tntmo

Any idea of where you'll be staging at? I think I'll join you if my work schedule permits it, possibly bring the whole family.

That's awesome. Good to see people like that making a difference in people's lives.

Since my son had so much fun riding we are considering heading out to Corral Canyon Thursday and staying the night. We'll probably stay at Bobcat Meadows campground, if anyone wants to stop by and say hi feel free. Tom

I've wanted to camp at Corral Canyon for quite a while, the Horse Fire put that on hold but now that my son is on spring break and I am on leave I decided to get some more father/son time in. We threw the sleeping bags and cooler in the truck, loaded up the bikes and headed out. We got to the park around noon Thursday, there was nobody else there. We got an awesome spot under some California Live Oaks and right between the bathrooms and the water pump. I brought along the CRF230 (Little Red Pig) and the XR100 (Mini Red Piglet). We took an easy trail up to Four Corners, then the road up to the Los Pinos lookout (it was closed). Then we followed Espinosa Trail around to Corte Madera Road. We stopped for a rest under some trees. There was a skid loader doing some road work along the way, the road was in nice condition but it ended in a gate before it got to Skye Valley Road. There were a lot of nice bumps built into the road, probably for water run-off but Aaron used them for jumps. We turned back and took Spur Meadow Cycle Trail back to camp. About halfway back the end of my exhaust pipe blew out on the CRF! All the screws fell out and we had to pour some water on it to cool it off before putting it in my pack. Here it is at camp. Without the end cap, this bike is loud! I did a little redneck engineering and found a wood screw for the top hole, and a bit of safety wire to go through the bottom two. I eventually found a piece of wood with two more screws and put them in, held it on the rest of the time. We had a snack and played catch, then headed out for more. Aaron wanted to see the trail that SDAR had adopted so we rode back up to Four Corners and headed down Kernan Cycle Trail. He did really well and we made good time to the road. Great view from Kernan Cycle Trail. We carried plastic bags with us on the trail to do our part, this is what we picked up. I fell over about halfway up Kernan, just hit a rock or something. When my son saw me, he fell over too. A sympathy crash. Anyway, after picking up both bikes I went to start the CRF230 and I didn't have any battery power. It's dual sported and none of the lights turned on, the horn didn't work, the starter didn't work. I did a quick look over of the bike with nothing obvious wrong. It was going on 5pm and we were going to be in a bad spot if I couldn't get it going. I got out my multi-tool and pulled off the side cover to access the battery. Once again, nothing obviously wrong. On a whim, I touched the pliers end across the solenoid and the bike turned over. Tried it again for a few seconds and the bike started but none of the lights worked. We put it together and hauled butt out of there back to camp being very careful not to stall the bike. I ended up finding a blown fuse that I didn't know existed. Got lucky there, make sure you have a decent tool kit with you out there and know your bike. Towing a bike up or down Kernan Cycle Trail with a XR100 (with a 10 year old riding it) doesn't sound like my idea of fun. We had a great night, it wasn't too cold and we slept in the bed of the truck with the stars for our roof. After breakfast, Aaron wanted to check out a black diamond trail. No kidding! We ended up on Sidewinder, a 1 mile trail that was nothing but rocks and followed that up with Sodbuster which was more of the same. The kid did really good, I helped him through about 4 sections but I was very impressed. Here he is proud of conquering the rock hill. After that we headed to camp for a snack and some more catch. Aaron really liked the road up to the lookout so we did that again. He said it was like supermoto. The gate was open so we went up and Norm was manning the tower. He kept us busy with stories for close to an hour, only charged us $20 for a commemoritive photo. Just kidding! We did another run up and down Kernan, then crossed the whole park on Wrangler. It goes right on the edge of some of the burn area and it's pretty sad. Hope we get some rain so they can open it all up again. We headed back for camp and got ready to go home. Last thing we did was air out the Hondas. Here's the XR100. And he even taught me how to do it. Pigs of all sizes can fly. This is the stuff memories are made of. Shut up and ride!

I'm really looking forward to that. I bought the CRF230 for my daughter, she turns 14 in a couple of months so having a dual sported bike will be nice for her in a couple years even though she doesn't always have the desire to ride with us (teenager!) I think my son will be the one dragging me out to ride.

