theboondork's RV blog

Christmas comes early to the old Boondork

12/13/2017

My first nights sunset at Ben Avery's trap range

I went to Phoenix this morning to visit some motorcycle shops and see what it's like to sit on a trials bike. I programmed three different motorcycle shops into my GPS and figured I would spend the best part of the day looking and learning about these weird looking motorcycles from the guys that sell, ride, and work on them.

My first stop, and it turned out to be my last, was in Scottsdale at a shop called Dirt Riders West. it was a small mom-and-pop operation owned and operated by Mike Carlton, and I was surprised to find out all he sold were trials bikes, which he also rode in competitions and repaired. So needless to say he was very knowledgeable about trials bikes.

The brand I was most interested in is made by Beta which is an Italian company that is probably unknown to anyone that doesn't ride trials or enduro. He didn't have the model I was interested in because there are a lot of brands and a lot of models and no one can keep everything in stock but he could get me one in two or three business days.

So even though I didn't get to sit on the one I wanted I was able to fondle a different brand and it was really amazing how light these bikes really are. We discussed my situation of being a full timer and temporarily living at Ben Avery's. And I needed to get rid of my Yamaha first, and how I would have to drag my fifth wheel through heavy Phoenix traffic just to get my motorcycle back and forth to and from his shop. But like a good salesman should do he solved all of my problems for me.

He said he would bring the new motorcycle to me at Ben Avery's, load up the Yamaha and take it back to the shop, and sell it on consignment. Doing those two things solved all my problems of how I was going to sell my motorcycle and get the new one back to the trailer. How can you not buy from someone who basically says, "I'll take care of everything you just write out the check".

So it looks like I'm getting a motorcycle for Christmas and hopefully this will be the last one I ever buy.

theboondork

Ben Avery's trap range sunset over the Arctic Fox

Sunset at Ben Avery's trap range

9 Comments

Barney Ward

12/13/2017 04:02:47 pm

Congratulations on the new toy.

theboondork

12/13/2017 07:19:49 pm

Thank you Barney. I think my life expectancy will be significantly improved with a smaller lighter motorcycle. I also think that I will ride it more if it's easier to take on and off the rack.

I have found out that the harder it is to get to my toys the less I will use them. Just imagine keeping your camera in a locked box on top of the trailer. And every time you wanted to take a picture you had to get out the ladder and the key, and climb up on the roof to get it. You would take a lot less pictures if that were the case, and remember you've got climb back up to put it away. Using my motorcycle was something like that.

Tom... Going to000 broke in Phoenix

Linda Sand

12/14/2017 02:52:00 pm

Perfect! Now you know where you will take it for service too. Good to have vendors who actually take care of customers.

12/14/2017 03:58:15 pm

I have always found that you get your best deals if you're talking to the owner.

Unfortunately since I'm traveling all the time I don't have the luxury of taking anything back to where I bought it unless it's a Walmart, which is probably why I shop at Walmart so much. I have to plan on fixing most mechanical things myself so I carry a lot of tools. But when I'm in Phoenix Mike will definitely be the one I take it to.

Tom

Vall & Mo link

12/14/2017 03:59:23 pm

Hi Tom,

Awesome news about the new bike, congrats! We look forward to your further reports... As you know we will probably be carrying a bike on the back of our RV too, and this kind of bike you're getting is entirely new for us.

On an unrelated note: is that a scare light on the side of your Arctic Fox in the picture? Who were you hoping to scare? :-)

Cheers,
--
Vall & Mo.

12/14/2017 07:17:52 pm

I'm really hoping that this trials bike I'm getting is going to put the fun back in riding again, which by the way is a 250 cc Beta Evo Sport, it's called the sport because it's got a seat and carries a little bit more gas than a normal trial bike.

Right off the bat it weighs over a hundred pounds less than my Yamaha WR450, that ought to be a lot easier to get on and off the rack.... Great, right after I invent a winch to pull the corpulent Yamaha up on the rack.

It does have some odd things about it that I'll have to get used to. Its not designed to go fast, but then again neither am I at this point. The foot pegs are not located where normal foot pegs should be, there kind of a little far back because trials riders stand up all the time, they have to... They don't have a seat. And I may have to raise up the handlebars because I'm six feet tall and trials riders tend to be shorter than that so I will have to lean over too far to reach the low handlebars since I plan on spending most of my time sitting down.

But the weirdest thing is the kick starter... It's on the wrong side. I don't know why the Italians did that, maybe they used to drive on the wrong side of the road or something. But whatever it is my right leg knows how to start a motorcycle and my left leg is going to be in for a rude awakening.

I had the scare light on to scare away any rattlesnakes that might be in the area. It's been really warm and the rattlesnakes haven't hibernated yet so a person should be careful at night in the desert and carry a flashlight so you don't accidentally bother one going about its business. Now don't panic because they're not really a problem. In all my years of coming to the desert I've only seen two rattlesnakes and the only time I ever give them a thought is when it's so dark I can't see where I'm stepping. A little common sense goes a long way in the desert.

Tom

12/14/2017 07:21:20 pm

Oops my mistake. The picture you're looking at is just my porch light, I took another picture at the same time with the scare light on and I forgot which one was on my blog. So forget everything I just said about snakes.

Tom

12/15/2017 03:21:07 am

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the bike's full brand/model. Some googling brought up what seems to be its manufacturer's official USA web page:

http://www.betausa.com/content/evo-sport-250-2-stroke

Interesting, weird-looking little beast... If this is the one with a larger gas tank, we wonder about the others (its almost invisible against the frame). How much gas does it carry, half a gallon? Weird.

We'd bet that it can't be made street-legal, as I see no place for a licence plate (to say nothing of running lights etc) so it wouldn't fit our use as an emergency vehicle. :-\

Anyway, it looks like it could be really fun in the dirt, which is what you're looking for. Keep us posted, we look forward to hearing about your further experiences with it.

Alas, thanks for the info on the reasons for the light. We've never seen a rattlesnake (save in the zoo and equivalents), but then the earlier we've been to the SW deserts were late October/November (high elevations in the Mojave) and late December/January (low Arizona deserts) when all of them are supposed to be hibernating.

Cheers,
--
Vall & Mo.

theboomdork

12/15/2017 10:04:35 am

Yeah that's it the one with the seat and the gas tank. And it is a weird looking thing if you're not into trials riding. The first thing I'm going to do is take a hacksaw to that rear fender and shortened it up about a foot.

Trials contests don't really go anywhere. You ride around in a small area jumping and crawling over various obstacles so there's no need to carry much fuel in fact the one I'm getting carries the gas in the aluminum frame and yes it is around three quarters of a gallon. The seat gas tank combination brings it up to about two gallons, which is actually what my Yamaha WR450 carries.

You would lose that bet because the dealer offered to make it Street legal for me, he says he does it all the time, and I'm giving it some serious consideration as we speak. I found out that I didn't ride my Yamaha on the road very much but the concept of an emergency vehicle is a valid one and that's why I'm still giving it some thought.

If your idea of fun in the dirt is blasting down a Jeep trail at 80 miles an hour then this is definitely not the bike for you. That used to be what I called fun but current reality has smacked me upside the head and I no longer consider anything that will damage me or the motorcycle as fun. And as much as I hate to admit it, going slow and enjoying the scenery is now more appealing to me than flipping over the handlebars and having my motorcycle land on top of me, and that's a sure sign of getting old.

The first cold snap that comes along will send all the rattlers running for cover, but I've been in Arizona over two months now and I haven't seen a snake of any kind, so there really not a problem.

Tom

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Christmas comes early to the old Boondork

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