curayjusdad

Well......Just wanted to say thanks for all the help and all on this site. My family and I will be moving in mid-May to Washington State (Richland/Pasco/Kenniwick) as I start a new job at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in June. My wife is a native San Diegian and I have lived here since 1988. The kids know nothing but living in paradise, so they are in for a big surprise. However, we are excited about moving to a small town with a lower cost of living. I am looking forward to exploring new riding areas in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Canada , but I'm also disappointed that I haven't been able to do all the riding I wanted to here in old San Diego and Southern California. I have only been at this for about a year (minus 3 months with broken arm) and have met some nice people here on the site and out riding. I will never forget the Bass Lake Ride of 2010 that I heard about here on this site and decided to go up and ride. It was an adventure for sure. Late last year, I posted a short ride report about me and my son's trip to Ocotillo Wells for his first riding experience. He got a real boost from the encouraging comments from some on the site. It was great. There are several on this site I did not have a chance to meet (e.g. Family rides with BikeSlut and tntmo) that I had hoped to ride with. I did meet others (Schwinn, Pasta Pilot, dsfox, steelrain, and socalhodaka) that made me feel welcome and supported. And I never got a chance to go on a Crawdaddy ride. I guess I haven't lived yet.... I hope that I can continue to participate from afar on this site. It has been a great resource. I also will look for new resources up in that area. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to all. P.S. Sorry about all the mushiness. I think the stress of moving is getting to me.

Yeah...These fellows had an unregistered quad, a rider with an suspended drivers license, and a rider without his drivers license. I'm not sure if the quad was towed away or not, but the two guys with expired or no driver's licenses were starting to get hostile about the way that they were treated. I thought the BLM officer, while strict, handled himself pretty well. I was also confused because those quads were larger than 40" and I thought only ATVs < 40" were allowed at Lark Canyon. The BLM officer didn't mention that at all.

Thanks for the report and the pictures....The weather was just perfect. We made it out at about 1 pm and rode around the staging area mostly. It was me and a friend and each of has one our kids for a total of 4 of us. We were riding DRZs, CRF80 and a TTR70. It was our first time riding in the area. My son really enjoyed riding his 80 around the staging area and the trails near the day-use and campgrounds. I did a little exploring to the south and west of the parking area, but not to far out. No pictures, just fond memories. Would have stopped to say hi, but don't really know who was whom. Maybe next time. P.S. We inadvertently parked next to the guys with the quads. When they got back to the parking area they had a little trouble with the BLM officers. Luckily, one of them had his head on pretty straight and kept things from getting out of hand. I was worried there for a few minutes.

This is a great site for GPS file work. I've used it several times to view tracks downloaded or sent to me. It is also a good site to convert between different formats as Roger has noted. I didn't realize others were using it. Cool

I picked up a used 2007 CRF 80 off of Craigslist back in November for my son. It had a harrrrrd time starting at the seller's home, so I was able to get him to knock some off the price figuring that I could clean the carb and get it going. Well, I cleaned the carb back in November and we went for one ride in the desert. At that time, it was having a hard time idling. I had to adjust up and down the idle screw. It also had a hard time settling down to idle (slow to go from revving to idle). We garaged the bike after the ride in November and I got it out to ride last weekend. It showed the same symptoms of high/low idle as it got warm and ridden. I'm wondering if I should clean and rebuild the carb for second time (being more thorough) or should I consider taking the top off and looking at the valves to see if they need adjustment or replacement. It's acting like the throttle needle/slider apparatus is sticking (the needle is inside a sliding cylinder that moves up and down in the carb body when the throttle is turned). The idle screw seems to adjust the height of the sliding cylinder. I'm looking for advice on which seems the most likely course of action to smooth out the idle problem. Clean and rebuild the carb or do a valve job. Thanks for your help. Rob.. P.S. other than the idle problem (and being a little hard to start), there are no other obvious problems. No smoking. The spark plug looks like the engine is running a little rich (dark sooty/damp).

It has trouble when cold. Hot starting is pretty good for me. My son has less leg strength, so harder for him, but he is learning. When cold, it will not idle well and I have to futz around with the choke.

All, Thanks for the input and suggestions. I will be doing a more thorough carb clean and rebuild first and then checking to see if the valves are tight. The spark plug has two rides on it, so that should be good. This may be my Sunday project. Rob..

I'll be at the SX with my son and his friend and I'm so jealous that I won't be able to ride in; "STRONG SOUTHERLY 850 MB WINDS WILL ENHANCE OROGRAPHIC LIFT ALONG THE SOUTHERN SLOPES OF THE MTNS" Not sure what I would wear in that weather, but I'm sure it will be interesting. Have fun and stay safe.

A call to all you experienced desert family ride organizers . I am taking my son (12) out to ride this week with his buddy (11). My son has only ridden a couple of times and only once with his CRF80. His buddy has never ridden. I have scrounged up a TTR-90 for the buddy to ride. We are headed out to camp, ride and hike. I'd like somewhere with an open space that isn't too sandy to get them both comfortable. Then I will be taking them on some short trail rides, preferably without too much sand. I took my son out to OW in November and the sand gave him a hard time, especially with getting the clutch/shift thing going. I have never been to Superstition and only out to OW 3 or 4 times. Any advice is welcome. Rob.. P.S. If anyone is wants to join, let me know.

