They call us the night riders

[YZMAN400]

Well I may not be able to be one of Woodsy's MonDAY riders on a regulay basis. But I can surley be a Monday NIGHT rider!!

All day Monday I couldn't wait to get outta work. Had the bikes in the trailer hooked to the truck in the parking lot. Just chompin at the bit to get outta work. Was hoping to get out early, then I see a 4:30-5:00pm meeting notice come up in my outlook. :bang: There goes the getting out early. Show up at the meeting and they were "What are you doing in this meeting? We dont need you here" That was all I needed to hear :yeehaw:

Wasn't exactly sure who all was going to show up. I knew me and Chris were in. We all were meeting at Chris's house. The Holton trail goes right thru his back yard. I also knew Ted and Larry were going. I was meeting Ted at US-31 and Russel Rd. About 4:00pm I get a mesage. I call back and it is my buddy Wolfchild from TT. He is heading towards Muskegon to meet us and needed directions.

So I get to Russel Road and there is Ted and his "Woodsy's Delight" Banner flying. I pull up and I dont see Ted. Then his head pops up into the window. He was nappin while waiting for me. We wait a few more minutes and Wolfchild shows up. We head to Chris's to unload and get ready.

After considerable small talk we fire all the bikes up and get ready to go. I was suprised when I fired up my YZ400 for Larry to ride. That thing puts out some serious light. I have never rode it at night and what a shocker. Twin 50 watt MR16 Hallogen bulbs with a 130 watt stator kicks out some light. I have the Acerbis Blitz headlight on the YZ. Thats definately gonna be my night riding bike from now on. My X's headlight pales in comparison.

So off onto the trail. It takes some getting used to as you really cant see as much as you are used to. You quickly learn to ride loose. One of the hardest things is that when going thru the woops you loose sight of the ground momentarily when the front end comes up over a woop. Blitzing them sems to work better as the bike stays leveler. But that takes a bit of courage/faith as you do have limited visability.

Another challange is going up small hills. You get to the top of the rise and cant see nothing. The light is pointed up and not at the ground on the other side of the hill. Thats a little creepy.

This is were a helmet light along with the headlight would really be helpfull.

Ted had some interesting lighting going on. Aparently on his last "Lost with Woodsy" ride, he realized that his KTM's headlight was less than stellar when the ride stretched into the evening hours. So for this ride he showed up with a 4" round light bungy corded to the top of the front numberplate. What is it that they say neccessity is the mother of invention... or something like that. You sure could see him coming thru the woods with that twin over under light setup.

Overall I think I was the only one to take a digger. I missed a corner and went high around a tree. When going back down the small slope to the trail I lost my ballance, tiped over and stalled the bike. 1st thing going thru my mind was "Its pitch black out here and there are 3 guys behind me and they cant see me untill they are right on top of me. So getting the bike up and running asap was my 1st concern. I got it lit right before Wolfchild came around the corner. I gotta wonder what went thru his mind when outta no were this light comes on 50ft in front of him :think:

Oh and another challange we ran into is that there is some new trail in the Holton Loop this year and it isn't all that well defined yet. Combine that with night ridding and it left us scratching our heads a few times trying to figure out were the heck the trail went. You only have like a 60deg range of light by twisting the bars. So you almost have to ride in circles to figure out were the trail went.

We made it up to Brunswick road by about 9:00pm. Chatted a little but and decided to head home. So Chris gave us a tour of about every 2-track between there and his house. There is no way I could of found my way back in the day light much less in the dark. I was folowing a dirtbike track in the dirt by headlight. That was fun. Had to stop and scratch my head once or twice....which way did he go...which way did he go ;)

Now onto these pictures.

1st one I can only guess what Chris is up to with his hand there. Cleaning out the sinisus for the ride. Or maybe discussing nose hair trimming techniques.

2nd one...your guess is as good as mine what Ted is up to. My guess is seting some sort of booby trap for us out on the trail. He is a pretty sneeky fella after all.

 

[YZMAN400]

These last 2 photo's are us taking a break on the trail. Not entirely sure of the locations.

All told I think we only got in like 17 miles. But it was a blast. The weather was cold but very calm. It was really nice sitting in the cool calm woods chating with friends by moonlight.

Woodsy..... I think I spoiled Larry with the YZ's lighting. He said after your last night ridding adventure he was left with a sour taste in his mouth from the dismal lighting on his 125cc Husky. But after a taste of real wattage on the YZ, I think he is going to be in the market for a new lighting coil for his CR.

 

[Nestrick]

Hey Don

First it was "Easy Rider" ... now it's "Crazy Riders" :laugh:

I don't know about folks who would purposely go out and ride in the dark ... your explanation of the 'lighting characteristics' alone scares me ... but I definitely enjoyed the write up! Nice to see Ted back in the saddle again ... even if it was after dark.

terry nestrick

 

[cmore]

I see I missed out again, I need to step up to plate, & play the game. Good to hear that everybody had a great time.!

