How would you rate your personal health & fitness level?

[FastFreddy]

Originally Posted by LeeD

I might be wrong, but one of my old Baja500 buds said the KX-500 had more than enough horses to go 100mph, but the desert makes you pay a huge penalty if you stuff the front end at that speed. He came in top 5 at least 3 years.
Believe it or not, I'm starting to almost run on the tennis courts! After Sept. '07, I hadn't run more than 3 steps due to the ankle problem, but my body adapted, albeit slowly, and I can actually run for wide balls and overheads that land within 2' of the baseline.
It's weird though, I can now get there, but I have to learn to setup the feet all over again, making this current evolution of LeeD by far the most clumsy...

Did u break it or just twist it really bad? I have not played tennis tourments or leagues since 1999 just after my 2nd shoulder surgery. Can't wait to start riding again. I use to wear a bell moto 3 helment now they are up to bell moto 9 helments. My 1985 cr500 had 50 hp and was a tank at 235pounds and I was only 158lbs. Now Iam 198lbs riding a 69hp Honda 500af weighing 213.8 pounds. I still have to make up my mind if I should get the 3 or 4 gallon upgrade. 1.5 gallon is not alot. all new 450 4 strokes have a 1.6 tank but I heard the Servive Honda 500af 2 stroke goes thur 30 percent more gas than a 450 4 stroke. So I need aleast 3 gallons to equal 2 gallons of a 4 stroke. One person said he got 14 miles to a gallon with his af500 not sure if that is good or bad. Iam sure track and riding style affects mpg alot hard to compare. I was thinking go with the 4 gallon tank to keep the front end down. The extra 12 pounds of gas should help so I don't flip over.

[LeeD]

Couple three docs say unofficially I have torn tendons in the top of my foot, which explains why it takes so long to heal and that I can still windsurf just fine, but have trouble snowboarding and loading that ankle.
My KX-420 actually got about 30 mpg. But it also holeshot 80% of the starts, so I couldn't complain. My bud's Maico490 actually got worse mileage. My roomate's CR-450 got about 50 mpg. The Husky390WR I had for 4 months barely got 30. My BSA500MX got about 65 mpg, used the old Husky aluminum 1.6 gallon tank and did fine on the sand beach rides for over 1.5 hours, including keystone cop chase scenes running from the SanFrancisco City Cops.
Still, as I said, adding fork and shock oil, tranny and water coolant, + the minimum 3 gallon tank (presume you ride in the desert), you're looking at 235lbs. minimum.
Maybe run a slow throttle to start....or don't take a handful of throttle.

[FastFreddy]

Originally Posted by LeeD

Couple three docs say unofficially I have torn tendons in the top of my foot, which explains why it takes so long to heal and that I can still windsurf just fine, but have trouble snowboarding and loading that ankle.
My KX-420 actually got about 30 mpg. But it also holeshot 80% of the starts, so I couldn't complain. My bud's Maico490 actually got worse mileage. My roomate's CR-450 got about 50 mpg. The Husky390WR I had for 4 months barely got 30. My BSA500MX got about 65 mpg, used the old Husky aluminum 1.6 gallon tank and did fine on the sand beach rides for over 1.5 hours, including keystone cop chase scenes running from the SanFrancisco City Cops.
Still, as I said, adding fork and shock oil, tranny and water coolant, + the minimum 3 gallon tank (presume you ride in the desert), you're looking at 235lbs. minimum.
Maybe run a slow throttle to start....or don't take a handful of throttle.

How long ago did u hurt it? What were you doing any sports? Well the other 4 strokes are listed 235 dry and this bike is listed 213.8 dry. So 4 stroke 450's would be like 260 with gas and oil. My shoulder tendon took 7 months to heal. I tweaked my achilles tendon and that took 10 months to heal since I still played some tennis on it. Not going to ride in the desert sand gets in everywhere a bit$h to clean. I am going to take it to a mx track and ride in dirt. I only rode once in sand in NJ and hated it!! I think I will opt for the 4 gallon tank so I can ride longer and not need to refill at the track. I think I will be shot after 4 gallons and go home and take a nap!!

