after month, year after year in that condition.  The guy it came from was a Fireman and seemed to be pretty squared away with all his accessories, add on parts and even riding gear.  However, when I took over the task of set up I discovered looks are often deceiving as we all know.  The bike worked ok but was too harsh in the front, over sprung in the rear, pinged when under a load and barely cleaned out on top end. I changed what was necessary and made improvements in the performance and handling. But I did all of this on the old tires that came on the bike because I didn’t want to thrash my buddy, Jess’s, new tires. Am I a nice guy or what!  So I had his new tires sitting in the corner of my shop with the other 30 new tires in my garage, lol.

Set up completed and it was time to mount the new tires. Front was a Pirelli knobby and the rear was a Pirelli MT43 trials. No problem with the mounting, bike looks great and all set to deliver for Jess to ride.  I rode with Jess on his 2^nd or third ride and his rear tire was looking low. We checked and aired it up. Next ride low again, ok now we gotta take a look and see why.

We break it down and find a small FLASHLIGHT inside the tire! No Way! I would have called him a fibber if I had not been there and seen it. Then I would have said he was such a Joker and was setting me up.  But when we looked closely at the light, sure as heck it had #33 engraved into the side of it. I mark all my tools.  Apparently it rolled off one of the benches and landed in the tire during my 2 week long set up period, since it was parked in the corner waiting to be mounted I never checked and didn’t notice.  I just grabbed a new tire and put it on. Ok, I am a dipstick for not checking first.  So we fix it and go riding.  Jess gets another flat.  Whaaaaaat! I gotta see this one, so we break it down AGAIN and take the tire off the rim to check EVERYTHING!  I am looking for broken rim strip, burrs in the aluminum rim, sharp spoke nipples and even possible exposed wire in the tire. Nothing!  So while Jess is double checking, I look close inside the tire and there is the usual little bit of rubber chaff from the tire and tube rub. I dump it out and see a little something that doesn’t look right. On closer inspection I realize it is the LENS from the little flashlight!  I stare at it and know that I can sweep it away before Jess sees it or realizes there is anything there since he is busy checking the tire again.  But I don’t, I just hang my head in shame for not catching the flashlight in the first place and decide to take the beating.  Jess laughs and says, “I see a shadow board trophy will have to be made.”

Ok, Whatever!  Does anyone think he still has that little flashlight.  Not a chance, it disappeared and I have No Idea as to what could have happened to it.  But if you ever stop by my house you might have to look for the ‘Wall of Shame’.

#33

‘Complacency is a continuous struggle that we all have to fight’

The Plunder Ride

Having just completed “The Best Ride Ever” with my buddy Jess on his newly acquired KTM 300 XCW, I rolled out in the same area for what turned out to be “The Plunder Ride”.

We rolled again into the same area outside of Orofino and rode a different loop with a lot of trail we had been working on for the past couple of weeks with our saws, both power and manual. We had been clearing brush and downed trees in anticipation of a great unobstructed ride of approximately 75 miles of single track.

It was now 2 days after being blessed with the summer rain that watered the trail system like it had been prepped for a local motocross race. I think the Moto Gods were smiling on us and paying us back for all the hours we had spent working on and polishing this trail in the previous couple of weeks.  In the first couple of miles I thought maybe the Best Ride Ever ride had just been one upped!  But before I got carried away with calling this ride the Best Ride Ever, I just upshifted, adjusted my still fresh ear to ear grin and let ‘er roll!

It was Awesome! Traction without a hint of mud or slick spots that let you ride like you were on Velcro.  Steep downhill, no problem, just apply the brakes needed to adjust your speed to your comfort zone. Steep climb with ruts, rocks, tree roots, no problem just adjust your seating position and dial the amount of throttle you want to scale it like a lizard. Tight trees, no problem, just throw your bike into them at whatever speed you think you could handle and it would bite, no slipping or sliding. Traction that resulted in direction changes like you were on rails!  Off camber, child’s play! I had high mileage tires and they stuck to the off camber like they were brand new tires.

