2036 replies to this topic

[Goggles Pisano TT Silver Member]

Here's a couple of new photos:

New hand guards installed and bike cleaned up a bit



Waiting patiently for spring



The radio is saying 35° today so I'm going to brave the cold... Not going far as I probably won't last very long out there.

[misfit650 TT Newbie]

Just took it around the neighborhood to test out the new tires. Was not dressed nearly warm enough

[wobblyknobby TT Silver Member]

Anyone want to ride Cleveland this evening? PM me ur # Or you can look for me around Train Ave. or Quigley maybe.

[Goggles Pisano TT Silver Member]

I ended up spending the entire day on the bike cruising around cornfield country - otherwise I would be up for heading out tonight. So that and a gut full of bourbon means I'll just sit safely at home and post some photos of today's ride instead... :buzzed:

Like always, it didn't start out as a rail expedition, it just turned out that way...

When I bought my WR250R I really had no intention of ever riding it on the freeway. But this little bike just sings at freeway speeds. I headed west on I-480 and US-20 through North Olmsted, Elyria, Wakeman, and ended up in Norwalk. 75 mph indicated the whole way and not a word of complaint from that little 250 motor.

After wandering around a bit I headed northeast toward Berlin Heights and soon picked up the telltale power lines that mark the roadside right of way of the Lake Shore Electric Railway - abandoned in 1938 but still delivering electricity to this day. Approaching Berlin Heights I spotted some old bridge ruins next to a cemetery.



This was where the LSE's Southern Division crossed Old Woman Creek. As always, the power lines mark the way. It's quite a bit easier to follow when the leaves are down.



Continued north along Ohio route 61 and crossed both I-90 and OH-2 to the town of Ceylon. Here the LSE was built on an embankment to cross the New York Central (today's NS Chicago Line west of Cleveland) on a bridge so I swung west along the tracks a couple of hundred yards to see the abutments.



Okay, there's not a lot to see here, but I thought it was a good pic of the bike.

I turned east along Lake Road/US 6 toward Vermilion. The area along the lake was COLD... Lots of ice still out there. This was once the LSE's Vermilion passenger station and electrical substation. It was later remodeled into a bank, and now it's just offices.



A historical marker was put up a couple of years ago, but I never saw it up close until today...



Liberty Street (Lake Road) was realigned over a new bridge in the late-'40s but the original brick pavement shows the exact location of the interurban rails...



I worked my way east through Lorain and stopped by the old Beach Park car barn which is now a theater and shopping center across from the huge Avon Lake power plant. I heard there was an old trolley car parked behind the place so I came to see for myself.



The guy on the roof was replacing the tarp that had blown off a couple of days ago. I guess I was lucky to get a shot of the car uncovered. It looks like it was originally a passenger car (the guy on the roof said it was built in 1905) and later rebuilt into a freight motor.

Great day. About 120 miles total. Spring is almost here...

[wobblyknobby TT Silver Member]

Hey Goggles
Well I guess your WR250 is broken in.

Loved your report and pics.   Man you really take off for the day I see.

With all those miles and RPMs, I wonder what oil are you running? Have you checked your valve lash? Its not real easy to adjust, but its real easy to check. If you do not already have one of these, u should grab one:

http://www.oemcycle....ha_TTR250_99-08

I am running the PC Racing Flo oil filter and it is very cool. I have tried some different oils, but my WR's favorite is 10w40 4T m/c 100% sythetic by Mobil1. They have it at Advance Auto for $10/qt. Never ever use car oil.

I was using normal m/c oil and paper filter for a while and changing often. I was really suprised how much quieter and smoother my WR ran when I switched to the flow filter and mobil1 syn m/c. Wow, a noticable reduction in mechanical noise.

I know what you mean by your rides turning into rail exploring. Have you checked out the view from Aetna looking south over the Cleveland Line? There is a cool, narrow concrete arch that you can walk out over the tracks on. The view of trains going thru the tunnel is worthwhile. Just East of the bridge is some abandoned property. Pull in there and go right, climbing up the small hill near the tracks. This will take you near the arch. Also, there is a path on the North side of Aetna that takes you down to the tracks.

I have been riding alot in spite of the cold wet weather but I am really looking forward to dry dirt and t-shirt weather. I love the first of the warm weather before the bugs come out.

Hoping for a dry spring & summer.

[wobblyknobby TT Silver Member]

misfit650 said:

Just took it around the neighborhood to test out the new tires. Was not dressed nearly warm enough

Nice KLR u got there. What kind of tires and how are they?

[Goggles Pisano TT Silver Member]

wobblyknobby said:

Well I guess your WR250 is broken in.

Yeah, almost 1700 miles now. The motor has loosened up nicely and it doesn't burn a drop of oil even at continuous high speeds. In most motocross & enduro bikes top gear is usually close to 1:1. In the WRR/X 4th gear is 1:1 and 5th and 6th are overdrive gears. Yeah, it's tall...

I'm thinking of getting a used set of WR rims with a larger sprocket and much more aggressive knobby tires. Then I can just swap out the wheels when I want to do some serious off-roading.

wobblyknobby said:

With all those miles and RPMs, I wonder what oil are you running? Have you checked your valve lash?

