Hawk is here, yay!

[JerryHawk250]

Sorry to hear that. Glad you didn't get hurt too bad. You'll feel it tomorrow though.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

Sorry to hear that. Glad you didn't get hurt too bad. You'll feel it tomorrow though.

Oh, now that the adrenaline from it all has worn off I am already starting to. I am sure I will feel like a train ran me over in the morning. The price you pay for 2 wheeled living though.

[pete]

Thats seem like alot of damage for a little step off...

I did flat spot the XT front rim... but it took a 80kmh
blast though a ford I didn't see till it was to late.. Stayed on
& didn't know the rim was flat spoted till 3 days later
when washing the bike..
blow one fork seal aswell so it hit bloody hard...


..

[goat67]

Ah that sucks.... glad you are ok. Now you have something to do

[clark]

Originally Posted by pete

Thats seem like alot of damage for a little step off...

blow one fork seal aswell so it hit bloody hard...

..

When you blew the fork seal, did the fork start leaking? O more sag due to only one side of forks supporting weight / working properly?

The reason I ask, I was trail riding my Magician 250, and ran over (gently hit) a few small fallen trees. Think about 5 " diameter. I seems the front end sags / or rides a little lower now?
Anyway, I will probably go back through the blog, I think it was Megadan who described stiffing up the front forks. (And Dan, like you, I'm thinking the stock forks are not set for us 200+lbers.)

[pete]

the front didn't sag & if it did it was so little it wasn't noticeable
but the damping went to hell over small sharp bumps, more
jarring though the bars as the forks lost half of there compression damping..
leak.. yes but only with the hit.. blow maybe half the oil out but didn't keep leaking,
maybe there wasn't enough left in it to keep leaking..

don't know about Chinese bikes but the japs spring there dirt bikes for 75Kg /165lb riders...

..

[Megadan]

The rim didn't just step off, it got turned and wedged. Then my weight and the bikes kept trying to go forward and it twisted the rim up and bent many of the spokes. Amazingly none broke. The front rim took the brunt of the force.

[JerryHawk250]

How's the old body feeling today?

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

How's the old body feeling today?

Eh, not bad. I have a few bruises, but nothing overly concerning. Saturday and Sunday were probably the worst days, but not a lot of pain, just stiffness lol. I am pretty good at dealing with impacts... Probably thanks to my experience as a lineman playing football.

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by Megadan

Eh, not bad. I have a few bruises, but nothing overly concerning. Saturday and Sunday were probably the worst days, but not a lot of pain, just stiffness lol. I am pretty good at dealing with impacts... Probably thanks to my experience as a lineman playing football.

Be happy that's all you experienced. At 18 I had a lady pull out in front of me and decided to stop all of a sudden. I'm on a gravel road with a ditch on each side. All I could do was lock up the brakes and lay the bike down. Bike went under the car and I flew over the car about 30 yards before landing in the ditch. I got up and felt nothing. No broken bones but a few scrapes, brush burns and a split helmet. The next day I could not move. felt like a full body sprain. I was laid up for about a week and a half. Hope you feel better.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

Be happy that's all you experienced. At 18 I had a lady pull out in front of me and decided to stop all of a sudden. I'm on a gravel road with a ditch on each side. All I could do was lock up the brakes and lay the bike down. Bike went under the car and I flew over the car about 30 yards before landing in the ditch. I got up and felt nothing. No broken bones but a few scrapes, brush burns and a split helmet. The next day I could not move. felt like a full body sprain. I was laid up for about a week and a half. Hope you feel better.

Mine was being struck in the rear wheel by a stupid driver at about 50mph who "didn't see me." Tumbled for a good 30 or so yards and bounced off a curb and was stopped by a light pole. Fully armored gear likely saved me a lot of damage. I was still banged up, but i walked away with nothing broken. Stiff as a board for a solid 2 weeks lol.

[JerryHawk250]

Ouch! At least we are both still around to talk about it. I don't think my old body could take a blow like that these days. lol Till this day I will not ride with out a helmet. I still have that split helmet somewhere picked up as a reminder. My daughter didn't really want to wear a helmet until I broke out the helmet and told her the story behind it. Now she gets on my wife about putting a helmet on just riding the 4 wheeler around the yard. lol

[Megadan]

I still have my gear from that crash to remind myself on days I am feeling lazy or think it is too hot. I am more afraid of road rash than I am broken bones lol

[Weldangrind]

I'm glad to hear that you're ok, Dan.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

I'm glad to hear that you're ok, Dan.

Much appreciated!.

I went ahead and ordered a front wheel. I tried a couple of leads for a cheaper source, but either never heard back, or they said they could not get the wheel. I went ahead and paid too much (in my opinion) for a front wheel through TX Powersports, and I made sure to note the rim color needs to be black, so we will find out if they pay attention to that detail. The last couple of times I have ordered through them I have had good luck, so hopefully that continues.

This took away the funds I had set aside for my oil cooler goodies, but since I have all winter to get that figured out, it's not a big deal. Outside of the oil cooler, I only had a couple other upgrades planned over the winter. First is the 520 chain and sprockets, which I already have on hand, and the head work. I am still undecided if I want to tackle the porting myself, or let a local professional do the work. He is a guy with one of the best repuations in the region, and he only quoted me $140 for a basic port job, 3 angle valve grind, chamber and exhaust port polish, and a small (.5mm) deck job on the head. While I could do this myself, I wouldn't save much more in materials and my own time to have him do it. He said he can also look into stainless steel valves as well. I may look into this too, but I don't entirely feel it is necessary either.