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2002 FMF Baja Mar Off-Aoad Aide Th.... gup with Iron bellies chow down some flsh tacos, !from left to right) Cycle World magazine's Jimmy Lewis, Racer X's Tim Coombs, and Sldl's Ale. BIlylon. course; it's often referred to as the Pebble Beach of Mexico, as the views from holes 14 through 17 on the cliffs above the ocean are stunning. bottom of my goggles, and after I cleaned it off by sticking it in my mouth for a while, I got it back in and got going again. Everything was going fine, and I was really enjoying the ride. I felt that I was riding a lot better than I had on the first day, mainly because I knew what to expect from the terrain. About 20 miles into the ride, I was hauling ass along some of the farm roads when I realized that the bike was starting to backfire whenever I was off throttle. It seemed like it was running okay, so I wasn't too concemed. Then, as luck would have it, I rode down into a small ravine, and the bike just stalled out completely. After getting the WR out of the way a little, I tried to get the motor refired, DAV3 The final day started early, and after breakfast we hit the trail and headed back toward Tecate. The route that was planned for this day was much mellower than that of the first day. It's funny, but it seemed like everyone left at the exact same time, and the first five or so miles were incredibly dusty. It had the feel of a race more than a trail ride. This led to my first incident of the day, which wasn't a big deal but was annoying, as one of my contact lenses fell out. It was just sitting in the (Above) The entire group. (Below) This Is how you keep from getting stranded In Mexico. but it just wouldn't cooperate. I finally decided that I needed to get out of the ravine because there wasn't any airflow down in there, and I was overheating, myself. I got the bike out of the ravine somehow and stopped and rested for a while. For the most part, everyone that rode by me offered help, but I hadn't figured out what the problem was yet. I decided to bust out the tools that I had brought along, because the bike had still refused to fire after about a million kicks. After about a half-hour, Cycle World magazine's Jimmy Lewis rode up and, without hesitation, proceeded to help with the bike. Jimmy got the bike running fairly quickly, but he immediately knew I wasn't lying when I said the bike was running horribly. I didn't want him to think that I was just some idiot that couldn't start his bike, especially because I was another motorcycle journalist! That would sweep the office like wildfire! We decided to check for air leaks in the exhaust system and then on the intake manifold, and after tightening the latter. we gave it another try. It was still running like crap, but now Jimmy was pretty sure that the pilot jet was clogged with dirt. We removed the cap on the bottom of the carb's float bowl to find it filled with dirt, which gave credence to Jimmy's theory. At this point, I decided that I wasn't going to take the freakin' carb apart in the middle of nowhere, and that I would try to make it to our gas stop at the halfway point. We set the idle fairly high and got the thing running, and although it sounded like hell, it wasn't dying on its own. The miles to come were a little stressful because I really didn't want to kill the The ride was a play ride for all Involved, especially gup like Desby Abbott. bike again, but it was, of course, inevitable. During my trailside pit stop, a lot of people passed me on the trail, and despite being an offroad novice, I quickly discovered that the slow guys bringing up the rear were really slow. Normally, this wouldn't matter to me at all, but as I quickly discovered, I had to keep moving at a fairly good pace to keep the now-high-idling motor running and the engine cool. This wasn't to be, however, as the guys at the back with me were having a difficult time negotiating some sections of the trail. I apologize now to anyone that thought I was riding their ass and Desby Abbott asks his golf partner Bob Walker what he's supposed to do with the funny metal stick thing. If you are interested in riding in Baja, contact Baja Bound Adventures, which has a variety of trips for all skill levels, and they have a bikes for rent as well, including Honda XR650Rs and Suzuki DR-Z400s. Contact them at: Baja Bound Adventures P.O. Box 4617J5 Escondido, CA 92046-1715 Toll Free 1-888-664-BAJA (2252) Tel. and Fax (760)739-9596 www.bajaboundmoto.com Or contact: Trail Boss Tours 888/228-6878 www.trailbosstours.com Marty Tripes Xtreme Baja Tours 619/445-8853 E-Mail mtripes@adnc.com Baja Off-Road Adventures 7J4/637-5770 www.bajaoffroad.com Go Baja Rimn' 909/238- 1860 www.gobajaridin.com Special thanks to the following companies for their sponsorship of the 2002 Baja Mar Ride. FMF. Braking. Mot/on Pro. N-Style. Dunlop, Sidi, Scott, 909. Maxima. PartsUnlimited, White Brothers, Tucker Rocky. Western Power Sports, Motorcycle Stuff. 26 FEBRUARY 13. 2002' cue I e n • _ s