Hey gents and ladies...I just took place in my first enduro ever. I had a blast...didn't do too shabby I don't think either for my first time. It was organized locally by a fellow rider who did an awesome job. Although not a formal event, it was more of a test run to see what kind of interest there is for similar events in the future. This one was for dual-sport bikes only....ie the bike had to be road legal to compete. I had the only KLX250 in the ride, so was very happy how well it performed considering the terrain and the other bikes. Here are a few pics...I only posted a couple of pics from the local forum I belong to because I don't want to step on anyone's toes over there...but the guy who took the pics for the forum does an awesome job so I had to throw in a couple. Hope you enjoy...BTW...I had 4 mins penalty on the first lap (4 legs..I missed a turn and had to double back) and only 1 minute penalty on the last lap (also 4 legs) so I was very pleased.


this guy blew past me more than once....



loaded up Sunday morning...

my new Michelin AC10 the night before....



okay and one more for nobrakes....

 

Congrats on entering, finishing, and doing well!! It's always a little intimidating doing something for the first time. Smart move to ditch the DOT tires for an event like that. I have witnessed guys show up at DS events with worn down dual sport tires and consequently not have any fun, because they are fighting for traction all day. Two questions what is that on either side of your headlight in the pic on the trailer, and how did you go from #8 to #9 ?
Again congrats, I'm sure you had fun ( on the wall in the gym at my sons school it says "if you had fun, you won" }
Dan

 

Cool stuff, junkie. Enduros are just trailriding on steroids for the most part. Hope you had fun. You know...when I first bought my '06 a year ago, I really didn't anticipate that it would be worthy of any hardcore trail riding and especially not a competitive enduro course. Our main riding trail at home is on a 5000 acre ranch with about 90 miles of trail. What is usually considered the toughest enduro in Texas is held at this ranch...Concho Enduro. My KLX was more than adequate for riding everything on this ranch and at a not too shabby speed. Now, I don't think it's really head-to-head competitive with the "real" competition race bikes out there, but for a street legal, real, dual sport bike, it's darned competent.

How long was the mileage for your run? Enduros are downright fun. I did my first one in 1974 with many, many since that one. Everyone who likes dirt riding should ride at least one enduro in their life. Thanks for the pics.

 

Nice! Careful, though, mudjunkie, it's easy to get bitten by the racing bug, it's like a sickness. I did one race in 2008, two races in 2009, and now so far I have done 12 races in 2010. I now look forward to them like a weekend ride with my buddies. All 180 of them.

From this past weekend (I hope you don't mind me mussin' up your thread):










The new 'berg, post-race:




I've never done an enduro, though, all mine have been hare scrambles. Only 5 races to go and I'll have completed the whole 2010 series without missing a race, plus one race from another series. All I can say is - whew, 17 races from mid-March to mid-November! I'm not sure I realized how much I was biting off when I thought, "Sure, why not, I'll do the whole series." lol

So now that you're hooked, I look forward to hearing about your future races.

 

NoBrakes...please tell me that isn't you coming off the start line with no jersey and just the body armor. There has to be a mullet hairdo under that bright orange helmet...LOL!

 

Haha, I wish I was good enough to ride in that race. No, unfortunately, I'm behind the camera in that photo. That's the Pro/AA/A race that runs a 12 noon in our series. I race in the "C" class race that starts at 3:15 after all the fast guys chew up the course for us, so we get it when it is beat up and deeply rutted, but we like it that way! lol

 

Awesome stuff!

 

They run the harescrambles the opposite here in WA. First the amateurs go and then the pros use the rutted up course. Way better for us non-pros. The big desert races are run as a harescramble sorta with a mass start.

The reasons that enduros are so much better than harescrambles are that enduros are much longer both distance and time, and the enduros aren't a race for speed as much as a competition to be on schedule. If everyone is doing their job and staying on schedule then you won't see another rider the whole race. Usually there is a point in the enduro where you just need to go as fast as you can though since only the best riders can keep up with the schedule.

I miss them. I rode the whole NMA series for the last several years on my Honda but didn't do it this year on the KLX. We even have one event in August that is a night enduro, First rider out at 10:00 PM.

 

hahahaha Hard to miss that guy, good call on the mullet. Looks like his brother is on the other side of the Kawi.
Dan

 

Just got the results from the website....It says I finished 8th out of 12 that completed the course. There were 5 DNFs...I know 3 of them...1st guy broke teeth off the rear sprocket, 2nd guy flat front and called it quits and 3rd guy lost the mounting bolts for the rear sprocket and busted his hub. I clocked 125kms for the first lap (but mind u I missed a turn and ended up 4 mins late at the last check point--it was supposed to be 112kms) And my odometer shows 108 kms for the 2nd lap. So that's 237kms approximately. I also had the GPS logging the trail and had zeroed the trip meter etc before the start so I checked out my avg speed..."while moving"---my average speed was 47.9km/hr and my total moving time was 4:43:42. The GPS shows the trip total as 226.59km. The new rear I installed is actually DOT approved...I did notice others without DOT tires, but noone said they couldn't run them...however, I had this tire since the spring and this event was a great reason to slap it on the bike...it was the best decision I made as there were a few good mucky spots that I am sure I would've had to push the bike out of.

...and I think I am hooked already...lol I know where there is a KDX220 street legal with UFO lighting....just gotta convince the owner he needs to sell it (I bought gear from him a couple of years ago and he said he only rode once that year)
...oh yeah the numbers...lol the organizer sent out emails with your number and starting time ahead, but I must've misread the number. I left at 10:08 am, but was supposed to be #9...I musta thought 10:08 meant #8 as well.