Chuggin' with the 450X

[SlowDinoDog]

I wish all my friends on TT a happy new year. ?

I just got a Hero2 helmet cam for XMAS. I've been lucky to have some time off and some nice weather to ride.

I want to share this with those who haven't been able to get out and ride due to weather, health, or mechanical issues. Have fun and enjoy this ride. Nothing special or fast. Just a nice sunny afternoon ride on a great running 450X !!!

The edit is rough and the camera angle may not be the best...

If anyone's interested, I'll post the other parts to Chiva Falls and back.

[YZEtc]

Nice. ?

Is that typical winter weather for that location?

[SlowDinoDog]

Hey YZetc,

I think the mean high temp for January is about 65F. We can get some cold weather too. The water on the trail in the video is snow melt from the week before.

Here's the second half of the ride out. There are some cool rock formations to climb about half way through this next part. Enjoy the ride! ?

[YZEtc]

Looks like a nice day for January. ?

Terrain seems quite different compared to out here in Connecticut, as I am sure you can imagine.

What are the requirements to ride on those trails?

[SlowDinoDog]

The trails are on Coronado National Forest land and this particular OHV riding area is called Redington Pass. You can find it on the US Forest Service website. It's a pass between the Catalina and Rincon mountains on the NE side of Tucson. I live about ten minutes away.

Basically, all you need is an OHV (Off Highway Vehicle) sticker, which costs about $25 a year. I believe the Forest Service honors OHV stickers from other states for visitors. They also require spark arrestors.

It's hard to believe, but riding in that beautiful area is perfectly legal and is miles away from homes, so noise isn't an issue. There are miles and miles of varied terrain and trails out there. This video was taken on a work day, so there were not any other riders. Normally, there are a lot of jeeps, quads, campers, hunters, and dirt bikes out there.

[roadglider]

Arizona is a riding paradise and I'm am really bummed that I don't live there anymore. There is excellent riding all over the whole state. Flagstaff, Cottonwood, North of Phoenix in the Bradshaw mountains, Yuma all have great places to ride. I lived in Flag for 23 years and used to race in ADRA so I found a lot of cool places to ride. Then I took it for granted. Now I really miss it.

[SlowDinoDog]

Hey roadglider,

Glad you enjoyed seeing AZ again in the video. It is an amazing place to ride. It's a geographically large state with a relatively small population. There is so much National Forest land and State Trust land and relatively little private land. Also, the Forest Service and the State Trust Land folks seem to support OHV motorized vehicle trails. Also, there seems to be a smaller percentage of anti-motorized vehicle "treehuggers" than our sister state to the west.

I haven't ridden in the east, but have traveled there a lot. The terrain is beautiful, but the open spaces for off-road motorized vehicles seems more limited.

[twinturboram]

Looks great, glad to see you got your camera up and running. Looks like a fun place to ride. Im hoping to do some riding back east here in Ohio. Weather looks promising. Looking forward to more vids! ?

[JRM]

I still havent pulled the trigger on buying a crf450x and keep holding onto my xr's.... you just sold me as I was worried that the crf wasnt mild enough for tech trails... you just proved that it is fully mild when needed. I am 36 and I think im slowing down but everytime I go out I notice im bottoming out my xr's on stuff like that pinned in 3rd gear. so.... maybe a 450x is in my future!

[SlowDinoDog]

I've been playing with camera angles. I raised it a little to get more of the horizon in the pic to see if it would help the height perspective. Unfortunately, the camera still "flattens" the scene and makes the hills look less steep than they are.

The weather has still been nice, highs in the 70's. I went riding with a couple of friends this time. Same ride as the other videos, but I included the return trip this time. Enjoy !!

[bionicman]

what video setting are you using?

[SlowDinoDog]

These were shot at 720p. Here's the return trip. Links were broken during the TT migration to the new format.

Part3

Part4