I have 2 pairs of these.
The black pair, I bought in 2016, and I use on my ’79 IT250.
The brown pair, I bought in 2020, and I use on my ’01 XR650L, and I bought these to keep out in Montana.

They’re both basically the same, except the brown ones are the “HP” version which is kinda the 2nd version that came out a couple years after the first, and they have a metal shin plate.
But, not to be confused with the newest “icon-elsinore-2-boots” version which came out recently and seem unfortunately worse.

Anyway, why am I making this post?
I don’t know… This year I told myself I’d get a “better” pair of mx boots like the “Alpinestars Tech 7 Enduro Boots“. They seem like the best option and are more comfy for dual sport riding, living in them etc.
I’ve looked at them a few times, and I just can’t do it. I just can’t.
Why do all modern ADV / dirt bike boots have to be so damn ugly and dumb looking?

So it got me thinking, do I really need to change boots?
Was Alex Quinn right?
I don’t know…
I’ve done a ton of riding in each pair.
Lots of trips.
Lots of trails. Lots of rocks.
Lots of pretty technical gnarly shit.
Lots of walking around supermarkets and sitting around campsites.
A handful of riding at the local MX track.
I’ve thrown almost everything at them and I have no complaints.

Am I doing the most insane technical difficult riding like 5 miles of hell? No, I’m not.
Maybe if I ever plan to do something like 5 miles of hell, I’ll get the Tech 7 Enduro then I suppose, but honestly… I’m sure the Elsinore boots would be fine.

The Elsinore boots do have protection.
They do have a metal toe-box.
They do have reinforced shin plates.
They do have ankle protection on both sides, however the ankles can bend.
They’re def pretty fuggin stiff, but not as stiff as real racing MX boots.
I like that they have a normal wedge sole like a Vibram sole on RedWings. It’s a real sole that can be re-soled.

I guess I’ve found them to be pretty good at everything.
Anyway, that’s my take.
I’m keeping them going.

Maybe someday in the near future, an mx boot manufacturer will come out with a dual sport / enduro boot, that’s both protective, and more normal looking?

Bike is feeling great.
I found some fun little spots to ride just west of Lake Atsion. Prob 30 mins from my new place.

Basically when you twist the throttle, regardless of if the bike is on or off, the carb literally shoots a stream of fuel down into the engine. This shot of fuel reduces velocity-lag response (or something like that) so throttle response seems instant. A pumper carb wont necessarily make more power on its own as a carb upgrade, although some would argue the smoothbore internal design and lack of central choke plate blocking airflow is a big benefit.
Maybe 1-2 hp increase if you get the jetting dialed in.
The real benefit is zero throttle lag. It is much more snappy instant dirt-bikey brappppp feel.

After freshening up the top-end of my XR650L this winter, I decided to top it off with a “better” carb.
My engine is close to all stock internals still. The only thing I changed was I installed an XR600R JE piston which bumps compression from 8.3-1 to around 9.5-1.
And I chose better valve seals (Kibblewhite red viton).

Back to the carb

It’s def a bit different than the normal mechanical slide type carbs i’ve jetted.
Tuning the accelerator-pump (AP) is a little tricky, so i’m making this post in case I forget anything in the future.
Basically with the “AP”, you can determine when the squirt of fuel happens, the squirt direction, when it turns off, and how thick the squirt is which is all confusing.

There are a bunch of different brand and type pumper carbs. Folks on the interwebs say the Mikuni TM40 works well on an XR650L. Decided I’d give it a go. The kit was bought from Niche-Cycles for about $450, came with cables and extra jets and was “setup” for my bike already, although I ended up jetting it differently than how it came.

Normally on non-pumper, non-CV, mechanical slide carbs, like Mikuni VM’s or Keihin CR’s I’ll go a hair rich on the pilot circuit to yield better instant throttle response. On the Mikuni TM pumper you don’t want to do this since the accelerator-pump (AP) does this for you.

Upon first setting up the carb I followed the Mikuni tuning manual – link here to its spec and the bike ran like crap wtf. After a bunch of Googling it appears the Mikuni manual was centered specifically around the Harley application which is obviously different than using this carb on a single thumper dirt bike. Which… there’s a lot of usage of this carb for dirt bikes, but regardless the manual was written for Harley usage.

What screwed me up is the Mikuni manual says to have the AP engage immediately. I guess that works well on Harleys, but it doesn’t on big single thumpers.

So, basically, what you should do for a big thumper, is have the AP engage at 1/8th throttle, and have it turn off at 3/4 throttle.
Also, you can have the squirt hit the needle directly or have it shoot off to the side of the needle so it shoots down into the intake runner.
The Mikuni tuning manual says to hit the needle directly, and I decided to stick with this. I don’t like the idea of raw fuel getting sent down to land on an intake valve. I’d rather it hit the needle directly and get atomized more evenly, especially since the XR’s have a split runner to both intake valves.

So, how do you tune the AP?

