Back from elk hunting. Our hunt is set to remove as many elk from that area as possible. Great odds to get a tag, but each year the odds of getting an elk gets less.
Out of 4 of us we never got a shot. Saw two elk. I saw one at about 430 in the am, in my headlights, too dark to shoot. One of the others saw a spike bull, but we had cow tags. so no elk. Saw turkey, white tail and mule deer. Saw some great looking country, lots of trees aspen, doug fir, spruce, and others I wasn't sure of. Sat in the forest in the dark and watch the sun come up. Heard the forest awake. Heard the squirrels bark, coyotes call, hawks shrill cry, perhaps a bull elk bugle one of the last for the season. All while holding a thermos of hot coffee, watching the steam form patterns on a midnight blue background. Stars so bright they look reachable. Air so cold, crisp, you could taste it. a few minutes later it was light enough to see to walk, walk up 1000-1500 feet. follow trials, sit, wait, look. Elk or not, worth the price of admission.
We rode the bike around camp, took turns trying to kill it. Only problem was the set screws came loose on the sprocket and spit out the keyway. Was able to stick another in, tighten up the screws and continue. Even coasted most of the way back to camp when it happened.
Noticed the bend in the exhaust has cracked, so ordered a piece of flex. And the light gage tin I used for the rear fender wells, oil canned like thunder so ordered a piece of ABS sheet to replace it, and add a glove box to the front of the frame. Need to get the seat done by someone real.
Weighed the beast this week. On a bathroom scale so might be off a bit, but by weighing front and rear, adding the two I come up with a bit over 320lbs. Ya, 320. Jlo might need to back off the BonBons. While trail riding I could break the rear tire loose almost at will. If the tire would hook up it would climb anything I tried. 35-40 on gravel roads felt like a speed attempt at Bonneville. But the more I rode it, the better it handled. I think rider break in was the cause. More throttle seemed to cure any problems. It seemed like it could have easily hauled anything we stuck on it. we never got that chance, but all three of us agreed 1/2 an elk was an easy thing.
I'll post pics when I get the last updates done and get the wiring hooked up.