Short version:
I rode a freshly rebuilt 1988 Honda XR250R in the 2008 Delaware Enduro
yesterday. The bike ran perfectly all day with the only problem being
a broken odometer cable thanks to a log. I had one minor crash in the
mud with no injuries. Finished 2nd in Vet C. All in all, a great day
of riding.
Long version:
A year or so ago, someone gave me a 1988 XR250R with a bad motor. It
needed everything and wasn’t really worth fixing. Early 2008 it
occurred to me that there were some advantages related to the cost &
hassle of tagging a bike in my state that made it worthwhile to fix
this one. I bought a ratty ’94 for the cartridge forks and rear disc
brake and set out to build an inexpensive, capable and legitimately
road legal dual sport. I finished the project a couple of weeks ago
and did some local test riding to get things sorted out. It had 75
miles on the odometer when I started the race yesterday. I’m very
pleased with the outcome, and I think the XR turned out to be exactly
what I was shooting for.
I started on row 57, behind 224 other riders. The Delaware Enduro is
notorious for being very bad when it’s wet, and it always seems to be
wet. It rained the night prior to the event, but fortunately it had
been dry for nearly two weeks prior. I hoped that the 200+ riders in
front of me would dry things up and not rut things up too badly. It
didn’t work out exactly that way, but it wasn’t a “mudder” by any
stretch. There was plenty of mud, but no piles of stuck bikes and that
sort of thing. Mainly, there was a thin layer of greasy mud on top,
just to make things interesting. There was no shortage of ruts, but
not too many “bike grabbers.” It rained a little bit during the race,
but just enough to make it hard to see and not enough to change the
conditions. I gave some thought to taking my goggles off, but before I
made a decision, I got jabbed in the face with a stick. The decision
was made for me, and my goggles stayed on.
There were many miles of trail through the fragmitis fields (a tall
cat-tail like plant - http://www.repairmanual.com/images/22/TR1991Jant.jpg )=
that were either deep sand, deep mud or more solid but slick on top.
They were always slippery. The deep sand was the only place where the
XR250 could’ve used more HP and it was just a matter of slipping the
clutch a bit or downshifting now and then. There were also many miles
of super tight trail that tested my barkbusters countless times. Those
trails were slick with lots of wet exposed roots and lots of neat
steep climbs and drops. The XR must think it’s a trials bike since it
climbed everything with ease, often while going around a stuck bike.
Must be the lack of excess HP to spend on wheelspin…
A bit about the bike… The trails through the frag were also full of
whoops, and the dated suspension and short wheelbase on the XR made
those exciting. There were other places where the chassis/suspension
were a little bit limiting, but not to any significant degree. The
major limiting factor was my own conditioning and the bike may have
helped there in that it’s easy to just sit down and plonk along on.
The seat to peg ratio is close which made the transition from sitting
to standing tough later in the day. It also seems wide and low – I
knocked my pegs on more stuff than I usually seem to. All in all
though, I’m very pleased with the bike. I can’t think of any other
road-legal bike that would be a better bang for the buck. Surely a new
Husky or KTM is a better bike by a long shot, but they cost a little
bit more than the ~$1k I have wrapped up in this bike. Besides, I
passed plenty of them yesterday. My KDX was definitely better in that
stuff and I could run a faster “race pace” on it, but with no license
plate it did a lot of sitting in my garage. I was a little worried
going in since the XR wasn’t exactly a proven (to me) bike yet, but it
didn’t have a single problem all day and didn’t seem at all stressed
by anything I asked it to do.
My odometer cable broke 3.9 miles in. After about twice that many
miles I looked down and thought, “Wow, this is going to be a long
day!” Then I noticed the cable hanging freely from the odometer. I’d
felt something as I squeezed past a log earlier and guess that must’ve
been it. Fortunately (?) there were only two or three checks that I
was even able to be on time for and I zeroed those thanks to my minute-
mates computer (Thanks Will!). It was still nice to use the posted
mileage and roll chart to remind me what was ahead. For the rest of
the checks I was late anyway so it was just a matter of riding as fast
as I could – which isn’t all that fast.
