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Post your Day Rides Here!

Hmmm... I want to get Daniel and Sarah onto a clutched bike. I have the XR80R, but the reach for the lever is an issue for both. Are kid levers just bent in more toward the grip? If so, that doesn't interfere with the ability to fully disengage by limiting the amount of available pull on the cable? I really need to check the clutch on the 80 anyway. It is a 2003 model and I think the plates are still all original.

Right now, both are riding 110's without the clutch. They are still wrapping their heads around the concept of gears. For Daniel, gears just mean more speed. He's not real clear on why you would ever want to use a lower gear :lol2: Sarah just likes to put it in second and never shift. I am trying to get them to understand the idea of matching the desired gear to engine RPM/power.

Yeah I'm not sure if the kids levers have some kind of cam action to get the required cable travel or what. I've had friends just literally put in a set screw and dial back the reach on the lever, but I'll bet you really have to have the cable adjustment fine tuned.

Yosh is pretty good about up-shifting but bad about down shifting. He rides the 65 like a 4 stroke and is always lugging it up hills, despite me constantly telling him to give it some juice.
 
Here are some random day ride shots from a recent trip to Arkansas.

Riding with Daniel in North Central Arkansas
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"We can make it!"
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"It's not that far!"
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Loose gravel bottom and several feet deep in the middle... I don't think so...
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When the creek and road become one...
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Sarah at the crossing for Falling Water Creek, North of Falling Water Falls
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At the falls, not far from Hwy 16
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And now a few shots from the Wilderness Rider & Buffalo Ranch OHV Park
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LOTS of room to ride!!
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A "road" in the park
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Rachel riding without training wheels for the first time, in foot deep grass!
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Home sweet home...
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One of several cave camp sites on the property
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Thrilled to be here!
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The coolest thing ever for a 10 year old kid...
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Main camping area for this cliff cave
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Daniel's new to him Yamaha TTR110E
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Another typical road, there are numerous creek crossings and water falls
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Wildernessrider and Hail
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He loves exploring, on the bike or on foot...
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My flying monkeys on wheels... Rachel (8), Daniel (10), Sarah (12), me (50) :-P
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Exploring endless hilly pastures
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We walked down and then back up this one... A bit more than she's up for!!
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Having fun exploring and challenging herself at her pace
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The little XR80R (which is a hoot to ride!)
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Daniel, proud of how dirty the bike is after only a day of riding
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Doug, Daniel, Donny, and me, enjoying the incredible scenery from the edge of a cliff
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Another of the many waterfalls...
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:tab The kids loved the park. Daniel and I are heading back Memorial Day weekend for two days of riding. The girls are going on a cruise with Beth and her Mom.
 
I just love riding up there in Arkansas. Beautiful pictures and beautiful family ! ! !
 
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Got out for a nice ride today. Almost hit a deer. Killed a rabbit. Drove through about 15 Turkey Vultures. Found out one of my favorite local dirt roads has been closed because of a decaying bridge. Got a nail in my back tire. Got to practice fixing a flat with the unexpected help of Dave "Ouroboros", and generally just had a great time enjoying a beautiful day!

Stopped for ice tea at Yankee's Tavern
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They are serious about this closure! Massive piles of dirt at each end and no way around.
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Private hunting ranch still has a way across though. Locked gates and no trespassing signs posted.
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Fixing my flat at Drifter's Bar. They let me use a compressor and gave me an ice cold Gatorade when I was done.
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Good times.
 
Fun little Mother's Day cruise around some local sites. Breakfast at Mary's Café in Tin Top, and a visit to the Wind Mill Farm in Tolar ended up with a dip in the Paluxy River in Big Rocks Park in Glen Rose. Little bit of lunch at Hammond's in Glen Rose before it started getting hot and we hit the house. :sun:
 

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Took a little ride today on the old PD. Sure was good to take it out. I think it has been over a year since I've rode it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
As a Tour Of Honor rider I lacked one site to complete my New Mexico collection of seven locations. I would have grabbed it on the last NM ride, but Brenda was tired and sore and wanted to go home so we bypassed it in favor of her. This past weekend was as good a time as any, so we loaded up and hit the road at 5 am.

Route Map

First stop was Grandma D's Cafe in little Willcox, Arizona for breakfast at 7:30. It's your typical small town, mom & pop, cozy little place. The French Toast was as good as all the reviews say it should be.
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From there we headed to Reserve, New Mexico via 191 (the Devil's Highway), and 78 from Three Way into New Mexico. I must say that 78 from Three Way to Mule Creek is a wonderful ride. Great curves and switchbacks, great scenery, very little traffic and good pavement.

