I'm gonna preface this ride report by explaining a couple of things first for those who may be unfamiliar with my story.
1) Today was my first real riding time in about 12 years or so.
2) It was only my second ride on the '85 RM-250, the first being a very brief session in a cow pasture a month or so ago.
Now, if you happened to follow the "Front Brake Mystery" thread, let me just say that my brake did indeed settle in after a few minutes and now the wheel spins freely and the brake is working flawlessly!
Okay, on to the report...
I scouted the Boondoxxx area yesterday (as mentioned in another post), so I knew pretty much what to expect. What I didn't know, was whether my rebuilt clutch with new clutch basket would work... whether my aforementioned front brake would settle in... and how well the new chain and gearing would work out. Lots of questions to be answered. But that's why I was going riding!
My son (9 years old) didn't get to go yesterday, so he wanted to go today. His bike isn't ready yet, but he got all geared up anyway so that I could take him for a couple of rides.
The afternoon started off poorly when I couldn't get the ol' RM to fire due to a series of spodely acts. First, I forgot to turn the gas on. Next, I got confused with which way was "on" with the choke. I kicked and kicked and kicked 'til I was out of breath. I swapped in a new plug (the previous plug suggested flooding) and kicked some more. The riders nearby were obviously thinking "major spode," while at the same time probably feeling a little sorry for me.
I finally got the combination right and the old girl fired up. I warmed it up with the choke for a minute or so and then switched it off. I continued blipping the throttle to keep it from loading up and allowed it to warm up thoroughly. When the exhaust note cleared up and the engine started singing I slipped it into first and began letting the clutch out.
The new basket performed well and the old "jerky" engagement was gone. You can fan the clutch smoothly now! I LOVE the new 14/54 gearing! It gives me a bit more low speed control for the tight stuff, but still allows for a solid top end. (Plenty fast enough for me, anyway).
I rode around the fields a bit before heading to the larger MX track. The place was WAY more crowded today than it was yesterday. I'll bet there were 30 vehicles in the parking areas today. Maybe more. It was colder today too, or at least the wind and lack of sunshine made it feel that way.
I slipped onto the track and began making the circuit in 2nd and 3rd gear, proceeding cautiously as I got to know the layout. It was semi-crowded, but I stayed out of everyone's way pretty well. I guess I made about 3 laps before heading back to the truck. My forearms had turned rock hard and I was having trouble just holding on! By the way, is there any quick cure for arm pump? Or preventative measures? I suspect my heavy clutch pull combined with vibration and not having
ridden in years conspired to create the problems I had today.
At the truck, I let the bike cool down before checking my radiator fluid. I wanted to be sure that it didn't need topping off after having drained the system for the clutch work. It didn't. Then I
checked for oil leaks around the side cover, but that looked good too. And this is when I noticed that the front wheel was spinning freely again. Wooo-Hooo! Everything was working great!
When my forearms settled down a little I fired the bike up again and took the boy for a ride around the track. He was pretty impressed, but it's just no fun riding on back. After 2 laps I dropped him off back at the truck. Then I rode some of the trail loop that Nathan Price (of the TCCRA) constructed. There was some fairly tight single track stuff through the woods and more mud on the trails than on the MX tracks. So I got a little dirty.
I tried riding kinda "loose," with no death grip on the bars, and that seemed to help with the arm pump a little. I took some more laps on the big track and started to get a little more brave. The only guy passing me in this session was some dude on a YZ-450F. It was funny though, he'd get around me and then I'd punch it up a notch to try and keep pace. He'd always get me though when I'd back off for the jumps. I'm just not that familiar with the bike yet (or the course, for that
matter) to go all out. I was having fun though, and that's what matters. Without the arm pump, it would have been sheer heaven.
Then, the guy parked next to me -- riding a new 500cc Polaris quad -- wanted someone to drag race him on the flat track straightaway. He had told me earlier about how this new Polaris was supposed to be the boy dog of quads, and pointed out another fellow who also had one but his was the Troy Lee edition. Yeah, okay.
So we line up and his buddy waves us off. I start in 2nd, well up on the tank, and the front wheel is floating until I grab third. I beat the Polaris handily and at the turn-around the guy explains that he couldn't get any traction. I can tell that he wants to run again, so we head back to the quasi-start-line.
This time, I beat him even more handily and that seemed to be enough for him. I don't know what those guys get out of drag racing like that, but all of the quad riders seem to love it. To me, it was just a rather boring exercise to make sure all 5 gears were working.
Then I returned to the truck for a break and got complimented by a guy nearby who said that you don't see older bikes like mine in such good condition very often. I assured him that it was mostly a lack of sanity on my part. And I explained that I had more in the bike than it was really worth, so now I *have to* ride it! Hehehe.
I finished up by talking the boy around some of the trail loop and through some woods. He later said that he thought for sure he was gonna lose a leg in those woods! Hehehe.
Overall, I was pretty proud of myself for riding within my current abilities, for not getting myself or my son injured, for the work I'd done on the bike and for the great afternoon that got us out of the house and gave the boy a break from videa games for a while. It was ten bucks well spent and now we just gotta get the DT-80 going!
Thanks for reading and I hope everyone else had a great weekend!
Fred
'85 RM 250
'79 YZ 80
'81 DT 80