[LeeD]

Hurt it Sept.'08 landing a moderate, maybe 8' high jump on my windsurf board with footstraps set too big. My foot, upon landing, jammed in too far and twisted hard inwards. I immediately knew something was wrong, and sailed in, very gingerly, no weight on that front foot.
Haven't run for a tennis ball until last week, when I ran for a lob to within 2' of the baseline. Everyone expressed concern.
I'd really worry about the power on a MX track. Think of doing doubles and an extra, unintended tweak of the throttle in the heat of battle.
I used to beat the BostromBros whenever we raced on a blue groove track, or on mud races. They'd kill me in wide open traction tracks (VetExpert). They rode CR-500's against my KX420 or RM-500's, which had much much less overall power, but more tractable and easy to ride. Even my HuskyWR-390, got some holeshots, just due to it's easy riding tractable power.
OTOH, maybe I"m a wimp at heart. Still, was weighing around 140 then.
I think you're gonna spend lots of $$$ on rear tires.

[FastFreddy]

Originally Posted by LeeD

Hurt it Sept.'08 landing a moderate, maybe 8' high jump on my windsurf board with footstraps set too big. My foot, upon landing, jammed in too far and twisted hard inwards. I immediately knew something was wrong, and sailed in, very gingerly, no weight on that front foot.
Haven't run for a tennis ball until last week, when I ran for a lob to within 2' of the baseline. Everyone expressed concern.
I'd really worry about the power on a MX track. Think of doing doubles and an extra, unintended tweak of the throttle in the heat of battle.
I used to beat the BostromBros whenever we raced on a blue groove track, or on mud races. They'd kill me in wide open traction tracks (VetExpert). They rode CR-500's against my KX420 or RM-500's, which had much much less overall power, but more tractable and easy to ride. Even my HuskyWR-390, got some holeshots, just due to it's easy riding tractable power.
OTOH, maybe I"m a wimp at heart. Still, was weighing around 140 then.
I think you're gonna spend lots of $$$ on rear tires.

Can u still go windsurf? How much do u weigh now? I was only 128lbs when I got my first 125 at 5'10 3/4 I was like a toothpick. I lifted alot of weights over the years until I got up to 198 by 25 years old. Even at 192 I felt too skinny. I bulked up to 230 but too heavy for tennis. I played my best tennis on clay at 215lbs. Nah I doubt I will ride that much, I think I will have to drive a bit away to find some dirt on here it's mostly sand out here. I only time I wore out a rear tire was riding my 125, 250 and 500 on the streets of NYC and not one cop could ever catch me. They also caught kids of those little kx, cr, rm, yz 80's. I even rode on the hwy at night pinned out in fifth gear not sure how fast I was going since no spedo but I was moving. I evn rode in the rain at night which was a hand full with dirt tires haha.

[LeeD]

Last week I was 147 lbs. Still right at 5'11".
During the summer, I windsurf with the best National caliber slalom sailors, go fast, make fast jibes with no mistakes. Even the National Champ in slalom, TysonPoor, and we're about dead even. I've been competing since 1986 in slalom.
I back off a bit on jumps, so nothing close to 5 years ago. Still get the fin about 8' off the water. Landing on water is just much softer than dirt, snow, or cement.
I actually don't go to sites where there is consistent high winds, as that would tempt me to always go for the highest jumps of anyone on the water. I shouldn't be landing those jumps at my age.
On our open bikes, everyone would replace the rear tires after maybe 6 races. 125's could last longer, but only if the tracks were maintained and well watered. Blue groove tracks needed new tires every other race.
We practiced mostly on sand tracks at OceanBeach, SanFrancisco, right at the now City Sewer Plant, next to SFZoo. For some reason, I never got my Open bikes running at the Zoo sand track. Always rode 125's and 250's there.
Most fun was running from the cops on my BSA500MX. The cops had Honda350 dual purpose bikes, Harley street bikes, FordT%C sedans, and helicopters, which surprisingly, weren't too hard to lose in the tunnels to the beach and the houses in the SunsetDistrict.
Horses were the jokes. They'd run from us.