I always complain about there not being any good local riding. With
that in mind, and this enduro being 30 miles from the house, there
really wasn’t any reason not to enter. It was cheaper than going to my
normal “good spot” anyway – both in entry fee and fuel cost. My goal
was to just relax and have a good time and I came away having done
exactly that. At one point later in the race I was thinking that I was
getting pretty tired and could really use a reset and I noticed that I
had a big smile on my face as I was thinking that. Weird, but true. I
also saw some old friends and met a few new ones. I really can’t think
of a better way to spend the day. Getting a 2nd place trophy isn’t so
bad either, but that’s really just icing on the cake.
Craig
> Short version:
> I rode a freshly rebuilt 1988 Honda XR250R in the 2008 Delaware Enduro
> yesterday. The bike ran perfectly all day with the only problem being
> a broken odometer cable thanks to a log. I had one minor crash in the
> mud with no injuries. Finished 2nd in Vet C. All in all, a great day
> of riding.
> Long version:
> A year or so ago, someone gave me a 1988 XR250R with a bad motor. It
> needed everything and wasn’t really worth fixing. Early 2008 it
> occurred to me that there were some advantages related to the cost &
> hassle of tagging a bike in my state that made it worthwhile to fix
> this one. I bought a ratty ’94 for the cartridge forks and rear disc
> brake and set out to build an inexpensive, capable and legitimately
> road legal dual sport. I finished the project a couple of weeks ago
> and did some local test riding to get things sorted out. It had 75
> miles on the odometer when I started the race yesterday. I’m very
> pleased with the outcome, and I think the XR turned out to be exactly
> what I was shooting for.
> I started on row 57, behind 224 other riders. The Delaware Enduro is
> notorious for being very bad when it’s wet, and it always seems to be
> wet. It rained the night prior to the event, but fortunately it had
> been dry for nearly two weeks prior. I hoped that the 200+ riders in
> front of me would dry things up and not rut things up too badly. It
> didn’t work out exactly that way, but it wasn’t a “mudder” by any
> stretch. There was plenty of mud, but no piles of stuck bikes and that
> sort of thing. Mainly, there was a thin layer of greasy mud on top,
> just to make things interesting. There was no shortage of ruts, but
> not too many “bike grabbers.” It rained a little bit during the race,
> but just enough to make it hard to see and not enough to change the
> conditions. I gave some thought to taking my goggles off, but before I
> made a decision, I got jabbed in the face with a stick. The decision
> was made for me, and my goggles stayed on.
> There were many miles of trail through the fragmitis fields (a tall
> cat-tail like plant -http://www.repairmanual.com/images/22/TR1991Jant.jpg )
> that were either deep sand, deep mud or more solid but slick on top.
> They were always slippery. The deep sand was the only place where the
> XR250 could’ve used more HP and it was just a matter of slipping the
> clutch a bit or downshifting now and then. There were also many miles
> of super tight trail that tested my barkbusters countless times. Those
> trails were slick with lots of wet exposed roots and lots of neat
> steep climbs and drops. The XR must think it’s a trials bike since it
> climbed everything with ease, often while going around a stuck bike.
> Must be the lack of excess HP to spend on wheelspin…
> A bit about the bike… The trails through the frag were also full of
> whoops, and the dated suspension and short wheelbase on the XR made
> those exciting. There were other places where the chassis/suspension
> were a little bit limiting, but not to any significant degree. The
> major limiting factor was my own conditioning and the bike may have
> helped there in that it’s easy to just sit down and plonk along on.
