Centerville 300???

[Greasemonkey]

Hope everyone made it home OK.To the folks that couldn't make it you missed out,good weather,good roads,a real nice ride or two.We rode untill the rains came and had a messy ride home.Just opening the post in case someone feels feisty.More soon:rider:

[Tekisasu DR]

Hi Scott,

It was so great even though I could join Saturday ride only. I think I learned how to ride a little more stable during the ride. Thank you for organizing the ride and leading us!

I am planning to up some photos tonight from the ride.

Hope we can go ride again sometime in the near future.

Thank you!
Ken

P.S. How was the Sunday ride?

[Greasemonkey]

Beleive sat. ride was around 250mi and around ten hrs....Friday evening Firstman and billyji showed up at woody's in centerville around 7pm.They had brought up the MZ and had a successful sale,all parties seemed happy.Off to the cabin.Unloaded the gear and mike asked if we could mnt. his new maxxis tire.While we wouldn't make the nascar team,many refreshments and a short[???]period of time later the job was done.Hit the sack ready for sat...
Desmo and TX-DR showed up right on time,about 6:30am.We suited up and we're off.The weather was great,about 50deg....The 1st 15mi was hwy 7 and a little chilly,but as soon as we hit the dirt everyone warmed right up.For a bunch of cold sleepy riders we were on the gas right away.The 3.5 inches of rain tue. had done wonders[no dust].Twisty,hilly and tractable.This was mikes favorite road and it was worthy.Looping west and east of crocket we stopped at 287 to take a break.A man walked out of his house to check us out,he said he recognized me and flashed his badge..Conroe p/d..good thing he was out of jurisdiction.He let us go and go we did,another 50-60-70 mi toward kennard.Someone noticed desmo's shifter lever was cracked[we're in the middle of nowhere].Tried to locate a freind in the area,no luck.We hit the hwy toward kennard to find a fix with crossed fingers.Found a small gas station with Bubba,Junior and Leroy and asked if anyone had a welder.OH YEA,think thats what that is in the corner.Scaping off the slime and finding the rods in the sink really tried our weldability.IT WORKED!!!i'M REALLY TIRED OF TYPING NOW.Anyway on to lunch:eat: ???????Guess thats what it was--we'll just leave it at that..The next section was a twisty F.R. that put us back on course.Entering Davey Crocket nat. forest again we pulled onto the longest straightest dirt rd. i've ever been on[20-30mi].My wrist were numb and matching some other body parts at this time.Finally we hopped to some twisties and tried to find some trails in the woods[no luck].We did find a mud hole and sure everyone took a little with them.GGGRRR,where are we at???
Back to some farm rd and improved dirt to head back towrd crockett and a fuel stop.Gassed up and hit the hwy to home.YEE-HAW WE MADE IT,fixed a shifter,lived thru lunch and threw more dirt than a excavation company.While
mike adam and myself are on true dirt bikes,Desmo[KLR wildman]andTX DR[DR doctor]we're ALWAYS right there.You guys are impressive...0h yea mike and adam ya'll did alright too:ponder:..Any way Ken[tx-dr] had to go home.The rest we're treated to dinner by Desmo's wife.Must of been good it disappeared.THANKS MRS. DESMO!!!!!!! Scary fast roads, sliding,and slippin.Lots of fun......Glad you guys came out,hoped you had fun.

If someone wants to write up sun. go ahead I'm tired now[way,way,way fast riding on sunday]:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

[FirstMan]

Scott,
you were a great host and trail leader. Thanks for helping me master the u-turns ;-)

Ken, I enjoyed your company and hope to ride with you again.

Steve,
I knew we shouldn't have let thoes KLRs be on the trails with us. Suzuki's are bad enough. Fat, slow bikes that leave a parts trail so you can find your way home. Okay, enough with the stereotyping, Steve was possibly the fastest person I have ever met. He was on a 500 pound bike and was flying through the corners, poping wheelies, spinning that bike around, flying through single track. I was very impressed, and since I was always in his dust I had a great vantage point to view his skills.:zen: I couldn't imagine what he could do if he was on a 250 pound bike :eek2:

I had fun, I hope you all did. Including you Scott, I owe you for making this past weekend a great one. Thanks.