Route Detail


As we passed through the Mule Creek area we had to make three water crossings. When it rains out here, the washes tend to flood quickly and I kept an eagle eye for any rain clouds upstream from us. All three water crossings only had a couple of inches flowing and it was flowing slowly so I notched down into 2nd gear and went through slowly. The first and the third crossings were uneventful, but there was a hidden pothole in the second crossing that gave us quite a jar.

I had to hustle along once we were on 180 north from 78 because this big boy was growing and growing and growing, and I wanted to get into Reserve before it did. Fortunately, we only had a few sprinkles on the way in. The photo does not give it justice, but this thing was massive and it kept building upwards and towards us with each passing minute.
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About 18 miles south of the turn for Reserve I had a doe and two young fawns (maybe 18 inches tall at most) run across the road in front of me. Brenda was looking in another direction and didn't see them cross, but as I braked hard and pointed into the forest she saw the doe standing still watching us and her two babies next to her. Brenda loves those kinds of wildlife views.

We made it into Reserve without any other surprises and I took my photos. This was a very interesting site, and the plaque made for good reading. This is out of the norm as most of the locations we go to are your standard Military or First Responder memorials, but this one really gives you a good history lesson.

I always capture Brenda at the worst time. In this photo she looks like she's ready to spit!
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We could see the storm clouds getting worse in the direction we were heading so I put Brenda's rain jacket on her and I saddled back up. I have a Kilimanjaro jacket and it's good for most rain showers, but I have a separate rain jacket in case it's going to pour. We made it from Reserve to Alpine with just some light rain along the way, but nothing major. I parked out front and went ahead and put the cover on the bike to protect the electronics, and then we went inside to have a bite to eat. After we had ordered, two more riders pulled up; one on a Magna, and the other on a big GS. They were on their way down the 191 to Morenci, and they too wanted some lunch before the ride. They timed it perfectly. The rain started coming down in buckets just as soon as they had pulled their gear off the bikes and came inside. They sat at the booth behind us and we traded weather stories for a couple of minutes.

Brenda had a cheeseburger that she absolutely loved while I had a grilled cheese sandwich. There's not much you can do to a grilled cheese to make it good or bad, but it sure tasted great to me. .

The waitress was pushing some pie for dessert, but I wanted to get back on the road since the weather seemed to be breaking. As she went to prepare the check we had a bright flash and an instant crack of thunder and the rain began again. I'm guessing that the bolt must have hit in the field behind the bait shop because it was CLOSE. The waitress returned for the check and I let her know we'd be cooling our heels there for a while and ordered some cherry pie and ice cream. It was T A S T Y !
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Eventually the rain let up, the lightning/thunder stopped, and it was time to load up and head to my mom's in Show Low. As we had been eating I saw a Slingshot and a couple of bikes pull up and go into the restaurant across the street. One of the bikes was an orange HD and I thought of my friend Randy who drives one of those massive mine trucks at the Morenci copper mine, as he has one just like it, but I gave it no more thought.

After posting on Facebook about our lunch at the Bear Wallow, Randy posts the following photo which shows the bike out front and us up on the porch getting our rain gear on.
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He said he had gotten up from his table to yell at us, but I was more concerned about not dropping the Wing on the wet pavement while doing my u-turn and didn't pay attention to anything else. Small world, huh?

From there, it was pretty uneventful all the way to Show Low. Rain showers here and there, but nothing really bad. I always enjoy coming down the hill as you come out of the forest just south of Springerville. It's such a great view over the valley.

We passed the Madonna Of The Trail next to the drug store in Springerville, but we didn't stop because we had gotten the photo on the last trip. If you're not familiar with these statues I urge you to learn a little about them... http://www.dar.org/national-society/...trail-statue-0

Little did I know it, but two hours earlier another one of my friends had been at the statue getting his photo for his Tour Of Honor credit.
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We had dinner with mom that night in Pinetop at the Red Devil Pizza / Italian Restaurant. That was some of the best pizza I have had in quite a while. I'll definitely be back.
 
I dunno, this one pushes the limit for day rides... thinking it is deserving a ride report of it's own! Thanks for posting, great pics.
 
A shot from one of my recent day rides... FAR from home!
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We spent three nights at Daisy State Park in Arkansas as a base for riding the Ouachita National forest south of Mena. Many good trails but the best was probably the Albert Pike Rec Area. I think we had 4 water crossings in Albert Pike.