The new WRR/WRX motor is a completely new design with nothing in common with the old WR race motors. To give you an idea of how bulletproof these things are the first valve check is scheduled at 26,600 miles...

And I'm running Yamalube 10w30 just like the shop manual suggests.

wobblyknobby said:

I know what you mean by your rides turning into rail exploring. Have you checked out the view from Aetna looking south over the Cleveland Line? There is a cool, narrow concrete arch that you can walk out over the tracks on. The view of trains going thru the tunnel is worthwhile. Just East of the bridge is some abandoned property. Pull in there and go right, climbing up the small hill near the tracks. This will take you near the arch. Also, there is a path on the North side of Aetna that takes you down to the tracks.

I'm not very familiar with that area... Sounds like a place you need to show me.

[wobblyknobby TT Silver Member]

That wrrx sounds like a hell of a bike.

[misfit650 TT Newbie]

Thank you, I really like the bike. Those tires are Dunlop 606's. Got them from motorcycle superstore for about $70 each, and had the dealer in Medina mount them on the rims. I only have a few miles on the tires from running it around the neighborhood to make sure I put the wheels back on properly, So I really cant give an honest assessment about their performance yet. However, first impressions are that they might as week be square they felt so rough at low speeds on the pavement. Im thinking that will translate to good traction on the dirt. I was on google maps the other night looking for some of these spots you are riding around here and hope to sneak out and run them on some of these offroad sections you have shared.

[OhioPT TT Bronze Member]

Come down to Columbiana County and I'll show you guys around here.

[wobblyknobby TT Silver Member]

OhioPT said:

Come down to Columbiana County and I'll show you guys around here.

  Nice Pics. And the riding over this is awesome. Having someone with local knowledge would be sweet. I hear there's been bigfoot reports in Wellsville. Ever heard any?

[OhioPT TT Bronze Member]

Thanks!  No big foot sightings myself, but I've heard of them, lol.  

A lot of those pictures are from Wellsville.  The others are from Rogers, Elkton, Salem, Negley, and West Point.

[Goggles Pisano TT Silver Member]

OhioPT said:

Come down to Columbiana County and I'll show you guys around here.

Heck, I want to move down there where I can get a few acres of land really cheap...

[powertower411 TT Member]

guys i think i have found something real nice ... i was at the auto show last night and was talking to a Buell sales rep. i was asking him if he knew of any local riding places.....to get to the point.  if you type in WEST GEAUGA HIGH SCHOOL in Google maps there are power lines that run behind the school if you look at the satellite images it looks like trails run all the way down and up them for miles and miles.....i haven't checked them out yet but west G is only about 15 mins from my house on the east side of cleveland    you can also search MAYFIELD RD AND 306    these look sweet:ride:     screw driving a couple hours for good trails we got them right here:thumbsup:

[powertower411 TT Member]

there are numerous pionts where tou could access the power lines but another good place looks to be 7600 Chagrin Rd    put it in google maps

[wobblyknobby TT Silver Member]

powertower411 said:

guys i think i have found something real nice ... i was at the auto show last night and was talking to a Buell sales rep. i was asking him if he knew of any local riding places.....to get to the point.  if you type in WEST GEAUGA HIGH SCHOOL in Google maps there are power lines that run behind the school if you look at the satellite images it looks like trails run all the way down and up them for miles and miles.....i haven't checked them out yet but west G is only about 15 mins from my house on the east side of cleveland    you can also search MAYFIELD RD AND 306    these look sweet:ride:     screw driving a couple hours for good trails we got them right here:thumbsup:

  Those look pretty fun and only 25 miles away. Nice!

[wobblyknobby TT Silver Member]

OhioPT said:

Thanks!  No big foot sightings myself, but I've heard of them, lol.  

A lot of those pictures are from Wellsville.  The others are from Rogers, Elkton, Salem, Negley, and West Point.

It is a real dirtbiking mecca out there. I need to make it out that way this year.

[rt30000 TT Newbie]

Awesome pics OhioPT!!!! That makes me want to come out there so bad. I'm in Massillon. I wish I knew more areas like that around here!

[markey TT Bronze Member]

PT411-

I have ridden the power line trails you are referring to....although it was over 10 years ago and a lot has changed.  A few years ago we rode a section of power lines near geauga lake, and we came upon a track close to 422.  There were also some hill climbs back in there, and we met up with other riders.

I am in for checking them out...wobbly add it to our list for '09.

[OhioPT TT Bronze Member]

rt30000 said:

Awesome pics OhioPT!!!! That makes me want to come out there so bad. I'm in Massillon. I wish I knew more areas like that around here!

I have a good riding buddy that lives in Massillon.  If you were at the Crow Canyon Turkey Run/KTM demo day this past Fall, you might have seen him.  He was riding the trails AND the motorcross track on his 950 Adventure.

I'll put together a ride this year if you guys are interested.  It'll be fun to share our local riding areas.  It's always nice to change scenery.  Hell, I already have trips planned to Hatfield-McCoy and Colorado this year