[FirstMan]

Just found out my boss will not be in until noon today....

The trip started out on Thursday night for me. Getbent comes over at 9:30pm and we put on his IMS tank and his new 606s. 12:30 comes around and we have it all done, just in time to go to sleep and wake up at 5:30 to take my wife to the airport. Most of Friday was spent getting things together and attempting to work from home. 3:30 comes around and I head to Mike's house to pick him up. I have 3 bikes in the truck and the trailer is empty for his 2 bikes. I get there to find out that he is only taking one. Dang, do you know how hard it is to get 3 bikes in that truck?!? Oh well, we get packed up just in time for rush hour traffic. 2.5 hours later we are at the intersection of 45 and 7, Centerville, Texas. Both Mike (buyer of the MZ) and Scott are there waiting for us. We are 15-20 minutes early and they are there. Nothing like being on time/ early. We make the deal on the bike, and talk for an hour or so, I know this is going to be a great weekend, everyone is relaxed, no real agendas.

We get to the cabin, and it is great. Mike pulls his bike off the trailer and and we start to take apart his bike in preparation to change tires. Scott disappears and when we look over to the pond there are 10 foot flames. Scott has been doing a little clearing over the summer and has not been able to burn off some of the accumulated brush, so he took advantage of the recent rain and let one pile take off. The rest of the night we could get out of the cold by going over to the bon fire. 10 feet away you were warm, and 5 feet away it was too hot for my face. But it is always fun to throw 15-20 foot cedar trees in a fire, all of the dead pine needles go right up in flames. Back over to the tire, Scott and Mike have it very under control, so I do what I can, stand on the wheel so they can work with the tire and drink a beer or two. A little while later the tire is mounted and it is time to get the wheel on the bike. Hot dogs and chili are on the BBQ pit, it is going to be a great dinner. I think we finally sat down to eat around 9-10 pm. Scott and I go to the fire and talk until midnight, Mike is back in the cabin a sleep. Even if the rest of the weekend was a bust, I had a great relaxing time Friday night thank you both.

[FirstMan]

Saturday:
Came early for me, but I seemed pretty good for 2 days of less than 6 hours of sleep. Ken was the first to show up, then soon later Steve is there. Like I said earlier, it is great when everyone is ready to go and is on time/ early.

We all get suited up and bikes ready. Wait, I forgot my rain suit/ wind breaker, everyone gets to wait for me. Scott leads and takes us on this single track around the cabin. The first real obstacle comes up. Everyone gets through and it is my turn, I do down and start up the other side and I stall and dump the bike. :doh: Great start on the day, everyone gets to stop for me again while I try to upright the bike, then by the time I get is back up without falling in the mud, Scott is there to help get it back far enough to take the climb. Getting it into neutral was hard, so I think it was in 2nd gear, a good reason to stall. Well, I cannot start it, mike gets on and fires it up, or was it Scott, i cannot remember. Any how, we get it going and we are off.

Mike and I are going on a trip to Mexico in a few months on these bikes and are testing out how much stuff we can take on them. We both look like pack mules on this ride, Mike more so than me. A few miles into the trip, I feel the bag behind me move, so I reach back there and sure enough one of the straps had broken, Tighten up the steering stabilizer, hold onto the bag with my left and ride with my right. I probably got 5 miles doing this and was slowly falling back due to trying to take turns and keep the bag on the bike. I finally stop and figure this will be a good practice to see if anyone notices the last person disappear. My ratchet strap had broken in two. So I took the long part of the strap and tied the bag down, it turned out that I can tie a pretty good knot and besides for one more adjustment (antother stop) all was good. They came back within 2-5 minutes, so the test worked, we are all looking out for each other on this ride. If you haven't been keeping track I have held up the group, 4 times, and I feel terrible about it.

