KTM Woes....

What a great day for it.... I hadn't had many hours sleep because of the nights events. I had spent the evening trying not to have too many with the fantastic catering at one of our friends weddings. The wedding was hosted by the river at the bride and grooms residence, and soon the bridal party arrived in a pair of fine looking EH Holden's to seal the deal before the evenings formalities and shenanigans.

I was also lucky enough to find out that my brother had recently moved house, literally across the road (small world hey!) A few hours in the swag and I'm ready to go!

The sun rose early and my brother soon emerged from his room. In his usual fashion, he still had the filter to oil and a bit of riding gear to sort out before loading up. Off to pick up one other, servo, maccas, and then pedal to the medal to get to our destination.

After getting stuck behind the antique truck association (50klm/h in a 100klm/h zone - Come on!), we arrived at Wyaralong (QLD Moto Park) at around 10AM. The day was definitely heating up, as we scrambled to sign in  to the park, unload the bikes and get ready to head out. It wasn't long before I felt at home again...

It has been a long time in the making. As you can probably tell, I really do love the sport. I may not know all the stats of the championships, or have the latest rides, but most of my enjoyment comes from keeping a good bunch of people around me to share our previously uncharted regions of trail and the challenge of hitting the unknown terrain ahead.

The bike was feeling great! The 280 kit that I had fitted was pulling great from the bottom end and  the bike was hooking up well. I was keen to test out the limits of the bike, but knew that I should take it easy during the running in process. I also still have the forks to tune, as my brother had rebuilt them and the clickers were set back to centre, so it was best to focus on them.

A few laps of the trails/enduro tracks, and I am starting to find my feet again. From what I can recall of the flashbacks in my mind, there were some moments of brilliance over difficult terrain, and also some not so brilliant moments. Some more bike time is required to for speed and smoothness.

Although it was hot, dry, dusty, and the trails being a little choppy. The facility is very professional. The motocross tracks are well maintained, and the staff are very well organised....So I found out.....

Everything was going well, so we decided to take some tracks to the far end of the property to check it out. The trails were better as the had not been used as much as the tracks local to the car park. There were some more challenging rock ledges and hill climbs, and the boulders seemed to multiply.

We had ventured to the rear of the property and had decided to split into 2/2 to head back to the cars. With the notion my brother was off. I quickly followed and could track him from the tyre marks and the dust kicked up, as well as the squeaking of his hard compound brake pads in the distance.

The trail pace was lifted as my brother was out of sight. Amongst the chaos and the trees hurtling past, I had visions of myself regaining form, smoother and faster than the bike have been before. Both the full bottom end and top end rebuilds have been painstakingly undertaken on this bike now, so there is not a nut or bolt that couldn't be pushed to its limits.

Dropping over the ridge ahead, soon it turned to ride along it, slowly descending while flowing along the off camber sections. Off a ledge and downhill, before I turned to face a sticky little hill with enough momentum to commit to the rocky accent. Looking up, I could see two blokes who had just finished their rest after they had obviously helped each other to drag their bikes over the last ledge. The guys had parked themselves on the right side of the track, so the choice was to attack the left. This was not the best line, but I had enough momentum to make something of it. Ripping the throttle around, the bike let out a bark that I have loved from the first day that the Pro Circuit Ti 'silencer' was fitted. The rear tyre quickly bit into the earth and lunged forward as I grabbed the next gear. Halfway up the rise, I spotted a flat rock that I could use to propel the bike and myself up the last ledge. On target, I preloaded the suspension and bounced up onto the ledge, I was glad to see that the two blokes had turned to look in awe while leaning on their farm tractors, to witness for the gap that if I had thought about it, may not have been able to make.

One problem,... The bike had stalled mid air. When landing, I found myself balancing on the three foot ledge that was just conquered. Reaching for the starter button, the bike didn't even sound like it wanted to fire. Pushing hard on my toes, it was only a couple of seconds before I was riding it out backward over the ledge. Somehow managing to stay upright, I knew the best decision was the throw the old girl down before any more speed was gained and a reverse highside was achieved.

The two gents asked if I was OK. After a quick nod and a bit of a giggle, the bike was up and I was pointing downhill for another attempt. Grabbing second gear, the bike failed to roar to life. Reaching for the starter button also failed me as the battery is pretty much buggered and only gave a few rotations. I must have kicked it a thousand times, at least it felt like it. There wasn't much relief from the sun as the trees didn't offer much foliage, and the ridge has blocked any chance of a breeze to cool me down. Let alone the camelback that had let go in the esky on the way down, that meant I had no water to cool off with. Feeling a little light headed, I decided to take some gear off, rest for a minute and look for the lollies that had been packed in the tool bag for these instances.

