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2013 East Texas 500.... The muddiest one yet!

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For the most part I had fun although I felt a little cheated. All that prep work, putting it all together and then a rain event killing it for us. As we rode back to Livingston I had some time to reflect on everything. As much as I was looking forward to riding the full 500 miles, I was also dreading it a little. I've had so much going on lately I haven't had a day off to just ride and have a good time with no where in particular to go.

I need a road trip soon.

Thanks guys for joining me in my 3rd attempt of the ETX 500. I won't say I'm out for next year, lets just wait and see how the rest of this year unfolds. See all yall real soon.
 
Ha, check it out, got an email from YouTube, someone just posted on my 9 Mile Road vid from last year. :shrug: :lol2: I'll post it again for those who might be wondering what it was like. That's RollingJ ahead of me, Bwdmax is right behind.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQfshHVSo08"]East Tex 450 9 Mile Road - YouTube[/ame]
 
Rman of 237 said:
Cheated? Nah, it was a riot!!! :rider: Right next to my bucket list I have a list of events in my life that I'll never forget... I wouldn't trade last weekend for the world! :flip:
Click to expand...

I kinda felt cheated a little also as both days got cut short for me. But then I added up my mileage and realized I still rode over 500 miles on Sat & Sun. Not too bad for what was supposed to be an all wet weekend.

_
 
Yup, what RMan said - it was an adventure. I got in two good days of riding. Starting in Rusk, we were fortunate that we didn't hit the mud until day two.

Friday was a great ride, albeit wet. I was soaked to the bone and poured water out of my boots, but we dried out at Holly Park (more or less) and had cocktails on the porch while the monsoon came down and washed our bikes.

We didn't hit the mud until Saturday afternoon. I was worn out from digging the bike out and pushing it up the hill ( with a lot if help from my friends) and fried my clutch. But I never thought to myself "I wish I wasn't here".

Thanks for putting this together. BTW, where's garfey? He hit the slab Sat morning and we didn't see him again.
 
Rman of 237 said:
Cheated? Nah, it was a riot!!! :rider: Right next to my bucket list I have a list of events in my life that I'll never forget... I wouldn't trade last weekend for the world! :flip:
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. It didn't go like we planned but all in all I had a good time. The ride back to Livingston in the pouring rain with 18 wheelers going by us was a little unnerving but that's all part of what we do I guess, enduring and overcoming adversity. Then talking about it here for a while until we do it all again the next time.:rider:
 
my6 said:
I agree 100%. It didn't go like we planned but all in all I had a good time. The ride back to Livingston in the pouring rain with 18 wheelers going by us was a little unnerving but that's all part of what we do I guess, enduring and overcoming adversity. Then talking about here for a while until we do it all again the next time.:rider:
Click to expand...

The definition of Adventure Riding at its finest.
Of course I can say that while sitting home thinking about the great time everyone was having without me ☺️


ATGATT.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
=[Bad]=Tex said that there was this cool road that we needed to recon. He thought it would be too slick for a couple of the bikes and it was. The vid is a little long, but it does not show the entire length of the road. I wonder if the guy ever got the truck out of the mud.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMjnIOW2e3A"]BadTexDetour - YouTube[/ame]
 
Mud at 3325. This was as stick as 2565, steeper, but not as long. We got two bikes up it without stopping and the other two up with a little push. Getting into this area is a pain, getting out would have been impossible until things dried out.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5x_44Bji1E"]MudAt3325 - YouTube[/ame]
 
Following Aanarchy through some open range that =[Bad]=Tex had for us. We're beyond state maintenance, county maintenance and even landowner maintenance.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VPL9LltkGQ"]Open Pasture - YouTube[/ame]
 
Final video for now. This is the last leg into Rusk. Doug is leading and really resisting the urge to crank on the throttle. No dust, perfect sky, just a great day's riding.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l9bu5bNm_o"]OnwardToRusk - YouTube[/ame]

m
 
Aanarchy said:
... BTW, where's garfey? He hit the slab Sat morning and we didn't see him again.
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Still kicking. Left a note for y'all at Livingston SP office and putted on home with a couple of stops to clean off the love bugs.

It became obvious immediately that
(1) Pirelli MT60s suck on slick stuff, and
(2) Even discounting all that camping gear, I suck worse.

Telling lies with you guys Friday evening & Saturday morning was a kick and I think I need to do a bunch of riding on the dirt roads around here before heading for distant boonies again. :mrgreen:
 
I figured it was time to clean the bike up, change the air filter, change the oils, and check the valves for good measure.

I found one exhaust valve loose (wierd, valves normally get tight) so I needed to pull the cam carrier to get at the shim-under-bucket valves on the CRF. The first thing to do is to release the cam chain tensioner.

Anybody want to take a guess why my bike sounded like a box of rocks?

Yep, the tensioner was kaput. No spring pressure what-so-ever.

I'm rather amazed I didn't skip a couple teeth on the cam gear and chew up my head on the few occasions on the second day I hit 93mph.

That would have been UGLY!
 
Dang! Glad it didn't cause problems on the way back. The CRF sounded like 2 squirrels fighting over a wind chime but I figured you were used to that noise! :eek2::eek2:

I had a great time and for once, the Berg did everything I asked her to do! :sun:
 
RollingJ said:
I figured it was time to clean the bike up, change the air filter, change the oils, and check the valves for good measure.

I found one exhaust valve loose (wierd, valves normally get tight) so I needed to pull the cam carrier to get at the shim-under-bucket valves on the CRF. The first thing to do is to release the cam chain tensioner.

Anybody want to take a guess why my bike sounded like a box of rocks?

Yep, the tensioner was kaput. No spring pressure what-so-ever.

I'm rather amazed I didn't skip a couple teeth on the cam gear and chew up my head on the few occasions on the second day I hit 93mph.

That would have been UGLY!
Click to expand...


Glad you found it that way and not the hard (expensive) way.:sun:
 
A few final shots then I have to get back to work and make enough money for LAB2V.

If you're AAA membership isn't paying for itself, you're not riding hard enough. Having towed too many motorcycles, this is the coolest carrier that I've seen.

flatbed_zpsb2427803.jpg


$12 walking stick, a tubing cutter and fifteen minutes in front of the TV one night. Bummer when you get a flat 15 miles from the finish.
KTMFlat_zps08f9c4d5.jpg


Aanarchy taking advantage of a break in the rain.
Aanarchy_zps357ef7fc.jpg


Scrambler. Kind of humbling riding the slick stuff and looking back to see him right on your tail on street tires and twin shocks.
Scrambler_zpsa150b877.jpg

It's because I had to drop a motor off at Scramblers that I was riding with the North Group in the first place. Simple luck of the draw.

Enjoying the fruits, er, um, hops of our labors.
FinishersCrop_zpsba4deee2.jpg

I'm no fashion rider, but I need to get another set of riding pants.

Sorry no shots of =[Bad]=Tex, Beararcher or Garfey, but I enjoyed riding with you all just the same. Thanks =[Bad]=Tex for taking the lead.

m
 
RollingJ said:
IYep, the tensioner was kaput. No spring pressure what-so-ever.

I'm rather amazed I didn't skip a couple teeth on the cam gear and chew up my head on the few occasions on the second day I hit 93mph.
Click to expand...

That because Honda are very well engineered and built.
 
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