Testing My New Suspension on Single Track Didn't Go As Planned - CRF300L Rally
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ธ.ค. 2024
- Well, it turns out that upgraded suspension didn't instantly make me a more competent rider. Now I'm nursing my pride, as well as my wounds.
On the bright side, my crash bars and hand guards have continued to prove their worth. No issues with the bike at all.
I really appreciate that you didn't edit out all that much from your experience. I am getting up there in years and went to an off road school of sorts. 2 weeks of fun and falls and 2 months for my body to heal. Your video perfectly illustrates that it's not a walk in the park if you dump it in the middle of nowhere. Nor is riding off road super easy for the average Joe who might be a weekend warrior and in average shape. When you hear the guys narrating from their helmet calmly as they bomb trails like this and harder at light speed... it gives one respect once you've gone out there and done it yourself and seen how hard it is - Good job, by the way!
Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, as embarrassing as it can be sometimes, I'm trying to keep it real. Not all of us have been riding dirt bikes since before we could walk :)
You’re one tough dude! Sorry about your spill and injury. That’s a tough break but I certainly appreciate your candor and calm grit. Many would not show their mishaps. And many do not have the grit to calmly pick the bike up and ride back to the house with a possible broken leg. Thanks for sharing so we can all learn. I hope you heal quickly and can get back out there soon - Riders and their bikes are safer at home, but that is not what they’re meant for - While you’re healing up would be an excellent time to do that video about specific tools for the Rally😊
Thanks! And you’re right - great idea for a down-time video.
So sorry for your pain. BUMMER but it will heal. I went to an off road school and one thing I learned was the guy that owned it told me the #1 accident is people hurting there feet / ankle. So I went out and bought some proper boots. I was riding in steel tipped work boots but now I have high boots and it does make a difference and hopefully I can avoid what happened to you. Get better soon!
Thanks! I really should have known better on the boots, but sometimes it doesn’t sink in with me until I learn the hard way 🤷♂️
Oh No! Hope you heal fast brother. I own the Alpinestars Tech 7 Enduro boots and love them. Two riding seasons on them with no issues. Ride on brother.
Thanks man. I’m definitely in the market for some better boots now. I’ll give the Tech 7s a look.
Heal up and +1 on the Tech 7s. I’m also a novice off-road rider and had first gotten a pair of toucans on close out. When I signed up for ADVRider’s Death Valley Noobs Rally, they were basically shouting that everyone should be wearing a Tech 7 or better. So I begrudgingly bought a pair and couldn’t believe how much additional protection they offered over the Toucans-including rigidity in the ankle and shins. I’ve landed under with my leg under a G310 GS a couple times with them on. 😅
@@dwmorrissey Really good to know. Based on all these comments, the Tech 7s are front runners on my list.
I'm sorry about your ankle. Thanks for your honesty in posting this. Yeh, I think if you had some Tech 7 boots on you might have been able to avoid the ankle injury. I like your videos. Keep it up!
Thanks, and yes - I’m 99% sure that if I had had boots with solid ankle support I would have been up and riding for another couple of hours that day with no worries. Live and learn.
Sorry to hear of your injury. After I got my CRF300L I decided to get motocross boots. I’ve always heard they provide the best ankle support. Being 65 years old I figured I need all the ankle support I could get. Course it all depends on how we fall. Hope you heal up soon!
Yeah, I’ve learned my lesson the hard way. It’ll be MX boots for me once I’m back in the saddle.
Ouch! Yeah I started out with only upper body protection and regular boots and jeans. My left knee is still recovering from a hit it took a year ago. I bought riding pants with armor after that and some decent boots. The problem with the boots is that they are really stiff, and the temptation is always there to skip them because I don't plan on "doing anything serious." I feel ya!
Sorry about your knee. I don't know how old you are, but at my age (50) pretty much every injury lingers for an eternity.
I wear everything but boots , i've tried 3 and they are always too narrow , and yes I order a size up, i'm not chinese is the problem .It's also a hazzard when you can't shift right .
@@leeinwisShifting is definitely a different experience with MX boots. I've never tried the "adventure" boots; not sure whether they're any better than hiking boots.
I know it’s just a steady stream of unsolicited advice here, but I’d highly recommend you put the InReach on your body instead of your bars in case a bike dump leads to a bigger injury where you are either pinned by, or separated from the bike itself.
