Got me new shark fin!

I got out for another training ride the day before yesterday and provided myself with a stiff workout.

I mentioned descending down a rocky valley during my last ride. I decided to ascend that same little valley, since it was no big deal going downhill.

Uphill = torture!

As soon as I tried to climb one of the loose patches of rock that had presented no real obstacle last time – I knew I was in for a beating! I was trying to cross-hill and gradually ascend as I went, but the back wheel scrabbled and spun out on the damp stones, always ending up a few feet lower than the front when the engine would finally sputter out. I ended up essentially shoving the bike up he hill taking what advantage I could of the brief moments of traction I experienced between flameouts.

At one point I was literally three feet below a nice, flat-ish, relatively rock-free stripe of ground that cut across the hillside. But I was powerless to get onto it! Any attempt to climb uphill resulted in the bike slipping further downhill. I ended up shambling along, cursing and panting as I went, until a gap opened up between the rocks and some actual dirt presented itself!

Much throttle, and I sped off, leaving behind a dense cloud of clutch plate smoke…

From there the ride went perfectly. I meandered over to the construction dump-site I have mentioned before, and had myself a ball. The dirt is soooo lovely right now! Steep hills yield willingly to my onslaughts (except that rocky one…) and wheelies are only the twist of the throttle away! I spent a couple of hours tackling every obstacle I could find to challenge myself with. I nearly looped out once and came rather close to endoing a few times on a steep downhill berm I created. All for my greater good!

My wife was out of town with our younger kids yesterday so, naturally, my motorcycle took center stage in the garage for a little TLC. I repacked the muffler, swapped in a fresh spark plug, and replaced the fin of my slick, black shark fin. The old one was looking pretty well beat!

Not destroyed, exactly but the new one looks much healthier. That baby has spared my rear rotor from a TON of abuse!

Here is the new one:

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