Trail Riding
Matt, Chris, Paula, and I went trail riding today. We went early in the morning (630ish) and it was really cool when we got there. We started out in Pine Valley at 7 and headed towards Corral Canyon. It never really got unbearable hot and we just kept riding. We (everyone but me) did see a rattlesnake. We stopped a couple times for a quick rest and water.
And, eventually, we made it up to the tower to see Norm.
We also got some good photos of some hummingbirds up close, that Norm makes sure has enough sugar water available while he is on watch.
Here is the view of our motorcycles from the tower. Mine is the one leaning against the fence because I have no kickstand.
Here is a group shot that Norm took for us in his tower. That’s Paula, me, Chris and Matt.
Matt will be posting a full ride report in the forums on http://www.dualsport-sd.com/.
We all had a good ride and it was the 1st time for me to take my new dirt bike out in the dirt (97 KTM620SX). The KTM proved to have alot of power and handles like a charm, and very predictable after I got used to the touchy throttle. I think I was more comfortable on the fire roads than on the single track trails simply because I could go a bit faster and smoother. I am glad I got this KTM and look forward to riding it in the dirt even more.
We were done riding by 1, which is a bit longer than I thought we would of ridden, but you know how time flies when you are having fun!
Follow up on the 1997 KTM 620 SX
AAA is great! (the auto club). No long DMV lines! I took my paperwork in after work this morning and brought the KTM out of non-op and transferred the title. Came home, put the sticker on the plate and went riding.
1st impression: Wow, this bike is light! Next impression: Whoa, this engine has torque! Overall impression: this belongs in the dirt, not on the street. The front wheel does not want to stay on the ground, the full knobbies seem to slip and slide a bit. I see what they mean when they call these 620’s a paint shaker. It is not annoying, but you do feel the heavy rumbles of the engine and the knobby tires.
With no side stand, I did not want to even think about stalling the engine. I am tip toed on it as it is, and need to lean the bike against something on the right side to start it. It does start easy, 1 kick when warm, 2 kicks when cold.
I am planning on taking it to do some trail riding this Thursday, so will check in then and give a dirt report. (and maybe some pictures)
1997 KTM 620 SX
Just sold my XS750 Yamaha and picked up this KTM. Although it is the SX model, it has been modified to be California street legal. As soon as I get it re-registered (it is currently non-op) I will take it on the road and dirt and write more about it. It starts on the second kick, sounds great (crisp) and is super light!:
Trail Ride Pine Valley
Got up early this morning, loaded up the Qlink, drove over to pick up Keith and his KTM400 and then headed east to Pine Valley where we met up with Chris, who rode out from Coronado on his DRZ400. It was 6am, cool and time to ride! We road until 9:30am until it started getting very warm, had some Gatorade, hung out and rode each others motorcycles and then loaded up and headed home. Here’s some pictures after the trail ride.
1999 Suzuki GSXR600 SRAD Track Day at CA Speedway-YOUTUBE
Here’s an onboard cam shot of about 10 minutes on the CA Speedway AMA course back in September of 2007 on my old Suzuki trackbike.
VTR1000 @ CA Speedway-YOUTUBE VIDEO
I am hoping this works. I uploaded my 1st video to youtube and now hope I can embed it properly. So here goes:
It works! Anyway, this was taken with my onboard camera at the California Speedway AMA course on 06-28-2007.
Victor’s Ducati Monster
Here’s a beautiful motorcycle owned by my good friend Victor. He has MMS also (Honda Nighthawk 750 and a dirt bike).
1966 Yamaha 200 Electric
I had a friend I worked with (James Cunningham) in Houston, Texas in 1970 that owned one of these. He used to let me ride it to work, with him on back, almost every morning when my motorcycle was down for whatever reason. We both worked at R. Leon Sheetmetal Specialties. I remember it being a very smooth running motorcycle, I loved the 2 stroke smell too. Anyway, here is a picture I found somewhere on the Internet that looks like the one I used to ride.
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