It’s not that bad, but do it off of the bike.
Here’s what I did.
Get the base jetting pretty darn good, then focus on the AP at the end.
Take the carb off the bike. Have it all fully assembled with gas in the bowl.
Hold it upright, look into the carb as though you’re standing on the air-filter side, and turn the throttle and you’ll see fuel shoot out.
Make sure the fuel does NOT hit the slide. Adjust the one adjuster on the white nylon to ensure the fuel does not hit the slide … but DOES hit the needle dead on. Some folks say to use a popsicle stick as a feeler gauge for the AP engagement point.
Then adjust the other little adjuster screw at the top, which is an ultra small allen-key, so the AP stops at 3/4 throttle.
And put some Loctite on the 2 AP adjuster screws, because folks say they can vibrate themselves loose/tight over time which would affect the AP jetting.

Other notes

I moved the throttle return spring to the softest setting. You can see in the one pic there are 3 setting notches. By default from Mikuni its set to the stiffest notch, but the softest notch felt like the oem XR carb which I liked better.
I stuck with the “carb-body” choke type. Basically you don’t need a choke with this carb. If the bike is cold and hasn’t been run in a while, just give 1, and only 1, twist of the throttle which will shoot fuel into the carb … then you can start the bike and this is kinda like choking it. Also … if you needed to use the normal choke, I’m able to reach the carb-body choke, so that still def works, but haven’t had a need to use it. I removed the oem handlebar choke and put a nut/washer in place of where it was.

I’m still dialing in the jetting but it feels pretty great so far.
Bike is running great and ripping.
When you hit the throttle the bike def jumps forward in a much more snappy way compared to the oem CV carb… so thats cool.

Below is my jetting so far

main – 145
pilot jet – 30
pilot air jet – 1.2
fuel mixture screw – 2 ish turns out
needle – 9DJY4-96 – 1 step rich from middle, no shims.
needle jet – 568-Y6
accelerator pump nozzle – 45

Below are pics of what the AP looks like when you turn the throttle… so you get a better idea.
So, the AP rod doesn’t get engaged at all until around 1/8 throttle … and then around 2/3 or 3/4 throttle it stops, by hitting the black allen-key.

My ThumperTalk forum post for more detailed top-end rebuild info.
Link Here.

My pics:

Jessie pics:

Steve pics:

For the full build write-up follow the link at the bottom of the page

Otherwise, enjoy the finished product:

 

https://williamvsanthropocene.blogspot.com/2022/06/zephyr-550-bosozuku-style-2022.html

This trip came about after trying to escape the winter and stumbling on Riders Share. When I found out I could rent a 2011 BMW GSA1200 for about $100.00 a day the die was cast.  I was going somewhere, I was gonna see something, and Kira was coming with me.  I put on my best charm face and pitched the idea to Kira with surprisingly little resistance from her end.  I told her I would take care of everything and it wouldn’t be that bad.  I don’t know if that trick will ever work again… but hey.  After a bumpy plane ride and an even bumpier Lyft ride, we picked up the bike.

Sonoma county

Trip -Neither of us drank wine but we did go to Lagunitas!  The original plan was to only spend one day here to carry us over from the plane to the northern ride but with rain in the forecast we decided to spend an extra day.  The riding here was great.  rolling mountains with little tree cover, nice flowing roads with perfect asphalt, a great road that turned to dirt on our way to a hike.  Only downside was about 25mph winds that were blowing us all over the road.  So we ate, did a hike, drank, and generally took it easy.

Bike – First thing is first, a fully loaded GS is HEAVY.  After a base weight of 590lbs, the hard bags, crash protection, 9 gallon fuel tank, soft bags, all of our gear, and Kira.  I was estimating about 850lbs of bike riding down the road.  Now I’m not lying when I say this, over 5mph the GS rides itself.  It just wants to stay upright.  With the hard cases and soft top bag the GS took my full 55l seal line bag, a full backpack, a small backpack, a full gym bag with shoes, groceries, drinks, snacks, and anything else we could think to throw at it.  It all fit.  Now that the bike was all loaded up we jumped on the highway and immediately did 90mph and didn’t realize it.  That’s how smooth a GS is.

Rt.1

Trip – I was not ready for this, easily one of the best days of my life.  After we left Sonoma we cut through some mountains and popped out onto Rt.1 as soon as it turns adjacent with the ocean.  You crest a few hills then BAM, sheer cliffs with ocean everywhere.  It just never stops.  For the next two hours we just sucked it all in.  Every time you think it will stop you crest a hill and it just smacks you in the face again.  Just about every turn on Rt.1 is a 20 mph suggested turn that is banked in your favor with no imperfections in the road.  Some are suggested 10mph with the same attributes.  It was like a two hour long race track. Then when it finally does end you turn into perfect roads with redwoods blocking out the sun everywhere and the racetrack starts again.   It was just breathtaking.  I will do this again.

Bike – Now this was why it was one of the best days of my life.  A fully loaded GS with 70/30 sheinko tires (the rear was just about done too) and a passenger has no problem scraping footpegs at every turn.  It felt like my R1, just telling me you can get more, go faster, lean further, etc.  It was one of the most confidence inspiring bikes I’ve ever ridden.  The weight just disappeared once you put the bike on its side and if you did get close, the bike softly reminded you to dial it back a little.  Power was always there and you could lug up hills in 4th gear at 2k rpm if you felt the need.  So when I wanted to push it and get some excitement in, gotcha. When I wanted to ride 20mph below the speed limit and just soak everything in, Gotcha.  you feel no wind behind all those fairings and the GS is just the companion that gives whatever you ask of it.

