Hayseed

As stated above, there are plenty of opportunities to bail. I have rode the last three dashes. Day one is longer and has more sand than day two. Day two starts with Pinyon Mountain. Pinyon Mountain has three sections that may intimidate a first timer, but there is usually a pack of riders at those areas to coach you through, or drag you up/down. If you're in doubt; go ride Pinion Mountain with some friends before you sign up for Sunday. My most memorable riding experience EVER was riding the washes east of Pole Line when there was at least 6" of water in them. The bow wake from my front tire would blow my feet off the pegs if I put too much steering input into the bars. Sign up, pray for rain, and don't worry, you'll make it through. All these comments become moot if Randy switches things up in February.

FYI: I just bought my son a 2008 Husky TE 250. The bike had Bullet Proof Designs radiator guards on it when we got it. Prior to us getting the bike, it had taken a pretty hard shot on the right side and the guard was bent. I called Bullet Proof to see if I could get a replacement and one of their engineers, Nate Scott, said "just send us the old one and we'll replace it". They had to make one for us but they had it heading our way within a week. They would have anodized it too, but I wanted to get the bike trail ready so I told them to just send it out bright. These guys were great! Worth a look. https://www.bulletproofdesigns.com/

My thoughts are with them, and their families. I can recall watching as the Cedar Fire bore down on our neighborhood back in '03. Just when I thought I would have to grab the dog and make a run for it, a group of CDF guys showed up (as casual and professional as could be), and saved our neighborhood's collective ass. Those guys stayed on our street for 24 hours, and didn't leave until the fire was history. So many of us take these people for granted. Who on earth is going to come and help you when the Santa Ana wind is blowing horizontal tracers across your property, the vinyl fences are melting, the vis is down to about 30', and the only breathable air is 300' over your head? The answer: A firefighter. Probably a young one. Thanks guys! You will not be forgotten!

Didn't see this in time.

Ken, It's not law (yet), and I don't think you're missing anything. The only real laws/rules west of Pole Line are "don't run over any vegetation" "wear a helmet", and "don't be drunk". I completely agree with you that the area west of Pole Line is set aside for people to basically go where they want to, but unfortunately that appears to be what got the girls over at PEER and DPC all spun up. My take is they are upset about all Off Road vehicle activity on BOTH sides of Pole Line. My overarching point was that I would like "people" (especially those people who are trying to close down my kid's primary riding area) to know that I am attempting to teach my kids to be responsible users and to respect the established rules within the park, and maybe even operate in a somewhat environmentally conservative manner. (If the organizers over at PEER and DPC have any semblence of intelligence, I'm sure they're looking at all the Off Road enthusiast sites for ammunition for their persistent litigation.) I understand that the west side of OW has been set aside as a wide open area, and I defend eveyone's right to use that area within the rules, (we've all paid for it with GS fees anyway) but I know the power of the environmental lobby, and if I can convey to our adversaries that most of the people who use OWSRVA are responsible operators, then maybe my grandkids will have a shot at riding up Shell Reef. The accessible part of Shell Reef of course :)/>/>/>/>/>

Here are the names and phone numbers of the representatives for the DPC and PEER. Contact: Terry Weiner [Desert Protective Council] (619) 342-5524; Karen Schambach [PEER] (530) 333-2545; Kirsten Stade [PEER] (202) 265-7337 Please be respectful when offering your insight and suggestions on how best to educate and encourage all OWSVRA users to adopt the "Tread Lightly" philosophy. I personnaly feel that these groups are not going to be happy until there is zero access to the desert. Its up to us, the regular park users, to respect the current laws governing the area and encourage our fellow users to do the same. I ride OW regularly with my kids and I am constantly reminding them how important it is to keep the park clean and to stay on the trail. I think Terry, Karen and Kirsten's interests might be better served if they pushed to reinstate the 4 ranger positions that the green stickered users are paying for and not getting.

