dirt dame

Hi all, just got done cleaning up the TE after a day in the mountains. Only Numbskull showed up for the ride out of the few who showed interest in the excursion. He arrived on time even though I managed to forget the name of a street when giving him directions on how to find the place. A quick check with one of the friendly forest service people let us know that we could park right there at the station, Bee canyon road was just past the bridge and was open all the way to 243 and the bottom part was open to OHVs. We made our way up into the trees at a leisure pace. The air was crisp compared to last weekends sweltering ride near the same area. I just changed out my springs on the Husky and was trying to hit everything in the trail to see how they felt, but the roads were fairly tame (but extremely scenic) so not too much chance for much of a test. I was guessing that I needed to turn down the compression damping on both ends, because even with lighter springs, bumps still felt plenty harsh. We wended our way up into the pines and popped out in Idylwild where we stopped at Jo-Anns restaraunt for lunch. We only had gone twenty miles or so because I missed a turn that would have brought us out by Lake Fulmor, but that just means that there is more exploring for next time. After lunch we rode down the highway to Little Thomas Mountain road and turned up that. Just as we started to gain altitude I spyed a chopped up bit of rocky stuff and thought it would be a really good place to test the suspension. So I shifted into third, picked the yuckiest spot and yanked open the throttle. The front of the bike deflected....then the back followed. If I had been any further sideways I would have been going back in the other direction. However I kept my cool, my footing on the pegs and the throttle open and an eternity(split second or so) the Husky was happily marching out of the rocks in a straight line. It must have been an entertaining sight for Numbskull. He called it a "nice recovery". At the very next scenic stop, the only view that I was admiring was the damper dials on my forks and shock, which were being unwound a bit with a small screw driver. The bike seemed to behave in a more plush and cotrolled manner after that. We headed down Rouse hill road which led us straight to our cars and did about 54 miles. I want to go back and check out the stuff I missed, but not if the weather is hot.

No, perhaps next time some people with cameras will come along.

Okay, I have had a small response to the discussion of this ride, so I am planning to be at Cranston station at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday. This is east Hemet. For those of you who plan on joining me and don't know how to get to Hemet, just follow directions given for last weeks Hixon trail ride still posted in this forum, except that once you are traveling east on Florida street, you don't make the turn onto Fairview, you just keep going east until you are pretty much out of town and you come across the Cranston ranger station on your right. We can stage there and then Bee Canyon road is just down the highway a bit on the left. Hopefully, we can ride through to 243 and see some great scenery on the way. I will have a black jeep Wrangler and a red/black Husqvarna TE 450.

Hi all, after riding Hixon trail last weekend, I was looking at some roads on google earth that appear to lead up from Hemet to both east and west of Fulmor lake near Idlywild. Somebody at work who lives in Hemet said that this was Bee Canyon road. I'm hoping it's not fulla bees. It starts just east of Cranston station in Hemet. I was wandering if anybody ever rode any of this stuff. It looks extensive and of course I have no idea if there are locked gates or anything like that on it. I am curious about exploring it and thought I would go out there and park by Cranston station and maybe nose around on my freshly resprung TE 450. Any thought on this? Anybody wanna go have a lookee-see? On Sunday. I have to work on SAturday.

I have to work both Friday and Saturday. The only week day I get off regularly is Wednsday. I was lucky to get last Saturday off and make it to the Hixon ride. As for the night ride, I can barely see where I am going in broad daylight and I have to work till 6:30 on that evening, maybe I'll try a night ride some other time, although it is doubtful Well, that's better than nuthin (or hearing that it is closed 5 miles in or something like that) It just looks from the google earth perspective like it would be a good long ride that would end up in the pine trees and on 243 so I could putt over to Idylwild for lunch, fuel and mosey back down the pavement.

