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BITD Vegas to Reno '17


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Do yourself a favor and read this interview with Scot Harden that Simon Cudby of Upshift Online just published...

And then I'm going to have a follow up on this shortly...

In other news...  Midwest Mountain Engineering is providing us with their clutch lever @556baller has on his bike. ;)

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57589ad7d210b812a45dfe68/t/5914c0e515d5db80ed7eeb39/1494532361543/?format=2500w

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So read the previous link about Scot Harden before you read further...

I met Scot last year at MSR's gear launch and got to ride with him a bit in the Big Bear area.  Really nice guy.  His son Brent is the brand manager for MSR and I know him fairly well.  He (Brent) gave us some swag for our High Sierra event last year and I have a shirt/pant combo of theirs I really like that I wore on the CO/UT trip last year.  I was in their Irvine office meeting the First Gear manager (Jeff Boaz) and saw Brent.  He said "hey my dad's got an 1190R now and looking for someone to ride with."  I guess he asked Brent to reach out to me or something?

Let that sink in for a moment.

How cool would that be to get to ride with such a legend?  Get tips, pointers, old race stories, etc...?

I had also met Kellon Walch at Taste of Dakar and he said he'd be willing to go scout trails again for next year with me some time.  I'm sure if I mention this race maybe he'd be willing to lend his expertise as well.

This is really getting fun!

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Pre running is hard due to weather/course changes etc. Just lots of practice, and BITD does great with course marking.

Thinking about a helmet light for after dark time, anyone have any advice? My LED headlights will be ok but rode with a helmet HID once at the dunes and it was awesome

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If you can't prerun the actual course just get in seat time.....lots of it.  Even better is getting a few local races in.  Not sure on your racing background, but I think if this is your first race, your mental game needs to be on point.  It's easy to survive hours and hours of riding, even at a near race pace.  It's easy to say I'm going to race and just get a finish.....until you see that flag or banner drop, or you start seeing dust. That's where the you see the well disciplined steam ahead.  

I remember when I started racing MX and desert, it's all the same head game, all the rookie mistakes I made.  Probably the same mistakes 99% of us make just because we are so damned excited.  Flag drops you go 150%, 10 minutes later you realize you can't sustain that for 3-4 hours.  Or you chase dust or get passed and get in over your head, only to realize it's an expert plate lapping you and your going to kill yourself trying to stay with or pass.  

All your prep and training may just go right out the window if you let the excitement, competitiveness, or lack of disipline get the best of you. Better to find that all out at a race that's local and only costs 50-60 bucks, vs the big show. 

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On 5/11/2017 at 8:08 PM, AdvRob said:

If you can't prerun the actual course just get in seat time.....lots of it.  Even better is getting a few local races in.  Not sure on your racing background, but I think if this is your first race, your mental game needs to be on point.  It's easy to survive hours and hours of riding, even at a near race pace.  It's easy to say I'm going to race and just get a finish.....until you see that flag or banner drop, or you start seeing dust. That's where the you see the well disciplined steam ahead.  

I remember when I started racing MX and desert, it's all the same head game, all the rookie mistakes I made.  Probably the same mistakes 99% of us make just because we are so damned excited.  Flag drops you go 150%, 10 minutes later you realize you can't sustain that for 3-4 hours.  Or you chase dust or get passed and get in over your head, only to realize it's an expert plate lapping you and your going to kill yourself trying to stay with or pass.  

All your prep and training may just go right out the window if you let the excitement, competitiveness, or lack of disipline get the best of you. Better to find that all out at a race that's local and only costs 50-60 bucks, vs the big show. 

Great advice.  I've been thinking about this over the last few days too.  The thing is though, I've always been a clear-headed rider.  I know the say LAB2V "is not a race" but for a lot of guys it is; at least for bragging rights.  They'll talk about what time they got in or what their average speed was.  @James Valentine had a gps app on his phone and let me have access to it and I think it showed him doing 108 at one point.  But I still just rode at a safe pace.  I did try to keep up with @motoguru and his buddy on small bikes but I still kept it sane and just caught up when they rested.

Another factor I think working here is that I have quite a bit of other people's money invested in the bike and I wanted to be sure that I wasn't going to have to dip in my own pocket to fix any damage.

So I think the mental aspect will be manageable for me and thus a minimization of those rookie mistakes but you're right, there's no substitute for experience.  I'll check out the D37 calendar and see what's coming up.

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On 5/18/2017 at 5:56 AM, Eric Hall said:

What Woody said last night:
Hi eric , just rolled back to home. Our normal all around rims are the double sig excels because they come in sizes that work best overall.

He then went on to talk about some new top secret stuff he's working on

So does that mean he wouldn't do an A60 build for a big bike?

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1 minute ago, 556baller said:

I have estimate for my 990, they said they can use stock 990 hubs on a A60 wheel. But recommended a 7000 for the rear in a 18"x 2.5" 

Yeah that what I think would be best.  The A60 would be best suited for the weight of the 990 and the offload durability. 

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Making progress on the XR for this, although progress is actually backwards right now.

Found I need some things
•new swing arm bearings
•spokes for the front wheel
•new dipstick
•A couple parts In the forks
•rebuild kit for the Scotts damper and maybe an arm puller

• a rear shock service.

Anyone recommend a place for shock service?FB_IMG_1495379674235.jpgFB_IMG_1495381736122.jpg1495425741022.jpeg

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Where you located?  Suspension 101 is the goto guy in the San Diego area.  Has a great reputation with local district 37/38 desert racers and has experience with Vegas to Reno and Baja setups.  He has posted here a couple times as well,  aka Suspenders  

the other choice is obvious...precision concepts.  They are part of the reason the XRR is as legendary as it is.  They have XR suspension dialed in.   

 

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