TR: Feeling the Smack!

[luwayo]

'K, I'd thought about putting this in Newbies as I am one, and a poseur all over again!

 

Most of my chums were off for Easter hols from Good Friday to the Easter Monday. I made several round of phones calls to the misfits on Thursday night, wanting to see what they were scheming locally. It’s one of the few weekends that I shrink from crossing the border (at one point a 3hr s/b wait time was reported); the Sea to Sky corridor and Hwy 1 east. Zilch was going on! I was utterly disgusted with all of them.

But there was one option that loomed. Modified suggested I get back on the Yamaha. After procrastinating for nearly 2 months it looked like today was the re-match with this 4 stroke demon. It had already thrown me in November and was wanting more, I could just tell. I invented several lame delay tactics, like “I dunnOo, it’s looking clOudy out there”.

Unfortunately, the weather seemed to be improving. We set out for the beach.

 

Lesson 1: Kick Start, Start Out, Stall

Repeated for a good cardio work-out.

 

Lesson 2: Circles in the Sand

With wobbly speed and barely maintaining gyroscopic forces, I steered slowly in the sand, taking up half the beach. Thereafter came 499 concentric left-hand circles. I felt good enough to commence a few hundred right-hand turns. Drop the shoulder, squeeze that orange and bend – oh wait, umm that’s my telemark lesson. Modified observed from some focal point in the centre and was getting queasy, while my alpha bitch (the baddest of the two bad dogs!) practiced some leash winding around Modified’s ankles.

 

On occasion, a rider would drive by & I’d yell a muffled yell at Modified to make sure they knew I was learning. “Oh, I think they can tell”, was his reply.

 

Lesson 3: Flooded Trail

…wasn’t too bad. But I laughed as Alpha swam along a parallel trail. Ramping down to the beach did have me wondering, in what style would I’d be pitching over the handle bars.

 

Lesson 4: Banked Slopes with Exposure to the Fraser River

…”Don’t look down! Don’t look!, Don’t look!”. This was extremely reminiscent of my formative days on skis. If you’re looking at it, you’re going for it!

 

Lesson 5: Swamps, Moguls & Berms

Finally, it got interesting. Approaching the moulded swells on the shore of the Fraser, I negotiated patches of sucking mud and waterlogged jello sand. Rear wheel slid out. Revved it up. Foot went down as I banked left and began to auger with the front tire. But incredibly, I was escaping this quagmire! So I took several more runs through it, just to be totally convinced that it wasn’t luck propelling me forward. Next came the moguls & berms. Well, my derriere took a beating. Wabam, wabam!

 

Lesson 6: Release the Hounds

This was an exercise in: outrunning canines in the 100lb range, who posses I’m guessing 1700psi of chomp power; steering with one hand, while clobbering the dogs with the other; and testing the limits of duct taped hockey armour as Alpha & Omega are hanging off my plastic knee caps.

Strangely, there is no direct correlation of actual coolness in the video footage of me riding, and my self-impressed shit hot attitude.

 

Oh, and in case you hadn’t figured it out, this is related to climbing - in the sense that my TTR 125L is my newest climbing accessory, to help me scope out those FSR’s. Well, maybe I’ll be ready for that level of riding before I quit climbing.

 

So, have I sussed out any motorcross people who can give me advice on how to survive this endeavour?

 

Yours truly,

One tenderized derriere!

 

[olyclimber]

[G-spotter]

[knotzen]

Kewl! I want one of those.

 

And I want to go to the ocean!

[whirlwind]

i wana ride

[EWolfe]

 

Turn it out, boyeeeey.

[G-spotter]

it is definitely a sweet jump

[luwayo]

for $#### i got something with more value.

 

and now i think this sore cocyx, low back & hips thing is not from the dirt bike. someone else i know has the same bizzare syptoms & doesn't even ride

 

i had to inflict my day of glory on some forum, some where. i do suspect that not a lot of climbers ride off road. hell, at work, out of 160 there's only one office dude i can talk to about it!

