My name is Nick and I am a pretty new member and have already enjoyed posting, receiving info, advice, seeing other projects, coordinating trips, it is a great experience. A little about myself, well, I guess I should say what the "RNR" stands for first off. It stands for "Red Neck Racing!" Funny. It also stands for "Rusty, Nick, Randy(2)" (there are 2 Randys). We are a group of 4 friends that do pretty much everything together. The "racing" part started off about 5 or 6 years ago when we used to drag race at the fontana dragway. We were heavy into camaros and firebirds for the longest time. We didn't like the way the program was going, so we eventually all sold off our spare cars and moved into riding dirt and sand toys. Off and on, we all owned some sort of beater bike or another. I guess I will list out the various bikes I have owned at one point or another below.

#1) First bike I owned: 1975 Honda XL 250 enduro (dubbed "Pig Iron!!!!!!!") The slowest, but one of the most fun, bikes I have ever owned. Got me around through the dunes at dumont and was really efficient on gas since it was a 4 stroke. I even used to make it up the back side of comp hill, which was an awesome feat to see! People used to really trip out when I would roll up on the pig iron on top the the biggest hill out there! The most fun we had on that bike was at night, sitting around camp, either got a nice buzz goin or full on drunk, we would do the wheelie contest! First gear from a dead stop, it was so hard to wheelie that bike because of the weight combined with minimal power. Once that front end came up, you knew you were crazy to do it! Eventually, it blew up and was scrapped. :-(

#2) 1985 Honda 250R ATC (A.K.A. the Widowmaker!) This bike was my first really fast vehicle. Not too smart with it being a 3 wheeler with a novice rider! (Didn't learn from that mistake either since Randy rode it once and wound up in the hospital with 3 broken ribs, punctured and collapsed right lung, bruised liver, broken collar bone...bad news!)
When I first got it, Rusty (shoubadaba) and I made a Glamis trip. I think I counted 15 wipe outs I suffered from that weekend! My main problem was that the bike had a twist throttle and a wicked power band! The power would kick in while going up a hill, the front tire would yank up, I would try to lean forward but in so doing I was actually putting more twist on the throttle and I would always loop over backwards. Eventually, I put a thumb throttle on and that solved the problem. After Randy crashed it, however, I decided it was time to sell it.

#3) 198?’s Custom built stadium lite. Shoubadaba said it was a Challenger frame, although I am not really familiar with it. I guess Hoser has some pics of one he used to have. I kick myself every day for getting rid of this car. I did a full build, stripped it down, built the motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )), it was a custom bottom end from a fl250 with electric start, a fl350 top end, ported, big carb and DG exhaust. Built it, broke it in, and sold it for $3000 without ever riding it. Oh well, live and learn.

(Had a huge break from riding during the transition from these two bikes)

#4) 2006 YFZ450SE. I got married in August of 2007 and this was a wedding gift from my fiancé! She teamed up with Shoubadaba and went to a local bike shop and picked it up. It was brand new, left over from the previous model year. They took the bike and stored it in Shoubadaba’s toy hauler. He organized a huge trip to Pismo without informing me of my new toy. We got there, he dropped the gate, then my jaw dropped as well! It has been a super fun and reliable bike ever since I got it.

#5) 1960’s Special Construction Sand Rail. An old school sand sled to say the least. It was originally intended for my wife to ride, but she didn’t really like the fact that it was stick shift so it didn’t last long. It was a fun car though. 1835cc dual port VW motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )), swing axle trans, I-beam and king pin front end, turning brakes, it was a blast to rip around in. After being convinced that the wife would not ride it, we bought her a fl350 for $2000 (this will be #7). Eventually, the rail was traded straight across to Ken (BlueCoyote) for another fl350 (this will be #8). I felt like an ass since Ken told me that the first time they took it out they busted the front end during some normal driving. Sorry Ken.

#6) 1985 FL350. This one was intended to be my wife’s bike. We got this one before getting rid of the sand rail. I picked it up for $1500 complete with a water cooled head, EEE ceramic pipe (Brand New!!!!), ported cylinder (later we would also discover that the top was decked which gave it over 170 psi of compression!), the motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) had a brand new bore with an 82mm piston (not too happy about that). We actually wound up parting this one out, saving the foot tub, motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) stuff, sold the trans, suspension, etc... scrapped the frame but kept the VIN and paperwork for future projects to come.