Redwoods

Trip – So we rode to basically the start of the Avenue of the Giants which is a side route that cuts through Humbolt state park.  This was just unbelievable.  It was basically riding through Jurassic Park.  Nothing is small, the redwoods block out the sun and there are the biggest ferns that you’ll ever see in the undergrowth.  It just goes on for miles and miles.  Then you pop out at 1 stoplight towns that have a few things then right back in.  When you’ve had enough of that you can go hang out by the rivers and streams that run through with immaculate water.  We went on the big tree hike and it just drove home again how small we were.  Nothing will beat that for sure.

Bike – I was really starting to appreciate this bike.  After unloading I was going to take the hard cases off but then thought what’s the point.  If the bike can turn as hard with the bags, and I never noticed the weight why would I take them off?  It can do everything fully loaded so why not just have the space to grab stuff along the way.  I really think that says a lot about the bike, when you don’t want to take the luggage off.  After riding about and doing some hikes I noticed a Tacoma parked on a beach and I went “yup” inside my helmet.  We went looking for the route and found it.  The entrance was an axel deep puddle about 20′ long and the gs didn’t skip a beat.  We went right through it, turned on the dirt road, turned on the beach and the bike ate it all up.  I will say the front end has a very “disconnected” feel so you have to ride the back of the bike.  I wouldn’t take this thing through reading woods,  but anything less than that… yup.  On the way out I made sure to blast through the same puddle to make sure I got Kira a little wet….. it worked.

Northern Redwoods

Trip – We then rode 2.5 Hrs further north to check out a hike from Cooney (he actually told me to go to the redwoods in the first place).  After opening the gate we did the Tall tree’s grove hike which has one of the tallest trees in the world.  It was the tallest but got a haircut by a windstorm a few years ago.  Again, just wild.  You feel like you’re in honey I shrunk the kids.  Everything just takes your breath away.

Bike – So it was 45-50 degrees and chilly.  With all of the fairings the bike kept us out of the wind and mostly not freezing.  We were both cold but nothing we couldn’t handle.  We did about 80 the entire way up, then turned onto a super bumpy logging paved road to get to the gate.  The gate then led down a 7.6 mile dirt road down the side of the mountain.  Bike again never skipped a beat.  after all of that we both arrived at the bottom without being beat up by the ride.  Again, bike did everything we asked and nothing we didn’t.  fantastic.

Video opening gate IMG_1354

So it was now all over.  We jumped back on the bike and rode 5 hrs back to our hotel to go home the next day.  We decided to go back down rt.1 and it added about an hour to our ride… well worth it.

Summary

Trip – Unbelievably worth it,  I wish we had more time to just go exploring but because of the rain we only had a few days and wanted to check out what I had marked down.  I want to go back and just spend a week sleeping under those trees and finding every little nook to hide in.  I think to really get to know and appreciate a place you just have to sit there for a time and be quiet and just exist in that space.  sometimes it takes a few days, sometimes weeks.  I want to go back and just sit for a while.

Bike – now I am a person that likes the act of getting to a place more than the place usually so take that in mind.  The GS just blew me away.  After two turns the bike became your best friend that just wanted to see you have a good time.  It wanted to take you to the place, have you experience the place no matter where the place is, then take you back home.  It is not a dirt bike.  It can do dirt bike things, like ride on dirt, but it is not a dirt bike.  I think that is where the genius of the GS lies.  The goal of this bike isn’t to be the fastest, or the gnarliest, or anything really.  the goal of the GS is for it to be you.  It wants you to do what you want on it.  If you want to see where that dirt road goes… go.  If you want to make sure you and your partner can go on a trip and take everything you need with no compromises, it can.  If you wan to turn on the heated grips and just relax and take in the scenery, gotcha.  wanna see if you can keep up with your sportbike friends, bring it.  In being the master of none it lets you do all.   The only thing it doesn’t want you to do is pick it up… because I dropped it once in a parking lot. ow.

All in all we did about 900 miles in 4 days.  Not a ton, but not bad for that not being our Goal.  I think it says something that neither of us were over the bike by the end.

If you need me I will be eating my words about dadbod adventure bikes over at facebook marketplace….

Trip links
Route: https://goo.gl/maps/Rikkua6y1Hf6SDF6A

trip schedule : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/122YYOrQc8jn7WxaNk1yaCUBdEwk5iuS-lfB4cpSI4SI/edit?usp=sharing

Trip idea dump: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RyTgWdXL_T48S4ggzwGX-y00hPFrqO0CykPVI6rVRtI/edit?usp=sharing

Photodump-

I brought my film camera.
Nikon n80.
Kodak Ektar 100.
Cost of everything is up these days. When shooting film, every time you click the camera shutter button, it costs about $1 dollar (regarding overall cost of film / development / scan).
Interesting way to think about each photo.

The day after the Handbuilt show, Quinn showed me a great time. There was swimming in Barton Springs, shooting skeet, and an amazing dinner at Lamberts (thanks again Richie). The whole squad but me went out for more drinking after dinner. I decided to hang back with the dogs and get rest for the races the following day.

