Crusty
Well-known member
- Apr 29, 2021
- 6,576
- 7,217
I wanted something easy, local and a cool destination to ride to…Stoddard Wells OHV with a trip to Slash X Café was perfect.
This was the shakedown run for my newly acquired Honda CRF450X, man I’ve been very excited to get this bike and start doing some desert and trail riding with my family and friends. We headed out early about 5:45am, topped off the gas tanks (Eff CA Gas prices) and then headed down the 210, 15 freeways, exit Hodge Road. Yes, on the West side 2A dudes are in full action, all day all night….so if going for an OHV ride, go to park on the East side LOL.
There were plenty of spots to park, set up, a few folks looked to be there all weekend with trailers, etc. The dirt road is easy dusty level gravel, once you pull off it’s a little silty but and truck with camper, etc. can manage. There were about 4-5 camp sites, I only saw a single Vault Toilet building at the camp, the furthest back into the valley – I would not take motorhomes back to those spots, they were mainly able trucks with toy haulers. Again, it was empty at 7am in the morning.
We unloaded, finished the coffee and breakfast burritos we brought and got our day started. 4 Trucks and 5 OHV (4 MX, 1 ATV). The immediate area is flat, fire roads and smaller trails that go off into the various hills. Some of the hill climbs are easy, but some are white knuckle, slippery and full of off camber ruts, etc. We watched a few folks climb them on Dirtbikes, Quads, and a couple SXS. The only crash we saw was a Can AM MAV R MAX do a complete roll end over end. They were literally driving down the flat entrance road at about 25-30 mph and made a sharp turn into the camp/parking area. There was only a 1-foot rut/berm that divides the road from camp area, and their left side front wheel just caught it wrong, send them yard sale as we watched. Nobody was hurt; they were strapped in thank God. Since the landed on their wheel, they got out, grabbed the yard sale items, and then drove to camp 50 feet away. Amazing a SXS flips so damn easy.
After a few minutes of realizing my battery was too low to e-start my CRF450, I learned the Honda Dance to get that cold hearted slut to start. I’m out of shape, this was made clear to me…LOL, so our most seasoned guy came over and started it for me. Shameful, I always told my kids, if you can’t start it, you can’t ride it…my dad taught me that. So, um yeah, my son called my dad later on the drive home and ratted me out…Afterwards kicking it over was still a PITA, but as the day went on, I got better at it, and my battery started to get enough juice to crank it over every so often giving me a slight break. Yeah, I ordered my NOCO Gen 1 battery charger/tender this morning on Amazon, it does 12v,6v, AGM and Lithium…sweet little setup.
The bike scares me; I’ll say that right now. The snappy powerband comes on like a light switch at 1/32 throttle, at least in my head. But the gravel, silty dirt here was forgiving (Sand will be the same) and over the course of the day I got more comfortable, it’s simply a new bike to me and I’ll learn its ways. I’ll not talk about going from a Quad to a Dirt bike after 20 plus years…LOL. Yeah, I just must scratch that itch, better a dirt bike then a Harley, etc. on the CA Streets…..I’ll take my chances riding along the sign and drive crowds (until I can get on single track trails). By the end of the day, riding my bike was smiles ear to ear, it's a keeper - I simply need more seat time.
The trails to Slash X Café are numerous, you can choose whatever level of skill you want and make a 15-mile loop into a 4o mile loop if you desire. We kept it simple, some of us (me) sticking to the dirt roads and other shooting every hill we passed by on the way. One dude took a big fall, off camber and he could only put his foot on the down slop down to catch himself, thankfully he was ok. You can get there even with kids on quads/dirtbikes in 30 mins easy. Just watch out for the RG wannabes going 50 plus mph in their SXS, most folks would slow to pass, but there were a few a-holes that did not. Sign of the times, always the same dudes you see everywhere with no respect for the area or fellow riders. As a side note, this area was not full of trash, etc. that was refreshing.
At the Café, we had lunch and checked out all the cool memorabilia, it’s a well-known place to anyone who rides the So CA desert, not much to add. We logged over 60 miles of riding, never went too far off, and got a solid day in, best part was being back home by 3pm, bikes washed, put away and hot shower. Took my wife to dinner and told her I’ll be going out again in a couple weeks…she loved that I had a great time with my boys and a few of the guys. WIN/WIN.
