Been riding for years...

If you are new to the forum, post here and introduce yourself. We'd love to hear from you.
Post Reply
User avatar
redrider
Writer
Writer
Posts: 175
Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2005 5:02 pm
Location: Calgary, Alberta

Been riding for years...

Post by redrider »

but have never joined a club nor raced. Hopefully this year I can get into an XC or HS. I went to the last meeting and was very impressed by the attendance and those I met. All are good people and willing to share thier stories and experience. Claddo has some great stories and has ridding some classic equipment in his time. Very cool.

I have two kids now, boy(13) and girl(10) who ride with me on a 02 Yamaha TTR 125L and 98 Yamaha PW80 respectively. I ride big red an 02 Honda XR650R. Big bike but it hauls my big butt around well and gives a workout some days trying to start it in the most precarious places.

My first bike was an 1980 XR 200, followed by a Honda ATX200 trike. I then moved to the street for a while with a 1982 Honda Ascot FT500 and then a Yamaha XT550. Enjoyed the street but missed the dirt and bought a 1980 Suzuki PE400, big mistake, never had so many problems with a bike. I had a hiatus from riding for a few years and stepped back in 4/5 years ago with a 1983 Yamaha TT500. Good bike but heavy and limited suspension so upgraded by the next season to a KX500. WOW everything they say about this bike is true, very fast and powerful, even with 265 pounds on it, not good for following your kids on their bikes though so ended up with the XR650R. Quite happy with Big red now and meets my riding style very well. Hearing a lot of good things about the KTM 525 though :easter:

I like the club and what it stands for and the approach used to keep our riding areas open. Riding for myself and family is important and is good enjoyable family and personal fun. Having riding ares within an hours drive is wonderful and critical to keep it affordable and growing. I believe we are a society that is greatly over governed in all aspects of our life and marvel at how easily some special interests groups can spark up laws to meet 5% of the populations requests and these laws take decades to correct/adjust if at all. Government involvment is inevitable as much as I hate to admit it, so I guess we need to address them on their level and that's what RMDRA is all about. Good job I am happy to be a member and look forward to helping out as I can. The Maclean race goes next weekend and although I am unable to compete I yearn to do so but have a flight booked Sunday at noon, Arrrgghhh!!! Something always getting in the way. :blah: I may come watch the kids and ladies Saturday though, still trying to line some boots up for my growing son otherwise he could give the race a try, his spring hockey season is offically over now. Let the riding begin.

Anyways, hello to everyone reading this and have fun at the race, I hope to meet and ride with many more of you in the future. :canada:

RedRider
RedRider (Brad B.)
2014 Husqvarna TE300

**You never fail until you stop trying**

User avatar
dirtyboy
2024 RMDRA Member
2024 RMDRA Member
Posts: 6971
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2004 5:04 pm
Location: Calgary, AB
Contact:

Post by dirtyboy »

Thanks for the detailed write up RedRider. Nice introduction. :applause:

You've had a few bikes, that's for sure, and most with big engines. I've been mostly small bore rider myself. DT80, XL125 (1977), YZ125 (1980, 1988), YZ250 (1991), KX250 (1999), YZ250F (2001), WR250F (2003, 2005)

:cheers:

User avatar
cladoo
2024 RMDRA Member
2024 RMDRA Member
Posts: 1080
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2004 9:51 pm
Location: Okotoks, AB

Post by cladoo »

Hey Red nice to see you're pumped up about riding and the club, we need enthusiastic members and ones with youngs ones to show them the fun, safe and proper way to enjoy our sport. I started riding wayyyy back in '72 when I was fifteen on a Keystone Minibike, from there I went to a '71 Yamaha 60 Mini Enduro. In '74 I bought a new Yamaha MX100B and started racing MX in the Schoolboy Class, won a couple of races finishing 2nd in the provincial championship (MB). The next year 1975 I bought a used '74 Honda CR125 and raced the 125 Junior class with it. I won a few motos during the year but at the last race of the year I smoked everyone by a lot so the CMA Region heads told me I had to ride Senior(Intermediate now) Class the next year. That year,1976, I bought a new Yamaha YZ125X and had a great year winning the Prov. Championship for my class. So they bumped me up to Expert ( now called Pro)for the next year. '77 was my first year to ride 2 classes because I had a '77 Yamaha YZ250D and a Suzuki RM125B that was given to me by a dealer for the season, I had a pretty good year finishing 2nd in 250 and 3rd in 125. In 1978 I was running a Suzuki bike shop in Portage la Prairie, MB it was a satellite shop for another dealership, they gave me two new Suzuki's to race a RM125C and a RM250C2. I finshed 5th in both classes mainly because I missed a few races due to an injury. In 1979 I moved back to Wpg. and was the Parts Manager and mechanic for the largest Yamaha dealership in Wpg. I was given new Yamahas to race, a YZ250F and a YZ400F (they were two-strokes back then). Unfortunately I broke my thumb and missed many races. In 1980 I was given a new YZ250G to race and borrowed sometimes a YZ125G and YZ465G at times. I finished 3rd in the 250/500 class that year. 1981 had me swithing to Honda with the new CR450R as my ride as a Dealer Support Rider. I finished 3rd in MB that year. I also capped off the year winning the 2 hour endurance MX at the last race. The next year I stepped back from racing serious, I found an old '78 Honda CR250R and fixed it up and raced it occasionally, I also wrenched for a friend of mine. In 1983 I bought a '82 Maico MC490 raced it a few times and received my CMA Referee's Certification. I referee'd 2 races that year. I kept the Maico for '84 and raced it a couple of times. I won the 3 Hour Hare Scramble in the fall on it. In 1985 I traded the Maico for a '83 Husky 250CR and raced the first Arenacross in Wpg. on it. I hated that bike so much that I sold it and quit riding for a year. In 1987 I bought a used '84 Suzuki PE175 and started to race AMA Enduros in Minnesota winning my class (200C) in the 2 events I rode that year. The next year I moved up to B class and finished 6th in 200B and 17th overall in B Class in MN. In 1990 I rode VetB and in two events got a 1st and a 3rd on the same Suzuki 175. I sold the bike and took off a couple of years to raise my family (1 boy, 2 girls). I got the itch to ride again in '94, so I found an old '82 Honda CR250R and fixed it up, racing only one event that year a HS finishing 5th. In 1996 I bought a '83 Honda CR480 and raced a couple of MX's in Vet Expert. 1997 saw me get transferred from Wpg. to Calgary with my job (CPRail) I rode Maclean for a couple of years then In 2000 I rode my first CC , the Livingstone in Vet Junior class (12th out of 12). I also rode a HS and the Moose CC that year. 2001 I still had the 480 and rode a MX and the Porky's HS getting 3rd VetJunior there. In 2002 I bought my '96 KTM300EXC and loved it right away, I rode the Livingstone CC (6th) and Hunter Valley HS (4th). 2003ad me racing four events ,winning one (Riviere's) and getting a 2nd , 3rd and 8th at the others. In 2004and 2005 I tried to race but I have an arythmia problem with my heart and could not finish any race. I got involved with the club to lend my experience, I was pres. of our MX club for about 5-7 years in Wpg. I know this is a long post but I just wanted to give my background in motorcycles so you know where I am coming from. Hope to see everyone out at the race this weekend. Claude.
Claude

