GOOD TEST LOOP / SECTION IN LUCERNE OR JOHNSON VALLEY

[mxben]

Could anyone here divulge the location of a good short test loop or section they have used in the past to suspension test/shakedown our 10 car?

Just don't want to drive out there and aimlessly search for the right combo of stuff. Thanks in advance.

 

[Dave Cole 4454]

Find me on the lakebed and I will point you in the right direction. Assuming you will be coming before the event starts.

D

 

[mxben]

Find me on the lakebed and I will point you in the right direction. Assuming you will be coming before the event starts.

D

Ok cool. Sometime next week. Could be Monday-Wednesday. I'll reach out. Thank you.

 

[turbodon]

If you're not familiar with the area, I'd maybe download the file from the MORE Racing website from the sept 2020 PCI 300 and hit the last 2 miles of the course and and the first 2 miles.
Or even just jump in and run a lap on it. The 2-track is burned in decent and the bikes and SXS's tend to stay away from the "race-track" trails for the most part.
The test loop I'm thinking of in front of Dave's ranch is awesome but I think you'll find that the holes are bigger and the 2-track deeper out on the course.
The holes are good size through the PCI main pit area, also gets you away from the bazillion people running around off Boone by Hammer town.
You could make a decent loop off Bessemer as well and run RM 16,17,18,19,28,29,30

 

[E.Hagle]

Find me on the lakebed and I will point you in the right direction. Assuming you will be coming before the event starts.

D

It’s a trap!

 

[MTPyle]

Yeah I dont think I would go where Dave points you. LOL haha

His idea of easy trail is a little different than most.

One thing we learned down there is there is no way to set up the race vehicle for the terrain. Its super fast whoops to the tightest technical we have ever been in. I thought we would learn which way to tune and all we learned is there is not much we can do to set up for that diverse of terrain. It's literally the most extremes we have raced. Not complaining and we are super excited but its impossible to set up to an advantage in any way. Best to just dial in your sack to send it mode.

Mike

 

[stephenrjking]

One thing we learned down there is there is no way to set up the race vehicle for the terrain. Its super fast whoops to the tightest technical we have ever been in. I thought we would learn which way to tune and all we learned is there is not much we can do to set up for that diverse of terrain. It's literally the most extremes we have raced. Not complaining and we are super excited but itsimpossible to set up to an advantage in any way. Best to just dial in your sack to send it mode.

If I'm reading right, it sounds like setups have to be a compromise or a tactical decision. Finding the right balance, or emphasizing one over the other and hoping to make gains in one environment to offset losses in another.

I find that stuff fascinating.

Also, that's the kind of stuff that I wish we heard more about in broadcasts. Both in individual races, and how races are different from each other. We are sometimes told, for example, that Baja is different from the Mint, but rarely given insight into why, or shown examples of how that plays out in real time. I know it's not because the guys commentating don't know it, because most of those guys have actually put in the hard work to run those races themselves. I'd love to glean some of that as a viewer.

 

[MTPyle]

yeah good points. It very interesting to me also about the differences and they could go more into that during the coverage.

JV is its own animal. I would say its a mix of Mint and Baja. But more Baja. The one thing that surprised me was how many trails and lines there are. many times there are 4 or more trails going the same way with tons of cross trails everywhere, its nuts. I think its clear that most the people that off-road in that areas are either on drugs or alcohol. Seems like they are all confused about where they are going. Haha

We have two major focuses on our syspension set up. Either stiff to take the big stuff or soft to eat up the whoops. Then there is the gearing and balance for either high speed or technical. JV has all of these. It's like a video game when you do the car set up and move one thing higher it moves another aspect lower.

There is a lot of strategy that goes into this race for us. For sure no simple answer and its all a compromise. We have spent many hours talking about our strategy for KOH and its changed dramatically during the process. Just like any racing we have Crew choices, Truck set up, fuel, tires, and pit strategy. I may over think things and I am sure there are guys that just show up and race that beat us. LOL but we want to have the best plan for success. We will make some wrong and some right choices, hopefully the wrong ones are not a big deal.

Mike

 

[Slippery P]

What you need to worry about is ripping a corner off due to the hidden boulders...

 

[mxben]

Yeah I dont think I would go where Dave points you. LOL haha

His idea of easy trail is a little different than most.

One thing we learned down there is there is no way to set up the race vehicle for the terrain. Its super fast whoops to the tightest technical we have ever been in. I thought we would learn which way to tune and all we learned is there is not much we can do to set up for that diverse of terrain. It's literally the most extremes we have raced. Not complaining and we are super excited but its impossible to set up to an advantage in any way. Best to just dial in your sack to send it mode.

Mike

Did you guys run any of the recent 1K course? There was some tech in there. Some stuff had me nervous and once we hit it in the 10 car we walked right through it. I will just have to go see for myself.

We just need to shakedown and thought why not do it here to get used to the dirt and rocks.

Obviously you weren't on a marked course yet but you said there is some techy stuff eh?

 

[ACME]

Barstow Road-247 just south of the College Hills in Barstow, take the east side entry access road into the OHV area and go west on access road until you hit Stoddard (1st big road-left turn) and head toward and park just at the top as you head into the hills. Race course section that crosses Stoddard to the east is great to run back & fourth on and pretty typical of most courses and a good sport to test/tune with room to park almost anything and not at Outlet Center. Fewer cross trails and easy to have a spotters with a good view to call out any bikes, cross traffic etc... In Lucerne, Camp Rock Rd near the powerline road

 

[mxben]

Barstow Road-247 just south of the College Hills in Barstow, take the east side entry access road into the OHV area and go west on access road until you hit Stoddard (1st big road-left turn) and head toward and park just at the top as you head into the hills. Race course section that crosses Stoddard to the east is great to run back & fourth on and pretty typical of most courses and a good sport to test/tune with room to park almost anything and not at Outlet Center. Fewer cross trails and easy to have a spotters with a good view to call out any bikes, cross traffic etc... In Lucerne, Camp Rock Rd near the powerline road

Thank you