Been Lurking over on http://advrider.com and looking at the photos in the PIC section.
Went for a ride on the KTM… this time I went and hit dirt. About five miles on sand, dirt, gravel, and rocks.
I have to be honest, this was absolutely horrifying. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever done. No, seriously… out of everything I’ve ever done – this was the scariest. I got to a point where I overlook Highway 40, and I had to stop to take a breather. I was drenched in sweat and my heart was racing! Oh man. At one point, it felt like my hair was on fire and my balls were on fire… and I glanced down… I was only doing 28 MPH. Oh Man!
But I survived, didn’t face plant. Kept the bike up. Coming back I was able to open it up some more… went faster. Caught a bit of air. It was scary and thrilling.
I’ve wanted an Enduro for years. And I’ve wanted a second bike to add to the Ogre Ranch Stables. Finally brought it home. It’s a KTM 525 MXC… I’ve probably mentioned it before. Well, the deal is done and the bike is mine now.
The bike is in brand new – seriously, like it’s never been ridden, brand new condition with a ton of upgrades. First thing I have got to do to it though… is lower this beast. It’s tall. I’m talking, big time, Shaq Attack altitude. To give some perspective, here it is with my Superhawk…
The bikes were parked almost completely side by side, with the Rear Tires up on the concrete pad… The KTM is a big machine. My ZX-11 isn’t much bigger than the Hawk was in physical size, and the KTM is just dwarfing it. The riding position is very much upright. It’s like a Culture Shock Whiplash riding this thing. Of course, the hard part is getting it going… and by that I mean getting up on it. I’m about 2 inches too short for it, or so it feels. The bike was set up for Desert Racing, which it never had a chance to do, so it’s in Desert Attack Mode right now. Yeah, that’s going to have to be changed a bit. I need it in more “Dual Sport” mode. She’s Street Legal as she sits now, lights and everything… good to go. But Tires and Suspension are set for Baja 1000.
The big question: Why?
Man, I don’t know. I just always wanted an Enduro. I’ve been attracted to Adventure Touring. Go freaking anywhere. Up trails that disappear over mountains. That kinda stuff. Now I have the machine… I need to go do it. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do.
The biggest thing I got to get over is riding on Dirt. I’ll be honest… it scares the shit out of me. I’ve not had good luck on dirt and gravel and such. So this is me overcoming my fear of Earth. Once I can do that – I’ll be in a much better place psychologically when it comes to riding, regardless of what I am on.
I read an article in Motorcyclist Magazine last month that I wanted to share. It’s finally come up on their Web Site. This captures the feeling that I have not been able to communicated.
The article is called “It can take you there.” by Joe Gresh. The last few paragraphs are the juice.
It was a beautiful ride. No pack to synchronize my speed to, no pesky photo stops to interrupt my mojo, no need to think of things to say to people I want to impress. I could go in any direction I cared, alone. Between raindrops, the dense, moisture-laden air condensed into foggy mist. Man, I could smell everything: living things, rotting things.
The forest is a compost heap and I’m on a silver centipede pounding double-time through Deep Musty. Big Banger thuds softly—nothing can stop this engine, man, nothing! The rain falls harder and my hands numb from the cold, wet gloves. I can sense it, further on. More throttle, Big Banger lunges to 70 mph, 3000 rpm. Not enough—more! Seventy-five—it’s just ahead, it has to be! Faster still, Big Banger’s exhaust begins to drone. God, it feels good to shiver—I never want to die! Squirming black road iridescent with oil rising, cut dark green left, dull gray light blasts through a gap, asphalt yawning, stretching. Raining harder, Big Banger’s wheels are circular rivers, water streams from my visor, turn to clear and see trees blurring, and right now each curve is exactly where it should be, exactly!
I lived half a life in hundredths of a second. I wish you could have been there with me. I wish you could have seen me. I caught up with it, man! I caught the moment and it was perfect. And there was nothing in my way!
If that doesn’t make you jump on a Motorcycle and head out, nothing will. When I read that, I thought, “Man, he nailed it. That is it!” That was poetry.
Riding a motorcycle makes one contemplate mortality, as I hold it on my own hands… I am more aware of it. Every time I fire up the engine, I know it could be my last time. I say a little prayer… Asking that I have a good ride, and if it be my last, that I am taken home quickly. I trust in my Skill, and in my God. I have faith. This allows me to Not Fear. As a result, I enjoy my Ride more… And I enjoy everything else more too… My Wife. My Children. My Friends. And the little things in life are sweeter too. A sip of a cold Tea. A smile from a pretty girl. A laugh from kid. Wind in my face. Jokes are funnier. Food tastes better.