[G-spotter]

bc4x4.com

[luwayo]

tx dru,

i know. now there's a greater act of desparation on my part - to go to bc4x4 and find climbers to talk to!

[G-spotter]

I crashed a quad into a barbed wire fence once.

 

Don't drink and offroad. You might hit a bump and spill your beer.

[J_Fisher]

If you're looking to use your bike for puttering on logging roads, etc., once you can start w/o stalling, brake to slow down and turn w/o falling off, you know pretty much all you need to know. A little bit more seat time is all you need. Motocross has a lot of techniques, but they are all about going really fast over really technical terrain. Since you're not racing speed doesn't matter that much and it's unlikely you're going to have to clear 50 foot gap jumps to get where your going.

 

If your butt's sore you need to stand up more. If you're sitting down on rough ground you're going to get bounced all over the place and be far more likely to wreck. Feet on the pegs, standing up knees bent, elbows high and head over the number plate is the body position for attacking rough spots.

 

thumpertalk.com has a good forum on offroad riding. (Note that trail riding is not MX. Offroad is to MX what long easy trad routes in the mountains are to hard sport climbing.) Thumpertalk also has model-specific forums if you're looking for beta on mechanical issues with your TTR. You can also visit the "off topic" forum and read the redneck equivalent of Spray to yor heart's delight.

[luwayo]

If you're looking to use your bike for puttering on logging roads, etc., once you can start w/o stalling, brake to slow down and turn w/o falling off, you know pretty much all you need to know. A little bit more seat time is all you need. Motocross has a lot of techniques, but they are all about going really fast over really technical terrain. Since you're not racing speed doesn't matter that much and it's unlikely you're going to have to clear 50 foot gap jumps to get where your going.

 

If your butt's sore you need to stand up more. If you're sitting down on rough ground you're going to get bounced all over the place and be far more likely to wreck. Feet on the pegs, standing up knees bent, elbows high and head over the number plate is the body position for attacking rough spots.

 

thumpertalk.com has a good forum on offroad riding. (Note that trail riding is not MX. Offroad is to MX what long easy trad routes in the mountains are to hard sport climbing.) Thumpertalk also has model-specific forums if you're looking for beta on mechanical issues with your TTR. You can also visit the "off topic" forum and read the redneck equivalent of Spray to yor heart's delight.

 

i'm going to dedicate the next non-mtn day on: "brake to slow down w/ sharp turns". tx for pointing me in this interesting direction.

 

on sunday, i doubled up b/h a good rider (but sketchy instructor) to scope out a tricky descent. It was effing rooty 'n narrow, with a hard l.turn right before you drink the Fraser.

 

and tx for those words of clarity

[luwayo]

d. i just don't know what to say to that

[G-spotter]

OK I lied, it was a trike not a quad. Those things are banned now. And when it flipped, it missed landing on me.

[whirlwind]

my 2 cents:

 

1st off i havn't riddin much off rode, but im on my 3rd street bike. at first its ok to ride the clutch jsut a hair when trying to get going, just give it gas and let out the clutch slow if the engine starts to bog down give it some more gas, on a good start the engine noise should be pretty consistant, ie not high pitched (over reved) or jumpy which is if it gets too little fuel, and then is compensated by more gas and or poping out the clutch.

after yuo get going practice "sprints", basically find a straigh streach and go threw the gear as fast as posible this will help build a good feel for timing and clutch to gas ratio, that won't bog you down or jump around to much.

on a 125 you probly have to try to get the front end up but it is posible to clutch it up, in other words if the bikes rpms are to high and you let the clutch out fast the front tire is coming up, but this is ok as long as you know that it could happen you can ride through it just ease off the gas and or tap the rear brake, but make sure its just a tap. sorry fo the book

e

[mzchristy]

That is badass!! I bought my first 4-stroke about 6 months ago (also a Yamaha! A TTR-225). Let me tell you, this bad boy is much MUCH bigger that the itsy-bitsy 2-stroke that I learned on...I feel like a fly on the ass of a really large wildebeast (sp?). It kinda takes off with me hanging on for dear life. The whoops had me launched about 15 feet in the air. (not even kidding here). BUT...the 4-strokes can handle hills with ease. And not so high pitched and whiney like the 2-strokes. I don't have much advice in terms of riding, though. I use the clutch a lot. I try to stay upright. I give her a little love now and again to get on her good side.

