My first Hare Scramble (and in Alaska!)

[Chopperpilot]

So I did my first Hare Scramble yesterday on my 2001 KDX 200. Because it took place in the interior of Alaska (near Pedro Dome), not only was I not the only KDX there (1 of 3), but I wasn't even the only KDX with blue anodized KX USD forks!
I come from a competitive rifle shooting background (I was decently ranked at one time) and applied that thinking here. I have no real experience on dirt bikes and the KDX is my 'first' dirt bike. I've had a KLX 650R for a few years, but I definitely mostly stuck to dual sporting it. I knew I was behind the power curve in how to ride dirt bikes and wanted to get significantly better, so like I tell people who tell me they want to shoot rifle better "you have to go to competitions", so I did.
I had no problem with 90% of the course, I wasn't setting any records of course, but I was having fun. I absolutely did not have fun on the 5% of the course that was made up of 2 particular hill climbs. I need to learn this skill, or practice pushing my bike up my driveway everyday! I'd like to hear any pointers, obviously you have to commit to some speed and throttle, and that is what I'm not doing. I did 5 or 6 of the other 'hill climbs' on the course and got better/faster each lap, but the 2 that stuck me I never bothered trying them again. I spent 20-25 minuted getting myself and the bike up the largest one and it was painful. I suppose practicing a hill climb (which I have ample places to do here) shouldn't be that anxiety producing (I'm 48 and don't want to break anything on me right now), I'm guessing most aborted attempts generally result in nothing more than falling over on the bike and sliding backwards, correct?? If you get yourself away from the bike as the momentum stops you shouldn't have to worry too much about injuries, yes?
Other than that, I really liked the KX forks, in the slow rocky/choppy stuff they still felt good. Tight turns in the bushes were like on the factory forks except without that flexy/deflecting feeling. I'm going to look and see what gearing is on the bike and will probably go up a couple teeth in the rear to help my journey. I'm open to any comments/suggestions!

[bufftester]

Congrats on getting out there. Speed on the approach run up and line choice for the hill climbs. Here in the PNW I run stock gearing (13/47) and have never had an issue with being geared low enough (my line choice, or as my son likes to call it "point and pray" usually does me in lol). As long as you can stay out from underneath the bike you should be mostly injury free, or course you still have to watch out for the other guys, and the inevitable "hard Enduro" bro who will launch his bike up the hill "just like they do in youtube". But you already said it, practice makes it easier.

[Chopperpilot]

from a couple youtube videos and listening to other people, I need to practice the clutch feathering for hill climbing. Most people seem to suggest a pretty steady throttle (1/2?), 2 or 3 gear, and feather the clutch for speed/wheel spin/wheelies. So that's something I'll go practice first. I am in the habit of not riding with a finger on the clutch or feathering it either.

[KDXGarage]

You need to be riding with a finger on the clutch. Watch some pros doing it on videos to see the way that works.

[bufftester]

Yes, clutch work on a 2T is where its all won or lost. It's the reason that the Rekluse units still have a functioning lever so you can modulate power delivery.

[billie_morini]

Chopperpilot: your story is great! Thanks for sharing it!

[Chopperpilot]

OK, I'm riding with keeping a finger or two on the clutch at all times now for the muscle memory. I'm probably going to add 5-7mm of lever to the actuator to reduce clutch pull weight (hitting it with my purse didn't help.....). I have an awesome practice area for hill climbing right where my mail box is a couple miles away and using the slipping clutch technique in 2nd gear I got much further up than I had planned/anticipated. Nice thing is there's a couple good abort places on this hill.
I change my transmission oil out regularly because I bought a couple of cases of motor oil cheap off craigslist. However some of it is 10-30 or straight 30w. It hasn't shown any issues until the hare scramble. During the scramble on the hill part, I ended up overheating a little, spewing some coolant, and for a bit the bike didn't want to go into 1st gear. Once home I changed the oil with some 10w-40, but the bike still has a notchier feeling transmission than it did before and it will shift into 2nd and then pop out (into neutral) when I get on the gas.....sometimes. If I really rock the shifter into second, it doesn't seem to do this. Anyone have any ideas? Do I need to pull the clutch plates out and clean/reassemble them? I could use that excuse to go ahead and add material to the actuator for a lighter clutch pull.