The only thing this perfectly watered and seemingly prepped trail didn’t do was move all the obstacles off the course for a knucklehead head that was having more fun, laughing and riding too fast while not paying close enough attention to detail.  I was riding a steep side hill that banked and let me get on the gas and carry a fair amount of speed into the next bend. That is just about the time I noticed a large stick about 4ft long and about an inch or more in diameter being sucked into my front wheel and stopping it very suddenly!  Remember those perfect “Velco” like conditions?  Yup, lots of traction and my tire got so much traction it bit like I just slammed on the brakes! I got tossed forward and over the bars falling on the downhill side and into a pike of sticks and brush. Once I realized I wasn’t hurt and didn’t get skewered by any of the sticks in the brush pile I started laughing at my good fortune!

The impact when I landed tore the shoulder strap of my back pack off at the bottom of the pack. This required trail side fixing with zip ties to hold the torn shoulder strap to be able to wear it instead of trying to carry it home.  Most of the time spent during the repair I was smiling and laughing. The day was THAT good!

On our way back Jess took a few turns leading and it was fun riding directly behind another rider without being dusted out. Especially when we have the opportunity to see everything on the side of the trail.  Jess found a KTM radiator cover that actually fit his bike. I found a pair of 100% brand goggles. Then it happened! I found a bleached out skull of what appears to be an Elk!  Being more of a city boy I assumed it was a cow skull.  But my resident country boy, hunter, local Orofino boy and riding partner informed me it was from and Elk.  I didn’t care I finally found an intact skull that is going to reside in my garage and remind me of the almost perfect couple of days of riding in Idaho.

When we wrapped up our ride and got back to Jess’s house I laid out our newly acquired finds and took a photo.  Then it dawned on me with all these treasures it truly was “The Plunder Ride”.  This just may be even better than The Best Day Ever ride.  Sometimes I just can’t believe my good fortune! 

#33

“Find something to laugh about”

Best Ride Ever?

Just got back from a ride in Orofino Idaho after spending a week of trail clearing in the area. Hauling hand saws and chainsaws and stopping every minute or two to remove brush and downed trees or logs knocks the heck out of your mileage.

But finally we, (Jess and #33), got to roll and actually ran out of time before we ran out of trail for the day!  That always falls into the “Best Ride Ever” category.

While the trail clearing days were all done on mostly 90ﹾ plus days, our Best Ride Ever ride day came on a day after a rain! We couldn’t have asked for a better reward for all of our efforts. Once I started my roll on the trail I found myself grinning from ear to ear and laughing like a loon most of the day. Now most of you have gone woods riding on a day after a rain and know that the lead rider generally knocks the moisture off the branches for all the other riders. I learned that one from my good buddy Frank Showers when he sent me ahead on one of his trail rides many years ago after a rain. I thought I had hit the lottery that morning until my brain caught up with my riding at the first stop.  I didn’t know I was being set up by an experienced trail geezer, I was soaked to the bone and happy as a clam! Thanks Frank, lesson learned!

But not today! This was obviously payback from the trail Gods for all of our effort and hard work clearing trail. I was lead rider and prepared for the wet brush just to ride such a great trail, freshly cleared and recently watered. At my fist stop for a breather I couldn’t help but notice I was dry and my goggles did not require any maintenance for me to keep going. My first thought was that we must have ridden through a pocket that got minimal rain. But as we continued on throughout the day it never changed. Incredible!  A perfectly watered trail and dry bushes on the day after a rain. Almost 40 miles of mostly 2^nd gear riding, 4 hours later and I was heading to the house dry. Awesome!  Take That Frank!

In all my years of trail riding I am not sure I can remember that happening. So I have to believe it must have been the Trail Gods paying us back for all the work we put in the previous couple of weeks working these trails in this area.  So this could be quite possibly the “Best Day Ever” of trail rides.

I hope everyone gets to experience one of these days in their riding life. Maybe you already have if you think back. If not, suit up and give me call. I have a new 500XCW I need to log some miles on.

#33

“Find something to laugh about”