> The seat to peg ratio is close which made the transition from sitting
> to standing tough later in the day. It also seems wide and low – I
> knocked my pegs on more stuff than I usually seem to. All in all
> though, I’m very pleased with the bike. I can’t think of any other
> road-legal bike that would be a better bang for the buck. Surely a new
> Husky or KTM is a better bike by a long shot, but they cost a little
> bit more than the ~$1k I have wrapped up in this bike. Besides, I
> passed plenty of them yesterday. My KDX was definitely better in that
> stuff and I could run a faster “race pace” on it, but with no license
> plate it did a lot of sitting in my garage. I was a little worried
> going in since the XR wasn’t exactly a proven (to me) bike yet, but it
> didn’t have a single problem all day and didn’t seem at all stressed
> by anything I asked it to do.
> My odometer cable broke 3.9 miles in. After about twice that many
> miles I looked down and thought, “Wow, this is going to be a long
> day!” Then I noticed the cable hanging freely from the odometer. I’d
> felt something as I squeezed past a log earlier and guess that must’ve
> been it. Fortunately (?) there were only two or three checks that I
> was even able to be on time for and I zeroed those thanks to my minute-
> mates computer (Thanks Will!). It was still nice to use the posted
> mileage and roll chart to remind me what was ahead. For the rest of
> the checks I was late anyway so it was just a matter of riding as fast
> as I could – which isn’t all that fast.
> I always complain about there not being any good local riding. With
> that in mind, and this enduro being 30 miles from the house, there
> really wasn’t any reason not to enter. It was cheaper than going to my
> normal “good spot” anyway – both in entry fee and fuel cost. My goal
> was to just relax and have a good time and I came away having done
> exactly that. At one point later in the race I was thinking that I was
> getting pretty tired and could really use a reset and I noticed that I
> had a big smile on my face as I was thinking that. Weird, but true. I
> also saw some old friends and met a few new ones. I really can’t think
> of a better way to spend the day. Getting a 2nd place trophy isn’t so
> bad either, but that’s really just icing on the cake.
> Craig
Its that magic throttle setting all XR's have- 0, 1/4, tractor, 1/2,
3/4, WFO.
Dave
Craig,
Thanks for the most excellent ride report. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Jim
Team LAGNAF
********************************
wrote:
>Short version:
>I rode a freshly rebuilt 1988 Honda XR250R in the 2008 Delaware Enduro
>yesterday. The bike ran perfectly all day with the only problem being
>a broken odometer cable thanks to a log. I had one minor crash in the
>mud with no injuries. Finished 2nd in Vet C. All in all, a great day
>of riding.
>Long version:
>A year or so ago, someone gave me a 1988 XR250R with a bad motor. It
>needed everything and wasn’t really worth fixing. Early 2008 it
>occurred to me that there were some advantages related to the cost &
>hassle of tagging a bike in my state that made it worthwhile to fix
>this one. I bought a ratty ’94 for the cartridge forks and rear disc
>brake and set out to build an inexpensive, capable and legitimately
>road legal dual sport. I finished the project a couple of weeks ago
>and did some local test riding to get things sorted out. It had 75
>miles on the odometer when I started the race yesterday. I’m very
>pleased with the outcome, and I think the XR turned out to be exactly
>what I was shooting for.
>I started on row 57, behind 224 other riders. The Delaware Enduro is
>notorious for being very bad when it’s wet, and it always seems to be
>wet. It rained the night prior to the event, but fortunately it had
>been dry for nearly two weeks prior. I hoped that the 200+ riders in
>front of me would dry things up and not rut things up too badly. It
>didn’t work out exactly that way, but it wasn’t a “mudder” by any
>stretch. There was plenty of mud, but no piles of stuck bikes and that
>sort of thing. Mainly, there was a thin layer of greasy mud on top,
>just to make things interesting. There was no shortage of ruts, but
>not too many “bike grabbers.” It rained a little bit during the race,
>but just enough to make it hard to see and not enough to change the
>conditions. I gave some thought to taking my goggles off, but before I
>made a decision, I got jabbed in the face with a stick. The decision
>was made for me, and my goggles stayed on.
>There were many miles of trail through the fragmitis fields (a tall
>cat-tail like plant - http://www.repairmanual.com/images/22/TR1991Jant.jpg )
>that were either deep sand, deep mud or more solid but slick on top.
