Well, I had a humbling day on the trails this past Friday. I had a chance to go to Brushy Mountain OHV Park in Taylorsville, NC. They basically have a small mountain that is completely carved up with ATV & dirtbike trails. I had never done anything that extensive, but I had done a little bit of single track, so I thought I would be okay. I put on my new Cheng Shin C858s front & back just for the occassion.

Well, some combination of (a) lack of skill on the part of the rider& (b) poorcompatibility of the tires with the terrain resulted in me working a lot more than I was playing. Don't get me wrong, I think the main problem was the former, but the latter did not help at all.

The trails were all ATV-wide, and in the turns they were heavily rutted with ATV & dirtbike tires. I can't tell you how many times I thought about Nobrakes and his collar bone. Every time I got stuck in a rut (and it was often), I was just waiting to go down hard. The ruts themselves weren't the problem, though, it was the mud. The flats were pretty dry, but many of the turns were deep red-clay mud. Once my tires got caked, I was pretty much skating on slick glass.

I bet I wrecked a dozen or more times, one or two pretty hard, but I didn't hurt myself thank goodness. I can't say the same for the bike. I nailed a tree pretty hard on the left side of the headlight. The plastic was shattered, and all of the brackets & mounting points for the headlight were pretty mangled. I was able to straighten everything out over the weekend, but I will be looking for a new plastic headlight shroud this morning.

The weird thing was that the bike became really hard to start and keep started after several wrecks. I chalk it up to spending so much time on it side that gas got sloshed around in the carb or something. I was finally able to get back to the trail head after about 20 minutes of fun riding and another 20 minutes of work riding. I swapped out to an ATV and let the KLX sit for a little while. After that, it started and idled fine, so I guess she just needed a break.

Anyway, I now realize that I need to work on my mud & trail riding skills. Like I said, the mud, ruts and tires didn't get along. That much is for sure. I am 100% postitive, though, that a better rider could have handled it all much better. Maybe now that I have run out of mods to do on the bike (at least mods that I can afford), now I can spend time working on my skills. Imagine that!

I hope that I handle the sand at Appalachicola a little better than the red Carolina mud. I recall that the C858s are a better sand tire than a mud tire anyway, so maybe they can help make up for my lack of experience. If not, it's going to be a long weekend at Appalachicola.

 

Hey buddy, i hope its gonna be long one way or the other..... hehe.... sounds like you had a good time at least... the bike can be fixed... at least you didnt get hurt, imagine that.... less than 2 weeks until the tour, that would have sucked... i wouldnt have anyone to ride with....lol.

 

"now I can spend time working on my skills. Imagine that!" That is the best mod anyone that rides any kind of bike can do! I see so many guys that have 5-10G's invested in mods alone to their liter bikes and can't ride worth a sh!%.

I jumped off road this past weekend onto about a 50 acre field just like you described. It was a blast but I am not what I used to be in the dirt. I need to work on my skills more than anything on my KLX.

Glad you didn't get hurt.

 

Yieeee, ruts! They will take you out in a millisecond, don't ask how I know [&:]

Glad your bike is OK other than that plastic. I think Stiffler has the best plan for improving skills - enter enduro races. I reckon you'd learn more in one race than months at trail pace.

 

That's soooo true, last weekend I was riding out at Croom, sandy single track thru trees and this guy on a farkled yz250 was driving like my girlfriend on a three wheeler....... is it wrong to pass a two smoke with our little klxon a tight single track and then use your turn signal when there's a fork in the trail

 

Hey at least you can blow your horn so he knows you are behind him.

 

Now that there is funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yep, experience trumps power on the trails 10/10 times.... Very cool Finger Mullet!!!!!!!

 

wow, congrats on the great experience.

Clear your tires of the mess by just romping on the throttle for a few seconds while in the grass. Depending on your tire, but normally flings off for the most part.