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I will start this report with the hope that some of the other 30 odd riders can add too.
I Was having a great morning up to the point of loosing the front wheel on a lightly graveled down hill and landing on my LH shoulder / caller bone giving me a fair bit of instant pain.
I Managed  to ride for around another hour but the swelling was starting to set in, so upon a regroup got directions back to the car park and headed for home.
Once home and cleaned up I head for the hospital and 6 hrs later was determined that there was no breaks or cracks and just a lot of swelling so with drugs in hand headed home.
There is much less pain this morning so here's to looking forward to a speedy recovery for Al's ride next week.
A big thanks must go to Serge for keeping a eye out for me after my off.Will

ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!!!!
A HUGE thanks to Brad for organising the day and leading us on some fantastic tracks. :)
Would also like to thank everyone who was there - was my second ride back after a prolonged absence and was made to feel welcome by one and all.
The morning ride was fun and had a good mix of trails with one hill that i didnt think i was going to make it up - but thankfully did!! The afternoon's tracks were brilliant - the highlight for me was a flowing section of track that had a heap of cuttings across it creating what i'll call little jumps!! unfortunatly i found some of the latter tracks a little more challenging (being exceptionally "unbike fit" didnt help) and created a few road blocks for those behind me - having said that though i still had a ball!! ;D ;D ;D
Anyways, off to work now so that everyone can laugh at the way i'm moving - i'm aching in places i didnt know i had!!!

Thanks again AMTRA for a brilliant day,

Dustin

To everyone who came thanks what makes the ride special are the people who are on it and the feedback. This was a great bunch of people who ride well individually and as a group. Lots of improvements in riding ability on the day which is fantastic to see as the aim is always to make the ride enjoyable and to stretch peoples riding abilities at times.

SERGE your early departure at lunch was noted as SOFT by AMTRA members and hence your bike has earned the nickname "Zamboni"!
Here is a link to see the ride footage.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVkJbvv3pHg

cheers lads..had a ball..very well organised.bit sore here and there but aok..cheers rat(andrew)

no zamboni for me..cant believe i just watched that whole vid brad..

Thank you Brad for showing us some tracks of Neerim , Had heaps of fun . Thank to all the guys on the day [and gals] for making it what it was.
Starting to keep the 2 smoke on the pipe better , but by the afternoon , didn't care what it was doing , too worn out to care.
ps...tried a new idea to reduce arm pump , it worked , arm pump was greatly reduce . Got the idea off u-tube , come and see me for details
                         timmey

Hey Fatboy..I take it you were on the Six Days Kato?
I didn't catch the fall...Only the after effects..YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UN_ez_NXiU

Good to hear your OK Will the bones on the shoulder are just under the skin, no muscle to protect them from a hit on top. Did you go highside?

Ride Report Neerim South  4th of October 2009 by Brad McDiarmid.

The weather was perfect for riding and with the change to daylight savings everyone turned up on time, There were 35 riders on the day with the ride beginning after 9am and the briefing. To see how things would go for the day we did two loops to get the ride sorted. After some words of advice and encouragement to the newer riders by the tailmen I tried an idea to keep the large group flowing which allowed the slower riders to ride at their own pace. Leap froging seemed to work OK; this along with a couple of other techniques moved the big group well during the morning session. There were a few minor bike issues which were sorted out quickly, everyone was riding well and improving as the morning progressed.  Encouraged, I took the group through some narrow trails, mud holes and onto a steep hill which we all got up and down, special well done to Nikki and Ollie for their efforts. A few minor offs, yours truly included as we rode over some flowing tracks to a deep puddle section and back to lunch at 1pm after about 65k’s for fuel, food and drink.
The afternoon group was 15 riders with many of the morning folks having other personal activities to attend.
With the PM group evenly skilled the ride become tuned to their ability and was a mix of narrow trails and faster flowing tracks, which at times was at clubman level. There were some challenging sections around trees and through mud where I seemed to get stuck picking the wrong line on many occasions, copping a spray at one stage for my poor judgment.
In all we covered 130Km and finished around 5pm, thanks to everyone who was on the ride and especially Dennis and Mark for their tailman duties. What makes the ride special are the people and this group of riders was a top bunch. For those who have been on a few AMTRA rides and decided to join a warm welcome to you all.