Thanks - I have thought about that, but haven’t figured out a place to hang it on myself that gives it line-of-sight with the sky, and doesn’t bug me. Also, with it mounted to the bike, I never forget to grab it. Pros and cons.
i see a lot of lower leg injuries on the channels I watch, and I don't want to be a keyboard warrior, but one piece of advice I get is if you ride in the dirt, wear MX boots, period full stop. Not adv boots, not touring boots, its not even a matter of quality or price ( as in, your boots may be expensive but if they're not MX boots, they will not protect you in basically MX conditions). Just something a lot of people on line and a lot of people I personally know and respect told me (*I am absolutely not in any position to GIVE advice, I am merely sharing what people smarter and more experienced than me have told me). Anyway, I hope you're better soon, those high ankle sprains are indeed nasty - wishing you a speedy recovery!
I don’t think passing on good advice is the same as being a keyboard warrior. I appreciate the tip.
@@HighDesertHills ✌️
I can’t believe you just hopped back on and continued the ride with a calm narration. I would have bawled like a baby.
I was bawling on the inside.
Thanks for video. Wish you a good recovery!
Thanks!
Thanks for the tour again. I hope you mend well and fast!!!
Thanks!
Your spot on with the boot issue. I made the mistake of buying adventure boots for off road riding and did the same thing you did (have the 300 rally with new suspension too). Best thing I did after healing up was buying a set of SIDI motocross boots to protect against future side crush & twist issues. Rest up and hope to see your next video when your recovered 👍
Thanks! The consensus definitely seems to be full MX boots. I’ll check out the SIDIs. I have a pair of cheap MX boots, but they’re super uncomfortable and hard to shift in. Hoping to find something that feels better than those.
I e been riding the SP area out there pretty steady for the past 7 years. My main riding buddy lives in EM. Alot of fun trails out there. I have a buddy with a 300l that's considering doing some suspension work so I've been checking out a few videos to see if it's worth it or not. I know the Racetech build I did on my DR350 has been amazing. Having had close calls early on I never ride now without my moto boots, knee protection and a good helmet.
Love your TH-cam name 🙂 I’ve heard nothing but good things about the Racetech shocks on these bikes. I’m sure that would be a great way to go. And yeah. I’ve definitely learned my lesson on protection. Still getting used to shifting with my new MX boots, but it gets more natural feeling every time I go out.
Damit! Sorry for your pain! Hope you heal up fast. I wear Forma boots, I have a 1K miles in them and I absolutely love them. When I say that they are comfortable, I’m talking slippers comfortable... I can literally wear them all day walking around town, and they offer very good ankle support and protection.
Formas are definitely ones I’ve checked out before. Thanks for your feedback on them!
+1 on Forma. I have the Terra Evo x and they've saved my left leg 2 times on my 690.
Kudos to you to stretch yourself and to venture out some more into the single track world. I am not a Graham Jarvis but please bear with me in pointing out one thing in your riding that I believe will propel your confidence to the next level. Stand, stand, and stand some more. Rule of thumb, proper enduro riding requires standing over 80% of the time, when your bike hits those baby heads and ruts that will put you down if standing the rear end is free to correct itself without you getting thrown out of balance and with the COG on the pegs instead of the seat that will equate to staying in control. Don't know what kind of boots you were wearing but over 65% of all enduro injuries are below the knee and most are avoidable with high quality MX boots (have to have a hinged ankle not the little plastic donuts over the malleolus of the ankle, these boots start in the 300.00 range but worth every penny. Cheers
Thanks for the pointers. Yeah, at the very end of this video I show what boots I was wearing and they were flimsy pieces of garbage. I’ve since bought some nice Sidi Crossfires with the hinged ankle you mentioned. Never go out without them now 👍
Hello! Would it be okay to use it in moto edit? Full credited of course
Sure - thanks for asking
That sounded painful. I feel for ya bud. I hope you heal / healed quick. Subscribed 😂
Thanks for the subscription! The ankle is 90% better :)
I watched your tire change video, I'm going to use the same combination. I'm curious if this video was with the new tires or stock?
This was with stock.
