I posted asking about radiator guards the other day cuz my buddie got a hole in his radiator at the end of this ride. I figured I'd post up the videos from it.

Here's a 2 part video from last Sunday's ride in North Jersey. I lost my glasses on a ride the week before, and my new RX glasses weren't ready yet, but I went riding anyway. Had a hard time seeing with blurry vision. This was pretty gnarly rock terrain that gets sketchy in Part 2. It's been over 35 years since ridden rocky terrain. I've been riding the sandy Pine Barrens for over 35 years. Fun fun fun....

Part 1

Part 2 is starting to get a little gnarly with heavy rock beds. The steepness of the hills doesn't show at all on this video. I hate that. Oh well. Nice overlook at the end. Perfect Fall weather.

Part 2

 

You have a recluse clutch?
That wasn't rocky, I'll show you rocky!

 

I was thinking "holy grunt cakes Batman".. But one of the other guys is on a TW200 !

So I'm choosing to believe that TW is magical and its' rider a Sorcerer, cause that sure looks like a rock garden from hell..

 

I tell ya...those TW200's are kinda crazy. I was riding outside of Dove Creek, CO one time along the banks of the Dolores River...a rough but beautiful trail the further north you go from town.

I'm past two fairly tough, rocky climbs when I come across two LEO's on TW200's, one of them the sheriff of the county. We visit a bit, and they say they use these rigs along the river all the time. Even when it muds up, they say the little TW's keep trucking. While not fast, they appear to be capable of going lots of places.

 

Well I have a TW200E.. Have had for many years - it's one of the play bikes at the Ranch..They are very competent bikes - a top speed of 55mph (IIRC), and traction galore offroad.. But low clearance and wimpy suspension for rock gardening..

A bike I bought new in 1986 (for the wife) and kept for over 25 years, due to its' unique capabilities, was a BW200E.. It was simply unstoppable anywhere, anytime.. They became so valuable to collectors that I finally sold it to one - For more than I bought it for !!!

 

I had a TW before my KLX and yes, that IS the perfect bike for that terrain, hands down. I was wishing the whole day I was on my TW. Like I said, I only been riding sand for the passed 37 years. This was new to me, but felt better halfway through the day. I'll be riding more up there cuz it's a change of pace for me, plus I enjoyed it. On the way out after that overlook, it was much bigger boulder sized rocks on the trail out. My battery in camera was dead by then, so didn't record it. My aluminum skid plate wouldn't slide over the rocks, but stopped me in my tracks like glue. So, I'm thinking of covering my skid plate with a 3/16" skin of Polyethylene plastic, or Delrin. This will allow me to slide over the taller stuff easier. I'll counter sink srews into my plate and coat the bottom and up the front a few inches. I can bend and form it to my aluminum plate with a heat gun. I have friends out west that have thick plastic skid plates just for that reason. They say it works well. Maybe make up case savers too with Polyethylene since the 3M double sided foam tape won't stick to Delrin. They are made for other bikes, but not the KLX. My buddies have them on their DRZ's and WRR's. They stick on and cover clutch and flywheel case's. Helps if ya tip and fall on rocks. Cracked side case and oil loss isn't fun out in the woods. I'm getting radiator guards, so why leave my side cases exposed, why not, right? I like projects like this anyway. Gives me something to do when it's to cold out to ride.

 

Nope, no cheater clutch, don't like or believe in them. Well, I haven't ridden any rocks since I was 16, only deep soft sand for the passed 37 years. So yes, that was rocky for me. The rocks or hills didn't even show on video, and neither do the deep sand whoops. I hate that. The 2 guys that took us on that ride said everyone has a hard time on that trail. Since I didn't tip or fall, I thought I did well for a fat old man sand rider. They warned me for a week before the ride, and now they want me up there all the time. Maybe first time luck, I don't know, but I'll be going back a lot. Not having my glasses was a Huge disadvantage. My vision is so bad, I can't drive without them. My buddie drove my truck with trailer up to this spot. That being said, every inch of this ride was a surprise. I didn't see rocks, I saw blurr....lol On another note, when those guys came down to ride with me, they couldn't handle the deep sand. They called it a day halfway through the ride. Hey, it's all part of the fun, just sharing my experiance with you guys, thats all. Not a competition....

 

I would not ride in rocks without my glasses, & I can see pretty good without them.

 

Yeah, well, my buddie drove my rig up and back, and figured if I hit a tree or two, they wouldn't complain....LOL I guess this shows ya how much I enjoy riding, it's my life. Plus the fact I didn't ride for 3 full months due to the Summer heat and humidity. Only started the weekend before when I lost them, but it was a dust fest with 30 plus guys at a Moto Camp weekend at my buddie's hunting cabin. So more drinking and BS'in around the bond fire. So I just wanted to ride damit....LOL But it was ok, blurry, but no issues, except a little sore the next day. Yeah, and I "still" don't have my new pair of glasses yet. Eye exam and ordered on the 20th. They say they came in from the lab last Monday, but they weren't up to par, or something was wrong, so they sent them back to redo. I was there yesterday raising hell, I was pissed. I told them they should have expedited the reorder since they screwed up in the first place, WTF... Not my fault, I had to pay in full when ordered, or I would have canceled and told them to shove it. If I don't have them tomorrow, I'll take it higher and contact corporate. Needless to say, I'm pissed off. They told me 3 to 5 business days. To top it off, I've had a headache behind my eyes since the 17th the day I lost them. Yeah, right before hunting season every year, 30ish of us spend a weekend at one of the guy's hunting cabin in the Pine Barrens where we always ride. We call it Mario's Moto Camp. It was so dusty that weekend, that we rode in smaller groups of 5 to 7 guys. One of our break stops, I pulled off my goggles, then put my glasses on my guage/key area. One of the riders in my group got a text that someone was down in another group along with their location which was about 40 minutes away. Not knowing if he was hurt or not, we took off quickly just incase he was. One of the guys in my group was an EMT. I put my helmet on, then goggles and took off forgetting about my glasses. Was thinking during that run that man, it was blurry, but figured it was the dust since we were miving at a fast pace. After all that, I realized my glasses were gone. A few of us backtracked slowly to where we were, but didn't find them. Soft deep sand through tight technical single track, they could have bounced off my bike in 2 feet or 2 miles from where we started. Gone gone gone. I was lucky to have someone ride down with his bike in my trailer, or that would have been a sketchy drive home that weekend.....LOL


Sorry for the rant, I'm sitting here havin my coffee, bored and needed to vent.....