Well I haven't had much time to do any work on my bike since installing the replacement subframe. I had a "shorty" mx silencer laying around that I repacked and installed on the Gas Gas. It will work as a temporary fix, but I'll need to be replaced before my next enduro. Being an mx silencer it does not have a spark arrestor needed for riding events on public land. Additionally, because it is shorter than the stock silencer, it is loud. Too loud in my opinion. Since most of my practice is done on private land, the excessive noise won't keep me from riding. Noise has always been the biggest enemy of our sport, so I'm going to have to find a quieter solution.
My Bultaco is still hibernating in the backyard shed. I drained the fuel tank, cleaned and re-oiled the air filter and capped off the silencer before putting it away. I'll need to change the primary and clutch oil when I drag it out this spring. Also thinking about running a different premix ratio since the engine sees low RPMs when I'm riding. I've been using 40:1 since I rebuilt the engine in 2004. This is the same ratio I run in my Gas Gas. It works, but some plug-fouling last year, particularly in summer, has me thinking about using a 50:1 ratio and dropping the needle one clip position to lean out the air-fuel ratio.
My biggest challenge this spring is going to be as Trail Boss for the NETRA-sanctioned CATRA hare scramble on May 18th. One change I did make was to actually give the CATRA H/S a name, the Black Fly. In reference to those little biting flies that annoy the heck out of you by buzzing around our head and biting the crap out of you. I need to get up to CATRAland and scout out last years course. In my mind I kind of know what I want to do. I'll be making some changes to last years course, but will avoid reversing the track direction. The Minis, which is the 9:00 a.m. race, will have ~3 mile course and the Novices, 11:00 a.m. race, will have ~6 mile course. For the Amateurs/Experts, 1:30 p.m. race, I want to add ~1 mile of more difficult terrain which should "seperate the men from the boys."
To really spice things up I added vintage and post-vintage classes to the 11:00 a.m. race. These are non-NETRA points "just for fun" classes. It was difficult to try and figure out how to identify bike eligibility for these two classes. It seems every sanctioning body has their own specific rules regarding what is vintage and what is post-vintage. Even NETRA has their own rules, but I didn't like them. In the end I decided anything 30 years-old or older (1978 model year or older) would be considered vintage. Anything 20 to 29 years-old (1988 through 1979 model years) would be considered post-vintage.
All things considered I've still got a ton of work ahead of me and I won't be able to compete in the next NETRA Enduro, which is one week before the hare scramble. Maybe I'll get to ride a trial or two, but only if work on the hare scramble is on target.
Flyer for the CATRA "Black Fly" Hare Scramble.
