Failure

[Timbowe]

Went ridding yesterday up the back country, an hours drive from home. Up to Clayton station at the head of the new man-made Opuha dam. d**n fine day for ridding with a mild but overcast sky which threatened, but never produced, some spill over showers from the other side of the Southern Alps which divide the South Island longatudinally. 

 Good, well set out course with every style of terrain included. From steep uphill switch backs, of which there were a series of 10 or so in a row, to muddy creek crossings and a lot of good mountain tracks climbing through the lower High country.

 Had a good run for the first loop of 20 mile duration. But on the second loop, when we decided that we should have a look at the Enduro section of the track. The Magura hydraulic clutch decided that it would expell its vital fluid from its home in the slave cylinder out all over the engine. Leaving me with a limp lever and no useable clutch.

 So it was a non-stop action packed adventure to the end of the loop back to the carpark through the hardest part of the track and back on to the regular intermediate tracks. All the time having to watch out for the riders in front who might stop in front of me to negoiate an obstacle or a technical part of the track.

 Made it back to the carpark in time enough to have a look and see if the offending part could be remedied and get the 500 back out to plough some more earth. Had a quick look that showed that the cylinder's fluid was infact not on the right of the plunger and that allthough the rubber cup looked undamaged, there was still a problem which was not going to be fixed 70 miles away from my garage.

 Lesson for the day: allways take the spares. I had a cable and another lever sitting at "home" which could have been attached in ten minutes and we would have been back out for a 3rd and 4th lap.   s**te Happens....

  Took a pic or two.

   

[FuriouSly]

Sorry to hear about the busted part.  But thanks for the pictures...  I got my fix for the month.  I do envy your riding areas... they are too beautiful.

Does the Magura really make enough of a difference in your riding style to warrant the expense and possible breakage?

Until the next episode of "Timbowe's great cinematic expeditions".....  Sly

[gowen]

I agree Sly. I envy those areas. Non-existant here around here. Thanks for sharing..

[KXcam22]

Timbowe,
 I agree those are fantastic pictures. I heisted a pic of your bike on the beach to use as my screen saver at work. Whenever thing get too wild I just stare out to sea. Nice shots. Cam.

[Danger4u2]

Timbowe, I can't get over how cool a riding area you have.  To have giant hills with an unobstructed view is only a dream for me.  Any hills I have gotten to ride are rock strewn and tree lined.  You can't see more than 50 feet because of the trees.  And if you work your way to the top and look out on the horizon all you can see is the tops of the trees.  We have some nice riding areas in Oklahoma, but nothing like you have.  Check out my picture and tell me if I live in the flat land.  The white line you see in the horizon is the Great Salt Plains of Oklahoma.
Danger

[Johnniespeed]

 Great Photos, has flat Michigan beat. Sorry about the hydralic issue, at least you didnt have to push it back. I was going to buy one of those Magura systems, but a friend talked me out of it, stating that a cable rarely breaks. Dont all the orange bike come with magura systems? Do orange bikes have slave cylinder leakage?

[Timbowe]

"The hills are alive with the sound of a.......... Dirty big Kx500 getting its nuts screwed" La La didy da...
 
 No but seriously, the Magura is a nice piece of kit for sure. I pulled the slave apart and really could find no reason for it to poo. So it was reassembled and seems to be working fine again.. Mystery. I do like the fact that you do not have to adjust for cable stretch, its allways the same point of enguagement ( lever travel) and the pull is easy as. Not that the cable is a strenuous affair. But the less energy used up on the lever the more energy to hang on tothe bars with. Yep me and Magura are good pals again.

 

[TaKeN]

Realy nice riding area you have there


I ride on the land that is attached to our farm, but your place looks amazing 

[Timbowe]

The legend ride of these parts was held yesterday at Danseys pass. Wicked terrain cosisting of hills,bogholes,forests tracks,riverbed tracks,shingle roads, river crossings farm tracks, and gorse filled wastelands. You name it, it was there to ridden over. And ride over it we did!

 4 loops averaging about 25 miles per track. We could only manage 3 of the 4 this year as time and energy ran out after the 3rd loop. First to be tackled this year was the "Tussock" loop. We chose this loop first this year cause last year we started it at lunch time after 4 or 5 hundred ridders had allready passed through its countless bogholes and mud covered nasty uphills that ascend directly upwards from these muddy bogs which had made the track nearly immpassable in places. Good move it turned out to be! Although we were among the first group of bikes to transverse the bogs, they still offered much resistance and some hairy moments trying to negoiate the near vertical slopes on the other sides. We all managed to get back to the utes for lunch but about half of the energy levels depleated.

 Next loop was the "Skyline" which climbs and climbs to the top of the local ranges. On the last piece of climb it is a huge battle of fittness and strength to hang on and beat the mountain as it rises to 1000 metres. Over extremely rugged and undulated terrain. 1st and 2nd gear stuff all the way up. The faster you go the sooner you make it to the top but the more grip on the bars you sacrifice. Its a real mental thing to just hang in there and make it to the top. There are very few places to stop that you can start off again and get going easily. Once the top has been cracked the veiw is good as it gets of the surrounding country side. See pic. Then the down hill run. Serious downhill. Heaps of rutting and rugged ground from the last years route which was reversed this year. So we were go down where we had gone up last year (in the wet). Made it back for a bite and a bit of a sit round for a quater hour and then before we started to seize up to much, we were back into it to tackle the 3rd and last loop of the day.

 The "Earthquake" was said to be the easiest track of the day. Started out pretty good with a lot of wide open hill top paddocks which allowed the throttles to be wound full open in top cog. Full Bore! Then it tightened up considerably and there were a few advanced side loops which we explored. The first expert loop was just very narrow sheep tracks along the side of a hill through rocks and bush. Not too bad. The next one was a killer. Droped down into a deep gully. Then up the other side was the steepest hill on the entire ride. 200 metres vertually straight up. No problem usally but this climb had a kicker right at the bottom. So it was hit it in second, over the kicker, get as far up as you could then drop it back to first and ride the tank to the top. All very easy in theory. Got half way up and hit 1st. Lost controll big time! Looped it over 3/4 of the way up to the loud cheers from the crowd at the top who were sitting back watching the entertainment. Managed to right myself then the bike and got it started standing on the top side of the hill. Clicked 1st and tried to walk it up. Dumb idea. Arse slid round and I nearly lost her into a worse rock  filled gorge. Coulpe of riding mates clambered down to help me out. After which I had to have a spell.

 Carried on and finished the loop with a riverbed stretch and a dozen river and creek crossings and some very tight 1st gear hillside pine forrest tracks through the trees. Got back about 3 pm to the vehicles. Pretty much spent. Great day. over 1000 bikes of all colours, shapes and sizes. Cant wait untill next year.

[Timbowe]

And the Magura hydro clutch was removed last minute due to a loss of feel in the lever. Still something not quite right in there somewhere. Got spares will check it out.  The cable took a couple of years life from my digits tho.  The Magura is well worth having for sure. Just got to get it reliable.