 

[INCA]

When the challenge to Monday riders was up, no way would I let it slide, even if it was to be a night ride. It was a new experience to be sure. I tried to follow Larry's taillight but just couldn't keep up for long. My cobbled last minute light set up was better but far from good. Cautious has to be the rule with night riding. You see lights directly ahead of you but don't go straight towards them, regardless of the temptation. Don had to circle to find the trail, being last in line I had to circle to find where the rest had gone. As such I went down three times in loose sand I didn't see soon enough. Slow tip overs is all, which is nothing unusual for me. Larry would stop every now and then to wait for me and make sure I was OK. He is like a father out on the trail, as are many others. It is a comfort and pleasure to ride with so many caring people. Well worth the travel time to head to Michigan.
The light set up info will be put to good use in a few hours when I head out to run errands. After following Larry on the YZ, that set up is the way to go. Thanks for the info Don.
Getting ready for the next ride.

Young Ted

 

[2big4akdx]

OK You guys have got my attention. Any sugestions for "lighting" up a EXC with only 40 watts?? I'v started to do some searching and I may do a new post on the subject.

 

[YZMAN400]

Inca,
If you end up buying an Acerbis headlight, be it the Blitz that I have or one of the 2 other styles that they have now, keep in mind that at least the Blitz comes with (2) 35 watt bulbs stock. But any home lighting store can get you the 50 watt bulbs for it as they are just 12v low voltage MR-16 bulbs. You can get higher wattage bulbs than that, like 75 watt. But I dont know If I would go higher cause of the extra heat of the bulb may melt the housing. I called Acerbis and they said that the Blitz is rated up to 50 watt bulbs. But you never know it may take more. You said you have a 160 watt coil in there. Maybe a 75 watt bulb and a 50 watt bulb would be the ticket.


Here is a few links to the diff Acerbis lights that you may want to check out.

http://www.rockymountainmc.com/Product_Details.atv?pid=00070126

http://www.rockymountainmc.com/Product_Details.atv?pid=00024072

Another thing to keep in mind is that, at least on mine, the wires were extremely cheep and broke off quickly from vibrations. Acerbis replacment wires were outragesly priced. Again I went to a home lighting store and bought replacment wires both of which were still 1/2 what acerbis wanted for one. They were also way better than the Acerbis ones. Much heavier guage wire.

If you replace the bulbs to the 50 watters get one of them as a wide beam like 35deg. And the other as a narrow beam like 10 deg. That will give you the best coverage overall. If you end up getting a blitz I may have a few 50 watt bulbs laying around that you can have to get you started. But the are all wide beam. I want to put a narrow beam in the bottom position of my Blitz and the wide at top. That way the wide beam beeing higher up may clear the fender and get the light down low better.

Oh and I also did a little custom grinding on the plastic brackets to slot the mounting holes. That way I could get the light pointing down a bit more.

 

[Uchytil]

Scary Stuff

Wow, even though there shouldn't be deer hunters out at night - I heard a few shots around 8'ish sooo, even walking my dog is scary during these few weeks. Dem bullets are quick. I've got my own trails to ride at home here in Muskegon but the hunters on opposite land get pissed if they hear you fire up a bike. I'll wait until rifles over but I doubt I'll ever do the night thing. Losing sight over a hill would be too much for me. Too coll though, and a little nuts.

 

[Godzuki]

ahh more things to add to my christmass list, the list i never get anything off of hehe. ill have to get with ya don, so i can copy your set up for my yz. i might like to stop by some night, and have your fire it up to see what kinda light it does have hehehe. the night ride, and street legality seem to be next on my list of mods. this might happend after incometax returns this comming year. that ride sounds like some real fun though. did you see any of those snipe's out that night.

 

[INCA]

An Acerbis Blitz is on the way with the standard 35 watt bulbs. I'll check it out here in the backyard next week and shoot for a trail check 12/6 maybe. What would life be without a challenge. Pretty empty.

Young Ted

 

[70 marlin]

Ted here's a light for you, I'd even like one?

 

[INCA]

Neal - Watts come after aim and type. I would say flood, narrow beam and spot for a single light, as a choice order. My stock light is worthless beyond meeting the headlight requirement. With your 40 watt system I'd say a rectangular KC light should do a decent job for you.

Pat - I'm not about to go to Mexico to ride at night.

Young Ted

 

[2big4akdx]

Ummm...I get the rectangular part, but not the KC. Could you please elaborate?? I also plan on a led for the tail/brake light.Should free up more power for the front, be it for a flood, narrow beam, or spot. Of course, the bungee cord thing sounds right up my alley too.Actually, you could try out several different types of light that way. Thanks in advance Ted. Others also.