This was the shakedown run for my newly acquired Honda CRF450X, man I’ve been very excited to get this bike and start doing some desert and trail riding with my family and friends. We headed out early about 5:45am, topped off the gas tanks (Eff CA Gas prices) and then headed down the 210, 15 freeways, exit Hodge Road. Yes, on the West side 2A dudes are in full action, all day all night….so if going for an OHV ride, go to park on the East side LOL.
There were plenty of spots to park, set up, a few folks looked to be there all weekend with trailers, etc. The dirt road is easy dusty level gravel, once you pull off it’s a little silty but and truck with camper, etc. can manage. There were about 4-5 camp sites, I only saw a single Vault Toilet building at the camp, the furthest back into the valley – I would not take motorhomes back to those spots, they were mainly able trucks with toy haulers. Again, it was empty at 7am in the morning.
We unloaded, finished the coffee and breakfast burritos we brought and got our day started. 4 Trucks and 5 OHV (4 MX, 1 ATV). The immediate area is flat, fire roads and smaller trails that go off into the various hills. Some of the hill climbs are easy, but some are white knuckle, slippery and full of off camber ruts, etc. We watched a few folks climb them on Dirtbikes, Quads, and a couple SXS. The only crash we saw was a Can AM MAV R MAX do a complete roll end over end. They were literally driving down the flat entrance road at about 25-30 mph and made a sharp turn into the camp/parking area. There was only a 1-foot rut/berm that divides the road from camp area, and their left side front wheel just caught it wrong, send them yard sale as we watched. Nobody was hurt; they were strapped in thank God. Since the landed on their wheel, they got out, grabbed the yard sale items, and then drove to camp 50 feet away. Amazing a SXS flips so damn easy.
After a few minutes of realizing my battery was too low to e-start my CRF450, I learned the Honda Dance to get that cold hearted slut to start. I’m out of shape, this was made clear to me…LOL, so our most seasoned guy came over and started it for me. Shameful, I always told my kids, if you can’t start it, you can’t ride it…my dad taught me that. So, um yeah, my son called my dad later on the drive home and ratted me out…Afterwards kicking it over was still a PITA, but as the day went on, I got better at it, and my battery started to get enough juice to crank it over every so often giving me a slight break. Yeah, I ordered my NOCO Gen 1 battery charger/tender this morning on Amazon, it does 12v,6v, AGM and Lithium…sweet little setup.
The bike scares me; I’ll say that right now. The snappy powerband comes on like a light switch at 1/32 throttle, at least in my head. But the gravel, silty dirt here was forgiving (Sand will be the same) and over the course of the day I got more comfortable, it’s simply a new bike to me and I’ll learn its ways. I’ll not talk about going from a Quad to a Dirt bike after 20 plus years…LOL. Yeah, I just must scratch that itch, better a dirt bike then a Harley, etc. on the CA Streets…..I’ll take my chances riding along the sign and drive crowds (until I can get on single track trails). By the end of the day, riding my bike was smiles ear to ear, it's a keeper - I simply need more seat time.
The trails to Slash X Café are numerous, you can choose whatever level of skill you want and make a 15-mile loop into a 4o mile loop if you desire. We kept it simple, some of us (me) sticking to the dirt roads and other shooting every hill we passed by on the way. One dude took a big fall, off camber and he could only put his foot on the down slop down to catch himself, thankfully he was ok. You can get there even with kids on quads/dirtbikes in 30 mins easy. Just watch out for the RG wannabes going 50 plus mph in their SXS, most folks would slow to pass, but there were a few a-holes that did not. Sign of the times, always the same dudes you see everywhere with no respect for the area or fellow riders. As a side note, this area was not full of trash, etc. that was refreshing.
At the Café, we had lunch and checked out all the cool memorabilia, it’s a well-known place to anyone who rides the So CA desert, not much to add. We logged over 60 miles of riding, never went too far off, and got a solid day in, best part was being back home by 3pm, bikes washed, put away and hot shower. Took my wife to dinner and told her I’ll be going out again in a couple weeks…she loved that I had a great time with my boys and a few of the guys. WIN/WIN.
