First proper day out Cumbria.

[MarkF12]

Hi all ,just got back from a full days trail riding in the lake district. Clocked 95 miles with only about 25 on tarmac. This was with a trf member of 20 yrs as a guide. We started off from Greenodd up trails along coniston water ,afew trails in Grizedale forest, then towards the old man of coniston ,down the other side crossing hardknott pass towards whitestones ,rounded ambleside and hawkshead then back into Grizedale to do the rest of trails available ending back at the start over 7 hrs later. Some trails were started and nearly ended only to have to turn round and retrace due to closures, A lot of the trails were on the old slate tracks past old slate mines long disused.I only fell off once but that was enough to scrap the no plate break off the left barkbuster and headlight switch, mind the bike ended upside down, petrol everywhere after afew mins right way up it started 3rd kick the old crm never missed a beat all day with only a slack chain showing wear after a days abuse (apart from crash damage) but the other bike an XR 250 once stopped didnt want to start again. Praise must go to trf John who showed me round with only looking at the OS maps once when we had to backtrack. Allin all a n ace day ,chuffed to bits with the CRM.. PS anyone got a lh switchgear OOPS!.

[fallenmikethebike]

Well done Mark, that sounds like a tough but thoroughly enjoyable day out.
Mike

[MarkF12]

Thanks mate, just back in after repairs ,sorted out the switch using a housing from the local breaker for 2 quid in a box of mixed bits,new flexy plate on order spare barkbuster fitted. Iam running 13 45 at the mo, maybe 48 or 50 at the back, any ideas of the top end or low gear effect idealy i would like 2nd gear where first gear is now.Could be usefull on the gnarly stuff.

[knackeredMk1]

I use 13/48 at the moment which is fine off road. I'm changing to 13/45 to give me a better road range and for the rally.

[fallenmikethebike]

I run 14/ 45 , and use the same gearing for everything, roads, trail riding, Trials, and Long distance Trials.
It's just what i have got use to, i did find that, though low gearing would appear to be the way to go for some circumstances, the rear end would break traction to quickly, mostly due to the power the bikes churn out, unfortunately i can only speak about my AR at the moment.
Mike

[knackeredMk1]

'I run 14/ 45 , and use the same gearing for everything, roads, trail riding, Trials, and Long distance Trials.
It's just what i have got use to, i did find that, though low gearing would appear to be the way to go for some circumstances, the rear end would break traction to quickly, mostly due to the power the bikes churn out, unfortunately i can only speak about my AR at the moment.'


And your AR is such a fireball .

[MarkF12]

I am still finding the gearing a bit high I was thinking about buying a 12 T front just to try out, it will give the same ratio as a 49 T rear ,I know it will rub the swing arm protector a bit more.As a sprocket is less than a tenner if i dont like it ah well., saved me buying a new 13 48 and chain. Anyone tried this .

[Eddie Evans]

Glad you had a great trail ride
I ran 13 - 49 but changed to 14- 52 which should be about the same but I was hoping for better sprocket and chain life.
The bike will hit about a true 80mph(GPS) with this gearing but TBH 60 is about all I feel comfortable with on the road as I ride it with full knobblies. I only use the bike for trail riding so this is no problem.
The low first seems to be great for starting off on slippery slopes as it allows the bike to chug away at very low revs without stalling, a taller gear would need more revs to get going and possibly break traction. It has certainly allowed me to embarrass a few on the latest orange offerings when my knackered old Honda crawls up a hill that theirs can't
Other than that most of the time on the trails is spent in the higher gears and I have yet to rev out in top although this would be possible if I rode rallies where long fire roads are used.
If you go for the 13 - 49 as long as you leave the new chain long enough you can always change to 14- 49 which will be close to your current setting of 13-45.
Eddie

[MarkF12]

Thanks for the reply Eddie that seems to be the way to go will try it ,Hope your CRM is running well now ,What area N Wales , Wrexham is 45 mins away.

[Eddie Evans]

Thanks for the reply Eddie that seems to be the way to go will try it ,Hope your CRM is running well now ,What area N Wales , Wrexham is 45 mins away.

The CRM is running like a good un (well at the moment anyway )
Not too far from Wrexham.
If you think that you are serious about trail riding join the TRF and the muddymonkey/ virtual peaks site as there are always rides out.

[MarkF12]

Thanks again Eddie, glad to hear the CRM is running well,I am in the Lancashire TRF.Now I am on short time should be able to get out a bit more.