however fast the truck & trailer goes to move it from place to place. :catfight:

Couple new additions to Norwood's rear. After a twenty year relationship with Monroe, Norwood is sporting these slick Ridetech HQ pogo sticks.

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-2...2C34Trf-X2.jpg

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-f...f9s6jwm-XL.jpg

After testing in defense of Monroe they were not horrible, but they're certainly not Ridetech HQ's. The Monroe's may find their way on my utility trailer.......just because. :D

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-Z...ZLXWDkD-XL.jpg

For my initial Ridetech HQ testing, I set the rebound at 13 clicks out from full firm. (Total range of adjustment is 27 clicks) I went and drove my favorite test road out and back which has some fast sweepers and good 30 mph esses, some of which have upsetting irregularities in the transition which is perfect for testing valving. Set in the middle the shock were respectable and a notable improvement.

The next test was the same road with the shocks on full soft, or fastest response. While still an improvement over the Monroes, this setting made the chassis feel somewhat busy or twitchie.

The next test was the same road with the shocks set on full firm, or slowest response. This felt better than expected though it wasn't letting the spring rebound quite fast enough for the road.

My initial guess after running in the middle of the range was I'd end up toward the softer side of middle, after experiencing what the extreme's are I'm guessing the opposite or 7-9 clicks out from full firm for my roads and input preferences.

The Ridetech shock and mounting hardware is top shelf material quality. I'm very please with the HQ's finish quality and performance, especially for the price point!

Between my off-road and road bikes I've had some nice shocks, Ohlin, WP, and Penske 3-way adjustables. In respect to product build/finish quality the HQ's are on par with what I consider some of the best. :thumbsup:

Car's made some big improvements recently. Glad to see you enjoying it so much!

:captain:

Thanks Curtis, the car's actually a respectable driver finally. With the exception of a non-baffled oil pan I'd feel comfortable running recreational laps on a road course with it now.

I've also been working on fine tuning the Ultra XP carb, pulled #2 plug yesterday and it looks like I'm gaining on it.

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-T...Th3xgtf-XL.jpg

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-r...r2VgJhG-XL.jpg

Thanx for the explanation of the shocks, nice upgrade. I've not had a good understanding on how shocks work (fluid, valve, compression is all i can figure out). And i've never been able to nail it on an off road bike, having had WP and Ohlin's, its been good/ perhaps great at times, but getting it tuned, ugh!

So, the "full firm=slowest response" was/is kinda like a :idea: :idea: , guess would be the least amount of fluid traveling through the valve, hence the "firmest/roughest" ride. Simple, but not.

Congrats on having the dialed for summer, old paint job or not, it looks fan-friggentastic....

btw, sold my 320 XCFW last week:( , too scared i'm gonna fall on my "rebuilt" shoulder and tear it again. Boo, sux. Thinkin about a 690 Enduro though...

Yeah man...that's a huge investment of time and patience! Labor of love for sure.

The road test of all my work took place this last weekend with a trip over the Cascade Mountain range and up through central northern Oregon to Oregon Raceway Park to meet up with Greg at a track day event.

New since any road trip of length: Rear gears, rear disc brakes, rear shocks, new front suspension bushings, ball joints, rod ends, springs, bar, and my in-house alignment.

Got a little bit of a late start, like 6:15 a.m. so I'm pressing on the first leg up over the Cascades to Sisters, OR knowing that the trip is 216 miles on single lane mostly desolate highway and the first track session probably start at 9 a.m.

Cresting the Cascades at 7:21

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-9...-9bVVtTd-L.jpg

Gas up in Sisters, 108 miles 12.8 mpg........not good, hit the road and top off in Madras 46 miles later for safety, 20.4 mpg much better considering the sign just past Madras says "Next Gas 92 Miles" and the track is about 60 miles and I need to at least get back there for fuel in the morning. Made it to the track with no car glitches at all at 9:45 and the country club group hadn't even ran laps yet. :D

Evening staging area with the south end of the front straight in the background set for 'clean' morning departure.

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-7...7t2qS2n-XL.jpg

The return trip was smooth and equally as quick which was surprising for a Sunday. I made it to Redmond, south of Madras to refuel and made it home with a half a tank but haven't filled it up to confirm mileage.

The car ran flawlessly with the exception of the preexisting minor driveline vibration which I'm now motivated to resolve.

Front tire wear looked good as well considering the self-alignment was concern.

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-n...n5K3QxS-XL.jpg

GPS trip data:

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-r...-rQknxLW-L.jpg

Happy guy here! Great weekend, great company, and no tickets or black flags. :D FWIW, I only saw two cops on the road the entire trip.

First track weekend EVER that I didn't spin once!!


Add that to your "great trip" === and it was win win.

Awesome adventure, Scott!

Bingo!

We both almost did in T3 in the ricer though, but you didn't turn on the wipers. :lol: