Well boys and girls...

[Inspector #20]

A friends kid was out riding in the woods with his uncle and compound fracture his femur. It could have killed him had he been alone.

Dude, El Blinky, Man, wishing you all the very best!!!!

Sometimes these bikes do unpredictable things.

I've taken many solo rides out into the desert and a couple of two day rides alone out into Death Valley on my 1982 XR500R, carrying extra fuel in 2 litre soda bottles. Ive slept overnight in Big Bell Mine and rode out the next day.

I love big bore bikes and serious off road excursions.

I can ride about 100 yards north of my house - down this street - and the neighborhood ends in the wilderness. Photo taken from my front yard about 2 weeks ago.

See what looks like a trail going up the peak right over our neighbor's pad???



This is what that trail looks like in person.



If I follow it northwest, I soon drop down the other side into this...



GPS and cell signal isn't active for most of these trips and even satellite phones won't work in the canyons. I sometimes climb a mountain to send my wife a tracking balloon.



In this photo, I'm wearing the MX pants and a jersey I got from Mitch Pearrow, which were his back in the 90's when he was racing.



Just wanted to post up something interesting for you to read.

Get well soon my musical friend!!!!!

P.S. there used to be an old, discarded, spring Belgrade in one of the horizontal mine shafts inside Big Bell Mine. I've slept on it on a bedroom. It's visible in some older photos of the mine.

I was last out there in 2020.

 

[Inspector #20]

Scariest one I was ever on was a KX500 from around 2004. Never rode anything like the YZF450F Closest was that YZF 250F

Maico 700cc 2 stroke...no way to describe the acceleration

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

Had a 450F for a while. No joke, would clear 80 foot doubles in FIRST GEAR.
Those bikes are not messing around!

Tell me about it. When I was only 36-37 I BEGAN MX racing and this was right around 2000, 2001 when the first YZF 4 strokers were in the 250 class with 2 strokers. I am 58 now. I still would ride, but surely my racing days are over.

I knew they were some SHlt when I was staging for the gate and the blast of air that hit my face coming out of one of those Yammies was a wake up call. Surely nothing like the exhaust note of a 2 stroke.

 

[mcblink]

Dude, El Blinky, Man, wishing you all the very best!!!!

Sometimes these bikes do unpredictable things.

I've taken many solo rides out into the desert and a couple of two day rides alone out into Death Valley on my 1982 XR500R, carrying extra fuel in 2 litre soda bottles. Ive slept overnight in Big Bell Mine and rode out the next day.

I love big bore bikes and serious off road excursions.

I can ride about 100 yards north of my house - down this street - and the neighborhood ends in the wilderness. Photo taken from my front yard about 2 weeks ago.

See what looks like a trail going up the peak right over our neighbor's pad???

View attachment 83693

This is what that trail looks like in person. If I follow it northwest, I soon drop down the other side into this...

View attachment 83691

GPS and cell signal isn't active for most of these trips and even satellite phones won't work in the canyons. I sometimes climb a mountain to send my wife a tracking balloon.

View attachment 83690

In this photo, I'm wearing the MX pants and a jersey I got from Mitch Pearrow, which were his back in the 90's when he was racing.

View attachment 83689

Just wanted to post up something interesting for you to read.

Get well soon my musical friend!!!!!

Cool pics man!
I had an '89 XR250 when I was 14 years old, and had a ton of fun on it. That's the bike I would do similar stuff to you on, take it up in the hills and go exploring...my younger brother and I used to have an MX track that we put in one of the corners of one of our dad's fields, we had access to tractors, loaders, all the necessary equipment. That XR got pretty screwed up trying to ride that track, buT anywhere else it was Honda's typically bulletproof machines! Those XRs are tough bikes!

 

[mcblink]

Tell me about it. When I was only 36-37 I BEGAN MX racing and this was right around 2000, 2001 when the first YZF 4 strokers were in the 250 class with 2 strokers. I am 58 now. I still would ride, but surely my racing days are over.

I knew they were some SHlt when I was staging for the gate and the blast of air that hit my face coming out of one of those Yammies was a wake up call. Surely nothing like the exhaust note of a 2 stroke.

Doug Henry is my favorite racer of all time I think. I remember going to the Supercross races and hearing him from all the way across the track, as he was the only one racing one of those at the time, and they had just come out...he busted up his back really bad and had a surgical scar running like, the entire length of his back, and was still out racing. When I was young I thought that was the most badass thing ever!!

