Calling the Old Guard - OG's

[Team_Oatmeal_Pie]

Curious as to who is still out there and riding. The reason I ask is either you quite riding or stopped posting.

Many may not know this but TT started out (by the Bryans) as a site about WR's & YZ's. Back in the day we had some pretty mechanically inclined folks who took this amazing new 4 stroke technology and figuired out how to do all sorts of mods to make them faster and more reliable. It seemed every week a new mod cam out that was ground breaking that had to be tried. When I found this site I was glued to it everyday, taking notes and trying mods I would have never ever done. Some damn good times.

I kept riding but stopped posting, as it seems as if the tech mods have stopped and the grey wire post pops up everyother day. The depth seems to have dropped off.

Marcus was amusing for awhile, sort of like a hamster on speed, running on that wheel going no where.

If you out there and still riding and not posting, how about giving a shout and let us know what you're riding and where.

TOP

[jim-in-so-ore]

I, too joined tt back in 2000 when there was all kinds of knowledge being shared. I learned a lot from many of the early posters who have seemed to drop by the wayside. I check out tt at least twice a day during the week and usually once a day on weekends if I am in town.

I still ride, but not so much in the cold weather. I have found that after 60 I've turned into a "fair weather rider".

So in answer to your question, I am still here, alive and kicking although somewhat in a feeble manner.

Jim

[PBDBLUE]

I lagged and didn't get in till 2003. Still post but not as much as I used to. WR/YZ line is pretty mature now so really not much new in the way of mods these days. Still ride more than ever. Gotta get as much in as I can before they put me in the home!

[clark4131]

I've only been in the fold since early '05, but it was still the land of Indy, Lowedog, NCMountainman, etc, back then. I'm trying to keep it focussed, but it's not easy. I delete and move a fair amount of posts almost daily. I think the WR innovation has reached a point where the technology has caught up with the shadetree mechanic's inventiveness. Yamaha and the aftermarket has paid attention and until we get some kind of drastic upgrade like FI, we've reached a ceiling. But hey, I'm still here, I've got no plans to go anywhere and I'm gonna ride my steel dinosaur until the wheels fall off ...SC

[JSanfilippo]

Been here since 2005 but on the TT-R side. The wealth of knowledge here in the WR forum helped me dial in my '07 with no difficulty at all.

[Hot Rod Todd]

i've been here since 2000 as well! started with a tt250, but the whole time reading about the 400's and the 426's here at tt.com. soon i had out grown my little 250f, and in 2003 i bought the first wr450 i saw. times have changed, and yes i too think we are all waiting to see what will be the next krazy bike we have to buy! tt.com has and hopefully will always be availiable for any kind of fix we need. oh, i still ride any day i can. out west here in the beautiful bc coastal mountains, you can ride for days on amazing single track, up to the mountain tops and see the world from there. there has not been a day out riding here when i didn't see bears or, deer, mouse, hawks and bald eagles. maybe not all in the same day, but......

sorry to all, but these days i ride a lot more than i post.

[VB_Racing]

Ive been around since January of 2000 on and off, Had a different user name(davetheace) til TT changed formats, and I had to make a new one.

I can remember all the new stuff everybody was trying, and when we were comparing the old WR 400's to the new and improved 2000 WR 400, then the 426's.

We had alot of very ingenious guys on board then, I especially enjoyed Taffy, with his wild mod's and even wilder attitude at times!!

I had a 2000 WR 400, then bought a new 03 WR450, that was the latest and greatest, but by then the forum had changed quite a bit.

I was new to offroad then, after a decade long hiatus, and the forum was alot of help to many of us.

The old WR/YZ forum was , without a doubt, the golden age!!

Dave

[WR_Dave]

I've been around since 2001 and try to stay involved as much as possible to help out like I was helped out. I sure do miss the posts of some of the original crew like Indy and Taffy, there was alot of good back and forth back then to get to the heart of any WR problem. Glad that some of you are still lurking around out there. WR Dave

[ophir]

I started in 2001, when I bought my 426. My current join date does not show it, because I lost my log.

Back then the site was fun and simple. I was here when the grey wire was pumped up, the BK mod introduced, and other mods.

It seemed the users back then were more friendly. Today your almost affraid to make a post in that you will get the your an idot for not doing a search deal.

I liked it better back then when it was just the yz and wrs.

[Unibomber]

Let's c when did I join '02. One of my first posts ended with lots of help from Motoman393 with my ol'e 426, RIP...... The forums were pretty tight then, not alot of attitude just people helping people. Seems like a much younger crowd is around now.

