Another day in the dirt...

[Zorro]

Flounder, Putty, Al (not on the forum) and I went to Wayne Nat'l Forest to ride dirty.

Flounder wrecked a few times and broke down (unrelated). Al got tired within the first 10 minutes and thought about quitting. I had the worst wreck of the day. And Putty...well, he did what he does best: Putty stayed clean.

We found a decent little jump on one of the trails and decided to take some "action" photos.

Here's the jump:

Flounder grabbing some air:

Here's Al on the 700 Raptor:

Me (pre-wreck):

Putty...thinking he's on XGames:

Unfortunately for your entertainment, no video/pictures were taken of my wreck...but here are the details...

We found a nice hill climb area. Putty and I did this hill climb the first time we went out. There are a few different routes to the top of the hill. Putty claims I always attempt the hard part...maybe he was right this time.

Anyway, Putty goes up first...no problems. Before he can come down...I go. The first time I attempted this hill, I took it slow...and barely made it...I almost stalled/flipped a couple of times. So this time I was poised to take it faster. I started out fairly well, and thought to myself that "Yeah...going faster makes this hill hellava lot easier!". Well, about 7/8ths up the hill, my quad stalled! It didn't sputter or give me any fair warning...it just quit...and quit quickly. I grabbed all of the front brake...but being on the steepest part of the hill...well, the front brake didnt do too much for me. I heard people yelling for me to bail off. I did. I was unharmed. The quad..."not so much". It got sideways on me...I thought "Grab it!!!". I couldnt. It flipped about 5 times as it went back down the hill and smacked in to a tree. I think I'm happy that it smacked in to a tree...otherwise, it might still be rolling. Anyway, I bent my handle bars...my levers, and my steering stem. I'm happy this wasnt my R1...for replacement parts are totaling about $80. After resting a bit and cleaning the shit out of my pants...the 400ex started right up...I found some other riders to help me bend my bars in to a ride-able position and to adjust my levers.

Now, I'm still wondering about why it would stall so quickly and without warning. I was going much faster than I did the first time I went up this hill. I have two thoughts as to why it stalled:

1. Low on gas and/or not enough gas getting in to the carbs... I have to discount this one quickly for two reasons...i did this hill before and it stalled too suddenly.

2. I hit the kill switch. This reason is more plausible because when my quad finally stopped rolling down the hill...the kill switch was pushed to the right. No dirt on it. I'm thinking I bumped it with my thumb while standing for the hill climb.

Any suggestions?!??!

Flounder's bike quit on him near the end of the ride. Luckily for all of us, he was on TOP of the mountain and the parking lot was at the BOTTOM of the mountain. Once at the bottom, I towed his azz back to the truck via a tie-down. Flounder, did you figure out what's wrong with your POS???

Funny, I now have rescued Flounder and Putty in the Hocking Hills area.

[Putty]

Thanks for the pics.....Glad my bikes brother is OK. Was a little worried for a minute there..

[flounder]

Flounder's bike quit on him near the end of the ride. Luckily for all of us, he was on TOP of the mountain and the parking lot was at the BOTTOM of the mountain. Once at the bottom, I towed his azz back to the truck via a tie-down. Flounder, did you figure out what's wrong with your POS???

Funny, I now have rescued Flounder and Putty in the Hocking Hills area.

I think i just fouled the plug good.. I havent pulled it yet to look. I may pull it tomorrow night and check it out.

[Chrisoh]

I think i just fouled the plug good.. I havent pulled it yet to look. I may pull it tomorrow night and check it out.

Welcome to two strokes.....

Two smokers...

Sounds like an ok day with some good crashes and a bad equipment crash..

My 2 days on the tarmac went good. My estimated problem was the issue on the race 600 so all was good (even set a best time 1:17.86 down from a 1:18.03 with the lap I took the checker flag would have been faster )

Crashes weren't too bad this weekend but we did have a guy rushed the Hospital with 7 broken ribs and a brusied lung on Saturday. Actually had a guy crash trying to keep up with me in the intermediate group. I was picking my way through a group watching each one for a couple corners or so. Guy highsided behind me, (I never heard it) and ended up in a tire wall that I never knew existed.

Tires on the 600 were going off by mid day Sunday so I never did get to really push it again. The new 1000 was great once I lowered the Footpegs. Saturday they felt so high that I though my heels were up my a$$..

But even in 5th gear with 170 mph registering on the speedo going up a hill where the front would lift under power just as I hit the braking zone this thing pulls like MUTHA Trucka.

I was surprised though at how much work it still takes to wheelie these things out of a corner. I have gotten small wheelies on the 600 but this thing just pulls like a freight train out and the front just skims and lifts a tiny bit unless I really get crazy. But by mid day Sunday the rear was starting to spin up on corner exits cranked over. Got one good slide in the slowest corner, but holding Neutral throttle brought the rear back in. Even did a slide on purpose without thinking about it. Running wide in turn 2 at Putnam I was still cranked over so I gave it a litte extra gas without thinking, spun the rear up a small amount enough to slow drive and change the direction a bit without any wiggle.

[Bigg Slimm]

Actually Chris, I am a member here, I just never post.