North Anderson Off Road Area

[tgregg]

I'll be camping and Jeeping at North Anderson RV Area Saturday afternoon and Sunday. There is a D37 motorcycle race there (Invaders MC). I raced for many decades and the races give me a good excuse to go out and play. Rescue 3 is always there so I don't have to worry about being out by myself. If you're in the area drop by. My email to my Blackberry is gregg@greggturk.com.
Gregg

[dirtman13]

Gregg,

You still ride? I raced D37 for a while. Still got my KX 500.

[tgregg]

Gregg,

You still ride? I raced D37 for a while. Still got my KX 500.

No, I retired 3 years ago at 62. I was running at a pretty high level and wasn't willing to accept second places. I realized I just didn't want to ride at 110% anymore either so it was just time to step away. I miss the heck out of it, adrenaline is an incredible drug. Many of the guys I competed with ended up paralyzed or seriously hurt and that really kills a lot of the fun. The guys I know at my age who are still out there just trail ride the race to stay in shape. Even if you work hard at 60 and keep fit the body just doesn't heal like it did. I did pretty well up into my mid 50's especially on the long endurance type races and I hung on to try the 60's class but after a couple of years it was time. Because the bikes are so good and fast there really aren't little injuries much anymore. With bikes so good they keep making the courses nastier and nastier. In my early days the suspension travel was 3 inches and the whoops were 12 inches; now the suspension travels 18 inches and the whoops are 5 feet deep that you can clip over at 100 mph. When you get off it hurts a lot!
Me a few years ago

Me now a days working a check!

Camping last June at Cougar Buttes with the XJ

[dirtman13]

That's one of the reasons I stopped. It was getting kind of hard to get to work on Monday after after a bad wipe out. I stayed with D37 and have being doing the dual sport stuff. Got a modified DRZ 400. A little easier on the body. This was from my last race in Lucerne.

[tgregg]

I used to train on a dual sport and think I'd have fun doing some even now but my right hand seems to be connected to something other than my brain these days :=)

[Mitch]

Gregg,

I'll be up in big Bear both days otherwise I'd stop by. Temps will be down for the weekend and maybe a T-Storm! Should be great, have fun.
I love the 3" travel comment. I remember those days. We need to have that discussion at the campfire one night! Lots of stories.

Mitch

[tgregg]

Gregg,

I'll be up in big Bear both days otherwise I'd stop by. Temps will be down for the weekend and maybe a T-Storm! Should be great, have fun.
I love the 3" travel comment. I remember those days. We need to have that discussion at the campfire one night! Lots of stories.

Mitch

You are right, lots of stories. 1970 125 Zundapp motor Rickman Matisse 125 Ceriani suspension. The best available at the time...The Sachs (DKW) with Earls in front was the only thing that could stay close. Sure wish I had that bike today, it was not only fast but a work of art.

[Mitch]

Dennis,

Quit teasing me. 1967 BSA441 Victor (round barrel) with Ceriani Forks. 1968 Ducati 250, with both rear shocks or ridgid bars for flat track. 1969 Ace 90 Hodaka, bored and built to 110cc's, custom suspension, original reed valve designed by my father, custom Basani exhaust co-designed by my father with replaceable/tunable exhaust tips from 5/8" to over 1" in diameter. Did your DKW/Sachs have the cool leading link front suspension? I loved the Rickman / Matese line especially with the big four strokes BSA441 thru Triumph 650's. Ah the good old days. Montesa, Bultaco, CZ, Ossa, AJS........

Mitch

[tgregg]

Oh yea, the good old days.....you actually built a race bike back then rather than bought it. You predate me. I started racing about 1968 and by that time the big four strokes were pretty much going. Husky were taking over the desert. I had a bunch of Honda 305 scramblers from about 1960 on until I moved to the desert in 1967. Bought a Yamaha 175 dual sport and entered my first race. Stripped the lights off and went from there. Indio Yamaha offered me a ride on the Rickman in 1970. Rode for Yamaha a while then Honda. When I got "old" I bought my own bikes and just rode for fun and was primarily an enduro rider. I've done a bit of SCORE as a support guy in my later years but it has gotten too scary in Baja for my tastes thus I built the CJ about 4 years ago. The XJ is pretty new to me and a work in progress. Until I found MJR I was kind of disappointed in the Jeep community I'd met. But MJR is great and I'm finding the kind of friendships here I have in the motorcycle community.
Thanks for bringing back some great memories. I'm looking forward to that campfire. On the last run with Roger, Mary and I talked about doing the Mojave Road backwards in the fall. I hope that comes to pass but I get to the desert races pretty often mostly to Lucerne. I'm helping the Desert Daisy's do a charity Qualifier Sept 19 and 20. That should be nice weather and a fun event helping the ladies. Rescue 3 has asked me to get involved with them hauling medics out and broken riders in; seems like a good justification for the $$'s we put in out Jeeps!

[tgregg]

Greetings from North Anderson Invaders D37 race weekend.

Sarah, Kim Carpenter with Rescue 3 said to say hello!

[Roger]

Gregg,

I'm sorry I couldn't make it today. I went to a memorial service this afternoon for a co-worker's husband who had passed away.

Sounds like you had a great time!

[tgregg]

Roger,
Saturday went really well. Sunday was mechanical weird! The CJ battery was dead in the morning. I used my nifty jumper thing and got it running. Everything charging great and if I shut it off it started right up again. Let it sit for a while and only 10 volts. I think the battery is 5 years old so it lived a good life. Then after the race I loaded up and as I pulled out I had no "go". Looked in the mirror and the trailer brakes are locked. Fortunately I have it dual wired so I unplugged the 7 prong and went to the 4 plug. Worked fine, just no trailer brakes. Last night I checked all the circuits and everything seems good. I pulled the trailer with my truck and everything on the trailer worked fine. I'm thinking the digital brake controller on the RV malfunctioned but how weird it would go from fine to bad while sitting over night. Ordered a new controller last night on good old Amazon so I'll see in a few days.
Anyway, great weather, and a nice gettaway. Watched the NASCAR race ate Bristol and ate BBQ ribs off the rolling BBQ truck Saturday evening. Life is good!
Next outing with the motorcycle races September 19 and 20th.