#7) 1985 FL350. This one is my wife’s current bike. Got it completely stock with a 92c clutch for $2000, Honda piston, stock everything! The cage was tweaked as it had been rolled so I put the cage on from the #6 ody. The tank was full of rust, so without knowing it was bad to do, I put on a gravity feed tank w/o the fuel pump on the stock carb. It ran for a while at Dumont, but we eventually fried the piston. Oops. It then got the 82mm cylinder and piston from the #6 bike, 38mm mikuni flat slide, EEE pipe, etc… Had carb problems left and right, blew the motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) again, and now it is back to stock, air cooled (shoubadaba is buying the water cooling system for his current project), stock carb, stock tank, and it will be for sale soon.

#8) 1985 FL350. This one is mine. This is the one I traded Blue Coyote for the rail. It came with a water cooled head and cylinder, water pump, fan, 81.5mm piston, mild port work, 92c clutch, no plastics and a thrashed foot tub, stock exhaust, 38mm mikuni round slide carb with a strange looking dial adjustment for the main jet, 5 point harness, digitron gauges, window nets, a really cool buggy. Unfortunately it is currently blown, ran it lean and it popped at Dumont. (seems to be my troubles here, I think me and 2 stroke just don’t mesh well). I replaced the round slide with a mikuni 38mm flat slide carb, put the EEE pipe on, opened up the ports some more, replaced the foot tub with a spray lined black tub (provided by my good friend Randy), black side panels, it looks nice. It came with stock front shocks that were modified, re-valved with rezzies, put those on my wife’s ody and now I have raptor 660r fronts on it with stock rears.

#9) 2009 Polaris RZR-S. I guess I am getting my wife back for the surprise YFZ. This is a surprise x-mas gift for her. Picked it up a week ago. Will be mashing with it at the “East meets West” Glamis trip. Cant wait.

#10)….Haven’t got one yet, but I am half was planning on selling my fl350 and picking up a Redline Revolt. That is what the wife really wanted, but no one would finance them, and banks are really tight on loans right now. Maybe after x-mas we will see if we can both apply for a loan and get her a Revolt. Hmm, sounds like the RZR is mine…oops 

Well, I guess that is it as far as bikes go. Guess I can describe my rig I go to the desert with.

2000 F250 4x4 diesel. White, extended cab, long bed. Currently it is stock with a cheapassdieselchip from ebay. Works pretty good too. Oh yeah, took off the muffler too. Nice and loud!

2004 23 foot Attitude toy hauler, front bath, dual rear electric beds, really nice trailer. Although I think I am going to have problems fitting it all in HA HA!!!

I will get some pics posted up soon of my stuff. I will have to dig and see if I can find some past pics of my older stuff. I guess I went a bit overboard on the typing, but that is what happens when you are bored at work. Can you believe I am a high school teacher! My kids are all doing a review activity while I am sitting here typing away! Being a public educator rocks!

Welcome to the forum Nick from a way newer member than you. Now I now where all the 85 FL 350's went,sounds like you've got some good deals out there on your 350's. You've had some nice machines over the yrs. , must be nice to have sand dunes around so you can go out and play. Now you make sure you keep your pupils in line & don't let them get the best of you so hold your ground & keep your paddle handy.

Mark

Thanks for the welcome Mark.

Been a few changes to my rides. Sold both my fl350's to fund a purchase of a...
#10) EEE GenI stadium lite.... http://www.pilotodyssey.com/PO/viewtopic.php?t=5250
above is a link to my process on getting the car together. guess the revolt will have to wait

What a deal Nick that is one cool machine you have there. I just bought a 89 Pilot and its powered by a Yamaha 540 VMAX motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )).Now all I have to do is do some modifications to it so I can fit behind the steering wheel, evidently they didn't make it for someone that is 6-1 and 290 lbs. Have fun with your machine.

Mark

I am 5'10'' and 230lbs and it gets a little tight for me in the EEE car. Not much leg room so my knees have to stay bent and they hit the sides of the car. I am going to make some padding for them or something. The guy who bought my water cooled fl350 was about 350lbs I would guess, he said he and his friends are all big guys, they just stretch the frames a bit so they can fit in easier.