The water crossing is AP, the other is elsewhere along the Little Missouri.

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What a cool bike to ride through Arkansas :)

I rode the Albert Pike area in 2010 or so... we got out of there literally days before the flood.

J
 
We spent three nights at Daisy State Park in Arkansas as a base for riding the Ouachita National forest south of Mena. Many good trails but the best was probably the Albert Pike Rec Area. I think we had 4 water crossings in Albert Pike.

The water crossing is AP, the other is elsewhere along the Little Missouri.

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I love that area. Falls on the Little Missouri are awesome. I lot of really cool trails up there.
 

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Great riding weather today. Rode up 486 east on 908 north on 1600 (one of my favorite) to Cameron, back to Rockdale then Thorndale. Did a few dirt roads and stopped at Walmart. Noticed a lot of RV's that had fled Harvey. This is a tough way to get cooler riding weather today. Sinclair Gas Station still standing. Think it was 58 or 68 cents / gallon. San Gabriel River and possibly illegally parked at Walmart, but well protected. Not blocking any handicap spots or crowding.
Turned 8K on the Royal Enfield today. Original Avon tires and battery. I love this torquey bike for dirt and back roads, and it sounds good like a 500 cc thumper should. Most dependable bike I ever owned and I do ring it out, every time I ride it. She likes 65 but will do 80 and geared perfect.
 

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:tab I didn't get any pictures. Today was a great day of riding. Dad covered for me at work since I am on 24hr call this weekend. The plan was to have Daniel spend the day riding with me on my GS. Literally five minutes before we are going to leave, he decides he doesn't want to go. So I go anyway. I leave about 9:30am. It it cool and overcast. Within an hour or so, the clouds begin breaking up and the sun comes out. I wander ALL OVER THE PLACE on back roads. Some are freshly graded with lots of loose rocks and sand, and others are in desperate need of a good grading because they have serious erosion issues, probably from Harvey back in August. I eventually wind up at Mallet Bros., BBQ in Iola for lunch. Then I work my way back East through Bedias and finally back to Huntsville. All told, it was probably about 250-275 miles. It is amazing what a good ride does for my mental condition!

:tab Around 10:30am or so, I was heading SW on CR 446 (SW of Anderson and East of Navasota). I passed a KTM 1190/1290 and a smaller KTM (maybe a 500 EXC). They were heading toward Anderson. Other than those two bikes, I did not see any other dual sports out and about and VERY few street bikes. Given how nice a day it was, I was amazed that I did not see more riders. I stopped at Yankee's Tavern out in Carlos around 12:30pm and though it would be packed, but there were maybe 10-15 bikes out front. Strange...

:tab All in all though, a good day! :rider:
 
:tab I didn't get any pictures. Today was a great day of riding. Dad covered for me at work since I am on 24hr call this weekend. The plan was to have Daniel spend the day riding with me on my GS. Literally five minutes before we are going to leave, he decides he doesn't want to go. So I go anyway. I leave about 9:30am. It it cool and overcast. Within an hour or so, the clouds begin breaking up and the sun comes out. I wander ALL OVER THE PLACE on back roads. Some are freshly graded with lots of loose rocks and sand, and others are in desperate need of a good grading because they have serious erosion issues, probably from Harvey back in August. I eventually wind up at Mallet Bros., BBQ in Iola for lunch. Then I work my way back East through Bedias and finally back to Huntsville. All told, it was probably about 250-275 miles. It is amazing what a good ride does for my mental condition!

:tab Around 10:30am or so, I was heading SW on CR 446 (SW of Anderson and East of Navasota). I passed a KTM 1190/1290 and a smaller KTM (maybe a 500 EXC). They were heading toward Anderson. Other than those two bikes, I did not see any other dual sports out and about and VERY few street bikes. Given how nice a day it was, I was amazed that I did not see more riders. I stopped at Yankee's Tavern out in Carlos around 12:30pm and though it would be packed, but there were maybe 10-15 bikes out front. Strange...

:tab All in all though, a good day! :rider:

Sounds like a good day!!
 
Friday myself and @garyra did the big as texas iron butt rally. Perfect day.

Started at 6 am in allen, returned to allen at 2:45 am. We did take an hour and 15 minute break at our last stop in Lubbock.

Involved 7 gas stops (I think) and 8 picture stops. We had to email the bonus code and pic at each stop to the rally master. Total about 1100 miles.

Myself on the NC700dct

Gary 2017 gsa

Bruce 2010 goldwing

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