sand chick Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 (edited) I just couldn't stand to not take the new to me rappy out any longer! Mike had to work, so I hitched a ride out there with Adam for a Saturday day trip. Adam arrived at the house about 7:30 in the morning, we got the tires swapped out on my raptor, loaded her up and hit the road, bound for Dumont! Had great conversations about this and that. Before we knew it we were rolling into Dumont.. Road going in was probably the best it had been all year! First thing we see rolling in is the mass amount of people walking on the road. As we crest the hill onto the flats, we were super surprised at the amount of people out there this weekend. There were even a couple of vendors on vendor row, but we never made it over to see who was out there. the school bus and the flag people that have everything, I know were there. We were going to park by BR #6, but it was packed around it already, so since we only had the trailer and two quads, we opted to get a little closer and parked by BR #7. Quads unloaded, riding gear on, push the button to start the Raptor and away we go on the first run of the day. Head out over to the west of comp. The raptor rides differently then the Honda, so I am taking it pretty easy, while I adjust to the feel of the ride. Dunes were tore up bad and in need to some serious wind. We make our way over to comp and stop on the little dunes across from comp to take a quick break. Adam's raptor is pingin, so we head back to our day trip set up, so he can add more race fuel. Head back out, towards the North Pole. There were a ton of racers out there on Banshee, but we didn't stop to watch any of them, we were there to ride, not spectate! We didn't see a ton of people in the dunes, just an occasional group stopped here or there, and one line of cars cruising a dune or two over. We did see alot of people walking in the dunes, just out in the middle, walking around, no rides any place. I could understand it better if it was cooler, but it was pretty toasty out there, but hey at least they were out enjoying themselves and not sitting on a couch someplace. Make it to the North Pole, Adam is still pinging a little, and its about lunch time and the shadows are straight up, so its time for putting up the easy up and kickin back with some eats and frosty cold refreshments. We chill out there for awhile wait for the shadows to come back. Good thing for a gentle breeze or it would have been really toasty. Ok enough waiting.. off we go again.. back over from west to east. We even hit up a high point on the west side that I had not been to before, so I stopped to take some pics of the camp area from up there. It made a nice little break before heading on to the North Pole. Did I mention the dunes were tore up? Starting to get a little sore, but nothing was going to stop me from making the most of this day and I was really getting the feel of the raptor. We head back for a refreshment break and to add fuel to the rides. And have the entertainment of watching some one in a lt sand car with a beam following, playing on the face dune, every single transition.. straight up and over.. straight up and over. until finally the beam got stuck at the very top going from the front side to the back side They headed back to their camp, so we decided that the dunes were safe for a little bit and since it was already 4:30 where did the day go??? to make our final almost sunset run. On the way back from the N. Pole , Adam hit up the smaller dunes, hopping every little dune. Boing, boing, hop, hop, hop. I laughed to myself, it was like following the Easter Bunny! Back to the truck load up and head home.. 6:45pm.. Love the day trips, I think that was the most I had riden in one single trip out all year. I am super sore and feeling it today though.. Oh yeah... did I mention... I :wub: :wub: my new ride!!!!!!! Pics to follow! Edited March 31, 2013 by sand chick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunefreak Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Awesome! Day trips are the best. You get so much riding in. I'm jealous of your new Rappy. Great report, Jodi. Can't wait to see the pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam @ GTP Off Road Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 It was a fun day. Little pissed about the amount of race gas i had to run to get it to stop pinging. By the end of the day i was pretty much straight Rebel 100. Did some tuning and testing. It was also easily in the 80's most of the day, and maybe even low 90's so that doesn't help the ping. I haven't delt with the tuning, pinging, and motor mods much so i'm on a learning curve for sure. I just know i don't want to straight 100 all the time. Hoping cooler temps, and dropping out more timing, and a cooler Spark plug will help. The dunes were super ripped up, and it was weird to see so many people waling around, riding with no flags, riding double, riding with no helmets. I felt like i was in Utah for a minute. BLM was out there, but just saw one SUV. At least the new Handlebars, grips and other various mods seemed to be working well. the guy in the LT was NUTS. i haven't driven and sandcar, and probly never will but if i do I WON'T be taking driving lessons from him. he would do the straight up drop, then go real slow and slide the car sidweays down the hill. He landed once in a witches eye, but it was a big one so not too bad, Once almost hit an XP, got the beam car stuck, almost took out a line of quads, and i think that was about it. All in a matter of 30 minutes maybe. The car sounded Awesome though... lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sand chick Posted March 31, 2013 Author Share Posted March 31, 2013 Thank you Pete It was a great day, and I was over due for a new ride, I just out grew that 450. Some pics from the day... