Rode Pala MX today. Rode with 10 really good buddies. We all said a group prayer before todays ride... Kind of like a football huddle... go out to warm up...Two laps on Vet track... forks are real hard every jump is hard hitting ????? Come in to pits... adjust rebound 4 clicks just like LTR tells me to do ( all good here - Les is a Guru) Go out to the main MX Pro track with a good buddy to show him the track...( his first time here) big downhill with a double right at the bottom... hit it, clear it land. Forks compress all the way.. big bang... forks stay at the bottom, I pile drive my upper body into the tank and bars... feel like my wrists are going to snap, shoulders are jarred very hard... every link in my vertebrae feels like it popped loose....chest feels like it gets caved in.... roll in to a big berm out of control that keep's me from being ejected over the bars. All happens in the blink of an eye. I think I even cried a little bit it hurt so much. Riding my Husky is done for the day just about the same time it started.... Ibuprofin and Ice tea in the pit for an hour... Can't leave the track on a bad note... had to get back on a bike, any bike and conquer any fears before going home... not going to let that linger until my forks are fixed.Get on my buddies 2009 fuel injected CRF 450 R Honda... went out and nailed all the jumps I wanted to. Fully realize that the Honda is just so so so much better than my 2005 TC450 Husky on a track..... I need a new bike. Anybody care to venture to tell me what failed in my forks? I haven't stripped them yet. God was on my side today. T
keep us posted on what you find. What has been done to the forks prior to this? Glad your ok, and you had your copilot on board.
T, glad you're good, its only a bike, you will fix it. I am glad you have the co-pilot. your TC is an 05 TC, the newer tech chassis 08-to updated 09-10, is quite abit better feeling in all regimes. RN
Forks went down to full compression. Wiped all the way to the bottom. It was a good, in control landing... (no panic rev required) they pulled back up about 2 to 2 1/2 inches on the way to the pit. Tried compressing again in the pits .. would not move. Need to check my bar mounts now to as they are flexing like crazy as I hit so hard. Rotate forward very easily. Loosened the lower triple clamp fork bolts to see if the tubes had moved...or were maybe out of alingment.... did't help. I know the alignment was good before I went to the track as I checked/tightend front and rear spokes before the ride. front wheel was free wheeling beautifully. Still is. It took about 20 minutes before the forks came back up to a normal position. Still does not move and sticks in down position very easily. Will slowly come back up Heard a loud metallic bang when they compressed upon landing off of the jump. Les LTR Dialed in these forks for me. They have been perfect. He revalved and resprung them for me originally based on my weight. . The only thing I have done was I set my rebound in (-) 4 clicks per Les's advice to me last week. I had called him to tell him that my forks were hitting back real hard in the braking bumps at Milestone MX . Will try and dissassemble tonight if I have time. T
Rob... you are right... I wasn't dissing on the Gunsight... just the fact that I need a newer bike and one that can handle the newer , more aggressive style of riding that I have been increasingly doing... The 2009 Honda CRF 450R is just so much better than an '05 TC... hands down I would really like to try an new 510 TC somewhere. T
Les @ LTR built these for me two years ago. He nailed them perfectly. I have been very pleased. Something failed big time. Just need to find out what it was. T
I'm glad you are (basically) ok. Bikes are cheap to fix compared to a human body. I'd PM or call Les and get his input.
Mercy Me, "In a blink of an eye." Co-pilot is always a help! Glad to hear you ar relitivly good. Hurts more the older we get. Heal quick (got my prayers) and hope the fork find is something easy, sounds like the damper rods bent or something.
HT, Just saw this. WTF! Going over the bars at speed is the worst. I still wake up w/ a "twitch" in a cold sweat dreaming about an OTB adventure from 30 years ago. Same dream for 30 plus years. Sheeeeeezzzzz. Glad to hear you are alright and didn't need med treatment/hospital. Rick
Too bad God made the forks break though.... I'm suprised you got up and kept riding??!! I would've gone home.
I didn't go over the bars... very close... my body just took the hit across the top of the tank and bars and everywhere else.. felt like I snapped my wrists but they still work hitting the big berm for the immediate left turn helped me from going over... I'm sore all over but no meds other than Ibuprofin... Dean : I have already talked with Les @ LTR twice and he has had me check a couple of things right off... He is such a great guy!!! First checking for bent fork tubes and rotation... seems ok... Dug a little deeper tonight... This is how far up the left fork tube was still stuck... as soon as I pulled the axle the right fork tube went back to normal position. The left did not. It was stuck almost all the way up at the track...The force of the right fork was helping to pull it down to here...would not travel further.. Internals on both: Snapped spring in half and rotated it through and all the way to the top: Sheared the white plastic sleeve into two big pieces and hundreds of fragments floating in the fork oil and tube ... I guess that with the spring stacked double on/ inside itself it would not allow the rod /tube to travel and that is why is stayed in the down position when I landed the double...: Les has had me set for Intermediate MX /240 lbs + gear Springs .50 Preload 12MM Rebound 8 out Comp 14 out Oil Ht 110 mm with 6 wt oil It has worked very well for me thus far. Les told me today that the springs are guaranteed for life...yet rarely ahs he seen them fail... will be boxing up and sending him a package soon...time for a complete fork service. T
He didn't make the forks break .. he made sure I didn't break.... In any case you can't go home on a bad note... would be bad Karma... borrowed a new CRF 450 R to get any gremlins out of my head..... went right back out and hit the same jump..... several times ... later borrowed another buddies 2006 KX250 F and had a blast for an hour....a lightweight dream machine..... both very nice bikes... stopped for a $5 Footlong at Subway and called it a day.. My Ride Group bike shot: T
was gonna say springs for sure. damper rods failure = front wheel bouncing away down the straight. darn good save timmy and way to climb back on the horse man. now ya know why i quit the track stuff. glad yer ok big brother. pretty scary.
