cmbthumper

My last ride about a month ago in Orosco Valley ALL the gates were closed including the horse gates. Sucks to take an hour to gear up and not be able to play in the dirt. Pop suckered me into a Spur of the moment ride today in Orosco Valley. Entered from the Lake Dixon gate which was open and went up to the Glider Port/Pines. Windy AF so only took in the views for a few minutes. Lot's of runners, hikers, Jeeps, 2wd van and about 20 Asian tourists at the top taking pics. Saw no dirt bikes till we headed down around 11am then bumped into two (looked like KTM 350's) then two more at the bottom and two more at the old dump. ALL Gates were open and surprised the first one was as well coming into the valley. Going to try that next weekend. Anyway, is this were we would post "Sightenings" to see if they were members and would want to ride some other time?

Welcome. Hope to join you on a ride in the future.

Long story short is i had surgery and was released by the Doc on Friday. I can ride "cautiously" and haven't ridden since just after Fathers day. I will be twisting the throttle this morning with my Dad and it has been so long it will be like ridding a 100cc, slow and boring. Leaving my house at 10am and can meet at the 2nd gate in Orosco Valley 10:15am-ish if anyone wants to join. Plan to attempt the Pines if the gate is open and possibly do Lusardi (3rd Gate) if i can. Will make a better organized time and meeting place in the future.

Yeah my apologies on the short notice. Was a bust as both gates were closed so just ran Black Canyon for a bit and went home shortly thereafter. An hour ride is better than no ride any day of the week. We did see guys going through the Horse Gate part but I didn't want to get busted just yet. Planning a desert day trip maybe next weekend.

My doctors won't release me until Thanksgiving weekend otherwise I would join. Ride safe and have fun all. The "Hero" dirt should be nice.

Thanks and agreed. Way way beyond my skill level but hey why not. Will be putting on my Kenda DT and Shinko 216 with Tubliss in a few weeks. Recovering from surgery so haven't ridden since my Farthers Day ride but hope to around Turkey day. PM me your info and we will get the local guys together. Thank you. For some reason just started getting notifications but glad i am now. As i mentioned above i have been down for a bit but look out for a lot of invites from me and me joining rides. As a SDAR noob i will occasionally goof up until the rules sink in and totally understand the explanation. I appreciate that.

Ignore the grammar 😀😀 Good Morning/Evening. My name is Mike. I got back into dirt bikes in October 2018 with my last ride in 1998. The reason was to squash any hectic work weeks and have some fun even for just a few hours. After a ton of research and a budget in mind, it came down to two choices for me. A Suzuki DRZ400 or a Honda XR400. I knew I wanted to street ride to the trails so both had to be plated. The XR was at the top of the list since I loved my XR600 and the bottom since it did not come with e-start. I was in my car getting ready to see a near new Suzuki DRZ400S and decided to check CL one last time. A very nice looking/reading 00’ Honda XR400 just posted a few hours earlier. Only a few plated appeared over the two months I was looking so I called and went to look at it. When I arrived, I was shocked as I didn’t read the CL ad to well. Sure, it had a plate but it also had an E-Start and was done with the TRX crank so it still retained the kickstart. Took a test ride and was too nice to pass up so I bought it. Funny thing was that it was a package deal and came with a CA Green Sticker 01’ Suzuki DRZ400E that looked like it had been started, rode down the trail and that’s it. It wasn’t plated and not possible in CA any longer so I figured I could offload it later. That was the thought anyway. I rode the snot out of the XR400 for a month and had a checklist of things I wanted to change/upgrade and do a yearly maintenance on it. The PO had done most of the yearly and while I was confident, I needed to do it myself for peace of mind. While working on my XR400, my dad came back from vacation to check it out and really liked the “Package Deal” I had gotten. My dad taught me to ride and though we rode together on the street he hasn’t been on the dirt since 1989. He asked what my plan was for the Suzuki DRZ400E and I said I was going to sell it to recoup some $$. I saw the body language and the look in his eyes. I handed him the key to the Suzuki DRZ400E and said if you can get it plated it is yours for $1. While it can’t be done in CA, I knew he had a vacation home in AZ so a few weeks later an AZ plate came for the Suzuki DRZ400E. Now, my pops is my riding partner. Fast forward a few months and the XR400 went down a rabbit hole of maintenance and upgrades. The more I read and learned about the XR400 and what I wanted in the bike, the more it got taken apart and changed. Just after Christmas while working on the Honda XR400 I got frustrated and went for a cool down drive. Later that night my 19’ KTM 500 EXC-F was delivered. The month I spent on the XR400 was an absolute perfect experience. Will my KTM 500 replace the XR400? No way, ever. My XR400 is a keeper for life and it will just take longer to finish. He! He! A lot has changed since 98’ in riding gear so I am now at the point of buying riding gear and upgrading to what I like and the level of protection I need and can afford. I am way out of shape and then way way way out of riding shape so still can only manage about 30mi before I am just pooped. I wish I could ride more often but work and life see to that doesn’t happen as much as I would like. A few months ago, I met a local rider on the trail and he just like some of us can only ride a few times when time allows. I am always looking for a ride and to meet other riders. While I don’t get to ride as often as I would like, I always want to ride so hope I can join you guys sometime. I also ride an Aprilia Dorsoduro 750 on the street so if anyone wants to street ride, I am good with that too. I am not in any way a knee dragger but do like to ride.

