Royal Roost

Trail Conditions, talk about a ride that you went on. Where to ride? If are looking to organize or join a ride please post in the "Upcoming Rides and Events" forum.
Post Reply
User avatar
Petard
User
User
Posts: 31
Joined: Sun May 28, 2017 10:47 am
Location: Calgary
Contact:

Royal Roost

Post by Petard »

I got a second ramp Monday morning to assuage my fear of (un)loading the bike by myself. It has already proven to be a pretty good idea. I decided to load up and head out to McClean Creek that afternoon, despite several areas of significant virga. I pulled in to one of the staging areas around 3, as the rain began to fall. Luckily, it didn't last and I learned that it had been raining lightly off and on all day. The gravel roadway was wet, but free of puddles and I thought it was worth a first try.

I unloaded my bike, with the kind assistance of 2 ATV riders. As I commenced to suit up, a dirt bike rider pulled in. He had a Honda 450 (?). He said it was some sort of $9000 dirt bike that requires competition maintenance. He claimed to be a millwright and proceded to describe in detail the dismantling of the forks and various other components. His very slight build led me to believe he could have been anywhere from 16-19 years of age. He was agreeable and seemed not to mind that I had never ridden before. He told me that today was his 5th time on a dirt bike.

We headed generally westward on a road that is supposed to reach a dead end at a gas plant not far from Elbow Falls. My companion rode with unmistakable fearlessness and confidence and I suspected that he had had much more experience than he was admiting to (he did say that he used to ride a street bike). We managed to keep relatively close together, although he did race ahead on a steeply turning hill. At one point, he suggested that we leave the road and follow an adjacent ATV track. That was my first bit of aprehension, as the path was strewn with fist-sized rocks that rolled as we drove over them. Remarkably, my bike maintained composure and seating. I was surprised how well it was handling the unstable surface, but I was relieved when our little deviation led back to the main road.

We continued on for quite some time and eventually encountered a speedy rider approaching us on another adjacent parallel track that appeared to plummet into depths indiscernible from the roadway. My companion motioned toward the path, but I said that I would like to continue to the end of our road, but that I was willing to try the path on the way back. Eventually, we reached the gas plant and end of the road. The sky had cleared phenomenally and the damp environment was bathed in an amber light (the tint was likely due to my enduro goggles, but that didn't occur to me until later). We doubled back and my companion soon found the side path. We took it and it went very well, despite large puddles, deep thick muck and watery trenches that could swallow our tires nearly to the axles in gripping mud. Neither of us landed in the water or got stuck in the quagmire, but we had to duck many branches and bounce over tree roots as we wended our way around the larger of the dark pools and the snakelike trenches.

We took a rest and I was definitely feeling some trembling and my friend said that he was in a similar state and ready to call it a day. Resuming our return, we approached a rivulet of running water. My companion suggested I take the lead. Directly across was a very steep hill with a slight plateau that was immediately followed by yet another steep and muddy incline. By this time I knew what was required of me, so I opened the throttle with determination and gained the plateau with ease and started up the second segment, when my bike got stuck in the mud and refused to budge and I toppled over. My companion raced past me to park his bike and returned to push my bike from behind as I steered and tried to heave my weight into the handlebars. I didn't think we would make it, as the ground was so thick in mud that I fell under the bike and it threatened to slide back down the hill. We managed to prevent this by placing rocks behind the tires and we both were so drained of strength that we had to stop. My bike was really only about 5 metres from the top, but it seemed that we could not budge it another step.

I attempted to start it, to see if we could get it to the summit under its own power, but it would not start. I tried again and again, but the engine would not start. Finally, I saw that the headlamp was glowing in an amber-brownish light. After that, the starter refused to give the slightest jolt. The battery was dead. We were a very long way from our vehicles. It was probably already after 7, but still light.

Didn't the bike shop charge the battery of my bike? Do I need to charge it daily? Could I have inadvertently drained it at the start of the outing, when I had left the choke out for a few minutes? The only hope was, since we were at the top of a very high hill, to try to get it to start by rolling it back down. Failing that, it was likely a 6 km hike back to the vehicles—and with the trail locked, vehicles could not have helped us. I had started my Yamaha Road Star by rolling it down a hill in mid-winter some years back, so I thought it was worth a try with my new Yamaha TT-R230. Just put it in gear and coast...

My friend rode ahead and waited at the bottom of the hill to scout the best route back to the main road and I decided to coast the first hump in first gear. As soon as I put the bike into gear, it locked up and stopped rolling. I got down to the midway plateau and decided to put it into second gear. Same thing: the bike refused to budge. I decided to put it into neutral and let the bike coast the rest of the way down—and it sprang to life! I didn't dare shift until I got the bike onto the main road and then raced ahead in 5th gear. I couldn't remember the engine break-in rules, except no full throttle. I didn't.

We climbed numerous steep hills and made many turns before coming to a very long dead straight stretch and then we were at the end of a nearly 4-hour ride and at our vehicles, totally exhausted and wanting supper.

We said our adieus and I got back to Calgary around 9:30 and washed the bike for 2 whole hours, first in the car wash and then some more in my garage. It is a very nice bike!

And what a way to start dirt biking!

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

Re: Royal Roost

Post by dirtyboy »

Adventure is always a nice bonus on a ride! :thumbsup:

User avatar
thirtyseven
2024 RMDRA Member
2024 RMDRA Member
Posts: 2110
Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2005 3:59 pm
Location: Cochrane

Re: Royal Roost

Post by thirtyseven »

Awesome.
PRESIDENT-YAMAHA ANONYMOUS

User avatar
Petard
User
User
Posts: 31
Joined: Sun May 28, 2017 10:47 am
Location: Calgary
Contact:

Re: Royal Roost

Post by Petard »

Well, I think I finally figured out why my battery failed: Pro-Am never charged it! :crazy:

According to the manual, you are supposed to stick around when charging for the first time, so I never had a chance until last night. I plugged in the new super-duper Optimate2 multi-stage pulse charger/maintainer and waited... 2 hours, still only the green power light, no charging program indication. Huh? I took off the side panel of the bike and had a look. There was a little fuse box between the pigtail and the battery. On inspection, I saw, to my surprise, that the fuse was blown! The mechanics down there never figured that out!? :thinking:

All should be good to go now. I hope the battery is unharmed.

Post Reply