dirt dame

I have thought about doing the whole thing, but although I might come up with the resources, I couldn't get the time to do the whole thing. The most time I could be able to swing(and this would be stretching it) would be two weeks max. One week would be more acceptable (to my employers). That's why I was thinking of starting in Colorado and going west from there. I think late spring or very early summer would be the best time to do this, before "monsoon" season starts up in the four corners region and blasts the area with flash floods and lightening. I don't want to end up like that video of James getting struck by lightening while working on his bike at a motel in Colorado while filming "A Road Less Traveled". He was okay, but who needs that Anyway, it will already be quite warm at that time and I don't know the mileage for that stretch, but I calculate that I could get about 1000 miles in 7 days averaging about 150 miles a day....hmmm just kicking around some more thoughts.

certainly I am living the wrong life! I am jealous of all the neat photos. The only thing missing in them would be me on a bike, and maybe a couple of fishing rods

I have never met Hamster, but can anybody here picture the guy riding a CRF 150? :clapping:

I get around the problem a bit by only using Foamy Engine Brite, trying to keep it off the tires and using either an Armorall type product to redress the faded spots or Silkolene Pro Prep. Good luck!

Wow not only did we have an awsome ride, but we might just have the most awsome photo-journal write up, too! What a bunch of great photos Thanks to all who took the time to click all the wonderful pics. As for me, it was a good day on a minibike It's hard to beat for chugging up anything and getting your feet on the ground and handles tight single tracks like nobodys business, but that short wheel base and miserable suspension isn't the ticket for fire roads or whoop-de-does The next time we go, I think I will take my TE 450, but I am going to spend alot more time preparing to ride technical stuff with it, not that I haven't ridden any yet, I have, but I need to do alot more. I noticed that it was mostly uh...well...the shorter people on the full sized bikes that had most of the crash shots and guys with long legs didn't seem to be in any of those I get the idea that I probably would have beat everybody in crash pics if I had been on the tall Italian machine and maybe a snorkeling shot at the creek Anyway, thanks to all the great guys for having me along

Fun in the mountains As usual, it was a dust ball, but the weather was fair and breezy and there was good scenery. Alot of fire road in the morning, but with a couple of technical spots. Then around noon the group decided to hit a black diamond trail. I'd brought along my mini bike just for the single track riding, but decided to opt out of this one, seeing as how the ride was starting to look like it was going to go alot longer than originally anticipated. Besides, there was going to be another single track later in the day, so I wanted to save my bike and energy for that one. That being said, a small group of us took the easy way to the other end of the black diamond trail and waited, then took a scenic ride and waited, then went part way up the B.D. trail, came back down and waited some more. "Wow", I thought to myself, "That must be one heck of a trail they went on." I calculated that they were making progress at somewhat less than 3 miles per hour, which is pretty darn grueling in my book. Finally around 2:30, we heard the sound of thumpers coming over the ridge and one by one, all appeared. If any of them didn't have a ripped jersey or broken turn signal or other bike part before the start of that trail, they probably did now After tanking up on water from the local camp ground, the group booked down a fire road to our next wide trail that went for a few miles and abruptly turned into a single track that went over hill and dale and finally along a very steep canyon. I am not sure of the scenery at this point, as I am afraid of heights and never took my eyes of the thin ribbon of decomposed granite in front of my spindly front tire. One lapse or misstep and....around the corner I came and the riders ahead of me were stopped. It turned out that Joliet hit a soft spot on the low side of the trail, and over he went. Quick thinking and an aversion to sliding to the bottom of canyons made him dig his handle bar into the hillside, so he did't go far. Riders were on it to help push the bike back up and take pictures, of course. Not long after that we were at Devils Hole, a creek crossing (more of a non-crossing) littered with boulders of all shapes and sizes and water that was about a couple inches above my knees. Digdug and Ride Orange, being among the biggest riders out there, helped everybody get their machines across safely. A big thankyou for that. I sat on rock on the other side, drank the rest of the water in my canteen and poured all the water out of my boots while the group assembled for our last leg back to the trucks. By the time we got back, it was after 5:00 pm. It was quite a day

Actually, I was looking forward to the extra 1/2 hour of sleep... No problem at all. On another note, Ride-Orange's PM reminded of something I wanted to mention. This shouldn't be an issue since we're all good - but Pinnacles is the ONLY staging area I've ever had a Park Service Ranger check my bikes. Make sure everyone is good with registration, spark-arrestor, sound, etc... The time we were checked it was a quick "let me see your registration", stuck a stick up my exhaust , and "be careful out there". That's anothe reason I was thinking of the little crf What originally came to mind for those trails was my KTM exc 250, but I checked the carb list and discovered that two stroke season ended up there at the end of last month. I don't want mister ranger telling me to go home after a two hour drive to get there

hmmmm, I'd like to see these trails too, but like on the Otay ride posting, I am not sure of my work schedule this weekend. And if it's all green sticker, I might bring a green sticker bike along, like my little crf 150 :bomb: It can be a hoot to ride and it's lonesome since I have been paying all my attention to the TE lately. Anyway, if I can, I'll be there at Deersprings by 7 a.m. with something two wheeled tied to the baack of my jeep

Maybe the rest of you are tired of Otay, etc. but I've never been riding in that area' so I'd like to see it. Howver, weird things have been happening at work, so I am not sure what days (or day) I have off besides Memorial day. If I get to have the same day off as the ride, I'd like to go. I just don't know how to get there :pioneer_smoke:

