Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127686
The Nevada Rally Experience
(Right) "He made me
do Itl" At the finish of
the rally, I am
congratulated by
Franco Acerbls, event
promoter and my
former boss.
(Below) Here, I guide
the big XR Into a gas
stop. ,Team Honda's
pits provided little rest,
rarely taking over five
seconds to completa.
43 minutes, which is a long time to go
without relieving yourself. Not only tha t,
but I had again been too nervous to eat in
the morning, and my bod y was beginning
to rebel. Fighting a fever and chills, I took
a shower and hobbled off to the rid ers'
meeting, completely and totally drained.
I'd finished 15th on the day and climbed
to 16th overall, but had serious doubts
about starting Day Four. After all, I had
other problems to contend with as well.. .
AU the riding pants I brought with me
were one sizetoo large, as I had hoped the
extra room would be more comfortable
over the long haul. The ide a worked to
some degree, bu t my heavy fanny pack
would push the pants down, and I had
finished Day One with nothing but underwear covering my rear end. My dad rectified the problem by zip-tying my pants to
my kidney belt, but the damage had been
done, and I fou ght a serious case of
baboon butt for th e remaind er of the
event.
Figuring I probably wouldn't be able
to eat the next morning, I finally got smart
and ate two dinners that night, and I actually didn't feel too bad on Wednesday.
That's fortunate, since Day Four offered
the most spectacular scenery of the rally.
The shortish jaunt to Ely included an awesome trip up the beautiful Shell Creek
mountain range, but the slippery trip back
down caused many a problem for several
riders - or so I surmised by the many skid
marks shooting off the edge of the gravelcovered fire road . With my trick XR, however, I could engine-brake controllably
into the turns and jus t as easily hook up
and accelerate down the straights; the
thing was awesome.
The 628 was great just about eve rywhere, for that matter - probably the best
bike I've ever ridden. The motor offered
gobs of oomph over an extremely broad
powerband, and it could lug down for
rocky climbs or rev out on fast dirt roads.
Not only that, but the suspension gobbled
up anything in its path, reminding me of
those big Baja off-road trucks that have a
mile of travel. More than once, I'd get a
sick feeling in my stomach when an unexpected rut or washou t would pop up on a
high-speed trail, but no matter how fast I
'Th'e:' ireatwhlte 'shark
• ICO lWIye2 digital odometer. (Stockmechanical unit retained for back-up.) , . '. .
• Kill button switched to right side of bars: (Road book arid odoadvance buttons take
space on left side.)
. ..
,
. ' . .
.: . Scotts Unic steeringdamper;
onda hasgaineda reputatiO,nfor .
en .. . . ' Steerer tube-mounted oil cooler.,
.
,
doing things right,