Photo Tour of Dual Sport Events & MC Rallies

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Brushpopper Swinging Bridge September 19

Swinging Bridge

If you ever take a true swinging suspension bridge, and a dude named "Mad Jack" tells you to go like hell, listen to him. The bridge has a slingshot or hammock effect when 600 pounds of bike and rider gets to the center and the stretch is loaded, You want to be almost off the bridge, and not in center of the bridge. Think, rubber band.

This bridge is about about 25 feet above the water. At that height, I didn't ask how deep the water was, as it most likely wouldn't matter.

My word to Mad Jack on Sunday morning: I shall never cross that bridge again.

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These Bridges,
No problem

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The Brushpoppers are famous for their Enduro. This ride was on the Brushpoppers Enduro Route. Airhead BMW are Enduro Bikes Right?

These photo do no justice of the Enduro track, this section of Illinois had 8 inches of rain a few days before the event.

Here is a YouTube vid of the Swinging Bridge:Bridge

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When I got to this culvert, I am thinking "what the world", then I thought about it and figured I will not drown and I can always change the fluids. Right?

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Of all the situations I ride in, mud ruts are my worst situation. A 250cc motocross can run down the rut and have no problem. Airhead GS will totally bottom out in the rut. You will need help to get the bike out.

If you take the high spot next to the rut, you have a change of putting your foot down in the rut, or driving into the rut, either I don't want to try.

This rut, I had no problem. I did get caught up in 3 different rut spots last summer.

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Log Crossing

We had some go storms over the summer and we lost some of the large old trees. There are various ways to do a log crossing:

1. The true 250 style dirt bike would just lighten the front wheel and ride right over this log.
   
2. Another way of crossing a log is to just hit the log head on and where you land is going to depend on your luck. As I mentioned that KTM 250-400 are breathing down my exhaust pipe in some of these tight sections.
   
3. Top photo show the bike stuck with the log in the space between front wheel and the engine/belly pan. I had to lift the back end of the bike and walk it forward to the second photo. Notice that the bike is standing without a side stand. Today's ride is 100 miles with some connectors between the enduro loops, so I don't have time to get caught on many logs or even to take many photos.
   
4. My most common log crossing technique, is give throttle and land hard on the belly pan. Once on the belly pan, I can ride or lift the rear of the bike forward and ride of the log.
   
5. Occasionally I have the bike hung up on a very large log, then I just lay the bike on the side and use the large engine cylinder to pivot the bike forward.
   
6. The best way to get off the log, is to have a buddy riding with you.

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Here comes Larry

And there goes Larry

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The Brushpoppers cut a nice race course through the corn field. The corn stems were cut just barely below my foot peg height and the leaves were hitting my protective gear. At 30 MPH it makes for some safe but exciting riding and a good chance to evaporate the sweat of riding in the warm, windless woods . The leaves hitting you make a good sound you will never forget. This is as good as it get and was a nice change from the hilly single track of the woods. .

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Photo by Mike Dixon

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On this incline, the Brushpoppers had a helper to get bikes up the slime embankment My R100GS with almost new kull knobbied Dunlop 606 chugged right by the helper. The Brushpopper member chuckled "Just like a tractor". The next bike, a KLR had trouble, but when I checked his tires were very worn.


Larry (DRZ400), GanzR (KLX 250), Yellow Mike (XR 650) and I lost more than half of an hour looking for a loop, allowing the Brushpopper sweepers to get closer.

With a whole day of low RPM in the woods, my alternator did not have the juice to charge my battery. When the battery was fully dead, this big guy (pictured below) on the KTM 640 adventure had a tow rope that he wrapped around my forks and with the help of one other guy got me to the top of the hill. I got a push start down that hill and called it a day at loop 11 of 13. At this point the Brushpopper Sweepers caught up to me. The next loop, Yellow Mike's foot got caught on a rock, fractured and that was it for his day.

The Brushpoppers had a great meal and they sure like that late night camp fire. The Brushpoppers actually had a ride leaving after dark into the woods- - - No Thanks!

[nevada72]

I've been on the fence about getting a Dual-Sport. I think I'm sufficiently inspired. I wasn't sure that Wisconsin was the best venue for such a thing, but I can see that it is.

Thanks!

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The door prize winners

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Thanks Mad Jack and the rest of the Brush Poppers

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Great dirt ride and a nice road ride home