Hi guys (and gals)! I'm setting up a small practice area (22x35) in my suburban back yard, and am wondering how to properly secure obstacles. For example, I have a 3' long 6x6. How would you typically secure that to the ground? Rebar? Stakes? Something else? I also have a pedestal from a concrete birdbath that I want to lay on it's side. How would I best secure that? half a dozen pieces of rebar around the perimeter driven straight in around the edges? Maybe a inverted U shape with about a foot of rebar comprising the U "legs" that gets driven into the ground? Etc. I've tried hammering in wooden stakes around a lot of these pieces, but they break quickly. The 6x6 is currently surrounded by about 8 heavy duty plastic landscape stakes/tent stake thingies, but I can feel it roll when I go over it, so that's not enough. I also intend to get a large log, maybe 5' long and 18" diameter or so to practice "too tall for the skidplate to get over" log crossings. How can I hook that to the ground successfully? Basically I'm just looking for someone who's done a lot of anchoring of obstacles for their best practices to do that. I don't want to do any somewhat "irreversible" stuff like concreting them into the ground or something as I will want to move things around over time. Thanks!
The 6x6 I would just add a 2x4 at each end. The log I would bury at each end. Stakes and such should be avoided. I do use rebar to attach railroad ties , but never leave anything out that you could fall on.
Just lay it down an learn to bunny hop? No joking, you need to learn to ride "soft" and get over things without always banging into them.
Understood, but it's going to be a while before I learn that...I'm gonna end up banging into them some as I try to achieve "soft" contact. Or are you saying that I should just accept that and keep practicing until I don't bang into them? Seems like I'm going to be stopping and getting off the bike to put them back in position quite a lot.
Do both if you can. I have a 18" PVC pipe that would roll all over the place and I never did anchor it down but worked on getting over it without rolling it (too much). I'm not real sure what you are doing to bang a 4X4 post that is laying down but I guess that is something that needs to be learned as well. There is a bunch of this junk in the backyard trials thread, you might get some ideas in there.
Yes, I've been reading the backyard trials thread, that's what inspired me to try to build something in my back yard. Didn't really see too much specifically about anchoring (other than burying stuff in, which I don't want to do unless absolutely necessary as I don't want to completely commit this hunk of yard to the trials practice area forever). Regarding the 4x4 (actually it's a 6x6), we all gotta start somewhere! Thanks for the info.
I was anchoring telephone poles with rebar. Got the big cheap long Harbor Freight auger bits and poked holes through the poles and hammered rebar through. It was 3 "logs" stacked like a pyramid and tapered to all 3 flat. Stayed together for years. Came apart fairly easy when the landscape project started.
That's how I'd anchor in the yard. I'd countersink the rod a bit. When you want to remove the rods just grab em with a pipe wrench and turn and lift.
I generally agree with letting things move around, it is good practice. Speaking from painful personal experience, make sure you don't have any utilities buried right below your obstacle. It's easier than you would guess to drive rebar through a gas or water line, and a power line could be a bummer.
My stupid question: should the carb vents have hoses attached, or should they just be open? Bought a used Sherco 2.9 in need of attention on several accounts, no hoses coming off the carb, but I feel like there should be.
Be aware that you don't want the carb bowl vent to be below a water line if longer water crossings are the norm for your trials events. A bowl vent submerged for a long time can cause the engine to quit because it's not a vent anymore (!), being "plugged" by the water it's under.
No. Although I am sure some people still do. The old Fantic just had a rubber rim strip. No idea how it worked, but it did. The new Sherco has turnbuckle style spokes so no holes into the rim.
I dump some stans no tube in when I mount up a new tire. I have had a lot of slow leaks, and the sealant seems to work pretty well. I don't find it necessary to refresh except at tire change.
Early "no tube" rims were mostly tube type looking rims, that had a much deeper valley where the spoke nipples are. with a 3/8 inch or thincker rubber 'band" that covered the spoke nipples and holes. carefull cleaning usually made the rubber seal just fine. after corrosion happens, a thin dab of silcone on each side of the valley where the rubber seals the rim (I keep silicone off the spoke nipples) makes it air tight again. Or, just use a tube, they weigh just a pound or so, until you are hopping rear wheel all day long, you probably wont notice the weight difference at all.
So, I broke my throttle cable this past weekend. Super stoked that my local parts store had one in stock. Brought it home, installed... there is a crap-mile of free-play. Am I missing something? Is there any way to adjust tension in the cable? (I'm guessing about 1/4-turn of the throttle of free play.) As I kept messing with it, I took the cover off the throttle body a few times and sure enough cracked it.... GRRRR. Total noob. ^%&^#!
Apex in the Springs. Part number was attached to the cable on handwritten tag - sure seemed to be close to the old one, but it was broken, so hard to tell. For a minute I thought the throttle tube was broken or something. When I released the throttle tube and the slide falls, the cable gives enough slack that a few times it popped out of the channel around that little pulley wheel in the throttle housing.
