2023 - KDX Green in the orange sea
Posted: 05:27 pm Mar 18 2023
Sumter Nat’l Enduro, Sumter, South Cakalacky … February 2023
2023 is my third year racing a dirt bike after over twenty years racing mountain bikes. It’s been like starting all over again and I’ve enjoyed climbing the fresh learning curve. This season started for me with the Sumter Nat’l Enduro in South Carolina. It was my second visit there after missing last year. My first experience was pretty rough but still super fun. In 2021 my H model was still very stock, under sprung with no suspension tuning or power upgrades. I was still as green as the fenders.
That year racing in 50+C I counted thirteen soil sample’s (I wore myself out picking up the bike all day!) but finished my four class stages and half of the fifth (not required) before retiring with flaming tendinitis in my right elbow. I was physically wrecked for most of the following week. The stock suspension was partly the culprit, magnified by my over-enthusiasm and multiplied by a lack of skill. I still had a blast and loved the course. Falling in sand was sometimes like concrete, but better than rocks.
This year we returned with two year’s race experience and a much more refined and carefully set up KDX machine to send down the course. The OEM suspension’s tune has progressively evolved and I’ve done just about everything else you can do to open up the bike. With two full seasons racing hare scrambles and one other National Enduro under my belt, I had honest but modest goals for my return to South Carolina…
We were fortunate to camp next to the start with some friends. The Rieju camp was beside us and our Go Race Suspension buddies were there too. We were the only ones to stay the night and brave the chilly temps. The boys slept in the trailer with the bikes and a Big Buddy heater and I slept in my truck. We ate well though with some ribeyes on the Coleman stove.
Number one… stay off the ground!
Number two… finish all 6 stages - about sixty miles with transfers (B class is only required to complete 5).
Number three… have fun!
Overall it was a great day with over 60 miles on the bike, no injuries or mechanicals. Racing in 50+B this year I finished 17/22 and my times were good enough in the first 4 stages to have earned about 5th in the 50+ C class had I stayed in that classification. So that was a real improvement over my previous try.
In the first stage a vine grabbed my bar early on and slammed me on the ground, then a few minutes later I balled it up on a large slick pine log that I misapproached. After that I refocused, stayed clean and rode smooth. The fresh suspension tune with the new heavier springs felt great on the sandy whoops littering the course after 700 + riders had proceeded my run. There was very little mud this year, the track was loamy and the traction was great everywhere with my Pirelli Scorpions. I ran an ultra-heavy tube up front at 12 psi, and Tubliss on the 120/100 rear at 6 psi.
In spite of the high row number of 121, the course was really fun. Riding around the parking lots in the morning before my start I didn’t see any other KDXs, and actually saw very few Kawasakis. Turned out the event was won on a Kawasaki piloted by Grant Baylor.
The rest of my timed tests went well for me as I focused on staying clean and smooth and just had fun riding. I had looked forward to making it to the sixth test because I knew that the trail would be less beat up than the other stages had been since most of the B and C riders ahead of me would retire to the beer cooler after 4 & 5. After finishing the fifth test and transferring to six I was still feeling pretty good, but had begun to get some twinges in my hands and calves from the onset of cramps. I just focused on riding smooth and having fun, trying not to push. The course was so fun I couldn’t help myself and kept catching myself really getting after it. The bike was running great. The stiffer front springs really encourage me to pour it on. The front end rides higher and makes lifting the wheel over roots and ruts easier.
About a third of the way through the test while sweeping down into a bermed left hander my braking finger cramped, locking up the front wheel, and over the bars I went! My visor snapped as I slammed face first into the trail. I quickly rolled up and lifted my bike up pushing it clear before the next A rider came blasting through. Leaning my bike on a tree I had a snack and shook off the cramp. This was the first thing I’d eaten since breakfast. In three and a half years with this bike that was the first time I’ve gone over the bars.
Wish I could figure out how to sign up for a lower row number. Having basically raced from off the couch I felt pretty good about my performance. Next weekend I may race my first hare scramble of the year if I get home from Louisiana with enough time to prepare.