Some observations/tips from the day:
1.   Wear Goggles at all times one rock, branch or other object and you could be blind.
2.   Stay on your corner with your bike pointing in the direction the leader has gone until the tailman comes and moved you off.
3.   Always stay between the ride leader and the tailman, do not get ahead or behind either of these persons respectively.
4.   Ride standing up, you have much greater dynamic movement of rider and bike. This is especially important when riding up (weight forward) and down hills (weight back).
5.   Try to practice ONE self improvement per ride, could be weight, controls, fingers on leavers, braking or standing up etc…..

Ride list: (as best I could read it off the sheet)
   
Brad McDiarmid   WR250   Ride leader
Dennis Dorman   WR450   Tailman
Mark Clark      FE550      Morning Tailman
Rossi   Ranyard   CRF450
Oliver Jumps      KTM300
Andrew Wratten   DR650
Sean Douglas      XR250
Mark Thomas      TE450
Steve Wiseman   XR400
Daniel Heron      WR250
Timothy Weigall   WR2502T
Anthony Edwards   CRF250
Gary Clarke      CR250
Keith Coutleman   DRZ400
David   Wigg      GG450
Darren Hornsby   KTM450
Darryn Savage      WR450
Mark Veriers      WR450
David Petroff      XR400
Dexter Kiernan   WR450
Adam Fisher      DRZ400
Serge Coffa      WR250
Darrell Clark      WR450
David Gellert      XR400
Miranda Hayes   KTM400
Greg Kincard      YZ250
Josh Rogers      TE250
Nikkela Bouma   TTR230
Brendon Wood   WR450
Dustin Finch      RMX250
Carl Wects      GG300
Colin Pearcy      KTM250
Mat Richmond   WR450
Will Munro      KTM525
Ben Spokes      WR250

Yep I was on the six day Kato. What happened Brad was I was going down the hill which was a bit slippery on the front wheel with too much brake so I was just riding the front brake slightly and as I was just about at the bottom of the hill and the front wheel dropped into the smallest rut you could imagine which was full of small type marble stones next minute the front wheel went right and I went left going straight down on the top of my left shoulder and LH forearm, I remeber the LH side of my helmet hitting the ground but there are no marks on my helmet, but there are deep graizes to my body armour. Let me tell you guys if you are not wearing armour I would recomend not riding, I would be in hospital for sure if I had not had my armour on with lots of deep cuts and grazes and lots of missing skin, the armour might be uncomfortable to wair but it is worth its wait in gold. Anyway the big boss at home let me have yesterday off but has sent me back to work today so I must catch up on yesterday regards Will.

nice write up.. well done brad...

a coupla shots..

(http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss72/ratfink711/L1-L2dayamtra001.jpg)

(http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss72/ratfink711/L1-L2dayamtra006.jpg)

(http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss72/ratfink711/L1-L2dayamtra003.jpg)
enjoy

Hi everyone :), I was one of the only 2 girls on the ride and probably the slowest rider of all. I thoroughly enjoyed myself but I do have to say that the majority of the riders were not lv 1-2 and I found they dominated the ride. I won't mention names but a couple of the riders didn't pass me in a safe manner and I did feel quite pressured.   
   Brad did an excellent job of organising and running the whole ride. It wouldn't have been an easy task to blend 30 faster riders with a handful of slower riders.
   I'm not complaining because I did have a ball..but this is just my opinion from a  lv 1-2 rider on a lv 1-2 ride. I would have liked to see more 'beginners' on the ride and a more lv 1-2 pace ;).

Hi Nikki,
am hoping i wasnt one of "those" riders your referring to - no need to respond to that either way!! - but for what its worth, i thought you did a fantastic job and got a good laugh at the sound of your horn beeping as you crested "THAT" hill (i'm assuming it was your horn!!).. Have too admit to a few occassions of being very concious of a few bikes approacing as well..