I woke Sunday feeling great. Can’t say the same for my hosts & other company but it wasn’t something coffee and breakfast tacos couldn’t help fix. We headed out to the Circuit of the Americas track south east of the city. It was a perfect day for watching a race albeit somewhat gusty. Sunny but not too hot. Quinn knew right where to go which was the field right by turn one. We posted up here just in time for the Moto2 race to start.

Full disclosure… these videos I am posting of each race are pretty bad but how do you even capture it with an iPhone?

The Moto2 race started off with a bunch of riders going down. Not near where we were but it was easy to keep up with the race thanks to the large screen in front of where we where seated. I was doing my best to take it all in and there was a lot to take in. I am not nor have I ever been big into racing but I am big into doing new things. The only bike races I have seen were the brief moments I caught at Mid Ohio. A few laps in and I was getting into it but soon enough the race was over. Quinn had checked the schedule and to our surprise MotoGP was up next. Moto3 would be closing the show. We stayed right where we were.

It wasn’t too long until the big bikes came out for a warm up lap. The crowd was a buzz in anticipation. A national anthem and a fighter jet flyover later the race was off. What a sound when the bikes come ripping by where you sit!  I really enjoyed watching the bikes hit upwards of 200mph then braking hard to make the first turn. I gotta say its insanely exhilarating to be there.  The bikes, the energy of the crowd, the helicopters flying by to shoot the race, all of it was wild. Twenty laps goes by faster than I would have liked. While I don’t see myself becoming obsessed with MotoGP, I can say I discovered a new appreciation by being there in person.

I am going to forgo trying to describe the ‘thrill of the race’ or getting any more literal than I already have. If you want that go read some Hunter Thompson. Otherwise just trust me and go next year. Fuck it, life is short.

After the MotoGP race we got up to explore all the other offerings. There was a ton of shit to see and do. All the big manufacturers that had bikes in the race had big setups with all their newest models to sit on or demo ride. Unfortunately, I dropped the ball and did not get to demo ride anything. The big retailers also had tents setup hocking their wares. On top of all that there was a whole carnival setup too. Rides and food galore. Pretty much a full days worth of fun shit to do.

We picked up some swag then walked to the fan zone where all the fun shit I described above was. While there, the Moto3 races started. I did not catch much of it as I was trying to find the Yamaha tent to sit on a T7 but I did get this clip:

Finally we got all the way to other side of the track where the manufacturers where. Honda had a little course setup for people to try out the new Navi & Monkey. The line was too long but I did come away wanting the new Trail125. That shit is PERFECT for where I live now as an around town & dirt road bike. We popped around to all the tents. Lots of great new bikes to check out.

After checking out all of what was to offer we were beat and ready to cool off in Quinns trucks AC. As we walked back to the truck I kept thinking of how much I want to come back and do this next year with the COTT guys. That and how much I want a T7 & Trail125.

Epilogue…

Heres some pics from that great Saturday between the Handbuilt show & the races

That brisket is fire. Go to Lamberts if you want some fancy af bbq.

I recently started a job with a home office in Austin Texas and, if you did not know, our good bud and COTT contributor, Quinn is now an Austinite.  My job is a WFH job but I decided to pay fealty and visit the office for a few days of work. I took advantage of my travel expenses being covered to spend time with Quinn as I haven’t seen his beautiful mug in way too long. I just so happened to pick the same week that the Handbuilt Show and MotoGP where in town. Wow. What a coincidence. Total happenstance. I definitely didn’t plan an office visit to coincide with show and race.

I lie… I totally did.

At the end of my final day at the office, Quinn came and got me. Thank fuck because, if you don’t know, ride-shares and rental car prices are fucking bonkers right now and my office is way the fuck in North Austin. His new GMC Sierra is both very Texas and very Quinn. I was stoked to be riding in pure Texan style. We headed  back to his place to take care of his pups. I got to see that big doofus Sam. Love that dog. Never will I forget him mulching a 3 year old at an eastern shore Maryland beach moto-trip. Good times. Anyways, once Quinns lovely lady made it home we went to fuel up on spicy Margs and tacos at a joint called De Nada. Feeling buzzed and fueled, we rolled to the show.

We got overpriced drinks and bumped into people Quinn knows from his RSD and Cali time. We also bumped into Stevan from Revzilla, err I mean Comoto. It was rad to see him as he was one of the few big-wigs there that treated me like an equal. I found out that he used to live in Bellows Falls, VT which is right up the road from my new home town Brattleboro, VT. Small freaking world.

My drink eventually ran dry and I did not wanna re-up because of the stupid drink prices. $6 for a Lone Star? Come on!?! So it was time to get lost and look at some bikes.

The following pics are of some, definitely not all, of the bikes in the show. Some that caught my eye for all the right, wrong, and in between reasons.

Some of my favorites were:

• XR650R Flat Track
• XS650 Stingray
• Honasaki (Z1 in a CB frame. Why not HonDasaki though?)
• Mint Boat-tail SuperGlides (stock is the new custom, amirite?)