[ETP]

I've only been in the fold since early '05, but it was still the land of Indy, Lowedog, NCMountainman, etc, back then. I'm trying to keep it focussed, but it's not easy. I delete and move a fair amount of posts almost daily. I think the WR innovation has reached a point where the technology has caught up with the shadetree mechanic's inventiveness. Yamaha and the aftermarket has paid attention and until we get some kind of drastic upgrade like FI, we've reached a ceiling. But hey, I'm still here, I've got no plans to go anywhere and I'm gonna ride my steel dinosaur until the wheels fall off ...SC

Well put Clark. Any time there's a big design change to a model, the forum activity picks up. Otherwise its a lot of repeat threads about, what oil to use, tires, bigger tank, etc.

Even though the threads aren't as much fun to read thru sometimes, there is still lots of knowledge in the archives, and if anyone posts a question it usually gets answered promptly.

I joined in early 2003 right after I purchased one of the first WR450's. TT helped me so much early on. We knew of the woodruff key service bulletin here even before my local Yamaha shop did. Then when the real starter mechanism design flaw was discovered, TT was my source of info on how to fix it. Saved a lot of money too.

I play guitar and started a classic rock band couple of years ago, so I don't ride as much as I use to. I ride as often as time permits in my busy life, visiting the forum at least once a week to see whats up and contribute when I can.

My bike is totally tricked out, set up just right for me, and runs flawlessly because of you guys on this forum.

Thanks TT!!!! :D

[Taffy]

i've just started coming over to TT for the first time since i sold the yam in november 2001. it was a '99 wr400 and i did a search and came up with TT. all TT was at the time was a long line of threads that moved L to R across your screen the more responses it got.

we had a wisened old fox at the time who taught us all how to remove some kind of air bleed from the carb.

unfortunately his jetting was out the roof!

i bumped into JD who BTW i gave his nik too. he was james until then. another one was 'kevin_somewhere'.

JD taught me the needles and PJs but i got the PJ to PAJ ratios. JD fed ideas - i went out and tested them. quite frankly, they were just that - ideas. but the further i got into it the more on my own i became.

with the help of another lad the two of them pre-guessed how the MAJ worked but upon real testing it was the other way round. more air was leaner and it was after peak power that it worked.

the day i tested the MAJ i was chased through crown land by gamekeepers in a range rover! i would do a jet change and hope that they'd gone only to see them at the end of a fire break.

i was against the APJ and still more or less am in it's original form. however, upon riding with a mate i came to a log and his standard machine popped up the front and over we went so i went home and thought on it.

i had thrown away the rod but still made another and tried a variable length rod using what the commonwealth call a block connetcor. basically a hollow tube with a pinch screw at each end.

anyway, the lengthened rod wasn't what i wanted so i went hom, cut another length and used the BC as a block to stop travel and thus squirt.

after three tests i had it down to a spit and everyone asked "how long is a spit?" i said 1/2-a-second but within one post this nhad changed to a second and it has stuck ever since.

i genuinly only did this for me. it was called the 'Taff Mod' by others i think as it was competing with the'kevmod' at the time. i'm disappointed that i hadn't been interested in it before, if that and the MK2 had been on my bike i would have the BK mod. it transpired he'd been on the YZ side about two months before and his initials stuck with the mod.

this is a very american site. if you come over to husaberg.org (which is where i went in nov '01) you'll see a different kind of place. 50% of posts are by europeans of 15 countries while the other 50% are canooks, spiks and sam's finest!

things haven't changed. all the work is pro rata NOT in the USA. homer boys is what you are! seems the poorer your climate the more you get done.

i left because i sold the yam and we were always answering the same questions. JD took my ideas and started a business and bryan expanded the site and made his living for a short while before i believe he sold it on.

i don't pretend to enjoy that. but that's life.

i could NEVR get my view over. no matter how often i tried JD had everyone's ear. then a guy called 'vortex', a septic from the USA who was relocated to switzerland said he'd try them and once that happened then many, many people tried my 'leaner' jetting.

however you only needed to have the weekend off and some C&^t had put a 170MJ in and was bawling "awesome, wow-wee!". it was an absolutely hopeless task and says so much about the insular status of the USA and it's people.

so over at UHE i started a thing called the DOC and now any new member goes there first to find the right info. THEN they ask questions!

http://www.husaberg.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

go to the engine mods, tuning and rebuild as well as usual with me: the carb and nowadays the suspension side.

i enjoyed it while i was here, i gave more than i got and at the end of the day people have donme well out of it.

good luck and i'll pop in again.

regards

Taffy

[byggd]

land of Indy, Lowedog, NCMountainman, etc

ahhhh yes, the good old days I joined in early 05 as well. I try to pop in once a day or at least every other day and post in several forums when I think my knowledge might be helpfull.......

[beezer]

I was around pretty much from the begining. The bikes needed more work then and 4 strokes were new.

The bikes are much better now.

There were some really funny people back then.

[VB_Racing]

Glad to see your still around Taffy!!!

Dave