Dustin

Nikki, I know exactly how you feel when I started riding at the end of 2006 on a TTR250 I had NO skills and everyone was heaps better than me. It took time for me to make a whole days ride without being exhausted. Also it appears that lots of people back then and now go on L1/L2 rides as it's in their comfort zone where they zoom pretty good. As a beginner its scary and takes time to acquire the skills and without the help and encouragement of the clubs members I would have thrown in the towel several times. Anyway I practiced allot and in 15 months I did 5,000KM and changed bikes to a WR250. Perhaps the answer is a L1 ONLY introduction ride(s) which provide support and advice for people of the same level and excludes others except for those in a direct assisting capacity. This can be done with a small group of 10 or less riders. There is a training course on the weekend of the 24th/25th of October at Merton. You could talk to the "Academy of Off Road Riding" who run it to see if it is suitable. BTW great feedback.

Fair comment...maybe level one ride should be level 1 , I agree all of us were more up to level 3.
Good to see you stand up for your self and we all should be a bit more carefull in passing slower riders.
              see you on anther ride
                                     Timmey

Thanks to Brad for organising the ride, and all those who helped me along the ride. There were at least 12 times where I got stuck on hills/mud/ruts etc, where it took time/help to get out. For their patience, many thanks.

With little to none riding hours to my name, I certainly felt way out of my depth right from the start. Within minutes, i was stalled in and sprayed with mud, failing to find neutral. Having never negotiated a hill, it wasn't long before I got stuck half way up from doing it all wrong. But with the support, understanding and advice from the tail men, I was able to soldier on.

There were certainly some challenging sections, like the big hill and a few tricky bits; however, it was good to be pushed into doing things I didn't feel capable of. The best part of the day was getting up that hill and hitting the 300's powerband on all gears on one of the straights. Thoroughly enjoyed.

It did feel like level 3 ride. Would love to see a level 1 or level 1/2 only ride so there is plenty of time, easy tracks and a manageable pace for us beginners. Again, thanks for a great day!

Cheers,
Ollie

First of all thanks brad for leading an amazing ride especially the arvo ride! im josh with the 08 te250 btw and it would be a privledge to be invited on any of your future rides!


No doubt the pace was probably alittle bit much for a begginner but the tracks where definatly not anywhere near 3 in the mourning, 1 maaaaaybe pushing a 2, you did well though mate :) hard to get used to a 300 as a start off? maybe should have gone with a 250 :P

Great feedback I will speak to the BOSS and see if I can get a leave pass to run an easy L1 ride with extra AMTRA members along to assist.
Plan is to spend some classroom time at the beginning going over the basics. Then take a look at the bikes and their setup for the rider. Out on the tracks for some practice with observers, frequently stopping along the way to provide feedback.
If things are comfortable we will move to hills and introduce a couple of other L2 skills for people to practice.
Back to the car park for a BBQ lunch and to recap and discuss each persons experiences so far. If people are interested there would be a supportive L1 free ride in the afternoon to practice from your own perspective with AMTRA there to provide advice. Please note AMTRA are not an authorised rider training body, we are a very supportive club of members with experiences that can be passed on.

Josh, Thanks for coming. My ride is on the first weekend of each month until the end of the year. Take a look at the calendar for details.

Don't sell yourself short Nikki, I followed you a few times and thought you were going great.  Everyone was impressed with your ride up the challenge hill and thought you took one of the smoothest lines up. I was also impressed with how the guys you came with stuck with you along the ride.

I will also be looking at trying a Level 1 ride out at Cobaw as a small group ride so keep an eye out for that.

Mat.

I'll put my hand up and say I wasn't a grade 1 or 2 rider but the grading is there to let everyone know what sort of ride it is - It's not a restriction (please correct me if I'm wrong) I'm not sure to whom you're refering but I'm sorry if you think I was overtaking you unsafely (CRF250X rider) I think the best why to get past someone is as fast as possible! though it might be a little scary on the recieving end? Unforntunatly i have a screw loose in my brain that says as soon as I get on a bike I have to go as fast as possible! cant help it - Ant

Unforntunatly i have a screw loose in my brain that says as soon as I get on a bike I have to go as fast as possible! cant help it - Ant
Maybe you need to tighten the screw , just a tad!!!