@@HighDesertHills thanks for the reply. I don't have a lot of confidence in the stock tires, they just don't stick
If it makes you feel any better I dropped my Rally 3 times last Sunday. Hope your healing up OK. The suspension video was cool. No matter what suspension I see people put on the bike seems to sag down almost the same as stock once they sit on it (within an inch or so) The RR stage-2 set up would be higher all around but, that would be one tall bike.
Hope you didn’t end up with any injuries from your drops. And yeah - The RR stage two would be nice for the added travel, but just way too tall for me.
Alpinestar corisol ,,and I always look way up ahead while riding on trails plus ya where I'm presently riding also if that helps
Thanks for the tip. For the boots I ended up going with Sidi Crossfire 3's. So far so good.
My two cents worth as someone who has been riding off road for a long time and has had some pretty bad body damage from it - please get yourself the best MX boots you can afford, actually even if you can’t afford it get the best MX boots period plus good knee guards. It’s a hassle to put them on and all but worse to live with years of pain and limp. Also go out to your bike now and remove those terrible rubber inserts from your pegs,McHenry go back inside and order some real pegs, wider/stronger/sharper… makes a huge difference to control. Hope the ankle is healed ok dude. I have a bunch of bikes but bought a CRFL after riding around Vietnam and Japan on one, great little do it all bike. Suspension is a joke for trail riding though… I will invest in the Rally Raid kit as well, thanks for your videos on it. Won’t be getting rid of my enduro bikes though for proper off road… you should look at getting a KTM 350 ExCF or similar as a second bike if you really want to improve your speed and control (and safety) cheers
Thanks for the tips! I’ve already purchased better MX boots than I can afford 😂 And yeah, I definitely should have yanked the rubber inserts for that ride. I like them fine for pavement and casual gravel roads, but I knew better than to hit anything remotely technical with them still installed.
Bummer and I also damaged a leg last month on my rally and also have to take a few weeks off at least. I feel you
Bummer indeed. I hope you’re healing up well.
@@HighDesertHills had plate and screws installed friday, waiting 2 weeks for healing then I can start light use. Still kickin !
@@2fastnlight Yikes! I’m really hoping mine heals up without hardware, but they said it’s a possibility. Hope you get bionic powers when it’s all healed up 🤞
That sucks man, glad it wasn’t worse. Side note you sound like me all a huffen & a puffen
Haha, yeah, I was thinking I should have pulled the mic farther away from my mouth 😂
Skilled riders can do that trail much faster on stock setup, Skill is most important. Great video tho, keep em coming 👍
For sure. Skill trumps just about every upgrade.
@@HighDesertHills Amen and every ride gains those skills. Keep it up brother 🤙
💯
Don’t be a tool. He wasn’t claiming to be going fast.
@@niceguyrides Just saying skill is most important and he agreed, sooo whats your problem? Looking for a comment fight 🤣🤣🤣 chillll out!
are you not wearing MX boots?!
I wasn’t. I won’t make that mistake again. I went out and bought some nice ones after this.
What boots are you riding with?
In this video I was just wearing some cheap flimsy boots. I now wear Sidi Crossfire 3s. They’re way better, and very protective.
You just need to practice aggressive turning. It involves moving the bike underneath you, throttle input, weight transfer etc. it’s a different technique not a product of gradually riding faster.
Thanks - I’ve actually been tempted to take an actual off road class so I can work on honing the correct skills and not reinforcing bad habits.
its all about area51??? wich is y u dontwant me to get a dirt bike?
Yes
As melhoras e óptimo conteúdo
Thanks!
Please... Please Don't mount your InReach on your handlebars. Keep it on your person. You will get tossed in an accident and your bike might not be with you. I am on the East Coast in NC and see this scenario often.
Thanks for the tip. You’re actually not the first person I’ve heard this from. My problem is figuring out a way to always remember to bring it with me if it’s not already on my bike. And then there’s the issue of keeping it somewhere on my person that also has line-of-sight with the sky. The one thing I have in my favor in regards to being thrown from the bike is that my wife tends to keep an eye on my tracking points when I’m off the grid, so at least she would be aware that there was a problem if I stopped moving for a while and she couldn’t get ahold of me. Not the perfect solution, but better than me forgetting the device at home. I do appreciate the concern though.
Sorry - just realized that I responded when I was logged into my other TH-cam channel. The response above from The Pepper Tree Market was me. Thanks again!
you mneed some better tires meng
I’m sure that would have helped too.