DigDug

Maybe I'll take the XR650L out there and pretend like I'm a trials rider!!! Yeah - I can double-blip a 350+ lb dualsport.... NOT !!!! Actually, that might be a good half day ride - Hmmm....

Dang - looks like we got our riding in just in time. I thought the rain would've helped things. The FS website confirms it. From: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/cleveland/fire/for...eme/index.shtml And further down the page: Looks like I got my exploring in on the Palomar Divide road just in time also. Hmm... Anyone up for the desert this weekend??? I think it might still be open...

Okay, well maybe it seemed to me that nothing significant happened because I was too busy trying to keep up with you two. Although my trick for catching you on road back worked (you didn't see me by your back tire while you were resting up at the campground - did you???). Next time Wheat Grass gets the 0 PSI handicap... :heat: Replace the whole bike huh? What are you going to do with the old one? you could always give it away... :heat:

Went on Sunday, 2 Sep - going again tomorrow!!! Man, family plans are getting in the way of my holiday weekend riding! It looks like Jr and I have tomorrow to ourselves so we'd like to try a little of that riding stuff. I figure we've got to get an early start to get some riding in and beat the heat so we're going to hit the closest green sticker place to the homestead - Pine Valley. Right now, the plan is to get there pretty close to sunrise (6:30am - ouch) ride the forest road to Kernan Cycle trail over to 4 corners. From there, we'll se how we feel and if we went to hit some of the harder trails over there. If it's too warm, maybe just spur meadow up to the tower and check out the Espinoza trail (as much of it as is open). All green sticker trails so bring your dirtbikes if you've got 'em(still not red sticker season up there)! The Weather Channel has it hitting 90 degrees by noon, so I hope to be in the trucks heading back by then. I'm sure everyone knows where the Pine Valley staging area is, but if not take I-8 east to the Pine Valley exit. Turn south on Pine Valley Rd and you can't miss it. You'll need a National Forest Adventure Pass to park anywhere around there - there were tickets being handed out a few weekends ago. We'll be in the black Silverado with the KTM and Kawasaki in the back. Anyone up for some dirt biking??

No pictures, nothing really significant happened - so no need for a ride report. Bikeslut, Jr and I had a great 50 miles today from Pine Valley to Corral Canyon, down the Espinoza trail, and around a few of the OHV trails in the area. Thanks for tagging along bikeslut, great ride! :heat:

No takers for today, but we went anyways. Nice cool start in the early morning air. Pine Valley staging area and the first few miles of the road were actually a little wet. We rode the road, down the Kernan Cycle trail, up the other side of the Kernan Cycle trail (nice looking sign there SDAR'ers) to four corners. Down the trail to the campground, up Spur Meadow cycle trail to the road. Down as far as you can go down the Espinoza trail. Back up to the tower. Back down the road to the campground. Started up Bronco Peak (yes the hard way) and Jr broke a brake lever (even though he had barkbusters). Back Kernan and to the truck. Not too hot actually, since we kept moving. Lots of cool shade to take breaks on. Anyways, I just got told by my wife that Jr and I have another kitchen pass for tomorrow!!! We were thinking of doing the same thing, anybody else riding tomorrow (3 Sep) have a better place to go (has to be green sticker for Jr - sorry)? Anyone want to tag along at Pine Valley with us? We were thinking of another early ride to beat some heat, but are open to anything...

I've been thinking about doing this - if nothing more than to learn something myself and help others out. I took the BRC, ERC, and DBS courses from the guys here on Penleton and think they run a pretty good outfit. I've read the FAQ's on the website, but have a couple questions if you happen to know. I might try and see if I can boodogle my command into sponsoring me for the course too (I can hope can't I?). Do you already have to be an MSF coach (street) or can you just do the dirtbike rider coach prep? I might do the street thing in the future, but I'd hate to miss this opportunity to do the dirt course. What sort of experience do they look for when you go to take the course? Is showing them you can ride and telling them you've been riding dirt for a couple years sufficient? I suppose if you can ride the test, you'll be good to go... By the way, where do you teach? On your own or through an organization? How do you handle insurance if you teach your own classes? Sorry to bug ya so much, but this sounds like a great opportunity to get smarter, safer, and help other riders do the same.