Now we are good to go, it is warming up, the roads are great, every time I take my eyes off of the road and look up the scenery is great. We are going at a quick pace and besides my slow downs we are racking up the miles. We stop at a major road with rail road tracks the parallel the highway, there is a man tending to cattle and we are kinda on this property. Eventually he comes over to see why dirt bikes are there, and come to find out he is a police officer from Scott's home town. Small world. We head across the higway and are now in the National forest. Beautiful trees, I hope some of the pictures turn out. After a while, we come around a corner and stop at a historical marker. Steve tells Mike his shifts seem soft or weak, so Mike looks down and Steve's shifter is cracked! He now is going to have to shift lightly, and Scott is going to attempt to take us to his buddy's place, but he has never been there. After 10 miles or so he gives up and we head to Kennard to get it fixed, gas and food. Like Scott said in his report, the place didn't even know they had a welder, but like any good town they gave us permission to use their tools and we went to work. Turns out that out of the 5 bikers on this ride, 4 thought they could weld. And, I am sure if the conditions were a little better all 4 could have done very well, I helped prep, but I never did attempt to strike and arc. But from listening to the arc, I would stay that Scott, hands down had the best sounding arc :-P An hour or so later the shifter is back on and we go down the road to enjoy so fine dining.

The restaurant was great, nice lady owner/ waitress with tea that was almost too strong for me to drink. Most of us ordered a burger with either just cheese, bacon, or chili on it. Turns out the chill burger is an open faced thing on a 11" oval plate with one whole can of chill poured over it. And Ken did great eating most of it, I think he left half a bun and that is it :eat: Sorry, we were too amazed to take a picture.

Now we are off, we all the stops and such, it is close to 2. can we finish the ride in time? We hit dirt road after dirt road, with a few dead end trails too boot. Not too many mud puddles, but if they were there, Scott found them. The rest of the ride was uneventful, mostly dirt and then the last 15 miles of so were on the asphalt. I think the official reading was 250 miles, 10 hours total and 5 hours moving. That isn't too bad for having to stop and weld parts, eat a full lunch, and talk to the game wardens as well of out of jurisdiction police officers.

We got to the cabin, told some more lies, Ken had to leave, and then we made another fire, drank some more beers, ate some great food and watched dust to glory.

[Goat Trail Green]

I had a riot

Scott Thanks for hospitality.

Ken/Steve I really enjoyed meeting and riding with you.(Steve is the KLR for sale yet...LOL) Not that you need anything else !!!

Adam my friend you never cease to amaze me. Your riding skill keeps improving and I never have once had a bad time when I've been with you. My hats off my Friend

As far as the ride the only thing I might add is how amazed I was at all the cemeteries. I think I counted about 17 along with numerous churches. One of the churches also was an outdoor church. It had a roof with no walls and what looked like oak pews. I am still bummed for not stopping and getting a picture. A good lesson learned. I will stop next time I want a pic. Speaking of pics. I will try to down load mine tonight and get them posted. This was an awesome ride with awesome people. I cant say enough...

Thanks again all

Mike Green

[Greasemonkey]

Are we bored Adam.Jeez it's rained about 5 inches this morning at my shop,thing are floating away!!!Was going to let you slide on the mud incident,that was kinda my fault:twisted:..I didn't even take ya'll on worse stuff .Just to let folks know this is near vertical and now muddy[8-20ft]out of a creek bottom.Everyone did great and some of the purpose of the trip was to get the details down for rides to come.Beleive we made up for your down time with a little extra gas on the road.We had to slow down to get on the freeway!!!And sun. was considerably faster.We played musical bikes on sun.,that was a kick.Everyone swapped bikes,but we made desmo get back on his klr so we would be able to keep up.Mikes ATK is probably the smoothest bike I've ever ridden.All in all a blast with some cool guys,This is supposed to be what it's about,right:rider:

[FirstMan]

