I'm a trail rider and not really a MX racer...never raced a bike to any degree in the states other 1 lap in a vintage race in WA and crashed and broke my collar bone on the first lap ... But here, I gotta try as lots of my trail rider friends race and a track is the place to learn to jump a bike ... After you are on a track jumping, the jumps in the woods are a piece of cake Background: The tracks here are usually laid out on flat terrain with multiple jumps ... They gotta have the big air jumps almost to the degree as our sx stuff ... And most will have the big berms ... Some tracks I'm seeing now are having whoops ... Their PRO guys and expert level guys race the same day & track as the old timers such as me & it is their track, meaning the jumps are big and if you can't do the jump, just roll it or do a drop in jump... They divide the classes up almost by age but not quite ... the old guys (like me) might can go in the younger brackets but younger guys can not enter the older guys races ALTHOUGH this is up to the race prompter about who can and cannot enter what class ...All races are for cash and trophies ... This is an Executive C race ... Executive B, and Executive A classes are ~about the same riders but are faster to some degree... Executive A being the last class before the beginner and novice PRO classes and above classes ... My gf Eva makes all this story possible with pics ... I was not even aware she was taking any pics of the race as I never look off the track when I am out there ... My new ride ... Not alot but riding the bike to a race is costing alot in rubber and just not always possible or I gotta count on someone to pick me up ... Some of the riders and a big berm to the right... 08 TXC250 unloaded...Thats my friends bike to the right .. He had throttle cable issues and did not get to race This is the start .. I'm sitting in 3rd place and very happy with the start as I railed the outside line around the first corner and came out 3rd ... Fourth place now and off the podium... 1st and 2nd place riders are still in sight... You can see myself and the guy who passed me are hugging the bottom of the track and the guy in 2nd place probably hit the berm on the outside of the turn ...
Still 4th and you can see the guy in 1st place flying over the finish line jump but no way is he hitting the receiver ramp for landing, its 70' or so across to the receiving ramp ... This jump alone will keep riders that have close to the same overall speed, that roll this jump, from beating these guys who drop jump it, unless you make up the time lost else where on the track ... Still 4th...the guy in 3rd just don't wanna be passed ... and the 1st and 2nd place riders are still in sight... Still 4th ... Apparently Eva was standing in the same place and taking pics of me on each lap ... Great idea as it turned out ... A little better pic of the guy in 2nd place clearing the finish line jump ... There is a pic later of this jump from the side ... It appears here we are both hanging the inside line and pivoting the turns here and not hitting the berm on the outside ... I see alot of these guys hanging the inside lines as much as possible through out a race ... I'm not sure if this is the fastest way or not but it is my line ... The flagmen is waving the white flag .... The pic is essential to the story ending... As compared to the last pics and the position of the 3rd place guy, I'm way outside, bike straight up, trying to carry my speed and rail the berm and out race him to the finish line jump and maybe get in front for the last lap... I did rail the berm and I did catch him but no pass ... we are on the last lap now ... Notice the jump to the right side of the pic... Its about a 50' double and I'm not doubling it or is the guy in front of me... At best, a drop in jump by either of us can be attempted to help carry our speed over the jump and over the receiver and down this straight that has a big berm ...
This is the pass ... I still can't believe my gf got this on camera ... Anyway, I have seen Kdub, RV2, T. Carnard make a move on a track where instead of going straight up a jump face, they angle up it and jump to the other side of the track ... This is what I did also ... I angled up the face of the receiver jump face and landed to the very inside of the track and passed the guy going up the small straight before the pivot point of the final turn ... Then I used the clutch and throttle to ensure the engine did not die, protected the inside line and finished 3rd in moto 1 ... On to moto 2.. ...The start of the second moto ... Not so good for me this time ... Combined scoring determines overall results and if the guy who finished 4th to me in the first moto, beats me this moto, he wins 3rd place ... These guys are real racers here and don't mind too much on the 1st moto because the 2nd moto is the money moto ... So I must beat this guy again or the 1st moto is just a moto win ... The guy parked there is the guy I need to beat ... I never saw that and raced the entire race trying to catch him ... Here is a pic of a couple jumps ... Their PROs clear that finish line jump(70' or so) and many clear the jump (50' or so) I'm rolling ... I just can't do the drop jumps on my bike over that finish line or that one I'm rolling ... Just bangs so hard when I hit ... But I do need to pick up some speed here if I wanna hang with some of the guys that beat me here currently ...These were bottoming my stock forks badly till I made a few stack changes ...
