Dirt bikes

Just got my wheels back from powdercoat, installed TUbliss, and new star-cross 5 Michelins. I'm ready to tear it up tomorrow!!

 

That's one way to clean the dirt off your rear fender

 

Going back to Sandmountain MX today. Pray for me. It's like my 5th time ever on a MX track!

 

a word on those michelin s12xc's.. great tires for soft terrain, but, check out the born on date of the tires. those haven't been made for some time. if more than 3 years old? be prepared for knobs to come off in rapid succession. I had one arrive to the shop i deal with that was 5 years old. On one ride in SAND and some roots, i lost lots of knobs. The shop's WPS rep was not getting anywhere with warranty, but i "know a guy" at michelin, and luckily had it replaced for free.

If you are riding on rocky, hard terrain a lot, even if just produced, the harder rubber of the s12/s12xc (to hold shape in soft loam/sand) is not ideal. the NEW starcross 5's seem to have a little softer rubber on all the tires, that flexes more, resisting breaking off knobs better.

 

Heading out to Ocotillo Wells.
Wee brothers coming with, his 1st time riding durty.

 

No rocks here at all. Roots and plenty of those cursed mofos. I rode today with them and I like them a lot. It's very loamy and soft where I ride, think damp clay, the brown kind and that god aweful hard to cleanup black kind. Traction today was excellent and we had 1/2" rain there Tuesday which usually means slick.

Bikes working really well and very planted and very fast. Soft springs, FX gearing and new tires put me at the fast pack finally on this bike. I did notice one thing I'll need a steering damper cause on our fast loop we call the blue loop, I had head shake, nothing bad but it wasn't there when I was in the stiff setup with intermediate tires, mostly cause I was slower I guess.

Really happy with today's ride I'm no where as beat as usual. Bikes actually enjoyable to ride now. Will keep an eye out on the tires but they look fine after today. Several members there run the S12 front all the time. It's very popular here. Hell I love it!

 

reaching out to the beeb brothers, looking for another Yamaha wr450f, preferably a 15 new non current. does anyone know where any are, the closer to mich the better but, not afraid to travel a bit for a great deal. going to build another snowbike. thanks in advance, Ski

 

I thought my dealership here in ga had a couple 15's left over, I'll check Tuesday. I'm heading to mi in a few weeks and could drive instead of flying.

 

You? Know someone at Michelin?

No way...

 

Used a medium/medium set of star-cross 5s yesterday for the first time at the Mx track. Absolutely loved them, I was running Dunlop geomax before and it always felt like the front was gonna tuck, and did a couple of times. I went faster with the Michelin immediately.

 

My knee and shoulder feel not so good from a "power over it, oh sh$t deep rut under the leaves, oh sh&t that's a log coming up, gas it and go" tumble.

 

So I'm sending the cylinder of the yz85 for a port and mill job for midrange power. Here's what the piston looks like. Seem OK or grab a new one?

https://goo.gl/photos/sbH4WgjeVEVtVpeu9

 

ordered a new Wiseco piston kit after talking with a friend. Blow by but the cylinder still shows the hatch marks.

Anybody have Eric Gorr work on their motors?

 

Took this Sunday at Sandmountain. Remember Christmas was the first time for me to ever ride a dirt bike.

https://youtu.be/hBslYlVTLk0

 

There are really knowledgeable guys that know a bunch more than me on 2 strokes, but I will share this. When my son raced Honda RS125's, the aftermarket forged pistons did not last nearly as long as OEM cast pistons. Plus in marginal conditions, like not warming up fully before getting on it, a forged piston would start to cold seize, or completely stick before a cast would, because of different expansion characteristics.

I came from the drag racing world, old Kawi Z1's and Suzuki GS1100/1150's, and always thought forged pistons were far superior to OEM.

I had Eric Gore re-plate/setup a Honda RS125 cylinder for me and he seemed to do additional finishing work to help eliminate rings catching on any of the ports. He uses Millineum for the re-plating, or at least he did in the 2009-2011 time frame.

 

Interesting. Time to see if I can edit that order and go for a stocker. If not are Vertex decent?

 

I've heard they are good, but have never tried them.

 

Before.....

After

 

Oops wrong photo
After

 

Ktm200 is officially gone. 2017 fc450 will be in the garage this week. Already have the 18inch wheel and other than a kick stand and .3 gallons of gas exact same as the fx which I really wanted but getting this over 3k cheaper since I'm buying it from a buddy with 30 hours on it. I'm pumped to try a 4 stroke for awhile. 450 is like riding a liter bike lots of fun. We will see how I do. Ha