Then it was time to investigate. The KTM tool kit was all that was needed to have the bike stripped down in about two minutes. The plug was pulled, and although it looked as good as its ever burnt before, it is replaced with another new iridium unit that I have on board. NO SPARK!

Credit to QLD Moto Park, the boys soon find me and manage to get a recovery vehicle to my rescue. The Rhino buggy has a custom made hitch mount to tow the bike through the bush and back to the car as others look on. First ride out and my noble steed has failed me....(sigh).

Somehow, after the somber trip back home and unloading bikes, I still had an extra spring in my step from doing what I love.

Wednesday - The secondhand coil that I ordered from eBay arrives, fifteen minutes later the bike springs to life. I might even make the next two day yet!..... 

                                                            Happy Halloween Guys!

 

Camping with good friends and family.

It's not often that we take the time to get away from it all. But why not?, (except for the monetary reasons of course - you could even take the time out to go camping in your backyard with the kids).

I dont have many pictures for you this week due to the fact that my trusty iPhone lept out of my pocket unannounced in an area where I dont have reception (mainly using it for the camera). The images that I caught with my mind are fantastic and I will do me best to translate it for you.

A picture says a thousand words, but there is nothing like the flashbacks of a fantastic weekend spent with good friend and company. As we are approaching the end of the year, it seem as though everyone is ready for a holiday. The weekend past was a great opportunity for us to get together, to let the kids (as well as ouselves) socialise, and go a bit feral for a couple of days.

An early mark on Friday saw us departing the big smoke ASAP! It wasnt long before the 2 hour journey was over and we had the camp site set up (after a small detour to the local butcher to get dinner for the night that we left in the fridge at home). A couple of friends had already set up in the back paddock, and a few were still making their way up through the nightmare of the Friday afternoon nightmare traffic.

Before you know it we have a lot of good company around us, as well a good chinwag, that see only a few survive to the wee hours of Saturday morning.

First light sees the young families awake to the serenity of what we call 'the farm'. A small acreage lot, set with the backdrop of the morning sun, rising over tree lined bluff emerging from the rolling hills behind us. The bluff is home to a few hundred cattle lazily chewing on the watered grasses beneath them, and a gentle fog that accompanies the cool air.

The sound and smell of the bacon and eggs, soon awake the masses. Not much deliberation is required for the 'blokes' to decide that a meat purchasing expedition to the colonial butcher is in order, so we pile into the cruisers and head for town. On our arrival, the meat is being handed over as fast as the hard earned money is.

The brother'n'law heads off for a ride on his TE310 into he state forest for a blast and I am very Jealous. I might be able to hit him up later for a blast, to see what all the rave about fuel injection is?

We go for exploring in the forest for some rock pools in the forest that we will be able to utilise in the hot days to come. It is not quite hot enough for dip today, but fun to explore and know what is available around us. We are soon met by a TE310 and we all head back to 'the farm' for a bite to eat, or at least we thought.

The TE310 come past us on the back wheel and disappears into the distance, but we soon catch up to him pulled over on the side of the track in front of a long skidmark on the dirt road behind him. A stick had managed to derail the chain and it looks like it is in the back of the ute for the weekend. It will be chain and sprockets for the bike as the chain has suffered a 90 degree rotation.

Back for lunch and we decide to explore the forest some more before the Triton has to pack up and head back to the big smoke. 'Just a quick look around they said, it will be fun they said'. But nothing could prepare us for the treachery that was about to take place.

We headed up the track into the forest where I had explored with another friend a few weeks earlier. A few dead ends, and a couple of voluntary hill climbs saw us with a bird eye view of the valley. We could partially see the camp ground below and took a few happy snaps to show the crew later before heading further in. Heading south, we crossed a fairly boring section of scrub/logging country, before getting to some really nice timber. Eager to find some rain forrest, we kept heading south to find a few welcoming sign posts showing easy routes to take. My cruiser is in good nick, and the Triton and Navara are pretty much brand new, so we didnt want anything extreme, just something to test out our abilities as drivers and to make sure that the vehicles were up to the challenge. My worn all terarrain tyres were no problem on the ground that we covered, but the paintwork was about to get a real workout.