2023 is my third year racing a dirt bike after over twenty years racing mountain bikes. It’s been like starting all over again and I’ve enjoyed climbing the fresh learning curve. This season started for me with the Sumter Nat’l Enduro in South Carolina. It was my second visit there after missing last year. My first experience was pretty rough but still super fun. In 2021 my H model was still very stock, under sprung with no suspension tuning or power upgrades. I was still as green as the fenders.
That year racing in 50+C I counted thirteen soil sample’s (I wore myself out picking up the bike all day!) but finished my four class stages and half of the fifth (not required) before retiring with flaming tendinitis in my right elbow. I was physically wrecked for most of the following week. The stock suspension was partly the culprit, magnified by my over-enthusiasm and multiplied by a lack of skill. I still had a blast and loved the course. Falling in sand was sometimes like concrete, but better than rocks.
This year we returned with two year’s race experience and a much more refined and carefully set up KDX machine to send down the course. The OEM suspension’s tune has progressively evolved and I’ve done just about everything else you can do to open up the bike. With two full seasons racing hare scrambles and one other National Enduro under my belt, I had honest but modest goals for my return to South Carolina…
We were fortunate to camp next to the start with some friends. The Rieju camp was beside us and our Go Race Suspension buddies were there too. We were the only ones to stay the night and brave the chilly temps. The boys slept in the trailer with the bikes and a Big Buddy heater and I slept in my truck. We ate well though with some ribeyes on the Coleman stove.
Number one… stay off the ground!
Number two… finish all 6 stages - about sixty miles with transfers (B class is only required to complete 5).
Number three… have fun!
Overall it was a great day with over 60 miles on the bike, no injuries or mechanicals. Racing in 50+B this year I finished 17/22 and my times were good enough in the first 4 stages to have earned about 5th in the 50+ C class had I stayed in that classification. So that was a real improvement over my previous try.
In the first stage a vine grabbed my bar early on and slammed me on the ground, then a few minutes later I balled it up on a large slick pine log that I misapproached. After that I refocused, stayed clean and rode smooth. The fresh suspension tune with the new heavier springs felt great on the sandy whoops littering the course after 700 + riders had proceeded my run. There was very little mud this year, the track was loamy and the traction was great everywhere with my Pirelli Scorpions. I ran an ultra-heavy tube up front at 12 psi, and Tubliss on the 120/100 rear at 6 psi.
In spite of the high row number of 121, the course was really fun. Riding around the parking lots in the morning before my start I didn’t see any other KDXs, and actually saw very few Kawasakis. Turned out the event was won on a Kawasaki piloted by Grant Baylor.
The rest of my timed tests went well for me as I focused on staying clean and smooth and just had fun riding. I had looked forward to making it to the sixth test because I knew that the trail would be less beat up than the other stages had been since most of the B and C riders ahead of me would retire to the beer cooler after 4 & 5. After finishing the fifth test and transferring to six I was still feeling pretty good, but had begun to get some twinges in my hands and calves from the onset of cramps. I just focused on riding smooth and having fun, trying not to push. The course was so fun I couldn’t help myself and kept catching myself really getting after it. The bike was running great. The stiffer front springs really encourage me to pour it on. The front end rides higher and makes lifting the wheel over roots and ruts easier.
About a third of the way through the test while sweeping down into a bermed left hander my braking finger cramped, locking up the front wheel, and over the bars I went! My visor snapped as I slammed face first into the trail. I quickly rolled up and lifted my bike up pushing it clear before the next A rider came blasting through. Leaning my bike on a tree I had a snack and shook off the cramp. This was the first thing I’d eaten since breakfast. In three and a half years with this bike that was the first time I’ve gone over the bars.
Wish I could figure out how to sign up for a lower row number. Having basically raced from off the couch I felt pretty good about my performance. Next weekend I may race my first hare scramble of the year if I get home from Louisiana with enough time to prepare.