KDXRIDER.NET

Well, I'm back from my first hare scramble, my first race since 1979, and certainly my first race on the KDX200. We drove up to Berthoud CO on Sat, hoping to make it early enough to check out the track. About CO springs, it was obvious we weren't going to make it, so we went to the Apex shop instead. I checked out KTM's and looked at stuff. We drove by the track right at sunset and just had a quick look.

Sunday, we got there and I did some quick jetting. Since I was dropping from 6,000' to 5,000 and it was pretty cool (50-60) and it was a 2-hr race, I decided to move up from a 148 main to a 150. The 148 felt a little weak on 3/4 throttle and up. Switched jet and then rider's meeting! All I had time to do was rev the bike in the pits with the 150, but I was able to snap it from idle to wide open and hold it there and it sounded great, so I felt good about the jetting.

The start was uphill and we faced the rear of the bike with the flagger downhill from us. We had to turn, get on the bike, and go. I clicked the bike in gear, and held the clutch while facing the starter. When he dropped the flag, I swung 1 foot on the left peg, gassed it, slipped the clutch, got my right leg over the bike in mid-flight. I got a good start and hit the gate about 8th/40 (against 250f, 450f, KTM300, etc.). First lap, there was a lot of traffic and I made a LOT of passes by going wide around the "freight train" and clutching thru the soft outside line. My KX125 riding was really paying off, and several times, I passed 2-4 riders at a shot in the turns. I was also able to take a tight inside line if necessary and dive inside of them. This worked really well on switchbacks when I'd go wide on 1 turn and then tight on the next and keep my position. At the end of the first lap, I was running 15th/40 according to my "pit crew". Second lap was more of the same- passing a lot of riders and starting to settle in.

And then...then... I was clear of traffic for a little bit and saw an opportunity to pass a guy over a low jump. I took the pass and uh-oh, this was the whoop section!!! I didn't think I was there already! I hit the first whoop face on, and managed to swap and bounce my way thru the whoops. Around a left hand corner and then the second whoop section. Due to the sudden twisting and pulling effort, I was feeling a little arm pump. We hit the MX section of the track and I cleared a little tabletop with an end kicker that dropped into a deep dip. The kicker knocked me off balance a little and when I hit the bottom of the dip, I was up on the gas tank. I pushed back to get ready for the next jump and thought "Which jump is this?? Too fast! Too fast! Slow down!". At Berthoud, a lot of the little tabletops drop off into some steep dips and you don't want to over jump those, or it was a 20' drop down. Well, when I went to pull the front brake to slow down, I discovered that arm pump had my arm locked solid!! I couldn't let go of the right grip to get the brake and worse, I couldn't shut off. And all this is on the face of the jump- you know how fast these things happen!!! All I could do was try to ride it out, but I was a little too far to the right and the landing twisted to the left. I ended up jumping off into a soft wet pit and WHAM!!!! I don't have a clue how I hit, but I have this vague memory of going face-first into the dirt, with the bike upside down.

When I got up, and thank God I could get up!!, my glasses were smashed and it took me a second to figure that out. Eventually, I got my helmet off, my glasses sort of straightened, and checked myself out. The medic was there by then, and asked me some questions to make sure I was okay. The KDX started on the 2nd kick and the only problems I could find were than my number plate was totally destroyed (I'd removed the headlight for the race) and my TrailTech computer mount was busted. I needed to get the NM license plate back to the pit area, so I had to coddle all this stuff around to the pit area and drop it off. My camelback was busted and draining red gatorade all over my leg, so I dropped that off, too. I took a little time to get my breath, clear my head, adjust my levers, and get a good drink. Anyway, I got going again and finished 6 more laps for a total of 8. The crash dropped me from about 10th to dead last and I could only catch 5 guys in my class before the end. The MX track had me spooked, of course, and I was going really slow over the jumps there.

Lessons learned- it's REALLY important to practice the MX track. I didn't have any problems on the back stretch, but the MX track was full of drop-offs, step-downs, table tops with landing kickers, whoops, etc. and during the race was NOT the time to be figuring out what I could or couldn't jump. I'm positive I could jump 75% of the stuff there, but a lot of the jumps are coming out of a dip and all you can see is a jump face, no landing, thus you really need to know WHICH jump this is. I just didn't have the track wired and couldn't jump confidently and that really hurt my overall speed.

As for the KDX, it was great. The KTM300's and 450fs pulled me on the straights (and 450f roost HURTS!!!). 250f and 250 mx'ers pulled me, but I got a lot of them back on the twisty sections of the track, esp. the 250f- a lot of those guys would pass me on a straight and then stall in the corner, and I'd pass them right back again. Overall, if I was serious about this, I think I'd have a 250 MX'er or maybe a KTM300, but the KDX was certainly adequate. If I hadn't crashed, I'm pretty confident I could have made a top 10 in my class.

