I was invited to attend the Dirt Rider 24 hour ride based on the volunteer work that I do for the Dualies (Adopt-A-Trail coordinator) as an OHV Volunteer, and for our family's work with Guide Dogs for the Blind. As a result, O.C. Dualies President, Larry Langley nominated me, and the Blue Ribbon Committee invited me to attend as their guest.

The event was held at the Glen Helen Race Track on Tuesday, January 30. This was in the teeth of the cold front that roared out of the Gulf of Alaska and brought rain and snow to the LA Basin and surrounding mountains. Needless to say, it was butt cold, with snow flurries descending on us out the mountains, and the trail and track would developed a bad case of white spots, but would then clear as the front passed.

The Dirt Rider 24Hr is a motorcycle industry happening that is sponsored by the magazine of the same name. The purpose, as I understand it, is to take the best bikes that the major manufacturers have to offer, dial them in for the riders preferences, and then ride and evaluate them for 24 hours straight. Riders rotate through the available motorcycles, riding the course for an hour on each, and then jot down their impressions of the machinery. Dirt Rider, in turn, gathers the impressions and writes a feature article

Riding Assignment for the DR24 Hr

Checking out a Auto-Clutch Husaberg 500

You will notice some prominent go-fast names on this list (for instance the "Dick" refers to none other than Dick Burleson), but notice that the wee hours of the morning are assigned to something called the "Conga Line". I discovered that this referred to local enduro riders that ride the bikes is the least desirable time-slots. They really earned their catered lunch and dinner, as the weather continued to deteriorate during the day and the snow showers became more and more frequent. Brrrrr, riding through the night in sub-freezing temperatures and falling snow really tests the rider's abilities and resolve.

Their task was made a little bit easier by a new product from Night Rider, a small High Intensity Discharge light that clamps to the mouth guard of the helmet, a battery pack that clips to the belt, and lights up the night for 4 to 5 hours with a brilliant white light. NR was loaning these units to the riders, or selling them to interested parties at the ride for half the $400 price.

There were plenty of tricked out motorcycles for the troops to ride. One was the Husaberg show above, which featured an automatic clutch. The bike featured a standard looking clutch lever that functioned in the conventional manner for hole-shots and up to the half power point. After reaching that power level, the rider could forget about the clutch for shifting. Apparently the mechanism automatically disengages the power when the bike is shifted, freeing the rider of at least one of the chores of competitive riding. The big bore KTM shared this feature, as well as an additional 20 cc's for those who can't quite get enough power. Another notable motorcycle was a dual-sported Honda 450 gracing the Baja Designs tent. When asked if that was a difficult conversion, the reply was "sure was", as the 450 does not have lighting coils or other features usually required for dual sport machinery.

Don Amador and Malcolm Smith, and Malcolm's KTM

Rob Sobchik, Rick Guidice, Don Amador, and some of the aftermarket tents in background

It was really neat, I got to meet Rick Guidice, Don Amador, Malcolm Smith and many other movers and shakers in the Motorcycle Industry. Notice the extra padding in the seat on Macolm's KTM 250. He claims that he has really slowed down since the crash where he broke his forearm, but I wager even his "slow" speed would leave most of us choking in his dust. There was much discussion during the day about issues affecting the industry, especially on the issues or reducing the noise emitted by the newer four stroke bikes, and the noise increases caused by going to some of the aftermarket exhaust systems. It was clear that the old "Less Sound = More Ground" saw has never been more important than it is today.

Riders Briefing before the start

After a short rider's briefing that described the course and told about the danger spots, the first wave of riders mounted up and started off. The lap times for the hard way were about a half an hour, while the easy loop could be ridden in about 10 minutes. The hard way took the riders up some fairly steep, rocky and rutted hill climbs and along a trail that ran through the trees very close to the I-15 freeway. With the rains, this natural drainage course was muddy with exposed tree roots that caught the inattentive rider and slammed him into the ground. I'll bet DR put this section in course in order to make the Eastern Enduro riders Like Dick Burleson feel right at home Even the easy way had a challenging rocky downhill that lead back through several tunnels under the motocross track and into the pits.

Riders coming back to the Pits

Riders view of the Pits

There were a number of ways to experience the course. Obviously, you could take the test bikes out, as many riders did, you could over-fly the course in the Honda's helicopter or you could take your own bikes out onto the course.

Not being part of the motorcycle in crowd, and put off by the long lines waiting to board the helicopter, we opted to take our own bikes out on the course.

My venerable XR-350 was back home in my garage with a flat tire that I earned in a OHV patrol the Saturday before, but Dualie president Larry Langley had brought his new Honda 650 (see picture) and Eric Bondhus had brought his XR400. Eric generously volunteered to let met take his bike out on the course. I have to admit that I was extremely impressed with Eric's bike, which was a past Cycle World Magazine project bike. I had ridden stock XR400's and was unimpressed with the power and put off by the starting drill that most riders had to use to get the fire going. Eric's bike had some extensive engine work done that made it pull more like a two stroke. Eric said that it was the 12:1 piston, ¾ race cam, porting and bored out carburetor that was responsible for the performance. He maintained that the bike made as much power as the 440 kits that were out there for this bike, but that gearing work (high primary gear ratio, lower final drive ratio) that reduced the tooth loading on the gears and results in longer transmission life.

In this case the end definitely justified the means, as these modifications brought the bike alive, power wise, while not making it more difficult to start or reducing the service life. By the time I was finished riding Eric's bike it was too late to give Larry's 650 a try. If I can screw up my courage, I'll have to give that baby a try.

One really nice feature that the organizers had arranged was access to a power washer that everyone was using to clean the mud of their bikes before loading up. I don't think that a hose would have cut the high clay content mud that clung to the bikes. At any rate, with the sun rapidly setting, and the snow showers turning to a steady snowfall, we loaded up the bikes and headed for home. I'm sure glad that I had never learned how to do the conga, as I didn't envy those riders, no matter how trick the machinery they were riding.

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