Thursday, November 28, 2013

Five Star Cycle Incentive Run 2013

Thanks to Five Star Cycle for putting on another great event!

Video of the trail ride and trials/enduro-x section:


Video of the Sherco trials demo courtesy of JohnnyA:



Video of the MX track and some hill climbing courtesy of EMS:




Sunday, October 27, 2013

RCR Rock Run 2013

Pics and video from the 2013 Rock Run RCR ride and campout:






Sunday, October 20, 2013

Just a short ride

A couple of photos from a short ride today:

Thursday, October 3, 2013

New Ride







































I traded my trusty DRZ for a new mount, a 2004 KTM 950 Adventure.

Here it is on it's maiden voyage, a ride to Slippery Rock, Pa.













I get a little more wind noise on the GoPro with this bike. It may be because it will go faster than 60 mph. I guess I need to finally get around to picking up a good external mic.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Somerset Pa Dual Sport Ride 9/14/2013

Last weekend I met up with a large crew of RCR guys to do a dual sport ride in the Somerset, Pa area. Within the first couple of miles we had two guys go down on a gravel strewn corner. One sustained injuries severe enough for a trip to the local hospital. Total damage was four broken ribs and a smashed collar bone. After getting him and his bike taken care of, we made our way to Walat's for some giant burgers and ham sandwiches. 


At lunch we picked up a couple of more riders and then headed to the Flight 93 Memorial.



From there we headed back to our starting point and got our crashed friend back from the hospital before hitting the pavement back home. Other than the crash, it was a fun day of riding on some nice scenic Pa back roads.


Sunday, August 25, 2013

Rust-Oleum NeverWet Review Follow Up

Click here to read the original review.

Watch the video below to see how the NeverWet fared on the fender of my Gas Gas.


Are there any other parts I should try to coat? Let me know in the comments.

ANF 8/18-19 2013


I recently did a couple of days of riding up in the ANF with a few friends. My friend Tim recently turned his new KTM 500 into a submarine, so he was on my DRZ for this ride.

The first day we rode the Marienville and Timberline trails, covering about 85 miles total.





The next day we packed up and rode Rocky Gap which took our total milage up to about 110 for the weekend. I swapped bikes with Pat halfway through the video below. His new 250 KTM is pretty sweet. Random thoughts: I really like the smooth power and great brakes. It feels a little larger than my Gas Gas. The seat was actually pretty comfy too.



GPS Tracks:
























Marienville/Timberline:




















Rocky Gap:



Thursday, August 8, 2013

Anti-Fog Goggle Modification

With the hot and humid summer we've been having here in Pennsylvania this year, I have been having a lot of trouble with my goggles fogging up to the point where I have no visibility. I was about to try some of those expensive goggles with a built in fan, but decided to try out a trick I had read about online a while back.

What I did (while out on the trail with goggles so fogged that there were droplets of condensation rolling down the inside of the lens) was take my multi-tool and cut away the foam from the vents around the perimeter of the frame. This instantly reduced the fogging to almost none. To (hopefully) get it to zero fogging, I also replaced the lens with a double pane version ($17 shipped from Amazon). So for $17 and a minute of work with a knife I should have a goggle that will stay fog-free at a fraction of the price of one of those fan goggles.



I do keep an extra pair of goggles with intact foam and single pane lenses in my truck in case I am riding somewhere dusty. That's not usually a problem in the areas where I ride.

Monday, August 5, 2013

8/4/2013 Dirt Ride

Awesome weather and amazing trails. Check out the video:


Friday, August 2, 2013

GPS Screen Repair

I stupidly left my Garmin HCx rolling around in my tail bag throughout my last 900 mile WV ride. When I unpacked I discovered that the screen was covered with scratches, most deep enough to feel with my fingernail (sorry, I forgot to take a pic). The scratches were bad enough to make the unit pretty much unusable. I figured I had nothing to lose so I tried to repair the screen using a technique I had used in the past to restore an acrylic fish tank.