I have never seen so much lantana in my life. There was no turning back, we had to continue as there was nowhere to turn around and the hills that we decended may have called for winching if we back tracked, and we knew that the road was only a few kilometers in front of us. The lantana scratched our cars like fingernails on a chalkboard. It was terrible listening to it. Was the great adventure that we just had, becoming a tradgedy??

If you dont laugh you cry. We soon got back to thee camp ground and was met with the wifes death stares, 'What have you done to the car!?' I knew it wasnt goig to be pretty. 'It will polish out',.... 'I hope' (mumbled under my breath). I will soon find out in the next few days as I pick up some cutting compound and attemp to restore the cruiser to its former glory. Somehow, I dont think that we will be exploring without a bike in the future.

The afternoon saw use runing after the young bloke on the peewee, making sure that he didnt take off into the distance (running after him with a rope tied to the bike). Im glad that there were a few keen runners, but we are all going to be sore tommorrow.

A few cold beverages to summarise the weekend and the BBQ was in full swing. It is a great feeling to be surrounded by all the babies, toddlers, teens, dogs, friends and family. With the sun setting over the the hills, and the banter flowing, it saw the closing of another great weekend. Tommorrrow we will pack up and head back to civilisation, albeit minus a telephone with images of great times captured.....

Looking forward to next weekend, the 250EXC-F gets its first taste of fresh air in nearly 12 months!

2013 - The year that was......nearly!

Well, its taken just over thirty years to get here...., and where is here you might ask? The white picket fence (minus the pickets), and the 2.4 chidren (2.0 actually). Add to that, the 2 cars, dogs, fish, mortgage, etc, etc. Yep, Ive made the everyday dream life a reality. But now what.....

From a very early age, i can always remember having an addiction to a busy and what I would call intense lifestyle. I mean, I am not jumping out of perfectly good aeroplanes every five minutes, but always looking for the next experience that life can provide. That is except for one staple ingredient,..my noble steed.

There have been many 'steeds' in my life so far. Some of these include (but not limited to) QR50, DS80, YZ80's,CR125M, KX125, 300EXC, DT200R, A100N, CBR600F, and of course my current mistress the 250EXC-F.


I must say, I am not the religious type, but I must have been blessed to have my passion at my fingertips, although not always the funds....

I can remember the coldest nights, where I had put all my day clothes on and was still freezing my a$# off. Then reaching over to get a mouthful of water, only to find the water had formed a solid layer and nothing coming out. There was still something exciting about scraping the ice from the seat in preperation for the ride to follow. Even with the extremes at the other end of the scale, where 2000 riders had shown up to ride 50 kilometers of dry, barron, dusty ground, in 40+ degree heat. There is something eerily soothing about sharing a smile with a mouth full of brown teeth, hanging out with fellow riders for a cold beverage , and talking about how you ate s&$# on the transit that just transposed.

The last 12 months, I turned the big 3.0.! (I know thats still young for some of you). I havent had a ride this year due to the rigours of life and the timing chain tensioner letting go on the 250EXC-F.

Catastrophic! I know, but also another reason, why I have turned into a lazy ass and feel all depressed while I try to gather the funds for the required repairs. Enter good exchange rate for US parts!

After a rediculous quote of 3K+ for a top end from a large motorcycle chain (to remain unnamed). I decided to go it alone. I am no slouch when it come to mechnical work (Nearly dual trade Auto Electrican/ Diesel Fitter), and having rebuilt and assisted many others, I feel I am up to the task. Thanks to Ebay(US) and KTMpartsonline(AUS), I know have myself a quite (sort of thanks to the FMF Ti), smooth running, 280EXC-F! Keen as mustard to hit the dirt!

Everything happens for a reason I guess, I got a chance to go for a snowboard after the required duties on a businees trip to NZ, numberous hatches/matches and dispatches, and have got to spend a bit of time with the wife/kids and friends on 4WD/camping and drinking adventures, as well as a few trips to sight in down the range.

So, Ive decided to ramp things up a little. I hope to motivate others stuck in the 'daily grind' to appreciate the things that this country has to offer. Get off your a@# and find the things that make you happy! I dont want to hear how s$%# you life is on Facebook, I just want to know when we can go for a ride!

We are booked out until the Xmas break (Managed to scedule two rides in before the end of the year!) Next year is going to bring alot of change, back to my usual self. Happy, easy going, dirt biking me.

Keep posted as I run in the 280EXC-F, and start the IT250K project!