Ride to Wickenburg AZ, the back way

[OneLeggedRider]

Definitely looks like a good time, what was the temperature outside?

One thing struck me as funny, on every China bike video ever posted there's liberal use of the throttle on take off lol. I've owned alot of bikes that you wouldn't want to do that on. On my Scrambler 400 that's asking for trouble. 😳😅

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by OneLeggedRider

One thing struck me as funny, on every China bike video ever posted there's liberal use of the throttle on take off lol. I've owned alot of bikes that you wouldn't want to do that on.

That's what's so much fun about these bikes. They got just enough power to enjoy them but not to much power to hurt yourself. Well except in your case. Just saying. lol Look at it this way. It didn't kill ya. Glad to see you're making a good recovery.

[OneLeggedRider]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

That's what's so much fun about these bikes. They got just enough power to enjoy them but not to much power to hurt yourself. Well except in your case. Just saying. lol Look at it this way. It didn't kill ya. Glad to see you're making a good recovery.

Where there's a will.. I'm walking every other day now, my knee can't take every day yet. But it's nice to be able to leave the house without a walker or wheelchair. If the knee was just a little bit stronger I would attempt a spin on the Hawk.

[culcune]

It was in the mid/low 80s. Got slightly cooler (low 80s) as the elevation rose by the time we got to Wickenburg.

[Musictrek]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

That's what's so much fun about these bikes. They got just enough power to enjoy them but not to much power to hurt yourself. Well except in your case. Just saying. lol Look at it this way. It didn't kill ya. Glad to see you're making a good recovery.

if i was on a dr 650 i probably would have ripped the throttle off my hands by now. your right the little 250 keeps my hands attached to the handlebars

[Emerikol]

Originally Posted by Musictrek

if i was on a dr 650 i probably would have ripped the throttle off my hands by now. your right the little 250 keeps my hands attached to the handlebars

If you were on a DR your hips would still be hurting from trying to keep that monster mostly upright in all that sand. It did however tractor right over the hills and climbs.

[culcune]

Originally Posted by Musictrek

if i was on a dr 650 i probably would have ripped the throttle off my hands by now. your right the little 250 keeps my hands attached to the handlebars

I was offered to ride the DR before we left the parking area. I did not come prepared to ride anything, so only had on some old Skecher slip on shoes. My daughter calls them 'dad shoes.' Not only that, I am short. I tried to get a balance, and with my height, but more so my very inappropriate shoes, was not comfortable on it and envisioned dropping the mighty beast, so got off. He then offered his Hawk. Much more my height and I was very comfortable holding it up in SPITE of my shoes. More impressive was how smooth and linear the power was and sound thanks to carb, sprockets, and exhaust. I am 5' 7" (maybe shrinking), and I could ride it no problem. Someone my height wondering if they could realiistically own one; with footware and getting used to using your toes to hold the bike up, one could.

Edit: Forgot to mention, Tako and I clocked the three of you on the 60 at 60 mph. There was a several second bit where the three of you hit an indicated (on my speedo) 65. Tako got out his phone and used his GPS for the 303 freeway and clocked you guys holding steady at 63 mph until we and Musictrek exited at Bell.

[Musictrek]

Originally Posted by Emerikol

If you were on a DR your hips would still be hurting from trying to keep that monster mostly upright in all that sand. It did however tractor right over the hills and climbs.

I believe you and with plenty of power to drag my legs on the cactus!

[Musictrek]

Originally Posted by culcune

I was offered to ride the DR before we left the parking area. I did not come prepared to ride anything, so only had on some old Skecher slip on shoes. My daughter calls them 'dad shoes.' Not only that, I am short. I tried to get a balance, and with my height, but more so my very inappropriate shoes, was not comfortable on it and envisioned dropping the mighty beast, so got off. He then offered his Hawk. Much more my height and I was very comfortable holding it up in SPITE of my shoes. More impressive was how smooth and linear the power was and sound thanks to carb, sprockets, and exhaust. I am 5' 7" (maybe shrinking), and I could ride it no problem. Someone my height wondering if they could realiistically own one; with footware and getting used to using your toes to hold the bike up, one could.

Edit: Forgot to mention, Tako and I clocked the three of you on the 60 at 60 mph. There was a several second bit where the three of you hit an indicated (on my speedo) 65. Tako got out his phone and used his GPS for the 303 freeway and clocked you guys holding steady at 63 mph until we and Musictrek exited at Bell.

Those speeds you indicated are what I was expecting as my speedo shown a max speed of 71 when the 18 wheeler passed me and I was drafting right behind him lol. My speedo is off by at least 5mph at those speeds. The Brozz just hummed along though at those speeds.

[ikeus685]

[QUOTE=culcune;323518]I was offered to ride the DR before we left the parking area. I did not come prepared to ride anything, so only had on some old Skecher slip on shoes. My daughter calls them 'dad shoes.' Not only that, I am short. I tried to get a balance, and with my height, but more so my very inappropriate shoes, was not comfortable on it and envisioned dropping the mighty beast, so got off. He then offered his Hawk. Much more my height and I was very comfortable holding it up in SPITE of my shoes. More impressive was how smooth and linear the power was and sound thanks to carb, sprockets, and exhaust. I am 5' 7" (maybe shrinking), and I could ride it no problem. Someone my height wondering if they could realiistically own one; with footware and getting used to using your toes to hold the bike up, one could.