Dan, click on over to this website: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sanbernardino/recreation/ohv/ and print out the two maps for the "Mountaintop Ranger District". Crab Flats is depicted on the first one and all green-sticker trails are red on the map (green or grey ones require a plated bike). Road 3N16 "Holcomb Valley" is a very easy fire road that takes you up to Big Pine Flats CG. From there, 3N11 is another easy road that takes you up to an overlook. All the routes turn black diamond from there. 1W17 (Redonda Ridge) is one of the best trails up there, but it's also one of the toughest and there are no bail-outs (gotta go forward or back). 3N34 is the jeep trail Dirt Dame was talking about. It's fairly easy going downhill from Crab Flats, but you have to come back up it. Actually, there are only 2 or 3 difficult spots that you could probably get through (although you might have to ride her bike for her in a couple spots if she's not up to it). It should be a great weekend for your camping trip!!! Keep an eye out for the jeepers and quads, as I'm sure they'll be all over the place!!!

You have to be careful with those extended warranty things. I've had pretty good luck with them on my car in the past (although a bit of fighting was required). The thing they get you on is modifications. Manufacturers warranties are covered by the Moss Magnuson Act which requires the manufacturer to prove that your modification caused the damage before they can deny a warranty claim. That act does not apply to extended warranties, which are essentially just contracts between you and the provider. Many have terms that say the warranty is voided if any modifications are done to the vehicle. I had one friend with an F-250 that got his transmission claim denied because he had a 5th wheel hitch in the back - hence a modification to the truck!!! The best he could do was get his money for the extended warranty back since it was a recent purchase (used truck - bought the ex warranty when he bought the truck). The warranty company even sent out an inspector to examine the truck before they would authorize payment. You might want to take a look at the terms of your extened warranty contract so you have the info you need for any potential problems. You'll probably be alright, but I like to be prepared. Call me a pessimist (my wife does!!!!). Hopefully the dealer will go to bat for you also...

Ouch!!! you could buy a cherry 2 or 3 year old 650L with low miles for that!!!! Bum, by the way, you said "tried" to charge. What's the rest of the story???

I think you're right Ken.. It's a KTM thing. My 07 EXC is the same way according to the wiring diagrams. The stator has 2 sides an AC side and a DC side. The AC side runs the headlight and taillight. The DC side charges the battery and also runs the blinkers. That's part of the reason the fancy new 50 state street legal KTM EXC's aren't (totally street legal that is). The Headlight and taillight go out when the motor stops. CA requires the taillight to stay illuminated for 15 minutes without the engine running. I've been meaning to wire mine to the DC side, powered through the switch - but I'm leery to cut up my new bike's wiring system. The OEM fan also runs off the DC side. One of the problems I've heard about is that it will run your battery down if you are idling alot and drawing lots of DC voltage. So far I've had no problems. Trailtech sells the rectifier to convert it to a full DC system like you mentioned.

I picked mine up from Cycle Gear in San Marcos. I think it was $29, but you save shipping and get it in your cold, clammy hands immediately. You can find a better deal on the cartriges if you look at the non bike-specific ones though. (Paintball, airsoft, BB guns, etc...)

Kind of makes you realize that those 10% off sales at "blowout" prices aren't THAT good of a deal. I gotta figure out how to become a "dealer". When I bought the KLX-300 from ECC last year, one of the "deals" they threw in was I can make a one time purchase from the parts department at "sales cost". I suspect that means at what the bike dealer would pay to the parts department (not quite as good a deal as what the parts department pays to the supplier). I haven't had a chance to use it because I haven't neede to make a large purchase yet. The salesman did say I should get all my friends together when I was ready. SDAR shopping trip??? I gotta look at the thing and see how long it's good for...