>They were always slippery. The deep sand was the only place where the
>XR250 could’ve used more HP and it was just a matter of slipping the
>clutch a bit or downshifting now and then. There were also many miles
>of super tight trail that tested my barkbusters countless times. Those
>trails were slick with lots of wet exposed roots and lots of neat
>steep climbs and drops. The XR must think it’s a trials bike since it
>climbed everything with ease, often while going around a stuck bike.
>Must be the lack of excess HP to spend on wheelspin…
>A bit about the bike… The trails through the frag were also full of
>whoops, and the dated suspension and short wheelbase on the XR made
>those exciting. There were other places where the chassis/suspension
>were a little bit limiting, but not to any significant degree. The
>major limiting factor was my own conditioning and the bike may have
>helped there in that it’s easy to just sit down and plonk along on.
>The seat to peg ratio is close which made the transition from sitting
>to standing tough later in the day. It also seems wide and low – I
>knocked my pegs on more stuff than I usually seem to. All in all
>though, I’m very pleased with the bike. I can’t think of any other
>road-legal bike that would be a better bang for the buck. Surely a new
>Husky or KTM is a better bike by a long shot, but they cost a little
>bit more than the ~$1k I have wrapped up in this bike. Besides, I
>passed plenty of them yesterday. My KDX was definitely better in that
>stuff and I could run a faster “race pace” on it, but with no license
>plate it did a lot of sitting in my garage. I was a little worried
>going in since the XR wasn’t exactly a proven (to me) bike yet, but it
>didn’t have a single problem all day and didn’t seem at all stressed
>by anything I asked it to do.
>My odometer cable broke 3.9 miles in. After about twice that many
>miles I looked down and thought, “Wow, this is going to be a long
>day!” Then I noticed the cable hanging freely from the odometer. I’d
>felt something as I squeezed past a log earlier and guess that must’ve
>been it. Fortunately (?) there were only two or three checks that I
>was even able to be on time for and I zeroed those thanks to my minute-
>mates computer (Thanks Will!). It was still nice to use the posted
>mileage and roll chart to remind me what was ahead. For the rest of
>the checks I was late anyway so it was just a matter of riding as fast
>as I could – which isn’t all that fast.
>I always complain about there not being any good local riding. With
>that in mind, and this enduro being 30 miles from the house, there
>really wasn’t any reason not to enter. It was cheaper than going to my
>normal “good spot” anyway – both in entry fee and fuel cost. My goal
>was to just relax and have a good time and I came away having done
>exactly that. At one point later in the race I was thinking that I was
>getting pretty tired and could really use a reset and I noticed that I
>had a big smile on my face as I was thinking that. Weird, but true. I
>also saw some old friends and met a few new ones. I really can’t think
>of a better way to spend the day. Getting a 2nd place trophy isn’t so
>bad either, but that’s really just icing on the cake.
>Craig
*******************************
end of ride report
Wudsracer/Jim Cook
Smackover Racing
'06 Gas Gas DE300
'82 Husqvarna XC250
Team LAGNAF
XML Sitemap
> I rode a freshly rebuilt 1988 Honda XR250R in the 2008 Delaware Enduro
> yesterday. The bike ran perfectly all day with the only problem being
> a broken odometer cable thanks to a log. I had one minor crash in the
> mud with no injuries. Finished 2nd in Vet C. All in all, a great day
> of riding.
> Long version:
> A year or so ago, someone gave me a 1988 XR250R with a bad motor. It
> needed everything and wasn’t really worth fixing. Early 2008 it
> occurred to me that there were some advantages related to the cost &
> hassle of tagging a bike in my state that made it worthwhile to fix
> this one. I bought a ratty ’94 for the cartridge forks and rear disc
> brake and set out to build an inexpensive, capable and legitimately
> road legal dual sport. I finished the project a couple of weeks ago
> and did some local test riding to get things sorted out. It had 75
> miles on the odometer when I started the race yesterday. I’m very
> pleased with the outcome, and I think the XR turned out to be exactly
> what I was shooting for.