Sunday: I woke early and from the sound of it. No snoring I knew most of the others were awake. The warm front had come through over night and the cabin that slept the 4 of us was very warm. Finally when I hear Scott up and say, " I know you all are up, there isn't any snoring" :trust: I didn't want to get on anyone's bad side this early in the morning, but I thought it was funny. Scott, the great host that he is made coffee and bisects with sausages. It was great. It seems that some of us had a little too much to drink the night before and were slow to get around this morning. We all had a relaxing morning. We left out around 8-9 am, this time I didn't slow us down and we hit some dirt roads. We were flying, people tired other people's bikes, it was just one of those days that everything was flowing nicely. Scott knew these roads well, so he knew when there was a burm for his rear wheel to hook up on, me on the other hand thought he was going in the ditch. Did I say that it was a spirited ride :mrgreen:

As we were on the asphalt getting back to the cabin before the rain hit, the rain hit. It wasn't too bad since most of us had already put on some water proof clothing, but I messed up and kept my jacket un zipped to avoid over heating, well at 70+ mph in the rain, it didn't help keep me dry. Then the rain stopped and we enjoyed the last few miles again. We got back and I was determined to redeem myself, I rode every trail I found around Scott's creek, I am jealous of your warm up track. Then we loaded up the bikes and within 5 minutes is started to rain. Great timing.

We ate lunch a woody's the tourist trap with great BBQ and then parted ways. Thanks for the great memories. Mike and I had an uneventfull ride back, and when I got home I spent the next few hours cleaning bikes, truck and drive way. Went to bed around 10:30 and finally got more than 5 hours sleep :sun:

[FirstMan]

This is supposed to be what it's about,right:rider:

Right on, I could have saved 10,000 words and just said that :yawn:


Are we bored Adam.Jeez it's rained about 5 inches this morning at my shop,thing are floating away!!!Was going to let you slide on the mud incident,that was kinda my fault:twisted:..I didn't even take ya'll on worse stuff .Just to let folks know this is near vertical and now muddy[8-20ft]out of a creek bottom.


I knew I had a few hours to blow, and I wanted to make sure you didn't have write any more than you did ;-)

As for the mud/ hill climb, I really think it was in second because the next day i did them all. The one you took us on was a little challenging since it was down, mud, turn right, steep up hill, stop/ turn left due to barbed wire. Yeah, I have that one down now, well not now that it is muddier. It rained all night at my house, I really do not want the green grass to mow, but i am glad it is raining. Talk to you later.

[Greasemonkey]

Alright guys where's the pict's.My camera is a windup so you have to wait.HEY FASTMONSTR,thanks again for the tracks

[dbdolan]

:popcorn: yep waiting on the pictures.

[GetBent]

Awesome! I can't believe I gave in and worked for the sale. It was deahtly slow. Oh well, sounds like a great time. Now lets see some pics!!

[Goat Trail Green]

If you guys came along you would need pictures ;-)

Mike Green

p.s I am loading them now

[dbdolan]

So did you all see the tigers hold up and the red deer hanging with the donkey's? :lol2: http://www.twtex.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11520
Scott took us to some unusual places on the last trip.

[GetBent]

If you guys came along you would need pictures ;-)

Mike Green

p.s I am loading them now

Hey Mike---------->I removed the "mooning smiley".

[Goat Trail Green]

Heres a start
This was a historical marker. One of a few we ran into. Luckly there was still a building here. This is also where we noticed the cracked shifter

http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/reader-rigs/albums/album210/HPIM0822.sized.jpg


Welding 101

http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/reader-rigs/albums/album210/HPIM0825.sized.jpg

http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/reader-rigs/albums/album210/HPIM0826.sized.jpg


Jim are you going to get in trouble for that. Family friendly remember, this isnt the wheelin forums........