Was at a near by big 3 dealer and just happened to be checking a bike out near an African Twin. Went over and stood by it as a major milestone in my
life pasted me by..sniff.. I wouldn't even attempt to swing a leg.over it.

[alex_in_az]

Originally Posted by alex_in_az

That patch kit was the real MVP, where did you get it from?
So today I changed the oil and reset the valves to .003". I'm seriously thinking about ditching the whole air box away and having the crankcase vent onto the chain. I liked the look of your UNI filter, do you know which model it is?

Looks like the CDI unit was the problem, I ordered a new one from Tao Tao spares and fitted it this morning. It started up OK cold as usual and I held it at a fast idle for about 30 seconds before taking off. I then rode for about 30 minutes or so in mixed traffic, including a blast on the freeway, with no issues. this would have been enough time for it to have started acting up, so I'll keep an eye on things and see how it goes. I was able to repeatedly shut the engine off and easily re-start.
I fitted the digital cluster and took Tako's advice of running a seperate ground wire for it. This seems to have done the trick and the unit isn't constantly re-booting when riding.

[culcune]

I had bought a used 2009 TMEC Enduro 200, and after 2 years/12k miles of daily commuting, upgraded to a brand new 2013 TMEC 200 Enduro. After several hundred miles, I had the same starting problem as you. I had learned from my 2009 TMEC to have a spare spark plug, pre-gapped, which had solved something similar with that bike. I swapped the spark plug, but same problem. The bike died on my outside the main prison gate on the way to work. My coworker who worked on the same unit, gave me a ride to the unit, and on the way out of work, I asked to stop to see if the bike would start. No dice. Got home, and coincidentally, someone from Europe was having a similar issue with their Skyteam dual sport (I think it was the model that looks like the Suzuki VanVan. Someone mentioned the CDI. I figured, "What the heck?!" I still had my 2009 bike in kind of pieces, and took off the CDI. My coworker gave me a ride the next morning. I hopped out of the car at the front gate (I had left it outside), popped in the CDi, and voila! She started right up. My friend who owned Excalibur Motorsports (the outfit distributing the TMEC at the time) sent me a new CDI. I found it ironic that in the two years and 12000 miles I owned the old bike, the CDI was fine, but the new one and a few hundred miles, the CDI went out. The consensus here on Chinariders is that is the nature of them--they can be hit or miss. I did install the new CDI, and I think I bought one as well as a backup to the backup (I might still have it?!--sorry, I didn't think to send it to you), and never had any issues with the CDI again. Glad you found the problem!

[Emerikol]

Alex, glad you got to the bottom of the problem. Well team, when is the next ride? I'm off all this week (hopefully getting the classic CB450 back together) and will be around trying to get the garage sorted out, if anyone would like to drop by for a chat or adult beverage. Hope everyone has a great week.

[culcune]

Originally Posted by Emerikol

Well team, when is the next ride?

I have been mapping out bits of the Arizona Peace Trail. There are a few directions from Dateland which might make a good ride, but the rides go to a couple landmarks in the middle of nowhere, and then we would have to ride back to Dateland to eat and whatnot. Miles beyond the landmarks is Interstate 10, which would be quite a long haul going that far. If you go to Google Maps and put in Buck's Tank, AZ and then do the directions from Dateland, AZ, it will give you directions on paved roads and off-road trails. That is part of the AZ Peace Trail...the bit going to Dateland is considered a spur of the trail. We could start there, ride to Buck's Tank, and then back to Dateland. From Dateland to Buck's Tank it is 38 miles. 12 miles beyond Buck's Tank, but it goes on the KOFA Wildlife Refuge AND Yuma Proving Ground is another landmark called Hovatter Well, which would be an even 100 mile ride, but I am not sure how it works going onto the Proving Ground/wildlife refuge? The advantage of this ride is for those coming from the Phoenix area, Dateland is about 50 minutes east of Yuma, so it is not quite as long a haul if you wanted to get out and explore Arizona, but didn't want to go all the way to Yuma, explore Arizona

Another ride and part of the AZ Peace Trail, if you really are adventurous and wouldn't mind coming this far west, is from north of Yuma, Lake Martinez, to the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, on the western part of the Trail. That ride parallels the Colorado River, so there is some scenery besides rocks/cactus/sand/tire killing thorns. My guess is different sand, river rocks, and other shrubbery with killer thorns!

However, if you really want to go the full monty, we can map out the entire AZ Peace Trail, it is a 750 mile loop...

[Emerikol]

Culcune, does this mean you've finally pulled the trigger and you'll be picking up a bike? Or will you be making another commercial for the unstoppable Subaru? I wouldn't mind meeting up for another day-ride. A 750 mile loop would likely be a bit much to try to cram into a Saturday.