Riding My New WR Suspension In The Sierra

Headed up to the Sierra late Friday night for a ride with some good friends. Our good buddy Dan is having wrist surgery soon and we all wanted to get together before that happened. I'd gotten my revalved and resprung suspension back from Les at LT-Racing the previous Friday and was pretty anxious to try out the WR and get it dialed in. I also had it lowered 1" with internal suspension mods. Les did my 610, too, so naturally I was expecting greatness...and I was not disappointed

I had a new girly Acerbis Koerta Naked Pressure Suit to try, too. It's like a traditional pressure suit but without the attached shirt, and concessions have been made for those of us with rather, uh, womanly shapes. Here it is before the crashing began...whaddaya think?





I dig the back. Very comfortable and it reminds me of roadrace back protectors. I'd be comfortable ripping around on pavement with this on under my jacket, which is a good thing for habitual dualsporters such as myself...




I was skeptical and had my doubts, but it fit really well and was pretty comfortable when I put it on so I figured the only thing left to do was crash repeatedly and see if it did its job. I'm pleased to say that it came through with flying colors, since I had no bumps, bruises, cuts, scrapes or puncture wounds under the plastic. Can't say that about the rest of me, though It was super-comfy not having plastic plates on top of my shoulders, and the front and back panels went completely unnoticed all day. I thought the shoulder pads were going to cause me grief, as they were a tad long for my arms (totally not an issue for 99% of the buying public, as my arms are only 16" long from armpit to wrist) but they caused no discomfort at all. It would have been nice to have elbow guards attached to the shoulder parts like the traditional Acerbis Koerta with built-in shirt, but my Fox elbow guards worked ok with the suit. I'd like to get some matching Acerbis elbow guards, though, and see if they work better together. I was also afraid that it was going to be too hot to wear in the high-60's temps we were enjoying on the day, but those fears proved unfounded. The only thing I wasn't crazy about, and it's not a deal-breaker, is the kidney-belt waist strap thingy. I tried to wear kidney belts when I first started riding, but they would always migrate up off my hips and onto my waist so they never really did any good. I just wrapped it kind of loose and it didn't really bother me, but if I were designing it I would probably try to raise the straps so that they would go around the waist right from the get-go, and make them a little thinner, too. All in all, a great product that does its job and doesn't look too shabby while doing it, either

Anyway, on with the ride I was pleased to see that my bike was still a tall and leggy supermodel, even after the 1" lowering. I don't mind the short athletic look, but I was kind of digging the full-length suspension when riding it on not-so-technical terrain. I knew, though, that this place would be a whole `nother ball of wax. That was one of the reasons I really wanted to ride in the Sierra rather than go to Stonyford or Middle Creek. I wanted rocky technical terrain with lots of roots and rock ledges and stuff to really try out the suspension.

Spring was in full swing at 5500'...



It's a long rocky climb up to this ridge and I've floundered on it from time to time on every bike I've ever ridden up here. Needless to say, my WR gave me no grief whatsoever I engaged in a little bit of clicker action (as I would throughout the day) just to make things smoother, but overall the bike worked like a charm even though it was running a bit rich.


Me, Steve on his KTM and Stevie on her KDX200...




Eric's GasGas, Glen on his new Husaberg 450 and Dan on his YZ250F...



Glen is loving his new `berg, and it got rave reviews from everyone that rode it...




The rocks are pretty brutal up here...




Eric takes the opportunity to make my bike run not-so-rich anymore...




While Stevie enjoys the sunshine...


(I'd kill for her long legs!)


Glen and Dan heading down the other side of the ridge...




Stevie clearing yet another rock ledge...




Steve taking a different line...




Snacktime! Steve, Stevie, Dan and Glen...




Eric grooving on the Husaberg...






More to come...




WoodsChick

Great write up Woodsie. It's nice to get out with friends for a rip.

I'm glad to hear Les did your forks. Man he sure knows his stuff.

I am very please on the re-valving he did on my EC 300. It just transformed it into a whole different bike.


Waiting for more pics...

The side view shows your more woman up stairs than that was designed for.

Did I happen to mention that Glen loves his Husaberg? He loves it more than his KTM 450 EXC, that's for sure. Did I also mention that this place is kind of rocky?




Stevie prepares for the rocky climb...




And she cleans it! Wonder where she got that riding style?




Probably from her dad Steve...




This is the only section she didn't clean...




But she got out of it on her own and made it no problem. I'd ride with this gal anywhere...




