Forest Lake dirt bike rescue, Oct 24, 2013

TurboMinivan

Still plays with cars
Location
Lehi, UT
As we all saw in the other thread, jeeper had a small problem when his motorcycle decided to ride off down the mountainside without him on it. He sent out the call for help, and Ryan (dash) and I decided to answer it. No, we didn't know the victim personally... but he is a fellow member of RME, and that makes him family enough for us to want to lend a hand.

We hadn't seen any news or updates, so Ryan and I decided we would just head up to Forest Lake and see who or what we found. We were perhaps 2/3 of the way up the actual Forest Lake trail when we encountered two dirt bikes on the way down. I was in the lead of the two Jeeps, so I stopped to chat with the lead dirt bike to ask if he had seen anything up at the lake. It turns out the man I had stopped was jeeper. :)

All four of us chatted together and came up with a plan. Since the 'dead' bike was sitting alone at the lake, we decided to leave the two good bikes right here next to the trail. Ryan and I then each took on one passenger and we headed up to the lake. Once we got there, what was waiting for us on the far side? Just this little guy:

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At first glance, it didn't look very bad. From certain angles, though, the damage was more apparent:

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Ryan was very generous--or perhaps it was just that he wasn't concerned about the cleanliness of his interior--and he offered to let us load the bike into his Jeep. I considered making a joke about stuffing 10 pounds of crap in a 5-pound bucket, but then I realized that's what we'd be doing if we tried to load the bike into my Jeep... so I said nothing.

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It actually went in pretty well. After a quick bit of magic that turned a rope into a series of knots, things seemed to be relatively secure. With that, we gently set off down the trail. Ryan asked me to take a few photos, but trying to simultaneously drive and take photos results in, well, blurry photos.

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Everything went without a hitch, and we soon arrived at their truck parked by the Forest Lake turnoff. Once all three bikes were loaded into the Dakota, we all headed for home.
 

MattL

Well-Known Member
Location
Erda
That is so awesome of you guys helping it. I'll say thanks for setting a great example.
 

blznnp

Well-Known Member
Location
Herriman
Good Job Dempsey and Dash, always amazes me to see how there is always someone (usually multiple people) that drop what they are doing and help out a fellow RME'er.
 

jeeper

Currently without Jeep
Location
So Jo, Ut
So my gopro had a smudge on the lens, so my videos are pretty worthless. My brother took a bunch of photos and video also, so I'll get his on here too.

We (brother, friend, and I) rode our bikes to forest lake. There used to be a trail that went directly ?South? of the lake, but has been fenced off. One could possibly get over the fence, and ride up another 1/2 mile or so.. But that would be highly disrespectful, and illegal.. so don't do it. about where that old trail ends is at the top of a open clearing in the woods. From there we went a little south through some thick, heavily wooded areas full of dead fall. We continued S/E knowing from google that there was an additional clearing that would be much easier to walk up. I imagine it was less than a mile, and only took about 30 min.. but it felt a LOT longer. We reached the end of the clearing, and used binos to glass where we thought the bike would be. We found the trail, and the ledge and started straight up the cliff through the thick trees. The terrain was steep and loose.
photo 4(2).jpg
We found these about 1/4 of the way up, and new we were on the right path: RIP KTM.
photo 1(2).jpg

Another 100 yards or so we found my bike. It had got caught in a group of trees, and was only about 100 yards down the cliff.
(it was obviously not standing when we got to it, but it was wheels down, I just lifted it up.)
photo 1(1).jpg

We spent a bit more time then we should have deciding on a game plan. The way we came up was miserable, but trying to winch/tow/push it up was going to be miserable also..
Here is a BIG tip for anyone who may be in this situation..GO DOWN!
We climbed up to the trail and got a good view of the clearing below. we thought we could hug the West (furthest) side, and get down fairly easily. This was a good idea!
photo 1 (3).jpgphoto 3(1).jpgphoto 2 (3).jpg
We used a rope on the back of the bike, one person running controls, and one in front to ease it down the steep hill into the clearing.
We stayed hard left (west) almost at the tree line. It was rather easy to get the bike through. At the very bottom of the clearing we went north through a small ravine, into the forest again (only for 75 yards or so). We picked a pretty good line, and it put us out into the original clearing we hiked up originally.. and in fact, just a little below where we left our stuff that we didn't want to carry as we entered the forest part the first time.
From there out we followed the old road (what was left of it.. It's mostly a game trail now) down to forest lake.
The plan was to ride 2 running bikes down, and leave one. Ride double on 1 bike back up to the lake, and push the other down.. Until Dempsey and Ryan showed up!!
Plan B:
Throw the bike into Ryan's jeep and drive it down!
photo 1 (2).jpgphoto 4(1).jpgphoto 5(1).jpg

We got the bike down to the stream crossing for the lake TH, threw it in the truck, and headed home!
 
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jeeper

Currently without Jeep
Location
So Jo, Ut
As for damage on the bike..

My rear brake bent and smashed into the case. It's not broken, but is dented.
photo 5.jpg

My new hand guard took a serious beating, and is pretty bent and scratched.
photo 4 (2).jpg

I believe just my sub frame is bent (I hope!)

photo 2 (2).jpg

My rear disk is a little bent, and catches on the brakes.
Radiators, plastics, seat, tank all seem fine. The guards did their job well, not even a broken lever!
hopefully as I tear into it I will not find additional issues.

Thanks again for the help and concern!
 

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
Glad to hear the damage isn't too bad. I still have your old case cover sitting in my garage from when Trevor (jentschman) borrowed it.
 

jeeper

Currently without Jeep
Location
So Jo, Ut
I finally got the pressure washer out to clean up my bike. I thought I would give it a go at starting the yz, and in true 2stroke fashion she fired up first kick. I figured the motor had flooded after laying on its side all night up the canyon, and thought that's why it wouldn't start while up there. After having some up-right air out time, she ran great. I've started my search for a new sub frame.. And looked at a couple newer bikes also...
I best hide my checkbook for a couple days. There is a certain YZ on ksl calling my name!!!
 

Moabxjeeper

Active Member
Location
SLC, UT
Awesome report, glad we've got a good group of guys to help eachother out!

This is one of the reasons I tend to stick with riding on a motocross track rather than doing a lot of trail riding. The same weekend we were going to do the Stansbury Front trail, we decided to hit Jordan River instead for whatever reason, and my dad ended up completely destroying his rear hub as his sprocket bolts had loosened up. I was glad that he was 20 yards from the truck rather than 20 miles!

Glad it all worked out and you were able to get it out though. Awesome that it started up after a second too! It's hard to kill a YZ.
 

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
This rescue was 7 years ago today. It’s got me thinking a lot about how scary it really was, and how much in life has changed. It’s also reminded me of how grateful I am for the folks I’ve met on RME. Thanks again to @TurboMinivan and @dash for their kindness.

I was talking bikes and sketchy rides with a coworker last week and told your story!
 
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