Fernley track Sat 01/31

[GreenMachine]

I'm thinking this light rain may tamp down the dust enough for a little spiny-spin-spin out there on Saturday. 

It's suppose to be a few degrees cooler than last weekend, which was plenty warm by dirt riding standards.  Depart Reno about 9:30 AM so we're ready to ride about 10:30 AM.

RSVP is you're considering going.

[slmoto]

Wish I could make it but if the weather stays nice I'll be out of town riding back and forth to the Bay this weekend.

Should be good to get in track time on a day of its own, not after a long days ride. I was useless on the track last weekend when we tried to hit it on the way out, too tired...

Have a good time, hope the dirt is good for you.

[GreenMachine]

Ouch!  That smarts!!!   

Went out and scared away all the slow riders and ATVs from the slow course.  Took it slow and built speed until I was running about 8/10ths.  Was having a good time learning how to get the bike to turn-in earlier so I could squirt down the straights.  Even had my own line developing. 

Took several breaks and rested and replenished before trying my hand at the advanced course.  Too much to learn.  Besides, nobody was on the slow course, so I went back and turned it up to 9/10ths.  Thought I was really dialed in.  Just the right amount of back-end fishtailing around, good acceleration in the straights, felt well within control, good air time, wasn't trying to get too crazy over the jumps, when I did what I thought would come naturally, bite more berm.  The front end just disappeared.  I knew I was going down, and my right foot went out from underneath me.  I was going too fast and couldn't just dismount. The bike just went horizontal.  SLAM! Down I went.  I impacted my right shoulder/chest area on hard packed clay.  Damn this defect bike with its inability to turn when there's no more sand or surface!!  Was in a right-hand 180* corner with a decent head of steam.  Just bit off too much of the top where there's no real bermming surface.

Didn't hear anything pop, so after I assessed that I was going to live, I killed the motor and put the bike on its side stand.  Painfully. Thought it would be wise to head back to the truck and see if I could shake off the pain or see if it would otherwise wear off over time.

Sat for about ten minutes thinking the pain would surely subside.  When it didn't, I suited up and went back out.  Only, I was hurting and could no longer ride competently or comfortably.  Crapola!  Packet it in a lot earlier than I had hoped!

No bruising or swelling as of yet and I can breath fine.  Reminds me of the pain from some dead stop impacts I've done over the years in snow ski jump crashes.

Washed the truck when I got home, albeit painfully and slowly, afterwards, so I'll just take it easy for the next several weeks.  Feels like someone swung a 2x4 at my rib cage.  Feeling a lot better as time passes.  Maybe that's the half bottle of wine I downed while I watched TV earlier.

Still got in about three hours of decent riding.  Just disappointed that I couldn't continue.

[GreenMachine]

Much better already.  Still tender.  Appears to be muscle related.  Could be rib related.  Who knows, but it didn't really slow down my plans for the day.

[slmoto]

Sounds like you got banged up a bit but from the sounds of your follow up not too serious, so that is good. The time I fell trying to hold a slide around in circles I was surprised at how quickly you slam down on a low side without even all that much speed.

I'm probably going to go ride somewhere this Saturday if you make a miraculous recovery and want to go out. With the rain today and it looks like some wet on Fri as well with a semi dry gap for riding on Sat I'm hoping for some nice moist conditions. Maybe even some mud puddles to play in depending on how the rain turns out for the rest of the week. I'll post up a new thread later in the week after seeing how the weather forecast pans out.

[GreenMachine]

I have an awful time laying on my back and I cannot rest on my right side.  I also cannot lift anything of more than a few pounds with my right hand.   I can carry dead weight with it fully extended, but not lifting or extending.   Pain shoots straight to my lower rib cage.  My left hand is doing all the heavy lifting until this passes.

I'm better today, but I don't think dirt riding would be advised given how I feel right now.  I'd only aggravate the situation.  Was thinking three weeks off, but if I'm feeling better by this weekend and know I'm fit for it, I might ride street briefly.  From previous injuries, this isn't the worst I've had it.  And from what I know about how I recover, it's best for me to just leave the body parts that hurt alone until they recover on their own.  Therapy and testing the waters only lengthens the time I stay injured.

