So here is the report on our Dunes trip to St. Anthony's Idaho, Riding May1-3
We started the trip in Calgary, Alberta Canada on the 30th of April, Loaded most of the bikes in a sled trailer and two bikes in my truck, total of nine guys went. Drove the 10 hours to Rexburg and holed up the night at the Marriot a couple blocks from Rexburg Motorsports. In the Morning, we Canadians enjoyed shopping for gear and parts and finally got our crap together and to the staging area off 9mile road about noon. I had ordered in an IMS 3.6gal tank that I installed there. So as is common with trying to organize 9 guys to ride (its kinda like herding cats), some were ready to ride far ahead of others. I stayed behind at the truck and waited for my buddy Steve to get geared up, ther rest of the group said they would head down the trail and play around on the first set of big dunes and wait for our arrival.
I'm new to the K5 and it is new to me and I didn't know much about it or riding on the dunes so I wanted to stick with Steve who had been to the Dunes manytimes before so I could pick up some technique.
Well, then the s**t hit the fan so to speak. Luckily we carry radios in case of seperation. We get a radio call that went along the lines of "Steve! Steve! are you there!", Steve responds "Steve here"
Scott I think:"Call 911, Dustin is unconcious! He's bleeding from the mouth! He jumped off a 75' cliff!"
Steve: "You Serious?" (we just couldn't believe something had happened so early)
Scott: "Steve, I wouldn't joke about this, call 911!"
Steve: "Alright, I'm on it", Steve looks at me "d**n!"
Just then Jeff and Nate fly back up the trail yelling "call 911!"
Steve is in the middle of trying to get 911, Jeff tells me that Dustin (New to dirtbiking on the dunes, but not new to the dunes), was flying up this short hill and at the top of 3rd launched off the hill and landed on the upslope of the next dune about 75' away. They're worried he's got internals and thats what the blood from the mouth is!
So this is my first day on a K5 and I'm still figuring out the starting, etc. I grabbed the two med kits I threw in my truck (just in case
), strap them to my pack, throw my keys to Steve, get on the K5, say a prayer it starts first kick, and kick it hard... it starts right up. I follow Nate and Jeff back up the trail and literally the first little dune beyond the trail is where he decided to prove he could out jump us! Scott's on top the hill radioing back to steve and Chad is sitting at the bottom with Dustin who is luckily conscious now. He can move all his limbs but is complaining of neck pain and he bit his tongue really good (thus the blood from the mouth). Also has a nasty gash on his chin (later decided this was from the helmet chin strap and requires three levels of stiches to close). The other half of the group has headed for ChokeCherry where another group we know from Alberta was possibly going to be. They have quads and SxS's in case he can be moved.
About 5mins after I got to Dustin the group returns with actually another group from Alberta who have a paramedic riding with them. He promptly took charge of the situation and we were happy to be support. The EMS showed up on a sandrail about 1/2 hour later and they set to work getting him on a back board and called in a Chopper which arrive about 45mins after that. He was flown to Idaho falls for further treatment. We, mostly shaken from this, split up and a couple guys took Dustin's bike back to the trailer and headed to Idaho Falls to meet him there and the rest of us went for a couple hour ride before heading back to find out was up.
The first day was a learning experience. I have always worn trials boots on my KDX, they are generally more comfy and easier to ride in. However, not really having the knack of starting the K5, and the soft boots equated to me bruising the bottom of my foot and getting played out a couple times trying to get her started. But other than that, the K5 power was awesome! Nothing was too steep or unridable for her and it was a riot!
When we got back to the Hotel, we learned that Dustin was out of the hospital. He had the gash on his chin stiched up, and a neck brace for bad whiplash, nothing they could do for the tongue but let him suffer through with it. We piled into the trucks and went to Idaho Falls for dinner with Dusty who luckily has an Aunt and Uncle there. He wasn't really able to talk and we kinda felt bad when we made him laugh cuz it looked like it hurt. Pretty tough Dude though.
Day 2:
By far the the best day (too bad Dusty wasn't there for it). I bought some new boots in the morning to protect my feet from further bruising. The weather was calm and sunny, we rode all over the big end of the Dunes (NW?) and stayed till almost dark. we bought a $12 BBQ at WallyWorld and cooked lunch at the trailers and spent the rest of the time playing and having fun. The Desert tank worked out great, I never wanted for fuel. Only had two issues: The petcock was stiff as hell and would pretty much sieze up sometimes and I'd have to get my crescent wrench out and work it a bit to get it moving again (I see here that that is common and I'm looking for a different petcock solution). and the homebulit shift lever started bending and getting soft, had to occasionally bend back with the crescent wrench and be really conscious about down shifting pressure.
But on the Plus side, armed with the info found here the night before, I really started to get the knack of starting the K5!
The bike worked flawless, it would fly up chokecherry in 3rd without hardly slowing down and was by far the fastest bike of the group. I was running an 8paddle CST Surge on 18inch rim. gearing is 14/47t and the motor has a heavy flywheel weight of some kind. Everything worked well and jetting was 58/170 first day (thought it was maybe a tad rich due to plug coloring), went to a 168 the second day but didn't feel/see anydifference really. The engine would surge a bit coming back to idle. Could be an air leak or something I will have to search further for. The brand new KXF450 Jeff was riding (was really pretty) with a 10 paddle, I could start well behind and easily catch him by the top of most hills. (kinda felt good knowing my old basket case could still eat up $10000 worth of new technology).
Day 3: Windy!
It was almost a sandstorm, so we rode only about 4-5 hours and called it quits. Did find some awesome bowls and half-pipe like areas that were tons of fun, but the wind made it tough to enjoy. A friend of ours who now lives in ST.George Utah came up and rode with us for Day 2 and 3, he brought his handguns and we bought some ammo so we could plink out in the desert when we were done riding. It turned out to be a good day overall.
That night we again went to Idaho falls for dinner and a movie... it was a waste of time and gass but thats another story and by 6am the next morning we were headed back home. It got steadily colder til we were home where it was snowing... typical! But it was a great trip and hopefully I can make the Fall trip too, we'll have to see, the wife is due the end of September.
Now some pics!
Me at the truck about 2 mins before the initial radio call
Steve at the truck
