skincer

I took the motoventures class yesterday. Gary taught our class. I originally planned to take the level 1 class since I have no dirt experience, but Gary convinced me I should take level 2. I think he was right - the level 1 was all people that had never ridden a motorcycle. I had hoped it would be a confidence builder, but it was a skill teacher instead ... which is OK I think. I didn't really build much confidence because I realize now, that I need a lot of practice on what we learned. I lost track of how many times I dropped the bike I was using. I had stood up briefly before while riding, but he had us standing up continuously doing drills and riding twisty trails. My quads are screaming today. I think I did get better during the course of the day. I just bought his book and intend to do some practice on my own. I'm not sure where the closest non-paved area is to me in Jamul, but I need to find somewhere. All in all, I'm really glad I took the class.

Yeah, pretty much, but mine looks a little deeper (photo attached). I measured the depth and it's about 3 inches deep. Does that still seem right?

Wow, I'm really surprised I'm only supposed to fill to the bottom of that basket/cup thing - that leaves a fair amount of space in the top of the tank. That will make things easier though because I can stick the nozzle down into the tank and the lip of the hole should compress the vapor collector. Thanks for the info.

So, I put gas in my XT250 for the first time yesterday, which of course means I sloshed some gas down the side of my tank and blue plastic body panel. I saw stuff on the internet about gas being bad for the paint on your bike, but I’m hoping that doesn’t apply to my bike so much since the body is just blue plastic. Despite doing a bunch of googling on the proper way to fill a motorcycle gas tank, I still have a couple questions for you guys. First, when I remove the gas cap and look inside the tank, I see a metal “cup” or basket kind of thing. Am I only supposed to put enough gas in the tank that it’s at the bottom of that basket, or should I fill the tank fuller and that basket is just there to make it easier to see the fuel level as it gets higher than the bottom of the basket? Second, you know how in California the nozzles have that rubber, vapor collection foreskin on them? Will the pump only pump fuel if that thing is compressed? I was trying to hold it back with one hand while holding the nozzle with the other when I spilled gas on my tank. I ended up sticking the nozzle all the way into the tank which compressed the foreskin and the end of the nozzle went through a hole in the bottom of that basket/cup thing. This worked great, but the pump shut off when the gas got to that level. I got a little over a gallon of gas in my tank, but figured I’d had enough humiliation for the day and I could come back and get more gas later. Third, I put 91 octane in my tank. Is there any reason to do that or would 87 perform just as well? Thanks. Steve

My bike would be facing the drivers side when on the carrier.

This is going to sound ridiculous, but I think I just learned something that never occurred to me for some reason. I've been reading a bunch of stuff about dual sport bikes and people going on long riding trips and it's beginning to sound like there is a distinction between dual sport bikes and adventure bikes, with dual sport bikes being smaller and easier to handle on trails and "adventure bikes" being bigger and more comfortable on the road. Is this a commonly accepted distinction?

I've been watching the "Long Way Round" documentary mentioned above. It's about 2 guys from the U.K. that are riding around the world. It's been really entertaining. I would definitely recommend it.

Wow, that's cool. How many miles to you do and how long did it take you? Did you do mostly hotels or camping? I just read a book by a guy from New York that did it and he did mostly hotels. I hear there are bypasses for some of the tougher off road sections - especially for guys on bigger bikes. Did you take any of those?

I know this is a really old thread, but I just heard about this "Road Less Traveled" documentary. Everything I find about it on the internet is very old and seems to be saying they're still working on getting it released. Does anyone know if it ever got release? Did anyone see it? Anyone one know where I could rent or buy it? Thanks. Steve

I've got a dual sport bike, but I don't know how comfortable I'd be riding it a couple hours to get to a trail. Plus, I'd like to take my bike camping some day and for camping I'd like to have my truck.

Yeah, you're probably right, but that involves finding a place where my truck is a little lower than the surroundings. Plus, it doesn't give me an excuse to build something.

Winch comes with a wireless remote about the size of a car key fob. So as you're holding the bike, you push the forward button on the remote. A good thing is that due to the gearing in the winch, it pulls very slowly so things don't get away from you.

OK, I have another idea. I think this would be way easier to implement, cheaper, and a lot less dangerous. What about mounting a cheap winch (with a remote) on the Joe Hauler and basically use it to pull my bike up the ramp and onto the carrier? I saw a couple youtubes of guys using a winch to pull their bike up a ramp and into a truck bed and I think this would be even easier. I can get a 2500 lb ATV winch for $52 (with coupon) at Harbor Freight. I think there's almost no chance of getting killed with this setup. Thoughts? Thanks. Steve

This might be crazy, but I've been wondering if I could mount this (http://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton-capacity-pickup-truck-crane-60732.html) harbor freight 1/2 ton truck crane on the Joe Hauler, lift the bike up to the needed height, and sort of guide/swing it onto the carrier. I've watched a couple youtubes of guys mounting/operating this crane and it looks like it probably has enough lift height. I would think I could put ratchet straps on the bike while it was lifted and gradually lower it as I tightened the ratchet straps to pull it onto the carrier. The crane is relatively cheap ($80 w/ coupon), so it wouldn't cost much to experiment. What do you guys think? P.S. If you see a report on the news about a small man crushed to death by a falling motorcycle in Jamul, you can I say "I know that guy".

Ahh, good idea. I could use a step stool or something. Compared to the videos at the Joe Hauler site, the whole operation seems way more unsteady, but being higher would definitely be good.