R-Dubya Posted March 29, 2010 (edited) Hey everyone, I just got out today basically ALL day, and had a blast! The Katoom ran awesome until I started running on this horribly rich gas my dad mixed up. Every once in a while it would just die, and take like 5 minutes to get started again. ANYWAYS, where we ride, you need to take trails down to the train tracks, lift your bike over the tracks (BIIIIIIIIIG PITA) then hold it pinned going down the tracks. I expected this to be ridiculously hard and sketchy my first time, because it's all rocks at most points, and also like big rollers. It was until I grabbed the tank with my knees, then I realized why everyone says to do it. It works awesome! I got about mid-3rd gear when I was keeping up with billy who was 6th pinned at the time. Guess my bike's just a bit faster...we got to the track that we ride at, and to get to it you need to go down a steep hill. It's a cool little track. It's like there's a small little oval flat track with one sweeping berm and then one short little rutted berm that you kinda lock into, and a few trails and jumps branching off of that. In the short rutted berm, I washed out a couple times but managed not to dump it. Then, to get back up, you go back up the hill you came down, which is pretty short, but basically a rut with big rocks and stuff in it. I thought this was gonna be hard, but KTM pulled through and it was one of the easiest things possible after I stopped overthinking it and just went for it lol. So, now that you get the whole picture, I have a few questions. How do you comfortably stand up on the bike for extended periods of time without locking your legs? It's like doing one extended half-squat-type thing, and is hard to maintain for more than a few minutes at a time. Probably something I just need to get used to and will build up over time, but does anyone else have this issue? Second, I had brand new boots on, and it SUCKED. Plain and simple. Couldn't feel a thing through them. The worst thing was that at first, my feet were sliding around on the pegs a LOT, despite my legs gripping the tank. It was to the point that I was accidentally upshifting when I went over the rollers on the tracks. It might have been my calves/lower legs not being against the bike. My knees were gripping the tank, but thinking back on it, I could've had my feet against the frame to grip as well, which I didn't. Would that be the cause? Not gripping the frame and letting my feet slide around? Not thinking about it? Or the new boots? I think the boots were a big part of it, they were giving me trouble all day lol. That's about it. Wednesday through Saturday I should be riding as well. Gonna pick up some Klotz Benol and drain the rest of the crap out of my tank that's in there now. Gonna be sore as hell tomorrow though, can already feel it now. OH! I only ate it once. Not even riding. Pulling up the little incline of rocks that leads up to the train tracks on the way back, my foot got hung up on something and when I leaned over, no foot to hold me up! I tumbled down a little hill of rocks, and my pride was hurt, but hell it was funny. Picking up a bike that's upside down is a real PITA, almost as much as having to lift it over tracks right after that. First ride story over🤣🙂 Here's a pic of the KTM and Billy's KX up close in their natural habitats 👍 Edited March 29, 2010 by R-Dubya Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trailmeisterjoe Posted March 29, 2010 Hang in there....sounds like you really like riding so more seat time will straighten out the issues and break in the boots so you have more feel. Joe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
akarob Posted March 29, 2010 Your pegs are probably very worn and rounded off. New ones will do wonders for keeping your feet planted. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
R-Dubya Posted March 29, 2010 Your pegs are probably very worn and rounded off. New ones will do wonders for keeping your feet planted. Surprisingly not. I was thinking if my pegs were the actual issue, but they're fine. They're Enduro Engineering pegs, and while a bit rusty, they're still nice and grippy. I think it was more my boots and the fact that I couldn't feel a DAMN thing through them. New boots. Ugh. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yamaha king 69 Posted March 29, 2010 lol man your thinking too much about it. just keep riding and you will figure it out for the most part. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J3RiMe008 Posted April 3, 2010 about the boots- theyll break in and youll feel fine with them, new boots are just always stiff. about standing up- do what feels comfortable, trying to be in a certain position will probably make you tense up more which isnt so great,you should be loose and comfortable being that you have to move and shift your weight around a lot. more time on the bike is the best way to learn! youll just get the feel for it and soon enough itll be like nothing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
R-Dubya Posted April 3, 2010 about the boots- theyll break in and youll feel fine with them, new boots are just always stiff. about standing up- do what feels comfortable, trying to be in a certain position will probably make you tense up more which isnt so great,you should be loose and comfortable being that you have to move and shift your weight around a lot. more time on the bike is the best way to learn! youll just get the feel for it and soon enough itll be like nothing Been riding a few times since then, and I've gotten better. As far as standing, I realized I wasn't standing up high enough and putting too much weight on my lower thigh area. Boots broke in fine and that's better too. Realized that I wasn't used to how the boots protrude a bit compared to shoes, and now when I'm doing stuff like that, standing on the balls of my feet fixes the accidental shifting problem. And I started railing this one rutted berm pretty well, good enough that I can lap billy on the track now just from rocketing out of that corner 👍 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SRAD97750 Posted April 5, 2010 I have the 89' KTooM. Super rider friendly when you loosen up. Bring your weight slightly forward more then you think and it helps standing (grabbing with legs) on that particular model. My leg fits in better when I'm a little more forward then when on my 87' YZ. Seat time is a big deal with an older bike. They are less forgiving than the new fancy suspension technology. -BIG DAN:thumbsup: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slick_Nick Posted April 6, 2010 Stop thinking about it and just RIDE! 👍 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