Hey Hammer - nice snake bite on that tube. Hitting the rocks a little hard? On the BBTR ride, I got two of those - ended my day early since I only had one spare front tube (I had a spare rear, but it fared okay). I'm paranoid now when I ride up there and sacrifice a little traction with higher pressures in order to keep my tubes in tact. Any damage to the rim? I've got a nice little flat spot to show for mine...

Better safe than sorry--- Isn't that what they say? I guess so... We'll be going again!!! I'll post it up here and see if we get any more takers.

Okay... Now that I've limped to my computer (more on that later), downloaded and resized the pictures, I'll throw in my writeup... Great ride guys!!! Thanks for tagging along!!! It's always better when the company is good. Since I posted this ride so late (Sorry - it was kind of a last minute thing), we didn't expect too many takers. At the Park-N-Ride, there was 5 of us: Me, Mickey (my son), Hammerin Hammon, Crawdaddy, and Crawdad's friend Sean. We loaded up and headed out just about on time. 1 hour 45 minutes later we arrived at the Pinnacles Staging area, unloaded and geared up: We took off, this time opting for some single track to start out with instead of the fire-roads we did last time up there. I think Crawdaddy's words in the ride posting were "Bring it" - so we did. We were riding way to fast on the roller-coaster like trails to stop for pictures - sorry. The single track dropped us out at the beginning of the Dispan Springs trail. Here's a few of the group going up the waterfall: Sean winding his way up the side: Mickey in the same spot(check out that mohawk): Crawdaddy making it look easy(check out that snazzy helmet): From there, we headed to Crab Flats CG for a break, snack, and a top off of the camelbacks. After conferring, everyone was headed for the hardway (Redonda Ridge). Strong group of riders, I could tell it wouldn't be too much trouble. Here's Crawdaddy winding his way down into the valley at the start of the trail(along with Mickey's green mohawk in the bottom left corner): Hammer hauling along on the trail: We made pretty good time. Had a few stalls, drops, etc. The pace slowed down a little when we got to THE HILL ("Hearttack Hill" was what Brett Called it last time I think). Here, Mickey takes a dirt snack with Crawdaddy and Sean waiting below. Take a look at the photos from the last trip ( http://www.dualsport-sd.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1241 ), you'll see lots of bikes on the ground at the same spots: Mickey gets going again: And down again (Alex, does this shot look familiar?): Sean has a go while Mickey's picking up his bike: Sean helping the bike along a little: Crawdaddy did a little picking up of his own: At this point, Mickey was getting a little tired so Hammer offered to ride his bike up the hill. He graciously accepted. I think Hammer enjoyed the hill so much he wanted to do it again(better bookmark this shot - Hammer's riding something besides a Honda!!!): Mickey takes the hard line so Crawdaddy zips by to the right - not wanting to stop and lose his momentum: Getting going again: Sean working the rocky section: Crawdaddy manhandling the bike: Crawdaddy exiting the Redonda Ridge trail. You can almost see the look of relief on his face: Those 8 miles took us 1 hour 25 minutes. Not too bad for stopping a few times to help with bikes over obstacles, etc. From there, after a couple minutes break - we headed off. Up to the overlook then west over White Mountain. It had been a year or so since I'd been on that trail, so I wasn't sure of the conditions. It was good stuff. Lots of loose fist-sized rocks, making you work. One of those trails where you have to steer with your weight instead of your handlebars. Here's Sean, reaching the saddle: And working his way down the loose, rocky downhill: We got to the bottom and blasted out on the forest roads that lead us down into Devil's Hole. All was going well, we were all happy to get the speeds up a little and rest our bodies from maunuvering the bikes over rocks, etc. I was leading and as I looked ahead, I saw a sharp right hand turn with a dropoff to the left. Having visions of sliding straight off the edge, I slowed for the corner when WHAM!!!! Hammer nailed me. He had gotten a front flat just prior and when he tried to swerve, the bike wouldn't. Add that to the fact that his throttle had stuck and you have mess of bikes and riders. Me on the bottom, my bike on top of me, Hammer's bike on top of it, and Hammer on top of his bike. The others caught up and started picking up the stack. My right leg hurt pretty bad and I was afraid it was broken at first. As the shock wore off, I realized I had just twisted my knee and ankle. I got up to walk it off and realized it was all stable (even though it hurt pretty bad) and decided I could ride out on it. Today, though, it's pretty stiff. My knee and leg feel pretty good, what hurts is my ankle. No swelling - It'll probably be better by the weekend - I hope!!! Here's Hammer fixing his flat (this guy carries soap for changing tires in the field - seriously hardcore!!!): And the trailside fix for his brake lever (How did that work out?): Off we went again. We hit the sweet single track down into Devil's Hole. Here's the group working their way across the stream: Cool parking spot for my bike at the boulder field, while I go back to help the rest cross: From there, it was more fire roads back to the staging area. The general concensus was that we'd had enough and everyone decided to pack up and skip more riding. Here's the GPS track on garmin topo maps from the loop: And the elevation profile: Thanks for coming along!!! I had a blast and I hope you guys enjoyed the day in the mountains. I think it was a total of 47 miles for the loop. Not bad for a day of riding. I think that loop would be a bit harder if we did it in reverse (you'd have to climb White Mountain, and a few of the looser, steeper sections on Redonda Ridge). I think that's going to have to be next on the agenda for the Arrowhead rides!!!

