Boom Boom wrote:Nice video clip.
The trails are being over taken with maple saplings and it is a battle to keep the loop open.
Get a copy of the trail map and learn some land marks and intersections and you will have a much more enjoyable ride and will be able to pick up trail you are passing by and will keep you off private land.
If you have a plated bike you can make a weekend out of Shade and add in the 7-mountains dual sport loop (60-80 miles of trail and dirt road).
Yep, I'm getting more familiar. I studied the map before we went out and have tweaked my GPS track since getting back to help with some of the spots where I missed the turns. It's good to not be out there just following someone else as that doesn't help me so much remembering things. I did recognize some stuff (e.g., I was pretty sure when we were just about to the big downhill) and I pick up more each time. It's really nice to have a place like this about 2 hours from home. While it's twice as long a drive as to the cove it offers a lot more good stuff, particularly all the tight trails with lots of corners.
What type of clutch is your Beta? Is it hydraulic? I have a Midwest Mountain Engineering Clever Lever on my KTM (and a couple clutch springs removed), and even with my healing, nerve damaged wrist, I can one finger it still. If you aren't hydraulic, you can switch over for about $150 and then add the Clever Lever and have some really light clutch action.
You also have the option of Clake's One Light Clutch that the Cross Training Youtuber guy is using on his Beta. If I had a Brembo on my KTM, I'd consider it.
I was surprised how stiff the Cross Trainer clutch is. Thinking I will pull 2 springs and see what happens.
I had a Mid West lever on my Sherco and it did help with an easier pull however it made the clutch engage over a longer range. Perfect to fan the clutch but messed with me on doing double blips on larger log crossings so I removed it.
I actually have a midwest lever in the tool bag on the bike. I used it once but was too lazy to spend time getting it adjusted. I'll play with it. I don't know any fancy techniques so hopefully I can get it to work within my limited skill set.
Part of the problem for me with that lever was when I had the lever to a position I liked it was not fully hooking up and would slip the clutch under heavy load so be careful not to smoke your clutch.
If you just move your stock lever in on the bar so to be using the end of the lever you have gained leverage.
Honestly that engine has so much bottom grunt I find only a few places I need to grab the lever, I was riding a gear high and using the bottom grunt and it just rolls along smooth.
That's exactly where the laziness comes in. The XT seems to have a fairly small window for adjusting the clutch lever. I spent a couple minutes playing with it without getting it where I wanted and then just threw the stock lever back on. I was able to get the stock lever adjusted decently without spending much time on it.
Most of the time the XT doesn't require me to do anything with the clutch lever but, if I've got my fingers on it at the ready, they seem to want to do something on their own... ;)
They are proud of it for sure. It's like $260 for the "One Light Clutch" setup, but I believe that's a whole master cylinder and such. They say it isn't a increased pivot point, but a totally redesigned setup that doesn't increase lever travel. I believe their marketing and the reviews, but I'm not ready to shell out that kind of money for a manual clutch yet, either. Their LHRB setup is also pretty nice (and expensive), but it doesn't fir over Magura master cylinders so that's out of the question for me. The Clake Two that he was using when he was on the KTM 250 EXC is over $800. I liked it a lot, but that's more than the cost of a Rekluse and you still can't cheat with it.
Yeah, the clake is too dearly priced for me. Since I bought the midwest lever I've seen a few guys mention that they couldn't get the adjustments dialed in on the xtrainer. The thinking is that the slave cylinder isn't the right size. I haven't given up on mine yet. That said, I'll almost certainly do a rekluse at some point.
A slight thread drift but the clutch, hydraulic, on my rr is butter smooth and I can pull it with one finger easily. I am also very impressed with the way the rekluse works on it. It's externally adjustable and with only a little tweaking it's perfect. It stays engaged on downhills until the engine gets right to idle. Well worth the $$, in my opinion.
