How many of us are woods riders

[delphipro5]

Hey, just wondering how many of us have a flywheel weight in the 500, and are crazy enough to try and use one of these bikes to negotiate tight pine forest trails.  Let's hear it for all of us that give new meaning to the phrase "go kiss a tree" 
 I know I like to push it in the woods, grew up sking and snowboaring too.
Duck, Dodge, Dip, Dive, and Duck-  the 5 D's every dodgeball player should know. Maybe woods racing the 500 should be in the ESPN Ocho's obscure sports quaterly!

[alward25]

I love my k5 in the woods up here in Alaska.  Looking forward to riding in Oregon soon.

[1989kawasaki]

im not a woods rider thats for sure!. i hate trails, i like tracks

[weymouth399]

Some trails/woods are tracks, for miles & miles then you stop get gas. And then you do it again a time or two.

Enduro cross is a track, inside so you don't get rained on, but you will get wet/muddy.

So saying you like tracks is a bit incorrect. You might say I like MX SX AX tracks, it's more like it.

I like tracks too, all as long as there's a m/c involved. I like all riding as long as there's a m/c involved.

Bob W

[alward25]

Groomed tracks are for the faint of heart. K5s are not. But, a K5 on a track is like driving a race car on a go cart track.  Kinda fun for the first couple laps but, yawn.  They want to be let loose.  Woods riding on one of these beasts is a handful but,  a hell of a tractor, stump ripping beast.  The track riders will be very sad at this.  But,  I love not knowing what is around the corner and pushing it as hard as I can, bouncing off trees and roots along the way.....at night makes it even more fun.  Man now I want to go riding. Thanks for starting this thread!

[delphipro5]

I see someone relates!  nice alward25  THE GREAT THAW HAS BEGUN!

[1989kawasaki]

im not a woods rider thats for sure!. i hate trails, i like tracks

Then why would you post on this topic just to have another post I dont get it?

i posted cause i was bored 

[The Flyin Hawaiian]

I used to race enduros with a 88 500 back in 88-89. The southern part of NJ has some of the tightest woods in the US! I never thought that it was a handfull. I had a heavy flywheel, 2 base gaskets and a modified head. The bike was super smooth! I mainly raced enduros with it but also did some hare scrambles, even the Blackwater 100 twice on it. Granted, I was a bit younger then! Im building my current 04 KX500SF(04 KX250 chassis, 02 KX500 engine) to be a woods bike and it will see some enduros also. I love tight trail! The tighter the better! No track for me!

[Charlie500]

I LOVE tight single track trail ridding. I live in Napa Ca. there really isn't that many trails around here any more that are too tight for quads.... Stonyford and penny pines used to be great but the forest rangers run tracters through all the trails now to groom them.... It really sucks! There is one trail down in Hollister hills, its called Troll trail. That is some good single track, I love it! All my buddies cry when i drag them through it and they are all on newer ktms... I ride a 1990 kx 500 and i smoke them on it! I have been to a place called French Creek up by lake oroville a few times but none of the trails are marked and the guy that brought me out there broke his hip, blew out his knee and messed up his sholder.... I haven't been able to go out there since. But if there is anybody around these parts of central California that like the tight stuff yall let me know and we can go bust up some bark together. I need some new ridding buddys. None of my friends even want to go out there when i tell them how awesome it is out there....

[doctord]

Hey Charlie,

French Creek is my favorite spot to ride. I go there all the time. It's only about a half hour drive for me. I'll let you know next time I go. Hopefully this rain will melt the snow they got last week.

[greencannon]

you guys havnt seen tight gnarly woods until you ride New England....The KDX is my woods weapon of choice but the 500 doesnt take a back seat around here either. There's just no replacement for throbbing torque and horsepower when the going gets tough. you just gotta be able to have a smooth throttle hand. I admitt the K5 was a bit much the first season of ownership but it whipped me into shape pretty quick. I will say good physical conditioning and throttle control is the key to mastering the K5. Im so used to it know i have a hard time going fast on just about anything else.
 As for groomed MX tracks, we have em....and I love the Kx500 on the track, I probably make a half a dozen trips a season to ride them to test my speed and endurance. Being able to clear a huge double or tabletop while barley even getting on the pipe can really turn peoples heads and always makes great conversation. you dont have to rev the 5 to go fast....I think a loud pipe just boosts peoples egos and makes them feel faster than they are. most of my play riding is done close to home at local sand pits " KX500 country" I have a lot of low pressure fun there ( Im envious of you desert guys sometimes) as this is the closest i get to wide open spaces.  Either way I consider the KX500 is the "do it all bike"

[Caddy 16v]

Hi,

I don't have a KX500 but I was mostly riding mx tracks because of the total lack of (legal) trails altogether. After a move I finally had the chance to try out trails and man, did I love them, blasting over whoops and keeping the speed up, I was riding alone and with lots of quads in that trail system and two way trails was scary. One time I went around a deep spot of water and just as I turn into the trail on my side of it, I got run over by a quad (trx450r) I was about half way under the quad, good thing I had full body armor, only had some blue spots. That kind of stopped me from going there again and all the drunk people with guns, too scary!

Now I actually have my own private trails and I plan on using them a lot, just a little scared of the bears haha.

All the talking here about the 500 really makes me want one, but I'm not sure I can manhandle one... I'm 145lbs and about 5'6

[Danger4u2]

I like the tight trails.  Throw in some major tornado damage to make it real tight.  I run flywheel weight and biggest back sprocket that will fit.

[Charlie500]

That's a sweet pic danger. How well do you do on fuel with the af? Jerry is setting up a 06kxf250 aluminum frame for me but the biggest tank I can get for that bike is 2.8 gallon ims. I'm worried I'm gunna run out of gas on that new bike

[The Flyin Hawaiian]

you guys havnt seen tight gnarly woods until you ride New England....The KDX is my woods weapon of choice but the 500 doesnt take a back seat around here either. There's just no replacement for throbbing torque and horsepower when the going gets tough. you just gotta be able to have a smooth throttle hand. I admitt the K5 was a bit much the first season of ownership but it whipped me into shape pretty quick. I will say good physical conditioning and throttle control is the key to mastering the K5. Im so used to it know i have a hard time going fast on just about anything else.
 As for groomed MX tracks, we have em....and I love the Kx500 on the track, I probably make a half a dozen trips a season to ride them to test my speed and endurance. Being able to clear a huge double or tabletop while barley even getting on the pipe can really turn peoples heads and always makes great conversation. you dont have to rev the 5 to go fast....I think a loud pipe just boosts peoples egos and makes them feel faster than they are. most of my play riding is done close to home at local sand pits " KX500 country" I have a lot of low pressure fun there ( Im envious of you desert guys sometimes) as this is the closest i get to wide open spaces.  Either way I consider the KX500 is the "do it all bike"

Ive ridden enduros in New England.