I know what you mean ants74, it's fun having a few loose screw in your brain now and agian ;D

As a rule of thumb, you should try and leave a metre clear either side when passing, and to do so when the track is clear ahead.  Pass cleanly and be aware of what roost behind you can do.

The responsibility is on the rider doing the passing. The rider behind needs to leave enough space to stop if the rider ahead has a problem. 

You can let the rider ahead know you are there, but try not to hassle them, they are probably concentrating on their riding and will try to look for a spot to let you past.

Once ahead and clear then you can loosen the screws again.

Where's the excitement in that.
Take 2 =
1. Sus out who they are.(do they have the ability to carry out the following steps)If so don't continue,otherwise you will recieve the following yourself."not good"
2. follow them closely.
3. Make sure they know you're there.(just to make them go a bit quicker and this will get the brain activated)
4. Then back off to about 20 metres.
5. Wait for a open bit of track about 2.5 bike widths.
6. Hit the gas hard.
7. Pop the front wheel up.
8. Blast past them on the back wheel at warp factor 9.
9. Once around 5-10 metres past them drop the front wheel down.
10. Lean forward and fan the clutch.
11. Wiggle your body side to side.
12. Then look back and watch, as you fill them in with dirt and rocks.
13. Stop at the next corner and wait for their arrival.
14. Always use the excuse" Sorry mate but you were riding so slow" (everyone hates that) you came outta nowhere", ya lucky i saw ya just in time to avoid hitting you.
15. Repeat these steps on your next victim.
16. And remember "Always ride to your ability not the bloke you just passed".

It's fun to ride , but better when you roost your mates.
See you on the trails.
Ps: Make sure you have a beer or two at the end of the ride with them, this will make everything good again ready for the next time you blat past them.

Then you do the hokey - pokey and you turn around!

And THAT'S what it's all about!!
 ;D ;D

Hey Serge i don't do the hokey pokey on the trail, i wait till i get home.

I'm not even gonna think about going there!

 :o

Nikki and Ollie I am changing the DEC Neerim Sth ride so the morning is a L1 only beginners, learners or people returning to the sport after a very long break as a training ride. The afternoon ride would be level two to level two plus. This AM training ride is limited to the first 10 to 15 persons and is not for people who have been riding, ride more than four times a year or have the basic skills. Training will be 9 to 12.20 BYO everything including lunch.

Hey brad, Greg here (yz205f)

Had a great time out there with you guys, thanks for putting on the ride and organising it all. Thanks to the sweeps too, noticed the guy doing sweep duties on the arvo ride didnt seem to keen on the s/t, lol. Good work though

Greg, The tail man is a good mate of mine and rock solid. Yep, he has given me some fair comments on the last narrow trail, which in hindsight was probably a bit too long given the day. Also the narrow is allot tougher on the bigger bikes 450's and up.
You and Josh had the ideal machines for the afternoon trails, look forward to seeing you next ride. Wait until you see the tailman's son ride his KTM300, pretty good!

Hey Brad I would love to come and help in the morning session, I am fortunate to be old enough to have all my screws done up and can relate to the level one guys as I was one not very long ago and just love to see people improve between 9am and 12pm. Regards from Will

No worries Will
Is the shoulder all good?
Hope you are not on the same things as Rowen, Serge and Peter R, cause that's some heavy dude stuff, just look at their posts!!!

BTW for everyone who attends this October PM ride please ensure your breather hoses are sorted in that at least two are routed up high (not all four trailing low) otherwise it is likely the bike will stall in the river with varying consequences. If you are unsure what I mean can post the info for reference, let me know.

Read this:-

http://www.vinamtra.com.au/forum/bike-setup/uzuki-frequently-stops-in-water/? (http://www.vinamtra.com.au/forum/bike-setup/uzuki-frequently-stops-in-water/?)

seano here i had a great time . had three offs first over handle bars landed on feet broke rear indicator. second lost front wheel rolled into bush in front of schevy bent handle bars. third hit log squashed toes between it and footpeg landed in bog hole full of water upto waist .repairing bike ready to go again cant wait for next ride

by the way doc reconns toes are broken.