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakster884 Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Thanks for sharing as always. Hopefully I get a dune trip in this year. Looking at Pismo probably in July. I bet the torque on the Rappy is nothing like the 450R. I am sure you will love the new power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUn2it Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Jodi, couldn't resist your pic, hope you don't mind. 1 is small like your post and the other is like opening yours in another window. Viewing at original size (native) will make them as clear/crisp as possible. By the way... how did the 2 Raptors rear tires compare, like hills, sliding, running through small choppy stuff? Lee small open in new window 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sand chick Posted April 1, 2013 Author Share Posted April 1, 2013 Jodi, couldn't resist your pic, hope you don't mind. 1 is small like your post and the other is like opening yours in another window. Viewing at original size (native) will make them as clear/crisp as possible. By the way... how did the 2 Raptors rear tires compare, like hills, sliding, running through small choppy stuff? Lee Lee I love it when you enhance my pics! You always make them look awesome!! Thank you. Happy to see you are still around We were just wondering about you the other day. I like my old rear tires better, I will be in the market for some Sand Stars soon. The haulers kept popping out on me every so often. But I also have dirt tires on the fronts, those kept digging in. So new fronts as well. It was so tore up out there though it was really hard to judge anything acurately, when I am used to the smoother dunes of off weekends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigJon01 Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 My daughters and I went out for a day trip on Saturday to meet up with family. We arrived at about 8am and the weather was perfect. Shortly thereafter it warmed up pretty quick but was decent in the shade of my cars roof. We had so much fun we didn't have time to take but a few pics. Already looking forward to next year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUn2it Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 I like my old rear tires better, I will be in the market for some Sand Stars soon. The haulers kept popping out on me every so often. But I also have dirt tires on the fronts, those kept digging in. So new fronts as well. It was so tore up out there though it was really hard to judge anything acurately, when I am used to the smoother dunes of off weekends. I was wondering cause of the rounded profile. On the Quadzilla the stock swingarm is too short, pegs back too far and you end up sitting too far back and I tried Haulers with as flat a profile in the size I needed and at any speed but cruise (and who cruises?) the quad would either lift the inside tires and try to spit you off highside or would lift the fronts and you'd go straight before finished turning, even when sitting halfway on the tank, so put flat profiled SkatTrac Edge (chevron) on, they were lighter than any other, and then it was nice controlled slides at any throttle setting. I take a look at this forum from time to time, going to start going out soon with a 2 seater ....... ultralight and the old 250 quad I rode before the zilla. Hey, the 26th-28th this month the Lucas Oil OffRoad racing series will be at the Vegas Speedway if you know anyone into 4000lb trucks racing motocross style. Renezeder asked me to be the team photographer, couldn't think of a reason to say no. Anyways, be careful out there, especially things that are bigger than your quad and smart about the shadows, when the sun is over your shoulder behind you, no shadows and stuff will sneak up on you. You can always ride like a sailboat tacks in the wind when shadows are to the left or right from direction you want to go, left a ways then right. Quads riders are like pilots, there are old pilots and bold pilots, but no old bold pilots. Later, Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunefreak Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 ^^^ I miss that crazy guy!!! hahahaa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Cashman Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 My car broke down on the first dune ride. So i switched to Jack and coke and rode shotgun the rest of the weekend. Spent more time down by the creek drinking and letting the dogs tear up and down the water. All in all had a great time being with all my friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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