| Author | Message | ||
     Mikef5000 |
On the ground with a Buell that is. Did a 130 mile gravel road enduro race today. It was about 30 miles of tiny twisty paved backroads connecting about 100 miles of dirt and gravel. Fantastic roads, but I wish there was better markings for turns. I went wide in a hairy gravel corner and ended up washing out the front end. Down I went, at about 10-15 mph. I was up immediately and did the 'stand backwards with one hand on the bar and the other hand on the grab handle' trick and the thing came right up with next to no effort (or I was just running on pure adrenalin from just laying the bike down). Then I was pissed that I didn't take a picture of it down. An uprighted picture will have to do:  The bark busters did their job, as the clutch lever and grip were untouched. The handguard did move up a good inch, but some brute force pushed it right back into place. Other points of contact were both pegs, the shifter, both skate board wheel axle sliders, and the frame slider. No significant damage to any of them though. Also, with no side bags on, I was shocked that nothing on the rear touched down. None of the seat or bag bracket touched at all, just the axle slider and passenger peg. Only damage done was the handlebar bent in just a tad. On that note, I'm now looking for some more robust bars that are roughly the same dimensions as the OEM Uly bars. I want something that won't bend in a low-side. Thoughts? Anyone know the dimensions of the factory bars? (like the width, height, and pull back) Anyway, I proceeded to get lost numerous times, and miss plenty of turns, but in the end I had a freakin blast. Flying up the dirt straights at 50-60 mph was nuts. I did get sideways a few times. THAT is something I'm not used to nor comfortable with. There were some mud and dirt inclines that I was mighty impressed how well the Scorpion Trails did. They are impressive tires, but these sizes do not condone themselves to off-road/gravel road riding. I got 23rd out of 30-40 people, pretty terrible, but I wasn't planning on actually competing, so what the hell. I learned that once you make a single wrong turn, your mileage and timing is off for every other turn in the whole race, which makes it almost impossible. (This was my first enduro type event, forgive my ignorance when it comes to these). I did get to use my road chart holder! I love it! More pictures:    The other Uly there:  He was riding two up, a feat of which I couldn't imagine. And, WE BOTH WON A BLUE RIBBON!  I won "Best Solo Crash" and he won "Best Two Up Crash". His bike looked undamaged, and they were both fine, just ran wide into a small ditch, and had it about completely stopped before it just tipped over. He also won 7th place overall, which is AWESOME considering he was two up! And I made it home:  (Message edited by mikef5000 on April 25, 2010) | ||
| 4_pete_sake |
Well done indeed, well done..... Lovely pictures to boot.... Cheers-pete | ||
| Nevrenuf |
can we start calling these the froggy awards. just glad your still ok there mike and you didn't go over any cliff. | ||
| Cyclonedon |
hmmmmmmm I'm just wondering. How long before we see a picture of Cityslicker's motorcycle on here. lol | ||
| Invisible_monster |
Sweet pics! Looks like fun. Wife and I were planning on riding that event 2-up on our ULy XT but decided not to with all the rain we had yesterday and last night. Looks like we may have made the right choice! Glad you made it home in one piece. | ||
| Paralegalpete |
thats really cool, thanks for sharing | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Way cool! Glad you and the bike are OK Where was the race at? | ||
| Ulyranger |
Very nice! Two Ulys in the event, too cool. Thanks for sharing. Where was this event anyways? | ||
| Mikef5000 |
Started in Chandlersville, just east of Zanesville. Rode all over Muskingum County. | ||
| Towpro |
Mike, was this a real enduro with speed averages and checkpoints? Since our trip meters can only role back to 0, did they just reset to 0 on any resets? Did they have you guys averaging 24mph on the stone roads? Not a bad idea. I got the place in mind to do this, I just need checkpoint crews. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Nice work Mike, and glad you're OK after the tip. My suggestion, though - if you know you're gonna be in gravel....use your side bags. They make awesome sliders and are actually quite strong. I've seen a set on a UlyX that went down in diesel at 70mph on the highway. Slid quite a ways, scraped up...but no cracks or holes and zero damage to the bag contents. Mine live on the bike now for that very reason (that, and they hold my first aid and fuel tubes). | ||
| Mikef5000 |
Mike, was this a real enduro with speed averages and checkpoints? Yes. Speed average was 30, and there were 5 checkpoints with 1 reset. We did reset back to 0. I had the Uly gauge set to the clock, and was using my GPS for mileage. if you know you're gonna be in gravel....use your side bags. I was going to for this very reason, but I'm kind of glad I didn't! It would have left noticeable scarring in the bag, and it didn't hurt much of anything without the bag on there. | ||
