woodys3b

Thats better. Thanks Spyder See you all there Andy

I typed in the address for the Mobile Station in both Yahoo Maps and Google Maps and came up with nothing. Is this near the intersection of Campo Road and Jamacha Road? Any amplifying info would be appreciated. Andy

Kevin, Can I meet you at the corner of Campo Rd (94) and Otay Lakes Road? Looks like you will be heading that way after you meet at the Mobile station. If that works, what time should I be there? Thanks Andy

I'm in. See you at 10:00. Thanks Andy

Kevin, I may be able to join you for the AM ride. Where and when are you meeting? Thanks Andy

Unfortunately, I will be at sea till early November. Can't wait to ride with the group again. Craig and I are doing the Neduro riding Clinic on 10 Nov. That may be the next time I get to ride my bike. Sometimes, the Navy sucks but I'm happy to serve. Being able to read about your adventures helps a lot. Keep posting those great ride reports with lots of pictures. See you in November Andy

Alex, The DR is designed to be lowered. The back is lowered, like you said, by using the other holes in the link. The front is lowered by rearranging some pieces on the fork tubes. This procedure is outlined in the service manual or you can take it to a dealer and have them do it for you. I suppose you could just raise the forks in the triple clamps but since Suzuki went to the trouble to design the forks to do it right, I recommend you do it right. I haven't lowered mine so I can't talk you through the procedure but it can't be too tough. I think you can find downloadable service manuals on the ADVRider site. Good luck Andy

Just received a pair of Combat Touring boots from Aerostich. They are made by Sidi for Aerostich of very nice full grain leather. I like them because they don't have any plastic on them and no racer boy graphics. They're just black leather motocross boots made of very nice material. Looking forward to getting them broken in and dirty. From the looks of them, they'll outlast me. They make a shorter version called Combat Lights. Andy

Since when does quality and expense of gear equate to experience? When was the last time you went down hill skiing? The bunny hill is full of folks struggling to master the snow plow in thousands of dollars of the very best gear. How about bicycling? Every weekend the streets around my place are full of Lance Armstrong look alikes. Bellies hanging over their spandex jersies and tights which are covered with sponsers. What about sport bikes? If I had a nickle for every squid I have passed on a sport bike who was all decked out in the latest racer boy garb...... well, you know the rest. As for me, I don't advertise for free and I'm not good enough for a company to pay me to wear their name on anything I own. Ever try to buy a piece of motorcycle gear that you don't have to read? It isn't easy. If you are a dirt biker and you want to protect yourself, you are going to end up looking like the latest Supercross star. Sorry, I'm 46 years old. I don't want to look like that. If you think that makes me a noob, than you are simply an idiot. This was a group of 40+ riders with easily over a hundred years of collective experience. Not a single poser in the group. Were bad decisions made? Of course. Were good decisions made. You bet. Did they have anything to do with the gear we were wearing? I doubt it. Andy

Bob,Used returning your pads as an excuse to go for a ride. Left them at your door. Nice Strom! Andy

I'm in. Picked up my bike today from BikeSlut's house and my tires from CarGuy's house so I'm back in business. Thanks guys! BikeSlut, I forgot to drop off your knee guards at your house when I picked up my bike. Will drop them off real soon. Sorry about that. I need to be back home by 3:00pm so I may need to peal off a little early. This sounds like it may be a fairly mild ride. If so, I'll probably leave my Death Wings on. If I'm wrong, let me know and I'll put on the new 606's by Saturday. See you then Andy

The cooling trend is supposed to continue through the weekend and the forecast high on Sunday in the mountains is in the low 80's. Pretty much ideal!Woody

PING!!!!see ya thereWoody

I'm bummed I missed the ride. Just couldn't get off the ship in time to get to the meeting place. Also bummed to hear about Kaw'ee's missfortune. If you read this Kaw'ee, and are feeling down about what happened to you, let me relate a story about a similar accident I happend upon a few years ago near Lake Marina. I arrive on the scene about 10 minutes after it happened. A guy on a CR 500 was going hell bent for leather around a blind corner and found himself heading straight for the front of an old ford bronco. He slid sideways with the back tire locked and clipped the corner of the bronco. His leg was between the bumper and bike. He was thrown into the thick brush at the side of the road and was laying there in shock as the occupants of the bronco, with horor on their faces, warned me not to go over there. I did anyway, as I have some first aid knowledge. There he was with a face full of thorns and a leg that was only attached by about an inch of pant leg and skin. He was concious enough to tell me he had a cell phone in his pocket. It was smashed but after some splicing wires I got it to work and called 911. I applied a tournaquet and tried to make him comfortable while we waited for the fire department to arrive. I told the 911 operator that they would need a helicopter to get him out as we were a long bumpy ride from any paved road. He was unconcious by the time they flew him out but he lived and they were able to reattach his leg.So, I hope this makes you feel a little better about a broken bone. Could have been a whole lot worse.Andy

I'm at sea and didn't think I would be able to make this ride but it looks like we are pulling in early so I might be able to do it after all. What's this ride like? If it isn't too challanging I'd like to invite my buddy who rides a 1200 GS. Andy

All,While a good chunk of the Otay Wilderness area is closed, I found out today that there is still plenty of good riding to be had in this area. I basically did the same route that San Diegoland led us on for the noob ride. Entered at the Thousand Trails camp ground and went to Barret Junction and back. No locked gates.The Border patrol was everywhere and while chatting with a couple of agents, I found out there was a really bad 7-8 motorcycle crash just west of Dulzure with at least one fatality. Sounds like a group of sport bike guys went into a corner too hot and none of them could hack the turn and ended up going over the edge. 94 was closed and they were diverting traffic.Got to sample a new BMW 1200 GS on todays ride and I have to say I found it relatively easy to handle on these trails even with the street orianted tires. I found it to be a well balanced machine with an engine that would be right at home on a John Deere Tractor. It felt way lighter than my old V-Strom even though they are about the same weight. Nice bike.Andy

I have an IMS 4.9 on my DR and love it. I went through the pain and suffering that most do with the Petcock gasket. Made my own gasket out of proper gasket material which stopped the leak but the reserve didn't work well so I was essentially stuck with the same fuel capacity as the stock tank. Got a Pengel petcock and all is well now. I have the semi transparent white tank which looks good on a blue bike and you never have to wonder how much gas you have left. The shape of the tank is nice and it is very solid.I would buy it again if I had to get another tank. Just go straight to the Pengel petcock out of the box and there will be no issues.Andy

All I can say is HOLY CRAP is that beautifuland.....When is the next one?Andy

Last time I was there, it wasn't burned. Doesn't look burned in the pictures. I smell a rat. Andy

Rob,Thanks for a great day. Somehow I remember that trail being a lot steeper and more rocky than it looks in the pictures Wish I could have stayed for some BBQed chicken but I had "honey do's" at home and barely was able to make the ride.Andy

Can I get directions to your casa? I think I can make the ride and at least drink a soda with you afterwards if I can't stay for the BBQ.ThanksAndy

Don't be so hard on yourself Craig. I didn't think it was that bad. John learned a lot that may come in handy in Baja and Mike just had an unfortunate tip over that could have just as easily happened on a much tamer section. I lead the group down the hill and with Visability no more than about 50 feet in places, I chose to continue. Everyone else did as well. If you don't push it till your over your head, your skills will not improve. No one got seriously hurt and that Dakar looks much better with a few scratches. A few more tip overs in the rocks and it might be as pretty as my DR

Thanks Craig for showing us some of San Diego's beautiful back country. Can't wait to do it again. Nice group of folks you hang with.Andy