What I did:

1. Sand out the scratches with 600 grit wet sand paper. This was the longest step as I found I also had to sand away some sort of anti-glare coating that is bonded to the screen even after the scratches were gone.

2. Sand in an alternating direction with 1000 grit.

3. Alternate directions again and sand with 1500 grit.

4. Buff the screen to a shine with PlastiX.

The results were surprisingly good. The screen looks like new even though this unit has seen a tough life.

After pic:


Thursday, July 25, 2013

Marienville - Allegheny National Forest

I finally got to ride the trails at Marienville. They are very nice and flowing. The rock garden hill is a blast. I'm already working on going back and camping for a day or two.

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Thursday, July 4, 2013

Rust-Oleum NeverWet - Product Review

When I fist saw demonstrations of the NeverWet and Liquipel hydrophobic coatings I thought they had some potential for use on motorcycles. I got my hands on some NeverWet as soon as I could to do a little testing. The first test I am performing is to see how it works at keeping mud from accumulating on the underside of dirt bike plastics. I picked this spot because oil from handling should not be an issue nor should abrasion. In the video below I apply NeverWet to the underside of the front fender of my Gas Gas and then go for a typical woods ride to see what happens.



Have an idea for a different part to test? Let me know in the comments.

 Update (8/25/2013):

 

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Gas Gas EC250 Unabiker Radiator Guard Install

I've left my radiators unprotected for too long. I have had the Unabiker guards on my DRZ since I bought it, and they have done a great job of protecting the radiators on multiple low and high speed get-offs. Since I have had a good experience with them I decided to get the Unabikers for my Gas Gas as well.

I bought the guards with red anodizing. I have the bare aluminum on the DRZ and it is a little dull looking now. These should stay nicer looking.

Overall, it was a pretty easy job. I did need to buy some longer bolts and also had to adjust the steering stops out just a tiny bit so that the fork tubes wouldn't hit. Other than those issues, it was a cake walk.

Scroll down for pictures from the install.

Nice looking red anodizing.

I first had to remove these plastic KTM guards.

After partially assembling the new guards, you slip them behind the radiators.
With the radiators dangling by the hoses it's pretty easy.



I did have to buy some slightly longer allen head bolts.
The factory bolts were just a bit too short with the added thickness of the guards.
I probably could have really compressed the rubber grommets and got the originals to work,
but replacing the bolts was easier.

One side done.


Other side on.


With the plastics back on.




Sunday, June 23, 2013

5/22/2013 Dirt Ride with Big Bore Tim

My bud Tim just got a new KTM 500EXC and wanted some seat time so I headed south to ride some of the trails in his area.




Saturday, June 22, 2013

Trans West Virginia Trail Loop 2013 (Day 4)

Day four took us from Canaan Valley Resort back to the Pittsburgh area. Things were still a bit damp and we found more mud and water to traverse. The photos below show the work of some ne'er-do-well who blocked off a public road. There was an easy reroute to get back on the same road. We parted company in Morgantown to head back to our respective homes.




My total for the trip:



Friday, June 21, 2013

Trans West Virginia Trail Loop 2013 (Day 3)

We finally got rained on today. It was only for a short while and near the end of the day so it wasn't really a big deal. We already had wet boots anyway! We did have to cut out a little of my intended route since we stopped in Beckley the night before. In the video you will see that we did some street riding to start the day off. Jason found a great twisty road to get us back on track. Of course we ended up behind a school bus for most of it.




Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Trans West Virginia Trail Loop 2013 (Day 2)

Another day of getting our boots wet. This section has some of my favorite "roads" of the trip. We had to cut this section a bit short due to some time lost with downed trees. Only one picture, but I captured a lot of the day in the video.



Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Trans West Virginia Trail Loop 2013 (Day 1)

Three buddies and myself headed south on Friday morning for some more dual sport fun in WV. There had been some decent storms that passed through a few days before. That meant we were going to have a bit more mud and water than normal to deal with.