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

Blinkie, check out my XR riding experience. As a kid of 15 I bought a RM125. Sadly stupid bastards stole it 5 days later. So, throughout High School if I wanted to ride, I rode my buddy's XR200 out in his pasture. The " check it out part" is He was legally blind, yet still rode dirtbikes and show jumped horses even.

 

[Ghostman]

I stopped riding 2-wheels on a Suzuki DR100. Good childhood memories. It was a tank of a 4-stroke.

 

[mcblink]

Blinkie, check out my XR riding experience. As a kid of 15 I bought a RM125. Sadly stupid bastards stole it 5 days later. So, throughout High School if I wanted to ride, I rode my buddy's XR200 out in his pasture. The " check it out part" is He was legally blind, yet still rode dirtbikes and show jumped horses even.

I hate nothing worse than thieves!
Now that you mention it, I do recall reading that story here somewhere at some point...

 

[mcblink]

I stopped riding 2-wheels on a Suzuki DR100. Good childhood memories. It was a tank of a 4-stroke.

Sure, but probably just like the XRs, right? Could take it out on the trails all day and have a blast, but not a bike you'd be trying to hit big air with, right?

 

[Inspector #20]

Sure, but probably just like the XRs, right? Could take it out on the trails all day and have a blast, but not a bike you'd be trying to hit big air with, right?

I've taken some pretty big jumps on my 1982 XR500R, and previous owner - Al Baker - did a lot of suspension work, but it's a super heavy bike. It's never bottomed out, but it's over 500 pounds with me on it.

 

[mcblink]

I've taken some pretty big jumps on my 1982 XR500R, and previous owner - Al Baker - did a lot of suspension work, but it's a super heavy bike. It's never bottomed out, but it's over 500 pounds with me on it.

They are a bit heavy. I cracked the frame on my XR250 on the track my brother and I had, bottomed out a lot lol
I never did any suspension work though, that bike was stock other than a supertrapp muffler

 

[Inspector #20]

@mcblink - Here's a cool thread with a bunch of car and bike photos....

I Was Once Known As 'El Extremo' - My Not-So-New Motorcycle Saga:

My buddy I used do dirt ride with his dad owned the Honda shop, which he also sold CanAm, Those boys rode every dirt bike that Honda and CanM made. I have to tell you they were powerful machines and the boys liked them. they let me ride one , it the 250 was impressive, but the noise of the...

www.thetonerooms.com

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

Doug Henry is my favorite racer of all time I think. I remember going to the Supercross races and hearing him from all the way across the track, as he was the only one racing one of those at the time, and they had just come out...he busted up his back really bad and had a surgical scar running like, the entire length of his back, and was still out racing. When I was young I thought that was the most badass thing ever!!

I was there at the race Henry busted his back, and for his return at Budd's Creek. That was also the venue for my first ever MX race on a CR 125

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

 

[mcblink]

I was there at the race Henry busted his back, and for his return at Budd's Creek. That was also the venue for my first ever MX race on a CR 125

Nice! I was always inspired by him having busted his back and then getting back on the horse!

 

[ibmorjamn]

Well the irony is that part of the reason I sold my bike to LRT last year was because I'll be 40 in about a month, and I just feel like I'm getting too old for this stuff anymore lol.....particularly because I don't seem to have a "let's take it easy and putt around" kind of mentality. I get on a bike, and usually within an hour's time, I'm pushing the limits and going big.....
But, I don't bounce off the ground anymore. I kinda hurt when I go down lol
I figured it would be wise to let it go before I ended up doing something exactly like what I've done hahaha!
Except I don't eve have a cool story about why I wiped out this time!

Exactly why I sold the CR500 (The Beast)

 

[dmatthews]

KTM 300 bucked me.
It is both dislocated and broken.

Dayum dude... that sucks!

 

[dmatthews]

Hope you're feeling a bit better now.
I've been there, done that. Smashed my ribcage falling onto a log I couldn't clear at high speed.
No joy.

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

Nice! I was always inspired by him having busted his back and then getting back on the horse!

Then he was the pioneer for 4 stroke 250's after that. He and John Dowd were 2 of my favorites until Carmichel came up to 250's. Later Henry raced snowmobiles and became partially paralyzed.

 

[mcblink]

Then he was the pioneer for 4 stroke 250's after that. He and John Dowd were 2 of my favorites until Carmichel came up to 250's. Later Henry raced snowmobiles and became partially paralyzed.

Dowd was pretty great too. Wasn't much of a fan of Ricky, he seemed arrogant as hell (which he had good reason for, but certain types of arrogance rubs me the wrong way, he is one example). I remember Doug racing snowmobiles, but I don't remember being aware that he became partially paralyzed...that's unfortunate.