This was my first show seeing custom electric bikes. Not sure how I feel about that yet. Maybe I’m wrong but it seems its all body work. How do you make a big battery shine? Anyways, on to the bikes:

After the show we went and had a mini Philly squad reunion at a bar called Fraziers where our old friend, Heather, is the manger and bartender. It was great to drink and catchup with Richie, Garcia, and Persico. For a hot second it was like being back at Garage south in the summer of ’16 or ’17. After plenty of $2 Banquet mugs, it was time to slide back to Quinn’s and get some shut-eye for the rest of the weekends adventures await us!

We’re not going to camp this year.
We’re going to meet Sunday morning, and ride to the Norton show.

Sunday, April 24.
8:30am – Meet at Little Susie’s on Belgrade / Leigh.
Be already gassed up before arriving.
We’ll hang at Little Susies for a bit and drink a coffee.
Then on the road by 9:30am.

We’ll take straight highway to the Norton meet.
Prob hang at the meet for an hour or two. And then once we’ve taken it all in, we’ll head out.
I want to do a nice ride from the Norton meet up into the NJ countryside north of where the meet is.
Maybe a ride heading towards “Hillbilly Hall” or “Historic Rocky Hill Inn Tavern” and sit in the sun, drink a beer, or get a bite.
Then do a nice ride home and maybe end at Fishtown Tavern.

Anticipate the day will probably go from 8am until 4pm.
Bring your lady, or come solo. Whatever you wanna do.

We’ve gone to the Norton meet almost every year.
I could only find pics from these previous years.
You’re welcome I make this website not many people check anymore.
Pics from years below:

• 2019
• 2018
• 2017
• 2016
• 2013
• 2010

Portland Oregon October 3, 2021.

Awoke early in Portland, before my 6am alarm. I had packed my “race bag” with snacks and race required fire extinguisher the night before. Slipped into my race suit and pulled my hooded sweatshirt over the outside for a bit more comfort during the commute.

Immediately after getting on the Yamaha Wr250 i would be racing I realized I was already navigating my first challenge of the day. Temps in the low 40s and the sun wouldn’t be rising for another half hour.

Cold, darkness, and swift riding out of the suburbs and through the wine country. Thick fog, light traffic, and Mt Hood watching over me as my hands slowly grew numb.

Oregon back roads are simply fabulous, arrived at the Mac Track cold and excited after a very reasonable 50min ride. It brought back many memories of riding in the cold mornings to school when I lived there. Constantly irritated by numbness in the fingers and fog nagging at the inside of the helmet’s face shield.

The Race was sponsored by the SFRC(Sang Froid Riding Club) of Portland. They are a group of motorcycle nuts well known to me. They put on several events per year including The Back 40 (A dualsport ride through some gnarly forest roads), The Alley Sweeper (A dualsport enduro through the unmaintained alleys within the Portland city limits), and other less formal parties/events.

Many of the organizers and participants had stayed over night at the track. As the previous day was an optional track day for participants. I was greeting with warm smiles and crackling fires at the trackside campsite. (Remember, cold. Still pre dawn).

0730: Ate hot breakfast sandwich and cold brew from Safeway. Bought a roast beef sandwich for later in the day.

0800: Race Prep – Pay registration fee, tape off lights, walk track.

0830: Confirm race support is coming (Graham driving down from Portland for the whole day).

-Aside on Graham:

Graham H. Is well known to me. He was a motorcycle friend from when I lived there 7 years ago. He is several years my junior. Kind, of good nature, and quick to lend a hand. He continues to commute and wrench on his vintage Cb450 and was going to drive his classic Civic Hatchback to the event on Sunday.

But nay! His weekend was fated to be more difficult than he anticipated. On Friday night his Honda was stolen, and he was in the middle of a rebuild on his Honda cb. The engine was completely out. I frantically called him Saturday, “Graham, whats going on? Are you out for tomorrow?” Cool as the Dude himself he replied, “No way, I have a backup plan. I’ll make it.

Jump forward to Sunday Morning, Shortly before 9am(when the riders meeting was to happen), I see Graham roll up on a classy Vintage BMW R75 from the mid 70s. This fool pulled a favor from his family and in his words, “Rode a family heirloom” down from the city to be my support guy for the day. Strapped to the back of the machine was my last piece of essential race equipment, a 5 gallon fuel can.

0900: Riders meeting

0930: Tech inspection, transponder testing, and practice laps. Track is HOT.

Bike is torquey, light, and fun as hell. But these Shinko tires are the opposite of grippy. Quickly realize I will be racing according to the limitation of my grip as well as my mental endurance.

1030: Bike fueled, rider ready, le man start queued op on the front straight.  11 bikes, 3 classes, 6 hrs.

    -Aside on the Le Mans start:

A Le Mans-style start was used for many years in various types of motor racing. When the start flag dropped, drivers had to run across the track to their cars which were parked on the other side, climb in, start the car, and drive away to begin the race.^[4]   -Wikipedia

1035: START

-Boggle the standing start, forgot I left the key in the off position. Ah well, I have hours to recover.

-Goal: manage traffic, learn course, memorize the fastest and safest line I can repeat for hours.

-Realization: Im not fast. I need to turn my shit up.