We rode the CORE 4 Kids ride this past weekend. The kids were on TTR 125s and a KTM 65 so we were a bit limited on range. We rode the Red Canyon Trail from North Glamis Hot Springs up to Chiriaco Summit before lunch. What a great riding area! The weather was perfect. The camping at North Glamis Hot Springs was very nice, and the tracks and organization by CORE were excellent. Everyone enjoyed the diversity of terrain and the sightseeing opportunities. Well done Crawdaddy! We're in for next year. Some pics. RR Xing at Bradshaw Trail Salt Creek Trestle After 50+ miles on the TTR.

A few more pics from DD 2013. I rode with Afry and BillP on Saturday, BillP on Sunday. Thanks to Randy and the crew of volunteers! I had a blast. The Husky laid down and refused to get up.

I heard that the gas station in Seeley was being considered, just east of Plaster City.

Zancat and I met Bikeslut, The Oracle, 1K Step, XR650lNoob, Kato (I think), Spank, BillP, Doctor Z, and two other riders for a run through Ocotillo Wells and Borrego Springs. We did the Goat Trail, Buttes Pass, the Slot and San Felipe Wash as a group, then Zancat, The Oracle, BillP, Doctor Z, and I took off for Borrego Springs via Milpais and Fonts Point. The Borrego riders did about 82 miles by my GPS. Sorry if I left anyone out of the list. My memory is almost as bad as my riding skills. Some amateur images of the day's activities. Zancat and 1KSteps

I'll edit that caption.

I have two TTR 125s. My sons ride them. The older TTRs have Japanese-built engines. The newer bikes have Brazilian engines. The name of the country of origin is cast into the case by the kick-starter I think. I have one Japanese bike and one Brazilian bike. Our Japanese-built TTR runs sweet. The Brazilian bike runs good but it just sounds a little cheaper at idle than the Japanese bike. Maybe its the quality of the alloy in the castings, I dont know. Both the bikes are blast-proof, and easy to maintain. My 12 and 15 year olds do the oil changes and air filters with a little help. The bikes have proven to be great trail bikes. I hear the frames will break if you jump them excessively, but my kids aren't into big air. Loosen the lever clamps slightly before your kid goes riding. When they fall, the levers will break if the clamp can't rotate or slide on the handlebar.

A few more sounds great. I hope I don't slow you down too much! I already have a site reserved at Butterfield for the trailer. Looks like you've got your Google earth to GPX issue solved.

Arne, KML should be an option when you "save as" the file. I use a shareware program called GPSBabel. It works very well converting from KML to GPX. I guess it's me and you for the Dash. Too bad that Arne C. has to travel that weekend. Call if you want more info on GPSBabel. Mike

My wife liked going last year and just hung out at the campground. I think she plans to go again. My wife and kids have hung out at camp the last two dashes. They like it. My kids attempted to buy up all the ice cream from the Butterfield store last year. They failed, but plan on making another assault this Feb.

Good post! Interesting results. This info is enough to push me toward trying the ATF-Acetone brew. Interesting; Kano Aero-Kroil has a pink tint to it it. I wonder how close in composition it is to the ATF and Acetone mix? Thanks, Mike

I took the family to the Serrano campground on the north shore of Big Bear Lake this week. In between fishing, bicycle riding, and relaxing, a friend and I got in 1 day of riding. This was my first DS ride in the Big Bear area. The weather was perfect. We rode the following route: Up 2N09 from Hwy 38 to the Bellvill cabin at Holcomb Valley, then west along 3N16 toward 3N17, the White Mountain Trail. We traversed White Mountain via 3N17 all the way to 4N16 (Grapevine Canyon). I (being a 51 year-old bench racer) was secretly relieved that we chose the westbound travel direction to traverse this trail. There is a part of the trail just west of the summit (Half-Mile Hill) that would have been a bit of a challenge had we elected to ride it eastbound. From the junction of 4N16 and 3N17 we headed southeast to 3N14 all the way to Fawnskin and lunch. After lunch we went back out on 2N09, 2N71 (lake views) and 3N14 with the intent of tackling the single track 1W17. After failing to make it to the top of a hill of broken rock and loose silt on our first attempt, I easily talked my friend into more sight-seeing along 3N08 and 3N16. The trails in the area we rode are all identified with signage, either green, blue or black diamond (the maps identify the routes as green, blue and red). All of the green trails are well-maintained fire roads. The blue trails we encountered were slightly less maintained two-tracks, and the black diamond trails were definitely more challenging, but nothing impossible. Being a first-timer up there, I offer this info to those who haven't gone yet. It's a great place to ride and we saw maybe 2% of the total riding area. We're going back for 1W17 and the John Bull trail in a month.