This bit doesn't look bad, but there's a pretty steep rock ledge right at the beginning and it's several hundred feet down on the left if you blow it. I blew it, but luckily Dan and Eric were there to keep me from falling to my doom. I think this was the biff that broke my glasses in my backpack Now, I ain't makin' excuses or anything, but Eric had made some changes to my bike and I now had a motocrosser that revved up incredibly quick and had no bottom end. It was almost as if the power valve was open right from the crack of the throttle and there was no overrev, not to mention no chuggability. I know I would have made this if my bike had been running like it had earlier in the day, and I guess Eric agreed (either that or he just go tired of listening to me complain) so he put it all back to how it was earlier in the day. Anyway, Eric biffed it the first time, I think Steve failed to clean it, but Stevie cleaned it using the primo line I showed her (you know, the one I wish I'd seen before my own attempt but couldn't because it was right around a corner...) and Dan followed suit...

Stevie...




Dan...




We stopped right after that and rested in the shade and ate lunch...




Ahhh...no rocks!




This whole area looked like some rich dude's lawn...




I was enjoying the view here, looking for the chocolate ribbon down below that we'd just ridden, and I guess I should have kept my eyes on the trail. This rut appeared out of nowhere and sent me over the bars. I haven't had a get-off like that in a long time. I was getting the most out of my new body armor, that's for sure Too bad I didn't have any armor on my thighs where the handlebars dug in as I sailed over the top...




But wait! There's more! This awesome display of superior riding skill happened about 5 minutes later. I was jammed up against the tree pretty good...




Steve bailing me out while I catch my breath and take photos Thanks, Steve!




Yet another beautiful ridgetop view with snow-capped mountains in the background...




We put in a good 57 miles, almost all of it rocks and good singletrack. We did a bit of fireroad while looking for an elusive trailhead, but by and large the bulk of the day was spent on killer trails. We did a few adjustments with the clickers, the suspension was much more plush than before, and the height was just about perfect. It's still a little too tall for me to kickstart it on flat ground, but I usually found a rock to put my foot on, or a rut to put the bike in, or even just the edge of the trail to put my foot on. Sometimes I'd have to get off on the highside and start it with my left foot then get back on. At one point late in the day Eric just held onto my handguard while I got on and started it. I just took off as he let go, easy as you please I need about 3/8" more sag, too, so that should help a little. I was quite pleased with the changes to the suspension and am looking forward to a "work day" with just Eric so we can get it dialed to perfection. It's kind of hard to get the work done when riding with other folks, as we don't want to keep holding everyone up. Les did a great job, as usual, and I can't say enough good stuff about the man and his shop. Primo work Thanks, Les!


Everyone left after we had birthday cake for Steve, but Eric and I settled in for a night of quiet camping. We were the only ones there!




Paying homage to those that have gone before us. Thank you, Merced Dirt Riders...



After a bottle of wine and some killer BBQ cooked over the fire we hit the hay and slept like rocks. It felt good to get out and get a hard day of riding in. It was great to see all our favorite riding partners again, and I'm really glad Stevie took the day off in order to ride with us. We have a really good time together, and that's what it's all about. It was fun riding my sweet suspended-by-LT-Racing WR125 and I had a good time bouncing off the rocks (no really!) testing out the Acerbis Koerta body armor. A big thanks to Brian at AtomicMoto for making it happen for me



WoodsChick

Well, get to it, buddy! Design something for us real women to wear

Hey, it fits my shape better than the ones that aren't made for women And I'm not even going to tell you what size it is




WomanlyWoodsChick

Hah! I didn't even get photos of the good stuff There's a trail there that is stupid gnarly, but I had no time to get photos of it. It's in the Stanislaus NF off of 108, commonly referred to as Deer Creek. It's where they hold the PoleCat enduro. In fact, we were pretty much following the course of the last one they held there. We were camped at Crandall Peak. Lots of good gnarly stuff

I gotta go pick up my new million-dollar glasses now


WoodsChick

Whaaah(as usual).....looks like a great ride that i wish I had been on.

Ahh...I'm back from LensCrafters and I can now see again! No more carrying my "good" glasses in my backpack when I plan on crashing

Thanks, Walt! It's a pretty neat set-up. I like the fact that there's no hard plastic on top of my shoulders, and I like the narrowness of the chest plate. I usually get bruises on the insides of my biceps from the edges of the plastic on my regular chest protectors, but this one doesn't do that. I still ended up with bruises on the insides of my biceps, but it wasn't from the chest protector

Yep! Les has helped us out with our GG's, too, and he totally transformed Eric's old LC4. It was almost unrideable in Baja and as soon as he got home he sent it all off to LT-Racing and had Les put some of his good mojo on it. He can go faster and crash harder now

I wish you'd been there, too! It's a really beautiful place, and the terrain is quite diverse. Not too many places where you can get away with not paying attention, and the rewards are great.




WoodsChick

Outstanding ride you had!

I'm glad you got your new glasses too!

Your friend is right, those new Bergs are very nice.