Awww... Poor Twister... Looks like you've been Snoped check: http://www.snopes.com/science/mars.asp

Sorry for the late notice... Tomorrow (Friday) is DigDugJr's birthday and he's got some new farkles to be unwrapped for his dirt bike. I'm sure he's going to want to go and try them out sometime this weekend. Right now, I'm planning to get an early start Sunday morning and head up there and do some mountain riding where it's cool and we can spend a good portion of the day. We're not sure which trails we're going to hit, but I'd like to hit some technical stuff if Jr is up to it. Like last time, we can tailor the ride to the riders or split up into easy/hard groups if people want to. Most of the trails have easy options for a dual-sport bike, but this area is better suited to a "plated dirtbike" type dual-sport than it is to a larger adventure bike. The trails we're more than likely going to hit are intermediate+ trails, but there are plenty of fire-roads to play on if you want to split up. See the last SDAR Arrowhead ride here: http://www.dualsport-sd.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1196 , and the writeup here: http://www.dualsport-sd.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1241 to get an idea what you're getting into. Currently I've got about 90% of our hall pass worked out but will keep this thread updated with updates as well as meeting times/locations/etc... We'd love to have some of you guys tag along!!! I think we'll ride out of the Pinnacles staging area north of Lake Arrowhead. That's the same spot as last time. There is plenty of parking and bathrooms there. If anyone wants to caravan, I was thinking of heading out early - say 6:30 from the club's favorite park and ride - Deer Springs exit off I-15 - just north of Escondido. There are 2 park and rides, let's meet at the one on the west side, so people can make a last minute run to the convenience store if necessary. I'll try and arrive by about 6:15 driving a black Silverado pickup with 2 bikes in the back (KTM and Kawasaki). It's about a 2 hour drive so that'll put us up there at about 8:30, hopefully riding by about 9:00. If you want to meet up there, here are directions to the Pinnacles staging area: •Drive north on I-15 to I-215. •Drive north on I-215 to SR 30. •Go east on SR 30 to SR 18 (Waterman Avenue) in San Bernardino. Exit the freeway and turn left (north). •Drive north on SR 18 up the mountain to Daley Canyon Road about 5.5 miles east of the Crestline SR 138 turnoff. Turn left (north) on Daley Canyon Road. Note your odometer and go as follows: •At 0.5 mile, junction with SR 189. Turn left. •At 0.8 mile, fork. Go right and then immediately left onto Grass Valley Road. •At 2.8 miles, fork with Grass Valley Road on the left. Turn left. •At 5.3 miles, intersection with SR 173. Turn left. •At 5.5 miles, intersection with Pilot Rock Road (2N33). Keep going straight. •Continue on SR 173 about 0.7 mile to the entrance of a rifle range. Just past the rifle range, take a right on Willow Creek Jeep Trail (dirt road). Pinnacles staging area is on your right a couple hundred yards down. GPS coordinates for the entrance to Pinnacles Staging Area: N 34° 17.89' W 117° 11.98' There's nowhere close for food, so make sure you pack a lunch and bring some snacks for the trail. If we start riding around 9, this loop is close to 50 miles and could take 4-5 hours depening on skill levels involved, we get back to the trucks at 1-2 so snacks will be a good deal.