It depends a lot on where I'm riding and who I'm riding with. I always bring my backpack/camelback. Inside the backpack I have a tow strap, a multi-tool (Leatherman), a lighter, TP, snacks, small first aid kit, maps, cell phone, wallet and a few other little things. I never used to carry tire repair stuff and haven't needed it yet, but I always wanted the stuff so I recently picked up a fender bag and air pump and bring that stuff along most of the time now. I figure if I don't use it, someone else can. I really need to get a nice small tool kit, the Leatherman is pretty limited to what it can do. I also want to pick up some space blankets for every member of my family to bring along. You just never know what can happen out there so being prepared makes me feel better, although I have seen some people bring so much stuff I find it unbelievable. There has to be a happy medium. Tom

Since I am on leave and my son is on spring break I figured it would be a great time to get out and do some weekday riding together. Light sprinkles hit us this morning as we loaded the bikes and it rained on the way out to Otay Truck Trail. It looked like it was going to clear up as we off-loaded the bikes and geared up, but as we put on our helmets a downpour hit us. We jumped in the truck for a few minutes and it blew over so we hit the trail. We had a few minutes of light sprinkles during the ride but that was it. It was Aarons first time on the XR100, he liked it but prefers the power and suspension of his KX100. The mighty WR400 overlooks Marron Valley Aaron really liked the view of the river here. So many beautiful places here, I kept wanting to take pictures and the boy just wanted to ride! My son liked this area since the border fence was only a few feet away. Right before this picture he was standing in the USA and peed across the fence into Mexico. Illegal urination immigration? California Live Oaks, nice little group of them here. My camera battery died about this point and I didn't notice it. There was a big puddle and I had Aaron ride through it to make a big spray of water and a cool picture. The camera didn't get the picture and he got soaked in cold, muddy water! He was hoping to at least get a picture out of it. We also didn't get to take pics of the abandoned mine we visited before loading up the bikes and heading home. He was kind of hesitant to go riding today, but afterward he was pretty excited and wants to go riding again this week. The rain made it a great ride with no dust and excellent traction. It was nice to have some father/son bonding time and enjoy a great ride together, hopefully some memories we'll share later. Shut up and ride!!

Hi, welcome aboard. I ride Otay Truck Trail once a month or more so if you want to check it out let me know. Tom

Hmmmm, looks like my kegerator would fit in there.

I have a skid plate in my garage that goes to something, what exactly I'm not sure. I know it doesn't fit a DR350, DRZ400, WR400, XR650L, KLR650, XR100, KX100, TE450, or CRF230. Maybe it fits a XT600? If it does, I'll make you a heck of a deal on it.

Great photos, looks like you had a lot of fun. How was the track prep? Seems like I've heard a lot of complaints lately about Amago not being prepped well, lots of rocks, etc. I am thinking of taking my son there sometime next week, it's been a long time since I've been to the track. Tom

I'm on leave next week, no work! Anyone want to go on a ride during the week somewhere? Maybe hit up Corral Canyon, McCain Valley or Otay Truck Trail. Let me know. Tom

I don't like riding alone either. Lets meet at 0900 @ the Dulzura Cafe if that works for everyone. If anyone doesn't know where that is, just PM me and I'll help you out. Tom

I'm always willing to ride with anyone. Otay area is pretty easy so you should be fine. Tom

Good to see another KLR rider here, you guys make me feel like I'm on a 125 two stroke or something! Hope to see you on the trail. Tom

My wife rides(DRZ400S), as does my 13 year old daughter(CRF230) and 10 year old son(KX100). Now that I think of it, my family is cool!

One of those Yamaha PW50's like we saw near the campground should fit you just fine. Nice meeting you and riding with you, welcome to the group. Tom

Unfortunately I cannot make it to the meeting since I will be working this weekend, but wish I could be there. As far as comments go, I would just like to point out that riding off road is one of the ways that my family gets together. I teach my children to be responsible in the outdoors, every time we go out we pick up trash and try to leave the area better than it was when we got there. I worry that when my kids have their own family they won't be able to enjoy riding due to land closures/mis-management. Thanks, Tom

I had a great time, you couldn't ask for a better group of riders on such a nice day. I had so much fun I didn't take many pictures but I did get a couple. Stopping on Kernan Cycle Trail for a bit. KLR conquered! Tom

Yep, we do the same job except I'm USN and most of my background is helicopters. AMH "A" school in Millington, Tennessee. Tom

Just got done building this, it's pedal power but I think it's kinda cool.

The $$$$ that they charge per quart? I honestly don't know, but I do know that a lot of older Honda street bikes specify in the manual to use ATF for the fork oil. In aviation hydraulic systems, we use the same fluid for the operating system and for the struts.

Hey Ron! Are you the guy from craigslist I sent an email to about this site? Hope to see you out on the trail soon. Tom

There are a lot of work-arounds to get by the need for special tools. You will need a damper rod holding tool to get the damper rod out, but if you have an impact wrench you can do it without the tool. You can also make a damper rod holding tool out of some all-thread or a broom stick. A seal driver is the best way to install the seals once you have everything apart, but you can use a piece of PVC pipe to take care of that, or use your old fork seal. I'm sure plenty of people have done fork seals on this board and would help you out. If you are anywhere close to Lemon Grove I'll give you a hand. Tom

They take the water from Lake Morena to top off the lakes closer to San Diego since those lakes get more visitors, at least that's what I heard when I was camping at Lake Morena this fall.