It might not have been a workout for the other guys (and gal), but it was for me. I origionally had wanted to go back up Allesandro after I had checked it out by comming down it. No way I was up for that by then. If I was fresh and it was cooler I would give it a shot going up Allesandro. A bike 50 lbs. lighter would sure be nice though. Ken I hadn't ridden on Hixon trail for almost a year, so I was kind of nervous about going up it because in the rainy winter of 2005, some huge ugly ruts (canyons really) got carved into the steep part of the trail and I wasn't looking forward to them by any means. I am happy to say that they got mashed and worn away into some more rideable surfaces, so the going was pretty good. When we got to Alessandro however, I decided that I should count my blessings and and head back down Hixon. I have ridden down Alessandro three times, all of them in cool, rainy weather. But today was unexpectedly hot and I knew things would be slick and dusty. I recommended to Alex not to take his giant bike down it on such a day. He waivered a bit, took a look at the first yucky section and decided to accompany me back down Hixon. After a brief break at the truck and our Honda riding friend departing for the day, the rest of us took an easy ride up Cahuilla truck trail and then on down Rouse Hill trail to Cranston station in Hemet. I was tired and managed to turn the KLXs front end under in a turn and uncerimoniously hop off into the inside berm. No damage to anything other than everyones kicking leg, as we all took turns trying to start the notoriously (after a dumping)poor starting mini-pig. Once the bike was restarted, Alex asked to ride it, so I slid onto his 650 and we continued. Shortly, the rest of us lost sight of him. "one of three things" I said, "He went over a clff, was abducted by space aliens or just stole my bike." Finally we caught up to where he was waiting for us, all grinning from ear to ear and I jumped off the sled and onto my bike which now felt like I was riding a credit card. The rest of the ride went by without event, and we got back to the vehicles just shy of seventy miles on our odometers. It was a great day with great riding buddies.

Hi all, I"ve been ridng motorcycles for 35 years, on and off road. I started out riding to high school and trail riding, but quickly became involved in Motocross and Grand Prix. I later rode enduroes and even some observed trials. Eventually I quit competing because I found out that I was too lazy to enjoy being competitive! I was racing an event one day and decided that I would just rather RIDE. So I have been enjoying puttering about, ever since then. It has been harder to find other enthusiasts to ride in group with than in "the good old days" so I ride by myself alot. I know it's much safer to ride with other people, as well as being more fun, so I joined this group. If you have seen a small middle aged woman out alone on a trailbike in the middle of nowhere, you have probably seen me. I have seven bikes that I have been collecting over the years, but the two machines which you would likely see me on during group events would be my 2001 Kawasaki KLX 300 or my brand new (still shiny) 2007 Husqvarna TE 450, although my legs are so short I don't know how long the TE will remain shiny. But as long as I'm moving I can keep the shiny side up. Anyway I am looking forward to riding with other members and finding new backroads and trails.

Sounds like fun to me. I haven't ridden Hixon since last August and I have only ridden Alessandro 3 times because I am always riding by myself and I feel that this is not a good trail to ride alone on. My TE 450 is not ready for the job due to suspension being too stiff, but my good old KLX 300 is up to task. I'll try to make it. It'll be fun getting to watch other riders navigate this stuff. It is about 55 miles from my place, so I'll try not to oversleep and be there on time.

I have a 2001 Jeep Wrangler Sport.

The throttle stop and the little pluggy thing that defeats the accellerator pump have been removed. A different needle and main jet have been installed and the pilot circuit has been readjusted and of course none of the "cans" were left on the bike. I am in Escondido, but shlep my bikes either straight on the pavement or via truck or Joe Hauler to just about anywhere.

I like my TE just fine. I find it heavy as I knew it would be compared to all my previous rides. It is oversprung for my weight and I have a set of .42 front springs and I'm waiting for a 5.0 for the back to come in. After I install the new boingers and set the sag, the bike should come alive in sand and over rocky terrain. It is very stable and yet responsive in tight stuff and just great in whoop de dos. I have never ridden a modern 450 before, so I don't know what the power is supposed to feel like, but I think that the Husky has very good power....kind of soft off the bottom, so you don't take a beating from it in technical stuff and a screamer past midrange for everything else. It is even easier to kickstart than some of my other bikes!

I ride up there alot. Hixon is pretty easy most of the way with just a couple of intermediate sections in it. I usually go up to Anza and start off of Carey road. There is also a "black diamond" trail inthe same vicinity called Alessandro. It is shorter (about 3 and a half miles long) and quite the little butt-whacker. Also there are a couple of other tight twisty single tracks out there and also Thomas Mountain for those who want a nice scenic ride that is no-sweat