Alrighty!!! I'm loaded and ready to roll in the morning. See everyone at the Deer Spring Park-n-Ride tomorrow between 6:15 and 6:30. Give me a call if you're running a little late and want us to wait. My cell is 760-579-3184. I'm ready to get dirty!!!!

Some of the same trails... It depends what people are up to. I've got no real agenda, and there are plenty of bypasses if we want to take it easier. In my opinion, Redonda Ridge (the hardway we did on the split last time) is the toughest in that area of the mountain - if you did it, you can pretty much handle it all. White Mountain (the optional hard way in the upper right corner of that map) is a little rocky (at least it was 2 years ago when I rode it), but we'll be going down the hardest section so it shouldn't be too bad(I don't remember it being as hard as the section we did last time). We skipped that section last time since it took us so long to get over Redonda Ridge. Then again, there are bypasses for both of those routes...

That's a great loop!!! Mine idea is close, but a little different. We'll start from Pinnacles and run that route in reverse direction, 3W11, 3W12, etc. following that highlighted track (against the red arrows) to Crab Flats CG. There, rest/refill water. 3W18 (highlighted) is a flat smooth forest road, so the hardways can split to 1W17 (aka Redonda Ridge, aka "heartattack hill" ) and meet by Big Pine Flat CG with those who don't want to attack it. 3N14 northwest out of the campground is street legal only, so the optional hard way won't be optional for the Green Stickies (although that map has you climbing the hard section, we'll go down it). From there it's smooth sailing to the singletrack down into Devil's Hole - which is a blast of a stream crossing and makes good photo ops. Oh... and I just remembered. There's nowhere close for food, so make sure you pack a lunch and bring some snacks for the trail. If we start riding around 9, this loop is close to 50 miles and could take 4-5 hours depening on skill levels involved, we get back to the trucks at 1-2 so snacks will be a good deal.

All I saw from that post was: Sounds like "heartattack hill" is in the loop - at least for you, me, and part of the group. I was already including Devil's Hole, just because, well, it's Devil's Hole and you gotta ride Devil's Hole. We'll get everyone through...

Good deal - it's always more fun with a group. I'm trying to put together a technical loop for the morning and maybe an easier one for the afternoon if people want to hang around. Last time the SDAR group went up there, I had a 40 mile loop planned that got shortened by a bit due to taking a while for the hardways guys getting their bikes over the Redonda Ridge trail. I was going to add a little more roller-coaster singletrack close to Pinnacles rather than just the forest roads we did last time. We can decide when we get there, and again as the day goes on, but how difficult is everyone looking for? I'm open to just about anything - just happy to be riding!!! Should be a nice day - the weather channel is calling for a high of 82!

No problem, we'll catch you on another ride. I can imagine you wouldn't want to be stuffing your head into a helmet with that welt on it anyway. Heal up and we'll catch you next time around.

Keep on digging!!! You'll love it. There are all sorts of trails to hit there. Right on!!! I don't think I'll be able to ride all week, but we'd love to have you tag along on Sunday! Jacumba sounds like a blast. Honestly, I'd love to go out there and explore with you guys, but there's no way I can get 2 passes this weekend. Have fun!!! Oh, and there will be no pushing - we're all making it up on our own power this time!!! No problem... I hope we didn't scare you too much last time... We'll hit Big Bear a few more times. We love those trails. By the way--- I've updated the original post with meeting time and place. Leaving the Deer Springs Park and Ride at 6:30am.