| Pkman |
Looks like a great time! For alternate Uly bars I used Raptor atv bend bars with a Precision Engineering adapter/raiser. This combo puts the grips at about the same height as stock. Fatty bars do make it hard to use the preload adjusters though. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Hey Mike, go to the Pony and get a set of MSR atv bars for 25 bucks. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
I'm hoping to stick with 7/8, as I already have risers for them. Iron pony lists a ton of them, I'm thinking I may just need to pull my current bars and take them with me. Am I correct in thinking aluminum bars will be less likely to bend than steel? | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
The MSR bars I got are 7/8 and most of the stuff they carry should be 7/8 also. You can go with the alum. and get a funky color or whatever. If you are gonna keep doing the dirt diving, I would go with something CHEAP. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
I am going to keep doing the dirt thing. I'd rather pay up front for bars that aren't going to bend every time tho. Iron pony lists the Aluminum MSR bars for $25 bucks anyway, so I'm thinking that's the best of both worlds. I'll either get the titanium color or black. They list 6 different 'high' bar types. You got the ATV high bars correct? Bouncing back and forth between your Uly and the TT with high bars, is there much of a difference? | ||
| Mikef5000 |
ARG! Is it going to be impossible to get the left grip off the bar? My usual routine is a small flathead screw driver beneath it, but half the time it stabs through. Since these grips have a heating element inside I don't want to do that. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
You got the ATV high bars correct? Yep Bouncing back and forth between your Uly and the TT with high bars, is there much of a difference? Not much if any Is it going to be impossible to get the left grip off the bar? In working order... maybe. Try some solvent of some kind or heating it up and try to turn it by hand to break the bond | ||
| Buellerxt |
Sounds like a great day, Mike. Well done and great pictures. Thanks. I had a great ride yesterday as well, through the beautiful Texas Hill Country, on terra firma!  Congratulations and keep representing us Uly folk. | ||
| Yool |
I have mucho respect for you........ I bought my Uly as a crossover bike from dirt to pavement, but lowsided the first time I hit soft stuff. Since then it has been a pavement only bike. Thanks for the pics, great to see a uly "down and dirty" | ||
| Buewulf |
Too cool. You have me searching the web for similar events around here. | ||
| Froggy |
Did you remove the two screws holding it in? | ||
| Mnrider |
the thing came right up with next to no effort. I know what you are saying,mine's been down 3 times and I always manage to pop it right up.  Glad you and the bike are OK. I did a couple of those events on my 92XT600 Yamaha-good fun. (Message edited by mnrider on April 26, 2010) | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Heated grip install or removal.... http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/347517.html?1199316066 Looks like that grip is held on with a screw.... how about that Frogman | ||
| Mikef5000 |
Interesting. Good for easy removal, bad for installing on a new bar. I was already hesitant about drilling the other necessary holes. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Well, quit putting your bike in yard sales and it shouldn't be a problem | ||
| Mikef5000 |
The day after my 'wreck', this DVD came in the mail:  I do believe that is the definition of irony. Cracked me up, that's for sure! | ||
| Eulysses |
Ahem...notice the knobbies in that photo? I just take a pipe just bigger than my grips and bend the bar back in place. Gave up changing bars. They can all bend. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
  I picked up my new aluminum bars yesterday and went to install them today. They were a few inches longer than the OEM, so I proceeded to cut an inch off each end, not realizing that this caused each end to be too short. They are wider in the center section. So now the lever pivots are on the angled part of the bars, so they're pointing funny directions Plus I drilled the holes what looked to be in the same location as the OEM, but of course, turned out to be way off. And the left grip went on TIGHT, so place your bets if I can get it back off again. That'd be perfect. A $25 fix turns into $200. Now I need to buy ANOTHER new set of bars. Replacing bars from going down doesn't bug me. But replacing them again cause of my ignorance really pisses me off. Before I effed them up:  The aluminum is substantially thicker. Should hold up better.  (Message edited by mikef5000 on April 28, 2010) |