-Lap 10-20: Damn, Im getting passed way more than I thought. These tiny supermotos are fast as shit!

-Beyond counting laps, my life is the track now. I was born here, I will die here. This is where my life is lived today.

-Looking, searching, getting frustrated trying to find the braking point and entrance point for two of the corners.

-Close to 1 hr my sloppiness pays its dividends: I dump the throttle from the tightest left hander and the back end swings away from the rest of my direction of travel. I feel the bike’s geometry stabilize a slide and then its gone. Im rolling in the grass and boy does my right thumb sting.

-I easily lift the bike (and per the rules) push it back across the infield to the pit for a quick tech inspection. Bike is perfect aside from grass in the frame sliders. I just got a sore thumb and grass stains on my True Hand shirt.

 

-My Pit man Graham checked on me, It was still so early in the race I didn’t drink or eat or gas. Just got back out there as soon as I could. Probably lost 5-7 laps. (STOP 1)

1130: Time becomes irrelevant, brain decides I will stop when I have physical needs or if I start making mental mistakes. Working hard at this point, increased HR, sweating, fighting through (need to remedy this).

1130: Sure enough, brain starts to misfire. Miss a few braking points and come into the put for mental break and rockstar energy drink. (STOP 2)

1230: Hour 2, feeling like im finally learning the track, 1/3 of the race complete. Finishing feels like a possibility. Elbows up, hammer down, finally getting some good battles with the CBR250 in my class. Passing slower bikes consistently, and being less rattled my the pros blasting around me.

1300: Hour 3 approaching, gas light comes on, a fantastic excuse to pit for a moment and push through to the midpoint. Feeling solid. Graham fills my tank while I pound another rockstar and a bit of gatorade. Still gotta rip that wheelie out of pit lane though. (STOP 3)

1340: RECESS 5 minute intermission for track direction reversal and re-grid according to position.

-Run to porta potty and drain the tank. Inhale gatorade and 3/4 of a hersheys/almond chocolate bar.

-Struggle to re-seat earplugs and almost miss the restart back on the grid.

-Grip it and rip it.

1355: Shit, this is a whole new race track.

Nausea, vertigo, whats happening?! Shit my eyes. I was staring so hard at the “brand new” corners I was actually making myself motion sick. This was a surprise challenge, easily remedied by looking farther ahead through the corners.

Hell yeah, this is a whole new race track! Running clockwise is what my brain was waiting for. Within 5-10 laps I know the braking points and gears I should be using. And I am shredding. The front straight is now a flat out into a hairpin right. I push the shinkos to their absolute braking limit every lap and smile with glee as they chirp and skid in front the main grandstand. Now people can HEAR I’m pushing it to the limit.

1430: Absolutely vibing out here. Brake, shift, feel the toe drag all the way through the corner, smooth on the throttle and wide open when the grip is back. Repeat this pattern until life has lost its luster.

Race is tighter, fewer passes, fewer crashes, everyone is settling in.

Shit- racer from NYC on the cbr250 crashes HARD in front of me on the hard breaking section. I see his body tumble from 60mph to 0 right in front of the grandstand.

I brake, turn in, drag my toe, and wait to life to lose its meaning.

1445: Feeling tired.

-Knees hurt, right hand really hurts, slight headache as well. Back off the pace for a few laps. Thinking. Need to make it through. Come in to pit for a quick mental checkup, caffeine boost. No fuel. <1 min stop. (STOP 4)

1500: Come back out on the track feeling funky fresh, get a little too excited, miss my braking point entirely on the front straight, skid straight through the corner. No drama, point the bike the right way and resume shredding.

1530: Good battles with the smaller bikes, The CBR250 is repaired and back on track. Nice to battle and pass them consistently. Keeps things interesting. Notice the sun is starting to get lower in the sky, also the crowd is growing. Damn, its like a real race with spectators and everything! Come into pit for fuel and caffiene. I jump off the bike and HOLY SHIT my friend Darren is here to cheer me on! Hell yeah! A friend in need is a friend in deed. +10 Stamina just from seeing him standing there. (STOP 5)

1535: Less than 1.5 hrs left. I GOT THIS. Try to push the bike a bit farther knowing Im close. more speed in the fast corners and later braking in the slow corners.

1600: Am I losing it? Are those horses on the track? just beyond the back fast corner I see cowboys warming their mounts. Takes me many laps to decide if these are real or imagined. Somewhere near here I get a really satisfying late braking pass on the fast straight in front of the grandstand. Stuffed him!

1645: Knees are toast, sharp pains reminding me that while my machine is metal I am merely squishy stuff.

1649: Where the christ is that white flag?

1650: white flag! 5 minutes! HAMMER DOWN KIDDOS

1655: Oh thats right, time isnt real. I just live and die on the track today. Keep braking, shifting, turning in and looking for the meaning of life.

-Oh hey! there it is, its over. Checkered flag.

Naturally pop a little wheelie for my friend Darren standing in the pit waiting for me to come in.

-Park the bike, hugs for my pit hero graham and my 1# fan Darren.