Unfortunately the fishing wasn't too good. The wind kicked up and the boys lost interest soon after.

I wouldn't stop suing the owner and operators of that business until they were all living under a freeway overpass somewhere. Possible negligence on the vehicle maintenance, and even worse; the incredibly poor judgement demonstrated by the instructor when a novice motorist/student identifies a potentially fatal brake system failure. These driving instructors should be experts in the field of safe vehicle operations. This is why God invented lawyers. Put the company out of business. Hope your son is OK.

We're heading up to Big Bear Lake tomorrow. We stay at Serrano on the north shore. It's a nice campground and offers many tent sites and some hook-up sites. It has showers, heads and a small store close by. Reservations aren't too hard to get. It's civilized enough for the wife and kids. This will be my first trip up there with the KTM, we're planning on doing the John Bull Trail and White Mountain on Wednesday so I'll post up some pics when I get back. I have been researching trails in that area and most of the trails appear to require a plated vehicle. Is your son's bike plated? There was a recent post here on SDAR about a group that may have camped in Holcomb Valley, Hanna Flats or Big Pine Flats (more primative camping) which is right in the center of the North Shore trail system. Look up that old post. Also, see this link to a map of the area. http://backcountry4x4.com/BigBearAreaTrailMap.html As far as fishing the lake, get a guide or a boat and fish the northwest end for trout. West of Grout Bay/Fawnskin. You may do OK off the shore, but its getting pretty hot. They just stocked the lake and held a big trout tournament up there last week. We limited last July on Panther Martins/spoons trolled between 10' and 15'. I do not know of any spots to fish other than the lake itself. Access to the lake is way too easy, so there are many people fishing on the weekends. I think the Sierras would be a better candidate for ride-in fishing. Good luck, and watch for a post from me next weekend. Mike

Randy and all the Volunteers, Thanks again for a great ride. We only rode Saturday, but covered over 200 miles. My buddy Arne and I rode together until lunch, where we met up with Marlon (his buddy had bailed with a slight foot injury). Throughout the remainder of the day, I managed to impede the progress of both Arne and Marlon with my conservative pace. We pulled into Butterfield at 4:30, very happy to have made the entire easy track without issue. Bikes ran great, lunch was great, Saturday dinner was perfect. Next year we are planning on riding both days. I carried a camera last year and didn't take one picture. This year I tried to remember to snap a few, but it appears that my memory skills are even worse than my riding skills. I took 6, four of them suck. Here's the two that are decent. Thanks again!

Thanks Mike. If I completely crap out on other options, can I take you up on that at a later date? Let me know, any week night works. email me if you want to do it: mjsutter@cox.net

You could enlarge the hole and weld another nut into the enlarged hole from the outside. Chamfer the outside/peg side circumference of the nut to allow more room for weld material. Once welded, grind/sand the weld smooth and repaint it. The bracket appears to be thick enough to handle the heat needed to do the welding. Done properly, it would be a heck of alot stronger than the single bolt set-up that you had for for a while. 1 nut 1 drill bit (sized to max diameter of nut) 1 MIG or TIG welder (or a friend that has one) 1 angle grinder 1 rattle can of silver paint If you were in Ramona, I'd help you out. Mike

Veys Powersports in El Cajon. I know its not NC but last time I was there they had a rack full of Dakar pants, and jackets. Plenty of different sizes to try on. Call them and see what they have. It might be worth a trip. 619-442-0678

Another local San Diegan who recalls the Viva Broncos! Cool. A guy at my High School had one of their Broncos back in 1978. Dark Blue with bright yellow eight spoked Jackman wheels, I loved that truck. I have considered recreating that particular Bronco many times. After seeing your post, I'm dreaming about it again. Mike