The moisture could make for ideal conditions this weekend.  Would be fun to get out again and ride with you this weekend.  But I'm going to miss it.

[GreenMachine]

Slowly getting better.  The more I try to do the more it regresses.

Having a weekend with weather makes for a nice breather.  What a fragile animal we are.

No riding for me for a week or better, at this point.  I'm hoping it keeps raining so I can't ride.

[slmoto]

I hope it keeps raining too, it makes for great dirt conditions, but that doesn't mean no riding. I went out today, left the house at 9am to get some riding in before the rain came. Only got about 15 min of riding in before I had to call it quits because I chewed off all the teeth on the rear sprocket. I think maybe the chain was too loose and was slipping then when I tried to climb I was getting nowhere , I thought my clutch was going but luckily it was only the sprocket slipping. I thought my chain looked a bit loose when I checked before I loaded the bike but I did the three finger test and decided to leave it as is, should have trusted my instincts instead.

I've been watching these videos
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJAvmhgP0h1AEKY8vTEJPJg
So I was just out there to practice today. I was practicing u-turns in tight spots and wheelies, trying standing wheelies this time. Then my plan was to practice riding standing up for the rest of the day because I notice I'm getting used to sitting too much and need to develop standing riding skills. But I didn't get far before the rear sprocket went so I was lucky I spent time in the staging area doing wheelies and u-turns so I wasn't far from the truck when it went out and it was just a short coast downhill back to the truck.

Hope you recover soon, looking forward to getting out riding with you again. That last trip to Moon Rocks we did was probably my best ride yet.

[dub]

Dirt at moonrocks yesterday was all time. Some of the best conditions I've ever ridden in; grip was off the charts.

Also I broke my frame, but still finished our 40 mile ride. Just had to go slow through the whoops

[GreenMachine]

SL, you animal!  It probably was from chain stretch.  Nothing you could have done about it anyway.

Dub, better the frame than your ribs.  What do you think caused the frame to break and what gave it away?  Did you notice while you were riding or was it a visual during a break?  I'm curious.

[slmoto]

SL, you animal!  It probably was from chain stretch.  Nothing you could have done about it anyway.

Does that mean I should look into getting a new chain along with the chainwheel which I'll obviously need to replace? I don't want to get a new rear sprocket just to tear it up all over again.

[GreenMachine]

Probably both sprockets and chain.

You can measure the chain's stretch spanning the links.  Check your chain's manufacturer for it's tolerances.  I'd think it was the stretch that caused your grief.  TB5 did that a couple years back.  Fortunately he made it back to his truck, but his street bike's chain simply came off after chewing up the sprockets.  On my bike, the chain simply started rounding every tooth forward until it would periodically jump.  The whole set has to be replaced when they get to that point, because the sprocket tooth shape has to match the chain's link spacing correctly.  Match a new chain with worn sprockets and your new chain will wear out faster than you can get money out for a new one. 

Good video explaining how little a 525 chain can withstand.  FFWD to 7:30m

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up66jMOVzpw

[dub]

Replace the chain too.

Dub, better the frame than your ribs.  What do you think caused the frame to break and what gave it away?  Did you notice while you were riding or was it a visual during a break?  I'm curious.

I think years of hard riding took it's toll. Someone pointed out that it was cracked at a stop. I tried to take it a little easy, but it just kept getting worse. Eventually it was broken all the way through and I spent the rest of the ride sitting down, not putting any weight on the right peg. I could still keep up in the single track and the technical stuff, but in the fast whoop sections I had to take it slow and just roll over them.

It broke down where the foot peg mount bolts on.



Close up.

[KKM]

Dub,
Have you found a good Tig welder yet ? Ask Kevin at the KTM shop. He should know. I have never ridden Moon (whoops) Rocks, when you get this fixed lets go back up there.
Kevin

PS: Lost your phone #

[GreenMachine]