-Next person in my face is a lady with a hi viz vest with a patch that I used to own emblazoned with the words “Oregon Emergency Medical Technician.” “Are you ok?”, She breathes with urgency. “Do I look Ok? I feel great!” I reply warmly. “Ive been watching you all day, you barely stopped, did you drink anything?” “Yeah, Gatorade and Rockstar.”  I thanked her for her concern and asked Graham to get me some real water to mix in with the gatorade so I could start to properly re hydrate.

1715:

Somehow remained vertical. Felt good to stand and not constantly float from ball of foot to ball of foot to ball of foot to ball of foot.

Ended up getting 2nd place in my modern class. I really just wanted to finish the event, so getting a podium was awesome. (Even if my class was only 3 bikes).

For the record, I was the only IRON MAN competitor, and finished the race with 345 laps and 0 penalties. The KTM team that absolutely blitzed the day was 1st overall with 415 laps. For the math, fast bikes were making sub 1min laps, slow bikes like me where making ~1min laps.

360 laps would be running 1 min laps for the full 6 hours without any pauses or breaks. So I feel like I was pretty close to a decent race pace overall.

Got some sweet swag and a trophy. People said nice things about me, felt great. Drank the trophy PBR on the podium. Got wet with champagne. Felt like a dream.

As I was walking away from the crowd two racers got in a fist fight, I turned to my friends in the pit and said “Wait, motorcycle racers getting hot headed after racing all day?! Whattttt? What are the odds.”

Of course, being a complete nut. I saddled up the gear, gave away all the merch I could not carry on the plane back, and rode back to Beaverton with my 1# fan Darren.

Well. Month of Montana and riding the XR around the area has been an absolute blast. Kinda bummed to leave Missoula, who knows if I’ll ever be back. But, what better way than to leave MT for good, then to do the Idaho BDR. I wasn’t really sure what to expect despite having watched a ton of YouTube Idaho BDR vids. The riding looks pretty easy to be honest, but who knows how long we’re going to ride each day. I want to have a balance of riding and hanging out, having fun.
Also, my iPhone camera broke due to vibration from the iPhone GPS mount. Oh well. So, I bought an old 80’s Nikon rangefinder point/shoot 35mm camera and 5 rolls of film. Gotta be honest I’m a little bummed with the results. In the future I don’t plan to use this camera again, and I’ll use my legit 35mm film camera. Is what it is, was still fun to shoot the pics.
And I’ll say it again. The XR650L has turned out to be such a great, inexpensive, solid, bullet-proof bike. Work horse. Can do 75 on highway all day and then tight gnarly technical dirt bike stuff no problem.

Quick Ratings

• Cliff factor = 12/10
• Isolation factor = 10/10
• Off-road difficulty = 2/10
• Tiring factor = 7/10

Day 1 – Missoula MT to Wallace ID

• Leave Missoula for good. Was a blast.
• Meet Adam an hour west at a tiny town called Superior. Four Aces bar. Beers. Good time. Talk about horses. Head out.
• Arrive in Wallace, gas up, head into mountains on dirt roads.
• Quickly find a great little camp spot along river. Booze on river, then pass out.
• Meet a group of guys on KTMs who are boozing but still riding.
• 3500’ elevation.
• I slept like shit. Woke up to piss at midnight at it was semi-snowing wtf was def freezing temps.

Day 2 – Wallace to Pierce ID

• My new sleeping bag is legit so I wasn’t cold at all through the night but you can still tell it’s freezing outside.
• Wake up and had a rough time getting going. Was so fucking cold and we were in a little pocket covered by trees, so never got sun.
• Coffee, pack up, head out cold.
• Arrive in Avery, cool little town. Gas up, coffee, hang for a few in sun, then head out.
• Did about 120 miles in total today, and man it was tiring.
• The off-road riding is not hard… it’s just so long and so much of it. Hard to be focused and “on it” that many hours.
• A million mountain passes. Some all dirt. Some ultra loose gravel. Some slow rocky / rutty.
• Was fun. But I’m tired now.
• Stopped in Pierce ID for gas and a Timber-Burger. 3/4lb whoa.
• Head back out to find camp. At a nice spot at 6000’ elevation, hope it’s not too cold.

Day 3 – Pierce to Darby

• Super warm night really surprised.
• About 6 hours of riding.
• Did a portion of BDR that was closed to fire but we didn’t know. The closed signs were only on the far other side when we ended.
• Was def gnarly.
• Real tough riding.
• Rocky, loose, steep, sketchy, just not safe.
• Would not do this portion on a bigger Adv bike no way.
• Finally make it to Locksaw Lodge. Beers / burger.
• Then did Lolo Pass off road which is cool.
• Then highway did an hour to get near Darby.
• Camped near Darby at Como Lake. Hobo Fish tacos dinner.