[FastFreddy]

Originally Posted by LeeD

Last week I was 147 lbs. Still right at 5'11".
During the summer, I windsurf with the best National caliber slalom sailors, go fast, make fast jibes with no mistakes. Even the National Champ in slalom, TysonPoor, and we're about dead even. I've been competing since 1986 in slalom.
I back off a bit on jumps, so nothing close to 5 years ago. Still get the fin about 8' off the water. Landing on water is just much softer than dirt, snow, or cement.
I actually don't go to sites where there is consistent high winds, as that would tempt me to always go for the highest jumps of anyone on the water. I shouldn't be landing those jumps at my age.
On our open bikes, everyone would replace the rear tires after maybe 6 races. 125's could last longer, but only if the tracks were maintained and well watered. Blue groove tracks needed new tires every other race.
We practiced mostly on sand tracks at OceanBeach, SanFrancisco, right at the now City Sewer Plant, next to SFZoo. For some reason, I never got my Open bikes running at the Zoo sand track. Always rode 125's and 250's there.
Most fun was running from the cops on my BSA500MX. The cops had Honda350 dual purpose bikes, Harley street bikes, FordT%C sedans, and helicopters, which surprisingly, weren't too hard to lose in the tunnels to the beach and the houses in the SunsetDistrict.
Horses were the jokes. They'd run from us.

Dam 5'11 147 u r still one skinny dude. I checked out the top five brands of 450 4 strokes and they weigh 245-250 wet. My bike dry at 213.8 even with 4 gallons of gas should weigh the same plus I will have about 17 more hp and way more tq. The 4 strokes sound like farts and 2 strokes sound like high bees. I think the 4 strokes are louder since they are more base and the 2 strokes have a high pitch. I still love the sound of 2 strokes since that's what I grewup riding and hearing.

[pvaudio]

I'm quite pleased. I used to weigh over 240lbs, but have now come down to 160 in an effort to improve my cardiovascular health. I unfortunately was graced with ventricular hypertrophy from and leading to high blood pressure as a teenager, so even now I'm on two diuretics, a beta blocker and an ACE inhibitor just to keep my BP normal. Thankfully my heart is back to normal shape, but I still have good ol' hypertension at the age of 23. I try to run, swim, box and tennis my *** off, but at this point it's just genetics. Do have a resting heart rate of ~50, incredibly good lipid levels and (unfortunately) have a quite high BMR which leads to always sweating more than everyone else lol. So with that in mind, yeap, I'm pretty pleased.

[FastFreddy]

Originally Posted by LeeD

Last week I was 147 lbs. Still right at 5'11".
During the summer, I windsurf with the best National caliber slalom sailors, go fast, make fast jibes with no mistakes. Even the National Champ in slalom, TysonPoor, and we're about dead even. I've been competing since 1986 in slalom.
I back off a bit on jumps, so nothing close to 5 years ago. Still get the fin about 8' off the water. Landing on water is just much softer than dirt, snow, or cement.
I actually don't go to sites where there is consistent high winds, as that would tempt me to always go for the highest jumps of anyone on the water. I shouldn't be landing those jumps at my age.
On our open bikes, everyone would replace the rear tires after maybe 6 races. 125's could last longer, but only if the tracks were maintained and well watered. Blue groove tracks needed new tires every other race.
We practiced mostly on sand tracks at OceanBeach, SanFrancisco, right at the now City Sewer Plant, next to SFZoo. For some reason, I never got my Open bikes running at the Zoo sand track. Always rode 125's and 250's there.
Most fun was running from the cops on my BSA500MX. The cops had Honda350 dual purpose bikes, Harley street bikes, FordT%C sedans, and helicopters, which surprisingly, weren't too hard to lose in the tunnels to the beach and the houses in the SunsetDistrict.
Horses were the jokes. They'd run from us.

I did find some more info the service honda 500af is 230 wet and the other 450's wet are 245-250 wet. So I can add another 2 gallons which would add 12 pounds and be the same weight. I also found an article 500af vs 450 four stroke 2008 honda. The 450 had 52 hp and the 500 had 65 stock. Now Iam thinking a rejetted carb, ported head and rad valve should put out 71hp.Plus Iam sure they added some more hp since that motor was a 2008. The 500 was 2-3 secs faster per lap with 3 different riders. They said this bike would work great on a gp style mx track. Iwas thinking of changing the gearing since they said 2nd was too much and 3rd was too low. Add some more gear so I can rev out in 3rd and fourth I doubt I will ever use 5th.