Not sure if I will make Als ride on Saturday at this stage it still a little sore on some angles but much better than it was on Sunday and even Monday. Will

Sorry to hear that Sean what happens now, when will they be OK?
You guys were riding fine when we did the test run on the XR.

Thanks Tim

I am pressing for a leave pass to go on Al's ride as good behavior after getting a job today, start on the 19th of October. Ye Ha!

Read this:-

http://www.vinamtra.com.au/forum/bike-setup/uzuki-frequently-stops-in-water/? (http://www.vinamtra.com.au/forum/bike-setup/uzuki-frequently-stops-in-water/?)
[/quote]

dont think this site likes me!! i've just got the same message as when i tried to download amtraction yesterday:

An Error Has Occurred!
The topic or board you are looking for appears to be either missing or off limits to you. 

dont think this site likes me!! i've just got the same message as when i tried to download amtraction yesterday:

An Error Has Occurred!
The topic or board you are looking for appears to be either missing or off limits to you. 

[/quote]

Dustin, I had a look at your profile and it appears you do not have full members rights yet. AMTRA wheels turn a little slowly at times. Be patient and you will get full access as soon as Matt lets Neville (our membership officer) know about your membership and Neville contacts the person who gives access to the members section.

Ian

Sorry about that, that's in the members area of the site.

Here it is,


Okay I'll give it a go ;D
When the tubes go under water it stops atmospheric pressure from pushing on the fuel in the bowl. There is a lower than atmosphere pressure in the venturi. The fuel moves from the higher pressure in the fuel bowl to the lower pressure area in the venturi. The amount of fuel that moves is controlled by the different jets in the fuel circuits.

Keith

I'm fairly sure the DR's run the same carb as the 05-07 Husqvarnas, if so your carby should look more or less like this.

On each side of the carb there are breathers, that way it doesn't matter which side you drop the bike on the excess fuel will overflow from the lower side.
Looking at the pictures below and using my yet to be cleaned from the weekend Husqvarna as the example. The Husky has a T piece on each side of the carby with two hoses coming out of it that both originally went down to the bottom of the bike.

(http://www.vinamtra.com.au/forum/gallery/18_12_08_08_8_02_04.JPG)

I took the one that was facing up from the T and ran it up and down the main tube like this.

(http://www.vinamtra.com.au/forum/gallery/18_12_08_08_8_03_48.JPG)

This is where there was five tubes, one carby drain and four from the carby vents, after mod there is now only three.

(http://www.vinamtra.com.au/forum/gallery/18_12_08_08_8_04_46.JPG)

 

Thanks Ian, didnt realise that the link was for a members section!!

Thanks also to Tim - this is probably a stupid question that i'm assuming the same applies to 2 stroke bikes??

Well done Brad  ;D

Thanks Marc and I just got my Fumina leave pass approved, its all about timing.

More or less, you need the carb venting from a higher point than what the water will be.

No Brad, it's all about the vibe (esp the 2T). Congrats on the job, or is that commiserations now that you have to go back to work?

guess that means i'd better not drop it!!! :-\

walking without limp already think doc got it wrong just badly bruised . i ll b on fumina ride this saterday have new handle bars new headstem bearings and front wheel bearings gunna go like a rocket

Good to hear Sean see you on Saturday. One of the things I have understood from the ride is that AMTRA have 4 levels and some other organisations have more so some mapping is required. Further the ride level depends on your perspective of where you are at and perhaps another sport like Snow Skiing a good way to explain what I am trying to say. For example Mt Hotham have 6 teaching levels and Mt Buller 8 and as a beginner its easy to Ski at the start (Snow plough) but its complex soon after to parallel the Ski's. I think Dirt bike riding is similar its easy to get on ride and corner at the start on roads and in a straight line but its far more complex to manage the next stages of variable terrain and techniques. Hence the perspective of what is hard and easy can vary allot for individuals and for those who know both sports perhaps the comparison may resonate. Anyway,some feedback WRT where folks are and where people end up after time the average being an understanding.