So, today, I have a black eye and cut over my eyebrow from glasses, my right leg hurts a little (I busted a strap on the patella cup on my brand new Asterisks!), my right elbow is sore, my left thumb is sore, but overall, I'm amazed that I was able to walk away from that crash. And I'm equally amazed that I didn't even dent my FMF Rev pipe! The crash bent a barkbuster, twisted the forks a little, busted the TrailTech mount, blew my camelbak open, and destroyed my number plate.

That's the hare scramble! I think my racing Jones is satisfied for awhile!

Great Report! Aside from the crash it sounds like you had fun. Glad you make it out of the race without major injuries.

WOW!!

That sounds like a wild ride!! Congratulations on not getting injured, just hurt. Maybe the knee braces saved your knee?

Thanks for the race report!

As above, sounded like fun till the crash. Glad you are relatively unscathed. Hope you and your ride heal quickly. If it makes ya feel better, I had a nasty get off on asphalt on Saturday. The results = possible broken right wrist (again), hip grazed down to white meat (maybe bone come to think of it) and several other grazes and bruises. I wish us both a happy and speedy recovery.

Glad you're OK through it all.

HS sure do vary from place to place. Interesting to read how other events set their course up.

How'd the Asterisks work?

The Asterisks worked well, I reckon. The right one turned a little after the crash and rubbed on my shin. My right knee is also a little sore from an impact type injury (.ie feels like a bruise or knot in the muscle rather than a ligament). But when I was riding, I didn't notice them at all. They're no more bulky than the 661 Richochet's I've been wearing. I used the sleeves- it was pretty cool in the morning and the sleeves were welcome warmth! It's one of those things where I don't have a busted knee, so I guess they worked!

Now, one thing that I'm very happy with, again, is my EVS Ballistic Suit. I have fallen several times in it and the elbow guards are great. I've worn elbow guards alone, but they always move. In the EVS, they stay put. Under a jersey, the back protector stays put, too- I've had external chest protectors flip up under sliding crash and the EVS doesn't do that. I really like being able to just put the EVS on, zip it up, and voila' chest protector, elbow guards, kidney belt, shoulder guards are all on. I wear a sleeveless T-shirt underneth and it's a very comfortable setup.

Ballistic Suit? Sounds like a tough race! Do you have a link to their site so I can see what you are talking about? I am thinking that may have been you lighting the grill on the new Burger King commercial.

Here's an EVS ballastic jersey. The suit is something additional or just different?

http://www.chaparral-racing.com/Chaparr ... 03B8BB69F2

Here's summore:

http://www.motoworldracing.com/evs-riding-gear.html

..but, you prolly already found these.........

Thanks for the links.

BJ22 is what I have. I was mixing names with 661's "Pressure Suit" and came up with "Ballistic Suit". It's just a jersey.

Just for you guys:
http://www.larp.com/bakimsey/VDRMX_1.JPG
http://www.larp.com/bakimsey/VDRMX_2.JPG
http://www.larp.com/bakimsey/VDRMX_3.JPG
http://www.larp.com/bakimsey/BAK_eye.JPG

Ever notice how FAT you look in pictures???

Wow... you did get beat up a little. You'll heal.... eventually!

Took me 3 months when I looped my KTM off a tabletop and did about 15 summersaults. had a trick hip for a while that I didn't think would ever be the same... but in time, it healed.

I'm glad you had fun and it is something to remember... for you and your family.

Sounded like fun except for the get-off. Glad you are OK.

"racing Jones is satisfied" Nah, t's just BRUISED. You will get the hankering for more real soon

nm you need to come run a mideast interstate harescramble. you would prob like them better. mostly woods and the track they cut out is usually smoother at first than the places we ride for fun. question about the asterisk cell knee braces what do they do for you when you have your leg bent back up under yourself?

89kdx200rdr wrote:question about the asterisk cell knee braces what do they do for you when you have your leg bent back up under yourself?

You mean like if you were kneeling or sitting back on your heels? Are you asking about the protection or whether or not you can be that far?

I can pretty much move normally with them on and the knee cup covers everything when bent that far back. They're mostly to prevent hyper extension and lateral (karate kick from the side) problems. I've only worn them during that HS- literally the first time I got on a bike with them- so I'm no expert.

yeah i was wondering about protection and if you could kneel or squat down easily.

i had a little get off a couple weeks ago and i ended up with my left leg back under my body and my bike was laying on top of my left leg. thankfully there was someone else stalled there and they lifted my bike off my leg because i couldnt get it off of my leg. i was kinda laying with my head downhill too.

I went riding yesterday with the friend who took me to the Berthoud race. He and his son were racing quads around the MX track where we practice and I was just following in their dust, looking for a good place to pass (did I mention the DUST??). They went over the 60' tabletop with the son slightly in the lead and the next thing I saw was the underneath of Dad's quad rising from the dust, butt up in the air, headlight aimed at the ground. That didn't look good and sure 'nuff, next thing I see is the red Polaris seat flipping thru the air and the seatless ATV slowly running down the track. I crested the tabletop and there's David rolling around on the downslope in obvious pain. Long story short- busted shoulder blade! No surgery needed fortunately, but he'll be out of comission for awhle. That's the thing about quads- they don't seem to wreck as often, but when they do....