PS: can u still play tennis?

[LeeD]

Except for sand tracks, usually 250's have the fastest times, at least in the old daze when 500's weighed closer to 250 lbs, and 250's around 230.
Don't know about more horsepower equating lower lap times. Every track I've ever ridden, talking motocross only (easy 150 AMA races), 250's had more than enough power, and except for the 2 Sacramento sand tracks, 125's could have the lowest lap times....but can't beat the 500's.
Are you still in NewYork, like Unadilla?
I play about twice a week now, just bought a MicroRadOS racket to ease the shoulder problems of my Aero500's. Still play high level 4.0 doubles and top 3.5 singles...not running not good for singles.

[FastFreddy]

Originally Posted by LeeD

Except for sand tracks, usually 250's have the fastest times, at least in the old daze when 500's weighed closer to 250 lbs, and 250's around 230.
Don't know about more horsepower equating lower lap times. Every track I've ever ridden, talking motocross only (easy 150 AMA races), 250's had more than enough power, and except for the 2 Sacramento sand tracks, 125's could have the lowest lap times....but can't beat the 500's.
Are you still in NewYork, like Unadilla?
I play about twice a week now, just bought a MicroRadOS racket to ease the shoulder problems of my Aero500's. Still play high level 4.0 doubles and top 3.5 singles...not running not good for singles.

Nope moved form NYC now living in socal and next plan to retire in Italy and ride my 71hp Service Honda 500AF and relax with my gf. I checked out the 450's some more the Kaw 450 has the highest hp for 2012 with 55 but weighs like 250 wet. I need two more shoulder surgeries one on each shoulder. Me I just ride my spin bike at home and take classes but I been running 8 miles everyday to get ready for my next marathon in January should be fun lots of pain haha!! I visited SF once back in 1991 and went to Daly city to visit my friend who now live in OC. SF is super clean like Toronto not like NYC. If u have the money play with natural gut I could play 4 hrs no shoulder pain. Poly on the other hand is so bad for your shoulder. Plus I did not think I got 3 percent more spin stiff like kevlar and no feel.

[LeeD]

250 wet on a 4 stroke should equal around 232 dry weight, not all that bad.
Seems riding in Italy, you might go for a ISDT type bike, instead of a superbike motocrosser.
So Cal. Does IndianDunes still exist? I think they closed Saddleback. I rode the CarlsbadGP course on a Sat of one of the big TransAms. Track was groomed though, so really different than what they raced on.
Surprised you don't like sand. Big jumps and endless feetup full powered broadslides.

[FastFreddy]

Originally Posted by LeeD

250 wet on a 4 stroke should equal around 232 dry weight, not all that bad.
Seems riding in Italy, you might go for a ISDT type bike, instead of a superbike motocrosser.
So Cal. Does IndianDunes still exist? I think they closed Saddleback. I rode the CarlsbadGP course on a Sat of one of the big TransAms. Track was groomed though, so really different than what they raced on.
Surprised you don't like sand. Big jumps and endless feetup full powered broadslides.

So for just so more money I can buy thr 500af instead of a 450 and get the sound, handling and power. Twenty pounds lighter and have 16 more hp sounds like the way to go. I have not rode any bikes since moving to socal so I don't know of any tracks. I did look up Socal have 36 tracks and Nocal has 29 tracks. I have 2 that r close to me.

Sand eats motorcycles...sand finds its way into EVERY part of the bike....airbox.....sealed bearings.... the engine.......this is why they are not called sand bikes.

[LeeD]

Personally, I hate riding on dusty tracks. That get's into everything.
Sand, real beach sand, you only clean the chain and sprockets, air cleaner, and hose off the bike.
I very much doubt they have that many tracks in NorCal.....or SoCal nowadaze. For sure, they closed off at least 10 tracks in the year's '83-90 up here. And no new ones opened.