> I started on row 57, behind 224 other riders. The Delaware Enduro is
> notorious for being very bad when it’s wet, and it always seems to be
> wet. It rained the night prior to the event, but fortunately it had
> been dry for nearly two weeks prior. I hoped that the 200+ riders in
> front of me would dry things up and not rut things up too badly. It
> didn’t work out exactly that way, but it wasn’t a “mudder” by any
> stretch. There was plenty of mud, but no piles of stuck bikes and that
> sort of thing. Mainly, there was a thin layer of greasy mud on top,
> just to make things interesting. There was no shortage of ruts, but
> not too many “bike grabbers.” It rained a little bit during the race,
> but just enough to make it hard to see and not enough to change the
> conditions. I gave some thought to taking my goggles off, but before I
> made a decision, I got jabbed in the face with a stick. The decision
> was made for me, and my goggles stayed on.
> There were many miles of trail through the fragmitis fields (a tall
> cat-tail like plant -http://www.repairmanual.com/images/22/TR1991Jant.jpg )
> that were either deep sand, deep mud or more solid but slick on top.
> They were always slippery. The deep sand was the only place where the
> XR250 could’ve used more HP and it was just a matter of slipping the
> clutch a bit or downshifting now and then. There were also many miles
> of super tight trail that tested my barkbusters countless times. Those
> trails were slick with lots of wet exposed roots and lots of neat
> steep climbs and drops. The XR must think it’s a trials bike since it
> climbed everything with ease, often while going around a stuck bike.
> Must be the lack of excess HP to spend on wheelspin…
> A bit about the bike… The trails through the frag were also full of
> whoops, and the dated suspension and short wheelbase on the XR made
> those exciting. There were other places where the chassis/suspension
> were a little bit limiting, but not to any significant degree. The
> major limiting factor was my own conditioning and the bike may have
> helped there in that it’s easy to just sit down and plonk along on.
> The seat to peg ratio is close which made the transition from sitting
> to standing tough later in the day. It also seems wide and low – I
> knocked my pegs on more stuff than I usually seem to. All in all
> though, I’m very pleased with the bike. I can’t think of any other
> road-legal bike that would be a better bang for the buck. Surely a new
> Husky or KTM is a better bike by a long shot, but they cost a little
> bit more than the ~$1k I have wrapped up in this bike. Besides, I
> passed plenty of them yesterday. My KDX was definitely better in that
> stuff and I could run a faster “race pace” on it, but with no license
> plate it did a lot of sitting in my garage. I was a little worried
> going in since the XR wasn’t exactly a proven (to me) bike yet, but it
> didn’t have a single problem all day and didn’t seem at all stressed
> by anything I asked it to do.
> My odometer cable broke 3.9 miles in. After about twice that many
> miles I looked down and thought, “Wow, this is going to be a long
> day!” Then I noticed the cable hanging freely from the odometer. I’d
> felt something as I squeezed past a log earlier and guess that must’ve
> been it. Fortunately (?) there were only two or three checks that I
> was even able to be on time for and I zeroed those thanks to my minute-
> mates computer (Thanks Will!). It was still nice to use the posted
> mileage and roll chart to remind me what was ahead. For the rest of
> the checks I was late anyway so it was just a matter of riding as fast
> as I could – which isn’t all that fast.
> I always complain about there not being any good local riding. With
> that in mind, and this enduro being 30 miles from the house, there
> really wasn’t any reason not to enter. It was cheaper than going to my
> normal “good spot” anyway – both in entry fee and fuel cost. My goal
> was to just relax and have a good time and I came away having done
> exactly that. At one point later in the race I was thinking that I was
> getting pretty tired and could really use a reset and I noticed that I
> had a big smile on my face as I was thinking that. Weird, but true. I
> also saw some old friends and met a few new ones. I really can’t think
> of a better way to spend the day. Getting a 2nd place trophy isn’t so
> bad either, but that’s really just icing on the cake.
> Craig