Mike Green

[Tekisasu DR]

:clap: Here are the pics!!!:clap:

I left home at 4:00AM, still sipping coffee...
http://home.houston.rr.com/texasdr650/Centerville/morning.jpg

Riding the trail around Scott's pond
http://home.houston.rr.com/texasdr650/Centerville/cabintrail.jpg

Ready to ride...
http://home.houston.rr.com/texasdr650/Centerville/road.jpg

http://home.houston.rr.com/texasdr650/Centerville/ready.jpg

http://home.houston.rr.com/texasdr650/Centerville/ready2.jpg

Taking a break in front of the officers property
http://home.houston.rr.com/texasdr650/Centerville/officers.jpg

http://home.houston.rr.com/texasdr650/Centerville/exit.jpg

Looking for welder...
http://home.houston.rr.com/texasdr650/Centerville/Weldersearch.jpg

and welding...
http://home.houston.rr.com/texasdr650/Centerville/weld.jpg

http://home.houston.rr.com/texasdr650/Centerville/street.jpg

http://home.houston.rr.com/texasdr650/Centerville/three.jpg

The national forest
http://home.houston.rr.com/texasdr650/Centerville/straight.jpg

http://home.houston.rr.com/texasdr650/Centerville/nf.jpg

Mike, your bike was heavy...
http://home.houston.rr.com/texasdr650/Centerville/heavy.jpg

Long straight...
http://home.houston.rr.com/texasdr650/Centerville/straight2.jpg

More forest
http://home.houston.rr.com/texasdr650/Centerville/nf2.jpg

http://home.houston.rr.com/texasdr650/Centerville/nf3.jpg

http://home.houston.rr.com/texasdr650/Centerville/nf4.jpg

It was great ride! I enjoyed and learned a lot! Thank you Scott, Mike, Adam & Steve!
Hope we can do more before Terlingua...

Thanks!
Ken

[Goat Trail Green]

The Host in action !!

http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/reader-rigs/albums/album210/HPIM0809.sized.jpg

Suited up ready for the next day

http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/reader-rigs/albums/album210/HPIM0810.sized.jpg

Oooops

http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/reader-rigs/albums/album210/HPIM0811.sized.jpg

On the way !!

http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/reader-rigs/albums/album210/HPIM0812.sized.jpg

http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/reader-rigs/albums/album210/HPIM0813.sized.jpg

http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/reader-rigs/albums/album210/HPIM0814.sized.jpg

http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/reader-rigs/albums/album210/HPIM0815.sized.jpg

http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/reader-rigs/albums/album210/HPIM0818.sized.jpg

http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/reader-rigs/albums/album210/HPIM0819.sized.jpg


This is a good one poser LOL


http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/reader-rigs/albums/album210/HPIM0820.sized.jpg

http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/reader-rigs/albums/album210/HPIM0823.sized.jpg




The search for the fire tower ???????

http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/reader-rigs/albums/album210/HPIM0828.sized.jpg

Close up

http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/reader-rigs/albums/album210/HPIM0829.sized.jpg

http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/reader-rigs/albums/album210/HPIM0830.sized.jpg



Mike Green :rider: :rider: :rider: :rider:

[GetBent]

You know I was just kidd'n, Mike. I am just jealous I wasn't able to go :( Looks like it was a great time. Good photos from the handlebars, too. Thanks for sharing the pics and good story line, Adam.

[Greasemonkey]

If anyone out there welds you can really apreciate the quality of equipment we had available.Thanks for the pict's guys ,I will try my hand with Rita's help a little later.Those clayton pict's from the other post were nice.Our next ride needs more bumps.

[Goat Trail Green]

You know I was just kidd'n, Mike. I am just jealous I wasn't able to go :( Looks like it was a great time. Good photos from the handlebars, too. Thanks for sharing the pics and good story line, Adam.

LOL

I know

I like your edit

I wish you were along. You will have to come in the spring !!! Ooopps Scott was I suppose to let that out ?

I agree more bumps. We will side track on the roads less traveled in the forrest now that we know the milage....

Mike Green

[FirstMan]

Great pictures guys. I think I am going to con GetBent into going on a ride this weekend, He needs to have thoes brand new knobbies hit the dirt before they get bald on the pavement.

