Lil LIGHTNING Power Pack

Riding so many miles so far away from anyone and quite often by myself, I had an epiphany. I am all alone out here exploring new areas in canyons, sand washes and deserted hills and must rely on my bike and myself to fix anything that goes bad or it is an overnight stay and a very long walk to help. More often than not I do not have cell phone reception, so it is that kind of remote.
My current off road bike is a KTM 500 xcw that has an electric start with a kick start back up. Just one of the many reasons I chose it. Batteries fail and the kick starter is my insurance, but since I do ride on occasion with others that ride bikes without kick starters I don’t want to choose between riding a very long way out double or leaving the guy there.
A while back I was shown a slick little device called the LIL LIGHTNING jumper pack by a buddy, Matt, that owns a motorcycle shop in Butte, Montana. It was very compact and Matt said it would jump his street bike several times and could jump a car. I was a bit skeptical at the car part but ordered one and have been carrying it for a year now.

In that years’ time it has been used 3 times! Twice on a guy with a kick start equipped 530 KTM that couldn’t start it on our ride in the middle of a 7-mile-long sand wash and the battery was kaput! No one in our group was looking forward to towing him out of a long sand wash with a strap. The lightning pack fired his bike up and we were back on our way. Twice, he stalled!
Then the third time was to start a borrowed Nissan Pathfinder while I was in San Felipe, Mexico! It actually did start the V-6 Nissan. I was impressed because this is their smallest compact version. They make two more upsized models for heavy applications.

On this last trip to Baja I pulled it out of my pack to show it to one of the guys with no kick start option on a new Husky. To my surprise the Lithium-ion battery had swelled and ruptured the outer casing. The contents were still contained inside with no mess and the pack still showed a full charge on the test lights! When I returned home from the trip I called the toll free number and spoke to Karen who simply asked me when I bought it as it had a one-year warranty. It was one year to the month! She laughed and said “you pushed it right to the limit didn’t you!”
She told me to box it up and send it back to her and she would send me a new one upon receiving it. Now that is customer service and standing behind your product. When I use up this next one I will certainly replace it with another LIL LIGHTNING!
#33
‘wear out, don’t rust out – get out and Ride’

Baja...1700 Miles

Baja suspension matters......SBB Suspension works!

Having just returned from a 16 day riding trip to Baja, I thought I should share a bit of info with the MX43.com readers.
There were a few different brands of bikes on this nearly 3-week exploration ride. There was a Honda, a couple of Beta’s, a Husqvarna and about 5 KTM’s.  I have ridden a few bikes (brands, year models and categories) in my day. Also, having had the opportunity to work with Bucky at SBB suspension has exposed me to a lot of shortcomings on these same bikes.

I rode for 16 days straight and accumulated a little over 1700 miles on my SBB suspended KTM 500 XCW. During that time, I was asked to ride a few other bikes to compare and evaluate. What an eye opener! I knew my bike worked well but after riding the other bikes on the trip I was all smiles!
Each rider that traded me bikes commented on how well my bike was set up and how well it worked. It allowed them to see the shortcomings of their bike setup and they began asking questions on how to make their bike work better. The answer was simple, send your suspension to Bucky at SBB!
Since some of them already had suspension work done by other companies I had to resist smacking them upside the helmet and handing them Bucky’s card. Instead we talked about setup, compression, rebound and spring choices. It was a learning experience for all of us. I learned I was happier with my suspension than I even realized!
I think I will go out for a ride then come back and try to wipe this grin off my face.
#33

‘a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks almost instantly’

Where Is #33?

It appears that Eric (#33) is having a pretty good time touring the trails of Baja. I'm guessing he will have a few stories when he returns.

Stay tuned.