That was certainly fun I enjoyed our trailride on Sunday. The weather was pretty warm and as Kawee pointed out there was plenty of dust to go around. Luckily I remembered to bring goggles this time and was missing only my white cane with a red tip on it, out there in the dust. The TE was a joy to ride now that the suspension is dialed in, and its biggest failing is a certain amount of vibration that is noticeable on extended pavement running (my lower legs tingled when I got back to the staging area) I want to thank all the people who came out for the ride and made it fun, and thank everybody who brought cameras and took pictures. I love photo-documentation on a ride so I can take a look and re-live the ride over and over and show other people what they were missing. I am thinking of getting a new-fangled digital camera myself, because I don't want to take my 35 year old Minolta SRT101(the tank) out on the trails or we'll beat each other to pieces. I missed the ride back up through the mountains, because I was a bit tired and have this bad habit of always cleaning and servicing my bike the minute I get home, so I wanted to make sure I got home in plenty of time to shovel out my air box so I could find my air cleaner and wash the dust out of it If anybody wants to ride a really REALLY BAD sand wash, I know where there's one out there way worse than the one we rode in on our way back to the pavement. Just ask and I'll take you there and let you go in, 'cause I'm not gonna!

I have been riding for many years and back in the 80s, I carried a plug and plug wrench and maybe a screw driver and a couple of small wrenches. Nothing ever seemed to go wrong, heck I didn't even carry water with me! These days I carry alot more tools, like axle wrenches, flashlight, first aid kit, toilet paper, tire irons, zip ties, spare levers, tube patches, spare nuts and bolts, side cutters, space blanket, signal mirror and on and on. Two years ago while riding solo, I got into a situation in the dead of winter where I couldn't get my bike out of a bad predicament all by myself and I knew nobody was going to find me that day, but luckily I had enough tools to dissasseble my machine down to small enough pieces to carry it out of the bad spot, put it all back together and ride it back to my truck just as it was getting dark and freezing cold, so as you can see, a well put together tool kit can make a big difference in making it out or not.

Different strokes for different folks My first choice was the KTM 450 exc, because it was the only dirt worthy dual sport on the market that I knew of....but then I read an article on the TE, went down to look at one and asked lots of questions about it. Each rider has his or her own set of requirements that need to be fulfilled and they need to gather information on various models so that they can make the best choice for their needs. Any full sized bike that I buy need the suspension redone, because most manufacturers, configure their spring rates for a rider who weighs a little over 180 pounds and I weigh less than 120 pounds. So, no matter what I buy in a full sized bike, I am in trouble right out of the gate. I have spent considerable amounts of time researching how suspension is set up, why sag setting is so critical, what makes a machine do something in a particular situation and how to make it do what you need it to do. It is all simple math. I love my Husky (Tootalljones)and know that it was the right decision for me and it doesn't need a new seat because it didn't come with an upholstered brick like some bikes do. It didn't need regearing and probably doesn't need a suspension revalve either. For me, it was the best value needing the least amount of mods to get it out on the trail' and that is what I was looking for. The KTM would have needed new springs, possibly valving, a new saddle and regearing. Besides, I already own a KTM. I wanted to try something new. I like Italian bikes. Anything Italian is sexy(except for my ex-husband)

Shucks, I had to work after all but that didn't stop me from thinking about you guys out there having fun. Maybe another ride another time.

Hooboy, I finally rode my TE450 from Pine Valley, down Kernan and over to Corral Canyon to test all the fiddling I have been doing with the suspension. The bike handles nicely in the rocks now, but is still heavy so I am beat half to death this evening. It was pretty warm out there on the trail today, so unless anything changes, I'll bet it'll be warm next weekend too. I think I'll throw on some vented duds for the affair. Anybody who is interested in getting new duds, ventilated or otherwise, should check out Rocky Mountain.com for their clearance deals on pants, jerseys and gloves. I wear their house brand and have found that it very nice quality for a low price and now it's even lower.

That's right about the seat. Stock is like an upholstered anvil. I put a standard height Enduro Engineering saddle on my EXC 250 two stroker and it made sitting for extended lengths of time possible.(well, actually sitting at all :clapping: ) Plus, you will sink in a little bit and be that much closer to the ground. It's 140 bucks well spent.

Good choice The KTM will be easier to find aftermarket supplies for and modify than the Husqvarna. Now, I can't wait for you to break it inso I can try it out!

Ha! My boss just told me tday that he's trying to rearrange my work schedule so that I get Saturday and Sunday off If so, I'd love to join you guys.

phooey, I already get to test a new Husky right out of my garage any day of the week and will probably be riding it on that Sunday, although maybe not if we have to go further than 45-50 miles between gas stations. If so, I'll be riding the little green slug

Sounds good to me too, if it is on a Sunday. In the heat we've been having, a nice cruse would be just the ticket :rtfm: Whee! it's fun adding in the little smiley faces.

hhmmm, that sounds like a place that's real close to where I live. At least the east end of it. Seems to me that I used to ride that area back in the eighties and managed to flip my jeep upside down there in 2002. :rtfm:

Sorry you missed the post. I finally posted it about 6:30 in the morning on Saturday because I felt that there wasn't a very strong response to the discussion. I don't know why I didn't just post it earlier in the week, because I would have gone whether anybody else was or not.

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.