(I posted this in the XR forum,, but thought I'd post here as well). :) It was a beautiful day in a mostly empty Hungry Valley. Sorry for the lack of action pics, none of my friends could make it past the road closures to join me.
--------PASTE-----------
Well, I've finally finished building up the stock '01 XR650R that I got in trade for my built XR400R this summer. It was time for a shakedown run to ensure everything is tip-top for the LA-Barstow-Vegas ride in a couple weeks.
I managed to wrangle my way north of all the fires here in SoCal, taking back roads up to Gorman so I could take her out in the Hungry Valley OHV Park.
It's been a couple years since I've been on a dirt bike so I took it
easy for a while, sticking to the power line road that circles the OHV
park. Eventually I started getting my dirt legs back, and began
exploring some of the more fun trails (of which there are several).
My favorite is the Northern most loop in the place called Mesa Loop.
It is very narrow, but steeply banked with lots of elevation changes,
some rocks, some roots and lots of switchbacks! :) It is exactly the
kind of trail you throw the bike into turns, stick your leg out and
"gun it" so the back end can fishtail around the turn. ...too much
fun. In fact, at the end of the day, I just had to swing back up
there for another loop before heading to the truck.
I returned the BRP to stock gearing, which is probably too tall for a
tight place like HV, but then ...the XRR is too big for that place
anyway. Dropping an uncorked XR650R into Hungry Valley is like
dropping a great white shark into a goldfish bowl!!! [1] The XR4 had
a similar problem with gearing, but didn't have the torque to overcome
it, leaving you no choice but to gear it lower, and lose top-end
speed. The big XR doesn't have this affliction, which is why I wanted
to trade up. Even with the tall gearing, I was running 2nd gear most
everywhere. At one point, I even hit 3rd and 4th, but even on their
longer fire roads 60 mph felt too damned fast in HV, so it was back to 3rd for
speed, 2nd for most everything, and first for really tight stuff.
I made it a point to visit the long, whooped out sand wash on the
Eastern edge of the park so I could see how the pig behaves and get my
steering damper dialed in. The good news is, the big bike takes to
sand a lot better than the lighter 400 did. I also now have an open
terrain setting and a sand setting for the damper, and they are only 4
clicks apart. ...the bad news is, my absence from dirt riding was apparent in the sandy whoops! lol
The only issue is that the temp sensor on my Trail Tech, Vector computer
doesn't work. I'm going to call them tomorrow; it's just a plug & play
sensor, so if it not working, it probably means it's defective! lol
All in all, the bike ran flawlessly. The suspension is maybe a tad
soft, but soaked up everything I threw at it, and I do love me a plush
suspension off-road, so I'll leave it for now. The thing pulls like a
freight train and will rip my arms off if I'm not paying attention.
It actually has better torque than the big KTM 950 (which is more of a
rev-hungry engine anyway).
All in all a beautiful day to be out riding. Having the park practically to my self was just an added bonus. :)
Can't wait for the LABV now. I'll be riding sweep, so if you see me pass you ...catch up! ;)
:thumbsup:
Thanks,
Dale
Notes: [1] I wish this was my analogy, but it's actually from an NFL commentator describing what it was like having Dick Butkus playing in the NFL.
