A little fork in South SLC

I was jealous that everyone went out for a nice mountain ride so I pushed the Big Red off the trailer this evening, grabbed some water and a cell phone, and headed up to territory previously undiscovered by me.   I have become a complete addict to this ATV stuff, I think I could spend all day out riding.  This evening the temperature was probably in the mid 80s with a hint of a breeze and a clear and clean sky.  I spent about 1.5 hours riding but it felt like minutes.  Here's a little of what I saw.

Another Astro Conversion Video

Here's D right after his wife gave him the wonderous '83 Honda 250R ATC Astro Conversion Quad.  Check out how quickly it starts up.

Fenders are ON!!! Red is ready for the Paiute trail!

Spent most of yesterday working on ATV to get them ready for the Paiute extravaganza.   First on the table was my first 1984 Honda 200ES Big Red.  I got it back the other day and got it started after cleaning off the spark plug and using a little starter fluid.  Then I got the nice old plastics, which I acquired in one of my really good deals, on and did an oil change.  The choke was broken so I also removed it (it was a dangler before).  Red looks good and healthy now, ready for the trails.

Last year it got:

1. A homemade seat cover (grey)

So far this year it has had:

1. Oil change & filter clean
2. New(er) front tire
3. Awesome almost new big back tires
4. Trunk and rear light (not yet working)
5. Back fenders
6. Cleaned spark plug
7. Nice painted (better shape) exhaust
8. Repaired front rack (missing bolt)

Still needs:

1. Air filter cleaned and oiled
2. Remove and replace rear diff. fluid
3. Fabricate a rear seat for little ones to sit on

I also did oil change on the new 125TRX, and air filter maint on both 125TRXs.  I couldn't get the orig 125 TRX to start so I got out the new battery and charged it up.  This morning even with the new battery it won't start.  Not sure what the problem is but I will clean the spark plug again this week and see if I can get it to run.  The new TRX125 is starting and running great although it does some white smoking that I imaging means it may need new rings.  We'll see.

This week to do list:

1. Air filter maint on Big Red, Breeze and Scrambler
2. Rear diff. oil change on Red
3. Chain maint. on Breeze, 125TRXs, and Scrambler
4. tranny oil on the Scrambler (if I can find where it goes)
5. Tighten down all the bolts I can find
6. Gas fill on all bikes
7. Load on the trailer for trip (then wait....)

NEXT DEAL in the works

I am thinking about trading the Raptor for a pair of old Honda ODYSSEYs  and HERE is the other one.

Here's a couple pictures of them

Wow! Wendover 300 Was Wicked!!!

This nice little "beginner race" was 136 miles of pain and damage.  With motorcycles, quads, and eve some SxSs falling to the brutal terrain.  Jared and I both finished the race (Jared in 6th place with a time of 5hr 14mins and me right behind him (ok a 1/2 an hour behind) in 7 place with a time of 5hrs 43mins).  Frankly I am just happy to have finished the race as I wiped out 3 times (no exageration, off my bike 3 complete times and all were painful).  I will add more description of the pain later when I am more emotionally stable.  It was a brutal destructive course, but I got 2  T-shirts for the $130 entry fee:).

For now here are a couple of the videos of us starting, coming in at the 85mile, or so, pit stop and finishing the race.










 


 

Juston's newest great deal, $25 buck, are you serious?

Here's Juston's words about this most recent purchase:

"He told me it wasn't working, but it took me 2 pulls and i had it up and running like a top.  It even has a working battery, and a clean title.  It is a 5 speed with reverse, but I have not been able to get in in reverse yet.  New seat cover and front tires is all it needs."

Knolls April 24th 2010, Race Prep and Proving Grounds

So, nobody came out to ride but me and Jared, but we understand a birth in the family will do that to a ride.  The ride was awesome.  We left my house at about 1330 right after I traded away my precious motorcycle for an '06 Honda TRX 450R.  I feel good about the trade so far.  The bike has been abused, but it has wonderful potential.  Anyhow, Jared and I went on probably about 4 hours of pretty hard riding to see if our bikes and our bodies would hold up to the test we will have next Saturday.  We will and so will the bikes.  And the good news is now Dan can ride my Raptor for the race!!! 

Back to the Knolls, we pretty much rode every terrain available including mud.  We went to the furthest reaches and back, we maxed our speed, and even saw a baby bird up close.  It was a perfect ride day!

I'll list some pictures and then vids on the next post.

Loaded up and ready to ride.













It was hard to pay that entrance fee, but the camera to the left would have know.

J Testing out the extended swing arm and a arms, and yep, they really do work.

ef yu kros dat fens yu mite splode.

Nice view and nice bead-locks!

This is looking out over the forbidden govt land, beautiful.

Cement mud all over, thank goodness for goggles.

That stuff is really hard to get off.

I think we scared this little feller pretty good, he was young just learning to fly (no tail feathers yet).

Just about done for the day, water fowl in the background.

I listed my 2002 Honda Shadow Spirit 750 for trade for a new race Quad

I am trying the audio swap feature in YouTube, because my little camera didn't pick up the sound of my bike the way I had hoped. 

Plow is off

Today I took the plow off the 3 wheeler:(.  It is just so warm lately and the snow we have been getting is so light that it is usually gone later in the day.  Now it is time to prep all my machines for the spring rides that are coming up.

Big Red with Chains

:)

I had to put some pics of the Big Red with the chains on. I modded them so they fit really nice and tight, and they work great! I plowed today and it was great. The Big Red even drives pretty good in the snow, kind of floats on the snow (I only got stuck once). The only negative is it is a little bumpy when you get going. I love it, this is the most fun I have had in the snow in years.

Snow again soon, please!


Now I need a wind shield and a front tire.

Big Red Christmas Plow!!!!

I got it!!!!

Took a little work (2hrs) to get the plow all hooked up then I took it out to see if it would do the job. Oh yeah, it will, it works it is awesome!!!

The picture is post digging around in the yard. I have a lot to learn about how to drive and push the snow, but it will be fun learning.

Knolls

Nate post ride.
Chillin in G-pa's trailer

Playing in the sand





MMM, no-bake cookies...
Taotao, Yamaha x 2, Honda x 2, Polaris x 2, CanAm x 2, Kawasaki

L riding the dune, he also tried out jumping (accidental and on purpose)

Forgot N's glasses, so he was riding basically blind, but he still logged more hours than anybody else.


Was great! Lots of adventures, good weather, great family time, some jumps, and several crashes (my hip and shoulder are still feeling it).


More pictures later!