User avatar
Dobi
2024 RMDRA Member
2024 RMDRA Member
Posts: 3770
Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2005 9:33 pm
Location: deep in the woods on some epic singletrack
Contact:

Post by Dobi »

cladoo wrote: I know this is a long post but I just wanted to give my background in motorcycles so you know where I am coming from. Hope to see everyone out at the race this weekend. Claude.
Great to know there is actual experience behind the suggestions in these forums. I often wonder if it isn't a twelve year old kid on the other end hoping someone will try his suggestion and let him know if it works :buttkick:

See you at Fischer this weekend :banana:

User avatar
redrider
Writer
Writer
Posts: 175
Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2005 5:02 pm
Location: Calgary, Alberta

Post by redrider »

Awesome post Cladoo, man you must have some great stories to tell about the races/rides and terrain. You being a very accomplished rider is an understatement, gotta be good to get free rides like you did, that must have been very cool.

Don't know much about arythmia but I hope it clears so you can get out there and show me a thing or two.

RedRider
RedRider (Brad B.)
2014 Husqvarna TE300

**You never fail until you stop trying**

User avatar
Brent
Columnist
Columnist
Posts: 632
Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2005 8:39 am
Location: South Bragg
Contact:

Post by Brent »

Very cool write up cladoo. I had no idea you had that kind of history. You bring a lot of experience to our club.

1st bike 84 XR 80R-burning around the acreage and Priddis gravel pits
87 KX 80-went to check out mclean for the first time in 1990 on that bike and kept burning around the gravel pits.
then I bought a beat up IT 175 for $50, I think it was an 84. Rode that bike for a couple of years then got a 90 DR 350 in 94. Started riding and camping at Mclean a lot....the hills were a lot more challenging then the gravel pits.
Rode that bike through a huge mud hole, could never get the bike to run properly after that, didn't have really any mechanical knowledge, sold it and got a 94 KX 250 in 96. It was a Pro-Am purple shop bike. 2 strokes definately suit my style. Rode that bike a ton at Mclean. Traded that bike in for a brand new 98 KX 250, this bike ripped. Really torquey. Rode a lot again at Mclean, Indian graves and Waiporous. I also rode it out in BC, Squamish, right on Whistler ski resort, pemberton and a track down south of vancouver in Delta. Rode it right into the ground, every moving part on that bike was garbage, I cranked my shock spring right down so I would have no static sag, it looked cool that way.....it took me a long time and a lot of money before I learned proper maintenance and mechanics. Just ask Rooster, he bought that bike off of me in 2000 when it grenaded. I used that money for a skidoo summit 500 for sledding, snowboarding up in whistler. When I moved back from Whistler to Calgary in 2002 I got the itch again to ride so I bought an 01 CR250, raced my first hs at riviere's and about 4 other races. My very first race at Riviere's I raced intermediate, I'm not sure if you're allowed to do that. My first xc was moose 02 when it snowed the friday before and rained the whole weekend...tough stuff. I raced intermediate and placed 4th. Rode all winter on studded trelleborg tires then in 2003 raced 12 races in intermediate and placed 5th overall. That winter again I rode throughout on my trelly's. In 2004 I started out on my CR and won the CMA Mclean hs, then got my new KTM 300 MXC and raced livingstone on Roosters YZ250F and won my first CMRC intermediate race. I had a great year, won 6 more races so I won the HS championship, XC championship and the CMA Expert national championship!? There were only 2 other guys in my class for the CMA races. I raced expert in CMA at the end of the year because I was winning intermediate in CMRC. Still have the 300 MXC and love it! That 06 300 EXC that motor Ed posted looks like a posibility for next season.
2013 450 XC
2011 YZ 450, 2008 380 XC

Post Reply