Comming Back the HARD Way - but FUN!

[BigBird]

I'm an OLD guy (67) that did a LOT of off road riding (enduro or 50+ mile trail ride almost every weekend) in his 30s but hadn't ridden a dirt bike in 25+ years.  I recently retired and decided to give it another try.  So in March I bought a Yamaha WR250R and found a couple of riding partners.  On my first real trail ride I was amazed at how much better the suspension was after ~ 30 years and the coordination started to come back as I got used to the handling of the ~ 285 lb dual sport.  (I used to ride 210 lb PENTON 125s)

On my first long ride (on PA forest roads) I crashed on a high speed turn (caught the front tire on the outside of a sharp ridge in the center of the road) and broke a few ribs.  Just a dumb (lack of attention) mistake and no big deal as I've broken ribs several times before.  I was able to ride the 75 miles home.

A few weeks later (after my ribs were mostly healed) I crashed again on a rocky ORV trail.  I THINK I deflected my front wheel off of a rock?  I didn't remember the actual crash but AGAIN broke some ribs and bruised my shoulder.  Again not a big deal!  I was able to ride the 5 miles back to the car & trailer.

A month later the shoulder and ribs were mostly OK but I started to feel WEAK.  Then a little weaker each day?  I got an ER evaluation for weakness and they found nothing wrong!  BUT I kept getting weaker!!!  Finally (2 months after the second crash and 2 weeks after the ER weakness evaluation) I got REAL weak and dizzy and they took me to the ER and found a LARGE subdural hematoma and did emergency surgery to remove it.  It came back in a couple of days so they repeated the surgery and found the leak this time.  I spent about a week in the ICU and then home.

After a couple of weeks I was feeling pretty good but VERY out of shape.  After a month of gradual build up I got back to about 90% of my normal strength and fitness.

You'd think this would be enough for me - but NO - I'm a SLOW LEARNER - and the riding was fun and I'd met a lot of interesting fun people.  So I bought a Scotts Stabilizer for the WR250R and sent the forks to Trail Tricks for tuning, etc. (shock had already been revalved) added a Revlock auto clutch and Left Hand Rear Brake, FMF pipe, Dynotune PCV FI controller, etc .   I  thought the Yamaha was a good dual sport but too heavy for real gnarly stuff I like to ride (and hard for me to pick up) so I also bought an 07 KTM 200 XC-W (215 lbs).  I gave it the same treatment as the Yamaha (shock & fork tuning, Revloc, LHRB,  adapter for the Scotts Stabilizer, etc.)

School's still out on how this will progress - BUT I did a 2 day 500 mile dual sport club ride on the Yamaha and kept up with all but the fastest 15% of the riders.  Then a couple of weeks later I did an AMA 100 mile Dual Sport event in PA, including all the options, on the KTM and stayed in the middle of the pack and loved every minute of it.  The KTM is sweet!  Last weekend I trailered to Asheville and did some forest roads there on the Yamaha WR250R with my BIL (he has a KLR).

SO at this point I'm looking forward to lots more Dual Sport rides and trail rides and maybe some adventure touring (getting a bigger tank for the Yamaha).  I've joined the local dirt bike and dual sport groups and met MANY fun interesting folks AND my darling bride of 46 years is 100% behind me.  (Actually she's jealous because she used to be a good off road rider on a 70's Yamaha MX 100 that I'd added WR gears and heavy flywheel to).  I'm hoping to be able to keep doing this for a few more years!  

Maybe I'll see some of you on the trails in MD, PA or WV!

[thatguy]

Welcome back.
 I don't have a dual sport so they must be trailered. If you are interested in doing some trails post up. I'm always up for a ride.

[vulcanbill]

Sam,

Will you be my dad?  

Kim just busted or bruised some ribs on a mt bike biff and was outta commission for five weeks.  She's bowing to your hard coreness.  We are one hour from getting on a pair of 450 EXCs from a place called DualSportUtah and hitting some trails in Moab.  Apparently there is a KTM Adventure Rider's Rally here this weekend so we'll be not only drinking the Kool Aid but we'll be surrounded by it everywhere.  If Kim is bitten by the bug after this ride and you want to get rid of that Yamaha, we might need to talk.  

BillO

[BigBird]

Bill,

I hope you 2 have a GREAT time.  I won't be selling the Yamaha any time soon though.

I did the Shenandoah 500 DS a couple of weeks ago 1 day on the Yamaha and 1 day on the KTM.  Very different bikes but both are fun.

Going out to westerm MD tomorrow for a overnight at some private land that has SUPER trails - BUT I'm jealous of you guys in Moab.  I did rent a montnain bike a couple of years ago there and did slickrock and it was fun (but tireing for an old guy that had been on the road for a month drinking beer every night)

Give us a ride report!

[vulcanbill]

Bill,

I hope you 2 have a GREAT time.  I won't be selling the Yamaha any time soon though.

I did the Shenandoah 500 DS a couple of weeks ago 1 day on the Yamaha and 1 day on the KTM.  Very different bikes but both are fun.

Going out to westerm MD tomorrow for a overnight at some private land that has SUPER trails - BUT I'm jealous of you guys in Moab.  I did rent a montnain bike a couple of years ago there and did slickrock and it was fun (but tireing for an old guy that had been on the road for a month drinking beer every night)

Give us a ride report!

posted in off road ride reports

a BLAST!!!!

[BigBird]

Reporting back in one year later at 68

I've been REALLY getting into the DIRT thing by running all the Dual Sport events and doing all the options and doing all the trail rides I can.  I've also upgraded the suspension on both my WR250R and my KTM 200 XCW and have them DIALED IN

I've also added 2 bikes to my stable!

09 Beta Evo 300 4t with EXTENSIVE mods (see below) to make it an ultimate OLD guy trail bike.

07 Beta Rev 80 with EXTENSIVE mods (see below) to make it an ultimate trail bike for my sweetie - But even though she did well on it, she decided it was a little too dangerous for a 67 year old gal, so she gave it to me as a play bike :>)

The 300 is AMAZING and great for riding the really gnarly stuff AND should be good for me when I get TOO OLD to ride my KTM in the dirt and pick it up when I crash (A LOT) .

The little 80 is REALLY FUN and almost like a motorized mountain bike :>)  weighs less than 150 lbs with mods and GOs with the KTM 80 2 Stroke 6 speed!

2009 Evo 300 4t - OLD Guy Trail Bike
Long Ride Kit (1.1 Gallon Aux Tank & Seat)
Scotts Stablilzer
BBR Seat at Normal Trail Ride Height
16" Rear Wheel (More Rake & Trail & Lower Pegs)
Full Knobys 21" Front & 16" Rear
6" Rise Jitsie Handlebars
20 Wt. Fork Oil & Max Dampening
Stiffer Rear Spring
Max Damping on Rear Shock
Lowered Shifter
Tool Bag Under Seat
Garmin eTrex GPS on Handelbar

2007 Rev 80 2t  - Originally Set Up for Wife
Rekluse Auto Clutch
LHRB - Left Hand Rear Brake
Scotts Stablilzer
BBR Seat at Normal Trail Ride Height
21" High Profile Front Knobby
3.50-18" Low Profile Rear Knobby
More Front Preload & Stiffer Springs
20 Wt. Fork Oil
Stiffer Rear Spring
Lowered Shifter
Quart Bottle of Premix Under Seat

LIFE IS GOOOOD