In 6 little days... St. Patrick's Day comes once again... and it will be the last of my 30's (I'll be 39).
KX500... because there's just no other substitute for being "At the top of the Predatory Chain".
The '97 RM250 I'd had was kickass in a major way....
I probably would have been happy with the DualSported '01 KTM450MXC I had, but caution had me sell it to make some funds available last year when my wife was pregnant with my (1st and only) child and her work situation was iffy.
Since I realized I don't get to go riding a lot to warrant the cost of a new bike.. and since daul registration for a converted DualSport make that part of it pricey. I decided my next dirt ride would be strictly dirt... and I missed the two-stroke power delivery. I'm sorry... but to me... the 4-strokes just aren't explosive enough.
I first bought this ultra cheap '90 KDX200 with the plans to restore it. Quickly realized it may be more work than I wanted to bother with so gave that bike to my younger bro when I spotted the '97 KX500 on Craigslist for $1250.00 (and also so I'd have someone to go riding with).
Man... I soooo freaking LOVE the K5. As a matter of fact... because of buying the K5... the first time I took her for a quick blast down that first whooped-out section of trail near where we parked in Stoddard Wells.... I came back to the truck where the others were suiting up and said "WHOA-HO-HO MAN!!! I gotta start going back to the GYM!!! HOLY $H!T!!!"
And that's just what I've done.
The arm pump situation was soo intense that first ride. As a software engineer I type a lot so my arm pump situation made me actually a lil nervous at times when making the jump to ludicrous-speed. Plus... my secondary goal is to start now so that when I hit 40 I'm gonna be lookin' like the Shiznittle!!
I love the looks you get with this thing too!!! Not only when you show up that massive cylinder showing and ginormous gleaming shiny FMF Fatty pipe.... but the way people nearby have to turn around to look because they know somethings different as soon as they hear it fire up! There's something deeper, meaner.. ballsier about the exhaust note of a big ol' 500cc two-stroke that either most of them have never heard before... or remember watching with awe as a kid.
And OMG!!! this things suspension feels better than the '01 KTM (both bikes re-sprung and re-valved by the same suspension tuner shop) I can bash thru gnarly-a$$ mean desert whoops at crazy speeds!! The only bike I've ever rode that was more plush in the desert was an '82 Husky 250XC which came stock with Ohlins forks and shocks 13" out front and 13.5" out back. But that thing was not for turning sharply.....whereas the K5 does just fine.... almost as good as the '97 RM250 did. I think it can be made to do it equal with better tire selection.
And man-oh-man once you've tackled a treacherous tight twisting technical uphill with a K5... you're SOOOO glad it was a K5 underneath your a$$ and not something smaller. Soooo stress-relieving to just plain know you're not going to kill the engine, no way no how.
and isn't it beautiful how something that doesn't look like a jump can become a jump when you've got that much STANK to put on it whenever you please?
---
The other part of me going back to the Gym is because my vow is that my newborn son will not drive a car until he can blow past me on dirt bikes out in the desert and make me look real bad. Once he can do that... I'll know there is nothing the streets can throw at him that will phase him. That is.... except for young lil hotties standing at the street corner waiting for the crosswalk to change.
---
big props to the guy that said he was 72!! I'm gonna be like that guy.. hell yeah!
