Stoopid In The Smoky's Part Deux

[twr1776]

Brian, Wazz, myself, Krusty, and Joe's friend Denny went to the Smokies last week. A great trip, great group but a real contest to be "that guy". Brian & I were on KLR"s, Greg had his DR350, Joe had his XR600, and Denny had a KLX300 with some "mods". We rode lost of two track gravel and twisties in between. We trailered down Weds and came back Sunday for three days of riding. On our first day Thursday Joe's bike was running bad on the way out of Robbinsville and Joe decided to go back to the hotel and fix his bike and told us to continue on. We went on the Tatum Pass which was part of the Trail of Tears.



We ran into this and walked the bikes over it, someone had been here before but we added a few rocks. The KLR?s are a bit heavy.





Bridge on the way back



We stopped back at the hotel and Joe had already cleaned his carbs and gone over his connections, We got the bike going and headed out for the afternoon. We stopped at the place Brian, Greg, and I did not make it up to in the fall when conditions were a bit worse. We of course we got rained on on the way back to the hotel but still a good day.

Last fall



A bit better this year and worth the trip up.

[twr1776]

On Friday we took the same trail in at the Cherohola Skyway and went all the way to Tellico and stopped at a local gear/dual sport place. The guy at the counter gave us a new road to try out and we headed that way. It had four water crossings between 15 to 30 feet each maybe a foot to slightly over . After the crossings I was going around a corner and the back end felt funny and the next corner even more so. Brian pulled up and I looked down and I had a flat. Brian had his box o tools so out came a new tube and changing irons. He and I changed the tire as Krusty, Wazz and Denny heckled us and we continued on. Looks like a new “that guy”.

The key did not go all the way though



The 1 1/2" screw did and ruined the tube



Me with my “trophys”.



We rode back towards town and Brian & I headed for the Dragon and Joe, Greg, and Denny went for more two track riding. BTW, “that guy” also picked up a “performance” award.

Saturday we headed for the Maggie Valley area and ended up in the Cherokee reservation. We were on our route and took a shortcut road. The shortcut road ended up having lots of small hills you could get air on. We had way too much fun and stopped for a break. A Cherokee sheriff stopped to see how we were doing since he had seen out trails. He gets to ride the trails all day and had some good stories. We kept going and ended up on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We were heading for a 25 mile trail and the “that guy” torch was passed again. Joe’s bike quit running altogether but fortunately he made a new “friend” who took him and Denny back to Maggie Valley. Reports are conflicting on who rode in the middle on the way down from the Parkway.

Joe and his “new” friend





Greg went back to the hotel for the trailer and came back to pick up Joe & Denny. They told us to go on so Brian and I went back to the trail and it ended up in Cherokee as advertised. On the way back to Robbinsville we were coming up 28 on the way and traffic was stopped. A couple minutes later a helicopter takes someone with a medical issue to the hospital. Even with the mechanical/tire issues it was still a great trip.

Blue Ridge Parkway





Charahola Skyway

[Larry D]

You guys are really starting to like those dirt bikes waaaaay to much !!!
Looks like a great time !!!!

[Joe Nardy]

That guy!

Tim mentioned the 'That Guy' title was passed around a bit but really it was all mine. Day 1 the XR was running horribly, not even rideable off road. I had replaced the air filter before leaving and it ran crappy but found a crimped vent hose then it seemed to run okay. Long story short, the new air filter was more restrictive than the old filter and the bike must have been on the rich side to begin with. With the additional altitude of the Smoky area the less dense air must have been enough to push it into 'I'm gonna sputter, spit, and backfire' rich. After some fresh gas it ran better Thursday afternoon but got worse as the afternoon went on. Friday morning when the air and bike were cold I was able to finally determine that it was running rich. I dropped the needle two notches and the bike ran great from that point on. Until....

I haven't owned the XR that long and don't know its history well. It had a bit of top end noise when I bought it but nothing really bad sounding. It was minor enough that most people would say 'Maybe they all run that loud'. I did some research and found the likely culprit was the non-adjustable cam chain tensioner. It started and ran great, didn't burn oil, etc. so I didn't worry about it too much. On our Saturday ride it seemed to me that the top end noise was getting louder but it was hard to tell. We spent the morning ripping up some dirt forest roads up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. We were riding Balsam Mountain road off the Parkway and had just started riding after a break. I was going through a left hand corner when I heard a noise that sounded like a big spring unwinding. I first thought I had left my sidestand down and it had hit the pavement and sprung back up. There was no horrible noise and the rear wheel didn't lock up, the engine just quit running and I coasted to a stop. At first I couldn't turn it over using the kick starter. We used a tow strap to move the bike to a parking area and the boys headed out to get help, transportation, etc. After the tow the engine would turn over easily but there was no compression. We weren't far out of Maggie Valley and Denny knows Dale Walksler (owner of Wheels Through Time) pretty well. He was going to see if Dale could help us get the bike to Maggie Valley. Dale was swamped with a couple hundred people at the shop and short staffed as well so he couldn't help but offered to call someone who could. Meanwhile, Wazz was on his way back to Robbinsville to pick up his truck & trailer. We thought Dale was calling a local buddy who had a pickup truck and could help us out quickly. It turns out he called a towing service which took several hours to arrive. By the time he arrived and we got the bike to Maggie Valley, Wazz was already there waiting. The tow I really didn't need cost me $125 and Doyle didn't look like he was in the mood to negotiate.

Anyway, I got the bike home Sunday and started tearing into it. It appears the noisy top end was caused by loose cam gear bolts. When I opened the valve cover one bolt was sheared off and the other was loose and looked like it had been cut almost in half as well. When the first bolt sheared the gear must have started flopping around in both directions because it is twisted, distorted, and cracked. The cam chain snapped and the exhaust valves contacted the piston. I have it torn down and am going to take it somewhere to get a professional opinion of what needs to be replaced. I'm hoping it is just cam chain and gear and valves. The cam, piston, rings, bore, etc. all look pretty good to me.

I will post a couple pics later.

This trip was so much fun that even all my problems couldn't knock the smile from my face. We had an awesome time and I'm looking forward to our next dual-sport adventure, which is already on the books.....

Thanks,
Joe

[cowboyup3371]

Great pictures and stories.

[marvinsc]

You guys are livin the Dream, one of them anyway!