El Mirage Dry Lake and Surrounding

[DubbleJay]

1 Week post Buying, buddy and I took our bikes out to El Mirage.

What a great day, really got used to the bike and how she handles. Went through just about everything except water, this is the desert afterall. Dumped it once, bogged it down once. Heres to not riding alone....

The OEM tires handled much better than I was expecting aired down to 28psi rear, 26psi front. Powered through everything but got squirrely in the sand.

Lots of rocks, sand, thorny brush, steep climbs and decents... 26 bone crushing up and downs... video coming soon, enjoy the pics for now.

 

[DubbleJay]

Heres a bit of the video... All critics of riding ability welcomed, definitely learned a lot. But welcome to learn more.

https://vimeo.com/50087395

 

[AlsoRan]

Heres a bit of the video... All critics of riding ability welcomed, definitely learned a lot. But welcome to learn more.

https://vimeo.com/50087395

Hey DubbleJay, thanks for sharing! Good to see the area again, I'm actually planning to go there in a few weeks myself. Used to race desert and each year up until the late '70's they would hold a few events specifically in that area. Fun stuff but then the BLM took it over.

Make sure you turn off traction control, it seemed from the video that it was still on especially after the restart. Good place to take the Super T though...good on you.

 

[AVGeek]

Did you make it up to the Crow's Nest on the ST? I had a hard time with that one on my quad...

 

[DubbleJay]

Hey DubbleJay, thanks for sharing! Good to see the area again, I'm actually planning to go there in a few weeks myself. Used to race desert and each year up until the late '70's they would hold a few events specifically in that area. Fun stuff but then the BLM took it over.

Make sure you turn off traction control, it seemed from the video that it was still on especially after the restart. Good place to take the Super T though...good on you.

Yeah, figuring out the TCS settings made for some interesting moments. Good to just keep it off huh? What about when bogged out in soft sand?

 

[DubbleJay]

Did you make it up to the Crow's Nest on the ST? I had a hard time with that one on my quad...

Ho no I wish. I was on the OEM tires, wasnt quite ready for it.... Next time with K60's maybe ::008::

 

[spklbuk]

Too much fun for one man to keep to himself. Thanks for letting us tag along. ::008::

You will love the K60s if you run such terrain often.

 

[AlsoRan]

Yeah, figuring out the TCS settings made for some interesting moments. Good to just keep it off huh? What about when bogged out in soft sand?

Keep it off even if you are bogged down. You will need to control wheel spin with the throttle without TCS disengaging when you don't want it to. Also some wheel spin can be a good thing when riding in the dirt.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Looks fun, except for that sand part. I was surprised you managed to go as far as you did in TCS1. I've definitely experienced transmission shutdowns when I've forgotten to take it out of TCS1. I'm sure the lawyers are to blame, but I do wish Yam would allow the bike to stay in the last setting.

Thanks for the pics and video. Good stuff.

 

[CREnorth]

Cool video Dubblejay, thanks for posting. For me turning the TC off works best. The only time I turn it on when riding in the dirt is when i"ve been stuck. The thing that works for me is to almost always stand up and put alot of weight on the outside peg when in corners.
There is some good dvd's out there on how to ride these big heavy bikes. I learn more everytime I ride in the dirt.