 

[YZMAN400]

If your exc dosn't have very much wattage the 1st thing on your list is to get it rewound for more power. 40 watts aint gonna cut it. Once you get the output from your stator you have many options for headlights. Acerbis makes many diff styles of lights. Check them out. The higher wattage bulb you can push the better your gonna be. The Blitz really works good at night. I was suprised. They make another light similar to the blitz that Mwiessen has. Ya might want to check that one out also. I linked above for it.

 

[INCA]

Neal - KC are lights used on a bar on pickup cabs. They have a cover on them when on the road because they are above the height limit. Most covers are yellow with black KC on them.

Don - My comments are based on this comparison. DAVIE has a 6 volt, 35 watt system with a 12 volt 4" round spot light and does much more than INCA with it's 12 volt, 150 watt system and the stock bulb - whatever it is.

Young Ted

 

[2big4akdx]

Duh.... I should have know that. I have looked at trail tech and Baja's site. Will continue to search around. Thanks again.

 

[woodsy]

Personally, I like those Dual Desert lights!! I like it brighter at night then it is in the day time :) I just did a comparison of what I spent on Kadies whimpy electrical system and flywheel weight and found out that for an extra $200 I could have gone with an E-Line twin 100 watt output system that would have accomplished my weight needs, GUARANTEED turning night to day and made my grip heaters so hot I could have cooked squirrel on em :rotfl:
Spend the bucks on the additional output Neal, you can then strap on ANYTHING from a car head light to an aircraft landing light :aj:

 

[KiwiBird]

I had the pleasure of camping with the owner of Trail Tech this Thanksgiving and came away from the trip with a set of their dual HID helmet lights Click here for Link and a 7" HID headlight like the Baja Designs one in the pic back up the thread.

The 7" is just flat stunning and will easily light something half a mile away - 40W draw and equal to a small sun in light output. The helmet lights address the issues you guys mentioned - round corners, up and down hills etc and came with both battery and direct wiring options.

A much cheaper deal is Baja Designs glass reflector upgrade, and even cheaper is to wire the high and low bulbs to come on at the same time in the stock (KTM in my case) light.

 

[YZMAN400]

Hwy Kiwi,

Was that 7" light from Trail tech also? I havent seen that on there site. If so what does it go for? I have sen there helmet lights and they look nice.

 

[70 marlin]

That helmet light looks to be the whip!

 

[KiwiBird]

Yes the 7" is a new Trail Tech product they will be releasing in the new year. I think they will undercut Baja Designs by quite a bit. It's got quick disconnect posts for mounting and a top adjuster for angle and will be probably be about $500 or there abouts.

Honestly it's a bit overkill and just the helmet lights are good enough until speeds hit 4th gear - but overkill is my middle name and turning night in to day is my desire.

 

[YZMAN400]

but overkill is my middle name and turning night in to day is my desire.

I can relate to that....Thanks for the info.

 

[YZMAN400]

Whats this I hear of a night ride that went down this week without me beeing notified??? Something about Woodsy, Larry, and Randy.

If so how did Randy's bike work out with the Gray wire disconected and the throttle stop modified?? I cany believe he had Huby do that for him.

And you are probably thinking "how is it that he knows about these things" well how do you think Huby knew what wires to disconect??? Picked the info outta his cespool of a noggin? Not hardly. He called me to find out how to do it.

 

[woodsy]

Yea, that was the most "Woodsy style" of a night ride possible.. Here is what happened...
Larry calls me and asks if I wanna try a short night ride - just catch a little fresh air.. I say sure but I have no screws in and I hadnt had the energy to get Blipy "lit" yet.. Larry says, no problem, 1 a.m. is fine with him.. Randy calls about ten minutes later to say Linda is gone and wanted to knw if I wanted to go out for coffee.. I told Randy about the ride plans and he almost started crying because his bike was at Huby's getting worked on (I KNEW CHRIS WASN"T THAT SMART DON!! :laugh: ). He said he would try and get his bike back. A couple minutes later Randy calls back and said he and Huby were in.. I got at Hubys about 9:30 and they were still working on Hubys XR200. We finished it off and road Hubsters back yard (some of the Blue Lake Loop). I got home a little before 1... Fun ride because it was pouring rain on the way over to Chris's and started snowing like CRAZY on the way back in, Hubys light had died - it started to look like another true Woodsy adventure but then we had to quit.. I made a noble try at convincing Huby to stay out a little longer but he just shook his head and went inside and left us standing in his yard :rotfl:
So Don, for future reference, how late can you play on week nights?? How "comfortable" are you with strangers (this group is pretty strange) calling your home late at night and how late is the latest you wanna be called?? Let me knwo and I will pass the word :p
Woodsy

 

[YZMAN400]

that is sounding a little late for my old bones. Specially when I am getting up at 5:00am lattely. Past 9:00pm on a weekday and I am starting to fade.

Huby left us standing in his yard after our night ride also. Go figure.