Wait a minute. You two passed each other and then realized "He is by himself" and neither turned around to go ride back to the dude for a friendly chat? Well at least you now kinda know each other for future ride plans. While I do it, riding alone sucks and I've chased guys down just to shake a fellow riders hand.

oooh a new place to ride without Enviro dorks complaining. Just dirt bike guys maintaining a trail for now and future generations. Congrats on the purchase.

Wish I could but curious, do you camp, hotel or house/cabin rental?

Wow. Sorry to read about your crash. Having broke and bruised many a rib, it sucks to have to go through that pain and man does it last months and months. One thing is for sure though is that they heal and you just become a Smarter rider afterwards. I hope you heal quickly. 9 out of every 10 rides is with my 73yo dad. Enjoy every second you can.

#3 is the most fun and mix of street and dirt. Don't have one but could be done easily on a 1190 size bike.

Hate, Hate, Hate guys or girls like this. Being a social media D-bag, just get the Long-Lat of where the photos were taken and charge him the full $5k for every 1ft he was in the wrong.

Lusardi (Gate 2 on right side) is also a nice quick up and back but no view. If your not "Feeling it" for rocky terrain, the fast paced flow of Lusardi is fun. I am sure it will never happen but 1st gate on the left was a nice place to ride and explore

Yup i am officially infected with the small cc bikes. Had to get a smoker this time. Just my test ride and will do a walk around video with more bike specific details after i reg and insure it next week. Oh man are these little bikes fun fun fun. 1974 Yamaha RS100 Test Ride

Big Thumbs up. Like that a lot. Looks and sounds awesome. 👍

Now that sounds like a lot of fun. That is a great riding shot. I was looking for a Yamaha AT1 and above but couldn't find one tin my price range that didn't need a ton of work. Will get one though. I would join that ride for sure. At this time i was looking for a "project" but those Trail 90's were also on the list. Most were basket cases that i saw and big $ when they were not. Amazing how much a CT70 is these days.

Needed a grocery getter / errand runner so I decided to get a cheap moped. Being 6-1" and 210lbs I needed more cc than just a 50cc. After some r search i ended up buying this instead. Much more "Me" than a new scoot. Picking it up on Saturday. 1971 Honda CB100 https://photos.app.goo.gl/2em7E4mTBQ2wodkb6

Appreciate the comments. Beach cruiser is right. I think topped out at 51mph on flat ground. Wanted a little 150cc under moped type bike to get groceries, parts or ?? around town and have a little fun doing it. While the new stuff is appealing, I like oldies but goodies too. At 6-1" 210lbs it is now officially as fast as a moped. Probably got a few stares but I'm sure they saw the grin so it didn't matter. Fun little bike for sure. Stupid Gopro cut off again so lost most of the walk around vid. Time for a new one I guess. While other CB100's I looked at are in better shape they were also much much more $$ than I paid. Had very minor fender, exhaust, and mirror rust pitting but a couple swipes of alum foil and cleaned up to my satisfaction. The F/R turn signals have very bad pitting but still shine and blink so they will stay for now. The alum forks and other alum will just get a good clean and some mothers polish and call it good. Basically, not restoring just cleaning and riding it.

Walk Around and first ride vids. A little tuning and clutch work but fun little bike.

He He. La Jolla and Rancho Skin your Pen*s are the best

^^ Nice. Hope to have that kinda fun. I am r searching how to post a pic here and will do that soon.

Which Shinko's? Getting ready for some new shoes and researching what sticks best and lasts a decent amount of time.

Was it that tiny Boulder at the cement water holding tank? I can see locking the gate for vehicles because most people don't read if they just put a temp warning sign. If it is that Boulder, that's been there since at least March and a Toyota Prius could move it out of the way. Gotta think of the bobble head peeps I guess. Someday ill join n you guys.

Ha Ha Good one. Not gonna happen with the KTM Spaghetti stick.