I don’t ride because I want to die. I ride because I want to live.
Unplanned, I sold my bike. An offer was made on my Superhawk. So I sold it. I was surprised, as the thought totally had not occured to me.
Oh well. It’s done. So I shall be getting a new bike. Something that is not a Honda. In fact, its very un-Honda. The Anti-Honda. Something I’ve never had before. It’s also very large and heavy, and that makes me nervous. It’s also ridiculously fast… But not something that will have me riding like I have been. This will be a good upgrade for me. One I can cross the country on… and will.
As a second bike. Not going to give up my Street ride. I’m broke, so no need to send me links or offers for Enduro bikes… It’s going to be some time before I’m ready to get serious. But a friend offered to let me test ride his KTM 525 MXC freaking monster of an Enduro.
Plenty of torque, effortless wheelies even when you are not really wanting to wheelie. But wow… You are tall in the saddle on that machine! Stretching my legs, I could barely touch the ground with my tip toes. When braking, the front end had a good dive to it… could have been unsettling, but the bike was very solid and stable. But if I got one of these, I’d have to spend a lot of time to get used to this sort of machine. Plenty of juice for a lot of Get Up and Go. Getting on the bike is tricky. Getting off the bike is also tricky. I’d want an Eduro that’s about 2 inches shorter.
We here at Crusader have been slowly working on automotive products. Very slowly since we don’t have a dedicated Test Mule.
I’ve been wanting to use Slipstream in my bikes engines. Unfortunately my bikes have all used wet clutches. Slipstream in that type of engine would mean I would have no clutch at all. So instead, I Slipstreamed the Clutch Lever and Brake Lever. I pulled the levers out, cleaned up the brackets, and used Slipstream Styx on the friction points. The results were dramatic increases in the smoothness and feel.
Is it possible for a bike to feel “happy”? Because it does.
Still haven’t tried it on the chain yet.
There are other applications I’ll be testing as well.
Where the Hell is Murph? This is a very interesting guy…
This is the X132 Hellcat from Confederate. It radiates Badass like it’s the Chernobyl of Badassery. Even the name is badass. Let’s talk about the name for a sec… It’s very fitting. In WWII at the start of the Pacific Theatre Conflict, the US Navy had a lot of fighters called the Wildcat. The Jap Zeroes had little problem knocking them out of the sky as the Zeeks were faster, more agile, and just gave us hell. So the US Navy decided to give them hell. They came out with the Hellcat and it was all about brutality. More powerful engines and weapons and all the sudden the table was turned. It was an overpowered, overgunned fighter that claimed 5271 enemy fighters – more than any other allied aircraft.
Now take a look at this motorcycle and tell me it’s not worthy of that name!
2163 CC’s of Muscle giving the Hellcat 132 Horsepower and an asskicking 150 pounds of torque. That’s a ridiculous amount of power in such a little bike. It’s heavy, 500 pounds, but that weight is all engine. This bike is a wicked cross between a Bobber and a Cafe Racer.
The Hellcat is no chopped and beefed up Harley. Don’t let the V-Twin engine fool you. This bike is engineered from the ground up to be exactly what it is… a brutal force of nature that has no mercy for it’s enemies… Everything on the bike is designed specifically for it’s purpose. This is Engineering from the school of the Ends Justify The Means.
The Cafe Racer style is my favorite kind of motorcycle. It’s stripped down, purpose driven, lean, and angry. And then there is Confederate Motorcycle’s take on the Cafe Racer concept… I think the early planning stages had a discussion over what bike this would end up being.
“Gentilemen, this is a Cafe Racer.” Thuggish looking brutes with folded arms and stoney faces looked at the little Cafe bike with disapproval. One of them unfolded an arm like a side of beef and raised it…
“It needs more.”
“More of what?”
And then to illustrate what the bike needed more off, the large brute smashed the board room table into splinters with his fists, and then ate it.
“Build it.”
And that’s how the Hellcat was born… through malice and furious rage. This is bike isn’t in a Biker’s Dream… This bike is in a Biker’s Nightmares – this is coming after them – and they can’t get away from it no matter what they do. The hellcat is coming for them. This is the bike that Death himself rides, this is Mortis. And Hell follows it.