[FastFreddy]

Originally Posted by LeeD

Personally, I hate riding on dusty tracks. That get's into everything.
Sand, real beach sand, you only clean the chain and sprockets, air cleaner, and hose off the bike.
I very much doubt they have that many tracks in NorCal.....or SoCal nowadaze. For sure, they closed off at least 10 tracks in the year's '83-90 up here. And no new ones opened.

Yeah, the list I was looking at listed tracks that r closed on that list. Not sure how many of those listed tracks r closed since I only clicked on a few. I saw that carlsbad was closed since 2004. so is beach sand better than desert sand? I heard their is a different style to riding in sand compared to dirt and mud. I don't want to deal with cactus and snakes.If u ride beach don't u have to deal with the salt air and water which will rust anything.

[Maui19]

Get a room you two.

[FastFreddy]

Originally Posted by Maui19

Get a room you two.

Just love talking dirt bikes!!

[LeeD]

Generally, you clean your bike after every couple of rides, so you can work on it. So beach riding doesn't hurt the bike from rust at all. Chain and sprockets do need cleaning if you're not riding every day. Air cleaners are no problem, unless you dump it in the sand.
Nothing like feetup, full powered, 45 mph broadslides on low tide beaches.
I know they closed the SanBernadinoMountains to all dirt riding, so that's a huge takeaway.
I saw civilization taking over around 1982, so I gave up MX for windsurfing, which still provides most of the thrills without the penalty of the spills. I have countless windsurfing boards, sails, and rigs. Most years, I windsurf over 150 days, and I've been to Baja, Texas, Oregon, and Hawaii lotsa times.

[FastFreddy]

Originally Posted by LeeD

Generally, you clean your bike after every couple of rides, so you can work on it. So beach riding doesn't hurt the bike from rust at all. Chain and sprockets do need cleaning if you're not riding every day. Air cleaners are no problem, unless you dump it in the sand.
Nothing like feetup, full powered, 45 mph broadslides on low tide beaches.
I know they closed the SanBernadinoMountains to all dirt riding, so that's a huge takeaway.
I saw civilization taking over around 1982, so I gave up MX for windsurfing, which still provides most of the thrills without the penalty of the spills. I have countless windsurfing boards, sails, and rigs. Most years, I windsurf over 150 days, and I've been to Baja, Texas, Oregon, and Hawaii lotsa times.

I hear ya, I found a used 2001 service honda 500af for 5k with a custom motor putting out 94hp omg!!

[FastFreddy]

Originally Posted by LeeD

Generally, you clean your bike after every couple of rides, so you can work on it. So beach riding doesn't hurt the bike from rust at all. Chain and sprockets do need cleaning if you're not riding every day. Air cleaners are no problem, unless you dump it in the sand.
Nothing like feetup, full powered, 45 mph broadslides on low tide beaches.
I know they closed the SanBernadinoMountains to all dirt riding, so that's a huge takeaway.
I saw civilization taking over around 1982, so I gave up MX for windsurfing, which still provides most of the thrills without the penalty of the spills. I have countless windsurfing boards, sails, and rigs. Most years, I windsurf over 150 days, and I've been to Baja, Texas, Oregon, and Hawaii lotsa times.

AMA in SD this weekend Iam going to watch in person are you going to watch on tv?

I narrowed it down to 2 bikes. Service Honda 500AF 2013 with head porting, rad valve, Magura hydraulic clutch system, gearing 13x53 so I can use 4th and 5th gear, Revalve front and rear with new springs, pistons, valving and oil tailored to my weight, ability, and riding conditions.The Honda would cost 14k plus tax and 500 shipping!!

Service Honda Monster KX500AF with port, rad valve, Revalve front and rear with new springs, pistons, valving and oil tailored to your weight, ability, my riding conditions stock14x47 gearing. This bike is 15k plus tax and shipping. I could just buy a 2013 KX450F for 8500.00 and go to the dark side and not mix gas.

Every ridden at Glen Helen? I drove by and the track and it looked pretty cool. They have a MTA 2 stroke World Championships race on April 1st 2013. I was thinking of racing in the open Nov class.