I made a few changes to the forks via some of the guys here on this site ... motorH helped me with the stacks and I use what Vinduros set forth here also for my sag .... Its not perfect by any means but I can ride track and trail by just opening the closing the clickers ... open for trails, closed for tracks ... The tracks stuff here just make them stiff for the landings it seems ... I'm doing alot of dirt \ rock \ gravel road riding here where the speeds are pretty fast as compared to ST riding and its not too bad overall there either ... The rear is all stock ... clickers are just opened or closed depending on track or trail ... Trail rides are still the most fun and I consider myself a trail rider but the track stuff is a good time also ... This track here had no trees so it was very hot between races ...
i was going to mess with mine some but i was worried id get em all screwed up and have to take it in. its not to bad now for the track, its probabaly a lil to stiff for trail use(goin over roots and stuff like that). i might start messin with the setup over the next few weeks.
Myself, I just had plenty of time and started doing different things ad finally some one started a thread on playing with the stacks and just went for it ... Stock setup was just too harsh everywhere ... I think it was the air in the inner chambers that caused all the harshness and deflection when I first got the bike .... Most of the stuff on trails should ~never be felt ( or just a small bump in the bars) unless it is just really big or you are traveling really fast and very little or no deflection should be present ... The cool part is testing the changes ... I test mine 2-3 days or more before I make up my mind some times ... What forks do you have?
while its kinda rough on the trails its dialed in for cornfield haulin..not sure if you can get the best of both worlds out of it or not
There are open and closed versions of the marzocchi forks ... Husky was doing both back a few yrs back and now KYBs are in there also.. I think this thread covers both versions ...but not sure ... It may just cover the closed chambers.... http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/diy-revalve-of-tc-forks.14394/ My forks are in the middle I'd think ... not perfect in either case but better than stock ... And another long thread to read .. http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/50mm-zokes-issues-advice-pls.15614
dood- fully awesome PI rallye-track fun in the sun...that's way cool man! wicked story line and pics. great first moto las lap action too. true grass roots stuff... good on ya and congrats!
Thanks and the sun is almost brutal here sometimes ... The tracks, as most things here, are usually down and dirty ... There is a track in Carcar that is made using more natural terrain and has a very large up and down hill portion .. sort of like a mini, mini GH ... In 2 weeks we have another race on a track that I like better than this one ... I'll run this EXEC C class and a lower class called Wanggits ... Its for guys who are so old they may only have a couple yrs left ...
got to watch that sun, itll boil ya! nice truck by the way, i was lookin at them here for somehting to run around the farm and bigger jobs with but they want wayyyy to much for what id be using it for. love the little 4x4 version.....seen a cpl guys driving one on I-55, got to say something i probably wouldnt do or recomend in one of those things lol but i imagine they fit rite in over there eh?? alot of diesel guys are waiting on the new little kubota truck to come out i think its a small sized truck with a half ton payload and diesel in them iirc but i dont think they have made customs yet.
These fit good here ...most if not all are Suzukis', imported from japan in parts, re-assembled here and sold ... When they are fixed up they look really cool ...I drive mine about 20 MPH lots of the time with a top speed of about 40 if I'm in a hurry ... usually just trying to get home before it gets too late after coming home from a race ... But really small ... 2 bikes really fill them up but a third could be fit in maybe .. The 13" rims really are an improvement over the 12" ones like on mine ...
They are all 3 cylinders engines also ... mine is a 6 valve ... there is a 9 valve and of course, the 12 valve is top of the line ... If things are good in the future, I'll upgrade mine but I'm in no hurry to do anything now really ... I'm so old now, apparently, I'm OK with letting everything happens as it comes to me ... Life is a great show to watch ... ESP when the show is a bunch of Filipinos