[Desmo]

Ok, here is my take on things. Left Magnolia about 5:00 AM Saturday and put the hammer down on I-45 to Centerville. After one wrong turn in the dark, arrived about 7 to see everybody suited up and almost ready to ride. Scott led us on a tour of the property before heading out. This is where Adam encountered a little mud in the creek bottom. We all got down in the mud to help him out. After a couple of tries we got him pointed in the right direction then hit the road.

One of the first stops in front of the cop’s house.
http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/6307/20061015centervillefall20060001ka9.jpg

It was all I could do to keep up with Scott on his new BRP. While banging gears I noticed my shift lever was bending down. I bent it back up each time we stopped, them Mike noticed the crack. Of about one inch of the arm that is welded to the clamp, only about a quarter inch was not cracked. I was bummed because there was no way it would hold the rest of the day. We went to the nearest town and borrowed a stick welder and some damp welding rods. Between Mike, Scott and myself we were able to get enough bead to get me on the road.

Riding the rest of the afternoon was great. After the ride, we built a big fire and swapped lies over a cold beer or six. Here is Scott, who won the trailer surfing contest.
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/7160/20061015centervillefall20060005ji8.jpg

Due to the lack of firewood, we had so set Scott’s four wheeler on fire.
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/669/20061015centervillefall20060008oc7.jpg

Sunday morning I felt bad (see beer comment above). I spent most of the morning trying to keep up with the flat-trackers in front of me. The KLR did fine as long as I was right on Scott’s tail. If I got in back, the dust and lack of goggles caused me to over shoot a couple of curves. It is hard to slow that heavy beast down in the pea gravel.

Scott, thanks for your hard work and hospitality. This was a very memorable ride. It was great meeting and riding with Adam and Ken. And a big thanks to Mike for the help with the shifter.

After much arm twisting, Scott got me on his BRP Sunday. I was reluctant because I knew the consequences. Now I am forever spoiled. Wanted: Honda BRP with DS kit.

Steve

[Greasemonkey]

trying to send photos of centerville ride

[Greasemonkey]

Didn't work.

[Greasemonkey]

:Still didn't work[[[aaaarrrrr]]]]

[Goat Trail Green]

:Still didn't work[[[aaaarrrrr]]]]

Come on Scott

More pics !!

Mike Green

[GetBent]

Hey guys, I would have atleast expected to see proctecive gear worn while performing the trailer surfing contest. I didn't expect such hooliganism from this bunch. :) Did anyone get pics of Adam in the mud? I need an avatar.

[FirstMan]

:Still didn't work[[[aaaarrrrr]]]]

Scott, I saw your pictures yesterday. They were all small, 5 per page.

[FirstMan]

Hey guys, I would have atleast expected to see proctecive gear worn while performing the trailer surfing contest. I didn't expect such hooliganism from this bunch. :) Did anyone get pics of Adam in the mud? I need an avatar.

Pay mike off, i think he got one.

[Greasemonkey]

I give up on the pict's for now.Walmarts program is kinda weird or i'm kinda weird or something is kinda weird.Thats why I bring ya'll along[for the pict's].Thanks for ya'lls help though.

[GetBent]

Mike, I will put on your next set of tires for a pic of Adam in the mud! Of course, Adam will have to help me.:)

[Goat Trail Green]

http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/reader-rigs/albums/album210/HPIM0811.sized.jpg

Sorry this is the only one I have

Mike Green

[FirstMan]

http://www.jeeps-offroad.com/reader-rigs/albums/album210/HPIM0811.sized.jpg

Sorry this is the only one I have

Mike Green

Great advertisment for moose fender bags :clap:

All I really see in that picture is the bike verticle and me not on the bike, but standing beside it.

[GetBent]

Wow, Adam just won't stay down! I hope I can bounce back as quick as him.

[jsb223]

Looks like I missed out on a good one....

Maybe next time...