So far, so good

[luwayo]

e,

i haven't gone thru those spints yet. tx for bringing it up. i look forward to riding some solid surface, but the Yamaha ain't no enduro. for now, sand is giving me some soft landings, but it's also a little funky.

[luwayo]

congrats on your 225! do you have the helmet & m2r pants to match yer bike?

 

i scored brand spankin new m2r threads at the dump! my boss thought i was talking about some new hip place on Robson Street. but it was the dude at work who found boxes of them. they were slashed by the retailer, and i managed to knuckle down & actually do some repair work.

 

they are beautiful!

[whirlwind]

as long as yuor not in super deep sand it should be alright might get alittle squirly, but ussally your best bet is to ride it out, as long as there is no obsticals in your way. definatly find some open space before trying, and street rideing with dirt tires is a bad idea im pretty sure, not only do you lose valueable ruber, but way the bike handels will be completly differnt and i think alittle dangerous, from what i hear you dont wana be flying down the road (paved) on a dirt runner, but i dont know i never have. good luck and rubber side down. oh and i wana go

Edited April 20, 2006 by loserfriendly

[luwayo]

yeah, i was given a super brief talk on the difference in steering. road bikes lean for steering; and *dirt runners* as you say, need more handlebar action.

 

and yes, i don't want to wear my tires out on black top.

 

it's great! new trail adventures to be had on dreary days.

 

although, in the monsoon month of january, i tried this tactic for mtn. biking. but those guys were mostly into the north shore technical stuff. ANY CROSS-COUNTRY MTN. BIKE RIDERS OUT THERE?

 

i'm much more of a cruiser than a stunt performer - in any realm.

 

maybe we can trade bikes for a session. bet you love that idea

[jmace]

And not so high pitched and whiney like the 2-strokes

 

hey thats music to some people, and the smell of a two stroke is sweet heaven to some..means summer is here!!

 

Your big knobby tires will be fine on the road, your not goona wear them out, your more likely to rip knobs off off the road than slightly wearing them out on the road!

 

best thing you can do is take your knees and squeeze the tank and dont let go..riding to climbs.. is so so I rode to the final trail to habrich a couple of summers ago and was quite tired...working the clutch starts to get a bit much. My new bike's clutch is so tough I couldnt ride for more than hour when I first got it.

 

Keep on given er gets easy real quick

[luwayo]

hey j,

aren't we supposed to do our revenge climb at that chossy 5.9 route in pemberton? we talked about it and then cc lost a day's worth of posts - r'mbr.

 

about that clutch - i was having an interesting discussion yesterday with Modified on speed shifting. i've driven stick since i was 16 & i've never speed shifted before! sooner or later, i'll be giving it a try on the bike. he says it's way faster! could save you from claw hand?

 

say, once you got past the boulder barrier, what did you think of that real rough patch? i did it on the quad, which was no prob., but the bike demands more skill.

Edited April 20, 2006 by luwayo

[jmace]

ya I sort of do remeber that, which route is that again?

 

ya its the diagonal 5.9 crack with with tough start..right?

 

I made plans to clip bolts this weekend but im open for a shot the following one..let me know

Edited April 20, 2006 by jmace

[luwayo]

ya its the diagonal 5.9 crack with with tough start..right?

 

oui! zat is zee one.

 

say, once you got past the boulder barrier, what did you think of that real rough patch? i did it on the quad, which was no prob., but the bike demands more skill.

 

so, was that trivial for you?

Edited April 20, 2006 by luwayo