Rider Updates
Apr 17 2022
Had a double header last weekend (4/9-10). Got the '99 125 warmed up and landed a first place in the sprint enduro, and second in the GP. I was OK with how it turned out, someone of my size rocking a nearly bone stock 125 aged longer than most wines.
The two difficult parts was soft sand corners with limited traction (anyone want to donate some tires?!) and more whoops than I could count if I wanted. The suspension got the job done, the power held out, but it wasn't a smooth ride by any means. I'll work through and share a gopro clip for each SE lap and the GP as time provides.
Nov 24 2020
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Starting in 101st place, we managed to work our way up to 64th of 152 teams participating. For coming in blind, using one bike older exclusively (except for when maintenance was required), and being rusty after all the PNW ride restrictions during our fire season I was very happy with what we had put together.
Big thanks to Pro-X for standing out and playing a very significant role in getting these bikes moving reliably.
Few videos below of myself and a few other team members:
https://youtu.be/mumVXzR6Bik
https://youtu.be/uwuX45UEKx4
https://youtu.be/86xle_p-UgI
https://youtu.be/JQC4MmXnjV0
https://youtu.be/WUhUg3mAtxE
Nov 24 2020
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From there came the structure of our team and the bikes for the race. My '02 WR250F would be the primary ride with my '03 YZ250F being ridden when regular maintenance is being done on the WR, leaving us to expect 18+ race hours to be put on the WR within a 25 hour window. With us only having two bikes to use between the six riders on our team vs the common team using one bike per rider required our confidence and understanding of the bikes and their reliability and rideability to be a very big priority. This brings us to the breakdown - The WR was stripped down to the frame and each and every bearing in the engine and chasses was replaced except for the two bearings on the cams. New clutch, clutch basket, clutch springs, brake master cylinders and calipers rebuilt, cerakoted the clutch, ignition cover, valve cover, and hubs, re-laced the wheels, rebuilt the forks with new seals, bushings, and springs, new un-breakable levers, new crank, piston, valve seals, cam chain, etc. The list goes on. The YZ needed attention of its own, as I had recently rebuilt it, I knew the lower end was just fine, but gave it a new piston and intake valves, new chain, sprockets, along with replicating the cerakote and make the bikes appear as identical as possible - finishing the both off with some fresh plastics and graphics with the sponsors labeled all over them.
The race: 25 hrs of sleepless pressure. Being the team captain, the most experienced rider, having both the bikes being my own, and directing people to a GPS beacon so we could follow the riders instantaneous location, never let me get any shut eye and had coffee in hand throughout the entire race - particularly around the 2 am portion. The race went perfect - a fair number of rider errors causing crashes and such, but mechanically my work in building the bikes up showed reliability above and beyond the vast majority of bikes we were riding against.
Continued...
Nov 24 2020
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Myself, my amazing girlfriend, and a good friend and team mate picked the bike up in Seattle in early July and brought it back down to Eugene after some good lunch. As the bike had been sitting in a remote town, Gustavus Alaska, it had been well maintained, but had been neglected and unused for nearly 5 years.
As we were still doing riding during the week days after work, I thought it would be fun to take the bike on one last ride before breaking it down, and building it up. I didn't feel like putting too much effort in, so my thought was that I would add gas, add oil, replace the non-existent air filter and clean the pilot and main jet as they are easiest to access. Did all of the above and it started. First kick. Amazing how being proactive with quality maintenance and storage practices can do - even with a tired out engine. Was a great evening ride and showed how a bike going on 20-years old can still do the job just fine.
Continued...
Nov 24 2020
I just wanted to give those interested in continuing or beginning a sponsor/rider relation ship of how the 2020 season for us in Oregon went.
The OMRA chose to not host any events, causing very little time spent racing other than the Mag 7 Sandy Clam GP. The weather was hot and the single track was a hard one on the KX450, but the track was great. Had some good jumps and had a made a few stops to help other riders in need. (See: https://youtu.be/fXCMsCCDlmI).
Other riding prior to the damaging fire season here in the PWN revolved around some trail riding at Shotgun Creek OHV and 'Track Thursday' of rotating challenges ranging from log hops and limbos to baton hand offs to a common 30 min race to build skills with friends.
Lastly, the big goal that a friend and I set a year back while enjoying a beer during our Beer Wednesday social gathering (prior to COVID) was to do the Starvation Ridge 25hr race. As mentioned in a previous post we looked at our friends and chose those who we were confident in riding competitively and safely, along with maintaining dedication to help put the group together.
I was named the leader and asked the team if we wanted to put a bit of a twist in the race to challenge ourselves further (and due to my confidence in other team mates bike reliability). That challenge was to ride the majority of the race on one bike - an older '02 WR250F sitting in Alaska which I viewed as being more night-oriented due to having more (electrical) power available for lighting.
Continued....
Dec 26 2019
Greetings all,
Last Sunday (12/22/2019) after we finishing replacing all the bearings in a friend's '06 YZ125 engine to prep it for the 2020 OMRA season, it was decided that we were going to enter into the 24 hour Starvation Ridge race and try to pull it off with a single bike, a 2001 WR250F that I will be bringing down from Alaska and making sure that we're confident with the mechanics within. Within a half hour of Seth Nelson and myself deciding we were doing it - four calls were made and four friends said they were joining the team. We will also bring a '03 YZ250F as a back up and for intermittent use while maintenance is done on the main bike. The theory is that a lower-power bike with softer suspension will benefit our endurance on the hard pack terrain out there, letting us ride more fluently while preserving our momentum rather than trying to compensate with power and arm pump out.
This will be a bit of a process to prepare for, and all the support from our sponsors is readily welcomed!
For reference to the event: https://www.overthebarsgang.com/races/
Oct 7 2019
Yesterday's race (2019 Territorial GP) here in Oregon didn't go as planned before it began - ran into an issue with the 99 KX125 when putting the drain plug back in as the hole had cracks in it from the day it was purchased and finally gave in. Prices you pay for a craigslist buy of an already elderly bike.
Went with the 2019 KX450 instead which was a lot of bike to play with in the tight woods sections.
From the beginning the hole shot was all over the place and didn't go as well as hoped, which was returned with familiarizing myself with the track and GP route while slowly climbing the latter toward the front of the pack.
Second lap managed to get ahead of a short string of riders that were causing some bottlenecks throughout the (what seemed to be endless) single track sections which allowed to get more competitive with riders at a similar skill level. Then lap three came around. Less than 100 feet from where the MX track turned into single track trails in the woods the back end broke loose in a left hand turn and I slid out. Simple crash, nothing elaborate, but came at the cost of the vast majority of my front break lever.
From there on I continued to ride as I wasn't going to accept a DNF on my record for the minor damage, but it took a toll on my control and the functionality of the clutch - especially where it was a necessity in the woods and a significant sacrifice to my place.
Still was perfect weather for the event and the majority of the riders were responsible and a pleasure to ride beside.
Seth M.
Sep 23 2019
Successfully finished in 5th place in my class at the Dick Jagow GP at Washougal MX, Washington. Not too disappointed being aboard a '99 125 without a Recluse clutch.
Was a messy day from the beginning with the slick mud and the Pacific Northwest Rain, but all the riders out there pulled through even with the overheating engines.
Can see my ride (and the mud flying) below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3IJjGsr84w&t=4132s
Sponsors interested in getting their logos in there - happy to talk it over ; )
Jun 7 2019
As an update before my first GP race of the season this Sunday (6/9) - the 1999 KX125 is nearly all put together and all that remains is some plastic cosmetic additions. Thanks again to all the sponsors for their support!