Day 4 – Darby to Elk City ID

• Grab decent diner breakfast.
• At breakfast there were two strippers who I’m assuming had gotten off work a few hours before. They were in the diner same time as us. When they left the old guy next to us says; “huh look at them, you’d catch a fish with her shoes” ha.
• Head towards Magruder pass which is basically a gnarly dirt mountain pass for over 120 miles. I guess it’s kinda famous out here.
• Super fun, real flowy. Almost felt like riding bmx at times pumping the lines.
• I had a ton of fun doing this route.
• See two other XR650L with easily double the amount of gear we’re carrying, wtf.
• See a group of GS1200s and 1 new Africa Twin who look like they’re ready for battle ha.
• I think the big Adv bikes are pretty dumb and impractical.
• End in Elk City. Would recommend.
• Another solid burger.
• Camp spot on a babbling brook with swim hole. Was sick.
• Take a bath and clean up. Was warm enough for me.
• Woke up at 1am by large animal snarling at us from outside our tents as loud as it could 15 times. I shit myself it was fucking scary.
• A random local guy later next day said prob an Elk or deer pissed we were in it’s area.
• The one BW film roll might be ruined? I had to crack the light seal.

Day 5 – Elk City to Riggins ID

• Get a late start, feeling run down.
• Head out and do a million more mountain passes. Mostly dirt gravel fire roads.
• But then come across super fun all dirt section that was super flowy like riding bmx. Was a blast.
• Get to Salmon river and dead tired, need a break.
• Swim, eat.
• First time in 3 years XR is at under 2000’ elevation, kinda cool.
• Go into Riggins for gas and a burger.
• Salmon river stretch east of Riggins is fucking insane beautiful. Hidden gem.
• Everyone rafting, swimming, camping.
• We camp and have drinks on river.
• XR’s are still champs and are eating up all the riding great, fucking legit work horse.

Day 6 – Riggins to Yellow Pine

• A million mountain passes. Don’t die cliff factor is all time high.
• Bikes back at 8000’ elevation.
• But then came across some more fun flowy dirt sections.
• All I can say is so many fucking mountain passes and views it’s so staggering and tiring to focus this long. Can never relax because you’ll loose focus for 1 min and make 1 mistake and just die on a cliff. Dead serious.
• Meet older guy ripping on a DR650 with sooo much gear. But he was cool.
• Yellow Pine is closed wtf.
• But then it opened back up later and we got burgers and beers.
• Camped 2 miles down road.
• Camped along water almost every night and always free.

Day 7 – Yellow Pine to Lowman

• On a mountain pass a running huge Buck with 5’ wide antlers almost took me out, but I beeped and he swerved last minute fuckkkkk.
• Fun water crossing … and lunch but yellow jacket wasps swarming was insane.
• Met a couple older guys camping who we chatted with. They caught rainbow trout and fried us up some. And gave us beer. It was great.
• Guy said he fell down a cliff on his dirt bike the other day. Wild. They were also boozing a lot. Guy also said in mid 1980s he broke into Boise zoo and hung with Wolves. Then years later had a pet wolf.

Day 8 – Lowman to Pine

• Find a great natural hot spring called Kirkland.
• Maybe best I’ve ever been to.
• Hang for a bit and swim.
• A million more mountain passes to Pine.
• Cool little random hill climb we saw.
• Pine kinda sucks, I don’t recommend.
• Really fun riding today. White sand roads were wild.
• Every day different epic off roads and views.
• Camp 30 mins south of Pine along reservoir which is so shallow and low we’re basically in the grasslands instead of next to water.
• At first I was bummed but it ended up being great.
• Wake up to numerous coyotes howling through the night which was so cool.

Day 9 – Pine to Jarbidge NV

• Wake up and do some fun riding through grasslands to get to Glenn Ferry.
• Awesome breakfast at cool little diner.
• Sick skatepark.
• Our XR’s consume a little oil. Half a quart each on day 3 … and half a quart each today. I’m not bothered by it. We’re ripping pretty hard.
• Then a million miles of gravel / dirt roads ripping 60mph.
• Harness my inner Johnny Campbell and rip it.
• Kinda wild and sketchy but fun.
• F14 fighter plane rips past us low elevation and scared the shit out of me it was so loud. Like earth shattering speed barrier loud.
• Rattlesnake Canyon was wild scenery.
• Bad black flies swarming.
• Jarbidge is kinda cool maybe.
• In Nevada now.
• Instead of riding… walk 1 mile from camp into Jarbidge. Get burger / beers and hang.
• On walk back we’re drunk, oops, it’s insane pitch black can’t see anything, long dirt road in woods, and we forgot headlight lamps
  Get half way and we see something… oh shit it’s a cow in the road … we’ve seen a thousand on our ride earlier to Jarbidge. Turn on iPhone flashlight
  Oh fuck … no it’s a 7’ tall male moose with antler rack 6’ wide fuckkkkk.
• Adam runs into the woods. I stand there in shock frozen. The moose charges towards us, and then just runs down the road. It was huge. Yikes that could’ve been bad. They’re normally aggressive I hear.
• Wild shit.

Day 10 – Jarbidge to Wells … to Salt Lake

• Bad wind for first time.
• 8500’ elevation.
• Sand challenges.
• Wind got insane and was tornado we rode through.
• Difference of Bisen and Buffalo?
• Difference of Elk and Deer?
• Hung in a shitty town of “Wells NV”.
• Had some rain today. More annoying than anything else.
• Eventually made our way to Salt Lake. Dropped our bikes off at a MC dealer thats basically kinda identical to Philly Cycle Center. They’re gonna hold our bikes for a week or two waiting for Haul Bikes to come get them and ship them back to Philly. Then we flew home first thing the next morning.