Ok...I just realized that we will be tent camping. Not sure of the trees/bushes around Superstition Mt., so OW it is . At least there are pit toilets scattered around. I'll be heading to Pole Line Rd. in the morning. I was looking forward to Superstition and I'm a little bummed. I guess I need to speak to the better half about getting a toy hauler. Thanks for all the input....

Thanks all for the advice. Schwinn, I've been out to Pole Line Rd. once and that is where I was thinking to go, if we chose OW. Sounds like it will be Superstition Mt this weekend, unless I get a late start on Friday. Wish me luck packing tomorrow night. I haven't camped or ridden since November after breaking my arm. Got the OK from the Dr. on Monday to start riding again. I will be running around like a chicken with head cut-off tomorrow evening after work.

We use camera's very similar to these at our office in Sorrento Valley to monitor the interior doorways and common areas. The quality is pretty good...Not great, but good. I've used the system to help someone who misplaced his calculator while working in the common area and it worked fine for that task. You can definitely recognize the person in the video, day or night. The software runs on a dedicated WinXP box and is pretty easy to use. It is accessible remotely. Good luck in your search.

My wife wants to get rid of our TimeWarner bill for TV and phone too. We have been doing Netflix via our Wii for a few months and really like it. For X-mas I'm getting her the Roku for even more streaming content. I like the Martog solution and will look into some of these parts/pieces (especially a DVR solution). I don't have a Mac Mini laying around, but I do have a iMac that might work. Thanks for starting the thread.

Sorry to hear about your incident. Feel for you as I'm suffering with ya. I broke my right wrist (small fracture on distal end of radius) on T-day weekend. Feels fine and I tried to convince the Dr that I was good to go after 2 weeks in the cast. Of course he didn't buy it, so in my second cast until Jan 3rd. I break my wrist and my bike is fine to ride for another 50 miles . Rob..

well spelled.....with one hand Spell check...

Thanksgiving Sunday afternoon in Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Inexperience on the Drop by the Slot ended up with a broken or sprained hand/wrist (wrong line - was on the left). Lesson: preview blind corner with long drop before attempting. Slow does not always mean instantaneous speed - it means patience to me.

Great. Will be sleeping in a tent.. Throwin' in the 0-degree sleeping bags and an extra blanket. Have fun, be safe and we will see you Saturday afternoon.

Tom, Things still look good for coming out Saturday mid-morning (with a push to leave earlier in the morning). I've PM'd you to get your contact information. Hope to you and others out there this weekend.

Great pics and report. Looks like the weather was not too bad compared to the rain and mess on this side of the mountains.

Beautiful.. Got to get out there one day...

Haven't met yet, but that's one awesome story. Humbled by your achievements.

My son and I are also considering going out to Superstition for Saturday afternoon and Sunday. Not sure exactly the plans yet. Will depend on what the boss (wife) says I have on the honey-do list. I've never been out there to ride, so not sure where to setup camp and do some beginner riding with my son. He's only ridden once out at Ocotillo a few weekends ago. Does it get crowded out there on T-day weekend? Are there some areas that will be newbie friendly yet not too crowded? It would be nice to meetup, so let me know if anyone is interested to hang with the new kids.

Count me....I'd like to learn about camping with the bike. The possibilities of remote camping when riding seem endless. The pictures from KKug are just too good to pass up. Comfortable to me is a sleeping bag on a ground cloth and eating bagels in the morning (but I do like my coffee). Can you heat water on the exhaust pipe ?

Welcome back. It's at SD BMW at 6 pm.

My 11-year old son and I had been invited to join some friends and their kids for a post-NCY spaghetti dinner ride on Sunday morning. I'd been talking with my son for about a year about getting him a dirt bike. So I picked up a barely running CRF 80F from a guy out in Campo on Friday afternoon. It looked in great shape and didn't smoke or anything when it was running. He said that it hadn't been ridden much in the last couple of years and was kind of "cold-blooded" (that should have been the first clue). I figured a carb clean would get it going. So home it came with me. Tommy and I spent a few hours on Saturday madly tearing down the carb and using Chem-Tool in all the nooks and crannies, plus an old tooth brush. Luckily for me Motoworld had the gasket kit and the better half plus kids were in El Cajon just next door Saturday afternoon, so an easy purchase. By 7 pm, the bike was starting nicely and idling much better. With that bit of good news, a very excited 11 year old helped me load the bikes on the trailer, throw the gear in the back of the SUV, and fill up the food bag and water bottles. Up at 5 am and out the door by 5:30, we made it to OW by 7:30 this morning. After a few pleasantries with our friends, it was time for work. The CRF was unloaded and Tommy was suited up. He's only ridden on a motorcycle one time when we took a family dirt riding class about a year ago from the Coach2Ride ladies. They had him on an automatic, so today was the first day with a clutch. After about hour, he had it going pretty good (getting to third gear sometimes). Here are a few pictures of him doing his best Ryan Dungy moves at the "track". After a short trail rides around the camp, he and I headed out for a longer ride down a wash and up over a couple of small hills. It was great watching him negotiate the obstacles and work out his lines. He showed great patience even after stalling it for the hundredth time and having to kick-start the bike for want seemed to him like the millionth time. It was a lot harder and more complicated than he thought. Finally near the end of the trail ride, he looked at me and said, "Dad, let's head to the truck. I'm done for the day". He said it with a big smile and not with a sound of defeat, but a sound of someone who'd worked hard and appreciated his efforts. He can't wait to go back and neither can I. I hope we can find time again soon for some fun. Pictures from the trail. A short interview..