Probably 99% of our riding is in the dirt. While camped in the Ajo, AZ area we all rode on the Barry M. Goldwater Bombing Range. (You need to get a permit to go on the range.) A major part of the ride was on some rather nasty and long, (maybe 5 miles), of sandy wash that was about as straight as a drunk snakes back! Our leader knew the trail like a rabbit knows his warren. I didn't and I was in second position! At a certain point, he turned sharp to the right and went out of sight. I was doing about 35mph and was too darned close to him to make that very sharp right turn. So I over shot the turn by a few feet but still tried to make it. That's where I stuck the front tire onto the high sandy rise and buried the rear tire up to the hub. After I extracted the bike from the hole I tried to make the turn up into the new direction. Using my 1st gear selection, and with adequate throttle, I rapidly launched into a "hill climb mode" ... While trying to keep from hitting the four other parked bikes, (that were parked on the narrow trail), I released the throttle grip hoping to return the engine to an idle condition. However the engine did not return to an idle! Instead, it continued to run at about 4,000 rpm's in 1st gear ..... and straight into a three foot tall manzanita bush! Thank god for all the protective gear that we always wear! The Throttle was now stuck and would not return to neutral. We did field maintenance as best as we could and finished our ride. It really pays to have those tools with you when you get out on the trails! I couldn't have made it with out the two proper sized Allen wrenches, and the big Rock that we found on the trail.

Back at camp, I have compressed air in my motor home for the motor homes' suspension, so I used it to blow out the sand. (Insert the air gun nipple under outer most end of the rubber grip, and in between the metal sleeve, and blow .. blow .. blow.) The rubber will flutter and balloon up and eventually you'll get rid of a years worth of dirt that you've acquired over the riding days, (and those falls where you were getting those 'soil samples'), that you have enjoyed. If you have ever experienced this sort of issue, let me assure you that the only way to resolve the problem is to have an adequate pressurized air source and then use it, liberally, to remove the accumulated dust and dirt that will inevitably have worked it's way under the rubber grip. Under no circumstance should you try any lubricant as it will merely attract more dirt to accumulate later on!

Do yourself a major favor while you have the resource available and clean the dirt out before the bike decides to not pay any attention to your throttle input!! Your experience may be at the edge of a cliff, or worse when the throttle decides to disobey your command!

Happy trails to you!!

 

Hey soldier :Thanks for putting your life on the line for a numb butt like me, got a kick out of reading your precise and to the point post, thats whats lacking in the world today, do this do that or you or someone dies. Anyway the only compressed air or hot air belongs to my ex-wife or her lawyer. I avoid sand as I am to old to enlist.

 

How come this is an angry post ? If I said what I wanted I'd be banned lifetime. Over and over again. You grow up you grow a thick skin or you die.Case closed.

 

Stuck throttle doesn't sound like any fun!! Glad your ok. Good tip on the fix.

 

tis army why 888

 

I am sorry : sand in shlitz:" ban me" forever".

 

Just joking turn them all upside down and they all look the same?

 

Come on OLDPHART, get hold of yourself! You seem as if have become demented! I don't want to see you loose the friends that you have made here on this forum. Snap out of it!

Best always,

 

The clutch and kill switch are a short term fix in that situation. Thanks for the tip though.

 

Sounded like one of those pucker moments, 002. Glad you didn't get seriously hurt. +1 to what Woz said, clutch and kill switch. Always turn your bike off with the kill switch, that way it will eventually become ingrained in your brain and you will hit it out of habit and not even have to think about it.