The Rooster
November 2021
THE ROOSTER A monthly update from the Inland Empire Offroad Association
What’s New The sand season has started! Check out the fun from the season starting trips to Dumont and Anza, while we look forward to Halloween and Thanksgiving at Glamis.
Dumont, October 2021 A Six Guys and a Girl Trip
Yellow Trailer We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the trailer in the last month. We will have it there this year, and hopefully next year as well with continued support.
New RZR 2000? It’s not an April Fool’s joke, Polaris has become the rst manufacturer to break the 1000 cc barrier and break out of the category of ROHVs. See more on page 5.
We again began our California Dune season with our traditional Dumont trip. I arrived about 1:30 P.M. and found John, Dave Huggard, and Ray and Janice already set up where we have the last several Dumont trips. We visited in Ray and Janice’s trailer for quite a while before I unloaded. The weather was cool enough I don’t think anyone ran an AC all weekend. After taking my time setting up, all the guys went for a near-sunset ride. We kept it pretty mellow, as I didn’t
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The Rooster
November 2021 want to hurt my car (or me) before P.J. and Marshall arrived, which they did around 11:30 P.M. While waiting for them we had a nice camp re.
Upcoming Events • Veterans Day Weekend at Glamis: November 11-19. Jim, Ray, and Janice will stay through Thanksgiving.
Saturday morning P.J. had a at paddle tire so we optimistically tried using tire sealant and the buggies went for a fast ride, while Ray and Janice explored a trail that ran along an abandoned rail way towards Baker. We were a little too optimistic about P.J.’s tire, and had to ll it from a CO2 bottle and head for camp. John had a paddle tire sized tube which P.J. installed with a minimal amount of help, but lots of moral support, from the rest of us. Ray and Janice returned to camp with tales of a long ride that they both enjoyed.
• Thanksgiving Week at Glamis: November 19-29th. We will make omelets, and will have a pot luck Thanksgiving dinner. • December 24-January 3: Christmas / New Years at Glamis, Wash 6
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After lunch all the guys went for an afternoon ride. Janice stayed in camp. Five minutes into the ride I heard P.J. telling me to stop and said something about me having a tire problem. We stopped, and when I looked, my left front tire was sitting under my car, parallel to the ground. I hadn’t noticed as I was riding along the face of a dune, with the right side being on the low side of the dune, so the left was unloaded. We looked at it and found a threaded bung had pulled from the A arm. John gave us a strap to hold it together, and he and Ray headed back to camp to set up the welder. Dave, P.J., and I strapped the wheel in place and drove slowly back to camp. Ray was ready to weld it back together, and within 30 minutes we were back in the dunes for a nice ride. Back in camp we had our usual carne asada potluck. John did an excellent job of cooking the carne, and everyone brought a
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November 2021
variety of food items. The food was good and plentiful, and we had enough left over to plan on a second dinner Sunday. We had a camp re that went late into the night. Sunday morning the buggies went for a fast ride, while Ray and Janice again went exploring, this time down the Sperry Wash Road that the side by sides explored in the Spring of 2020. The buggies took a break at the North Pole. We saw two other sand rails, both older rear hangers. They had a little girl, and of course Marshall wanted to go make friends. He and P.J. walked over to them, and they were a group of four, two guys in their early twenties, one of their girlfriend/wife, and the four year old girl. They were very friendly and were proud of their cars that they assembled themselves. One of them used to belong to the girlfriend/ wife’s dad, and was just rebuilt by one of the guys, and was powered by a Ford 302 V8, sitting behind a VW beetle transmission. We used to run water pumpers with beetle transmissions! The other had a Nissan 4 cylinder with a bus box. They knew there were limitations, but were proud to have built them themselves, and owning them free and clear. They said they couldn’t understand making payments on a side by side, and then paying to have it serviced! We certainly understood their thinking. They appreciated our cars and the fact we built them. We said goodbye and watched them leave in a more aggressive manner than I expected. We soon left on a ride through the dunes heading back to camp. As we neared Comp Hill, John radioed that he thought one of their cars was left in the dunes with a tire missing. We went that way to see if they needed any help. When we got to the car, the people we talked to were gone, and the drivers of two side by sides that had stopped to help said they had gone back to camp for parts. The left rear tire had come off because all four lug bolts had come loose. One of the side by side drivers followed their tracks and found all four lug bolts. The threads were kind of messed up, but one of the side by side drivers had a triangular le, and was working to improve the threads. P.J. said that he didn’t think they would have a jack, so he got his jack out and we jacked up the car. I thought I might have some lug bolts in my trailer so Dave and I went back to camp to try and nd some. I couldn’t nd any, so we radioed P.J. and he said they didn’t need them, as they got back with some bolts and were elated to see the car was already jacked up, as they did not have a jack. They installed the wheel and headed back to camp. While we were at the car, we noticed a RZR on its side at the top of Comp. John and Dave went up to offer help. When they got there, possibly as long as 15 minutes after it rolled over, THE ENGINE WAS STILL RUNNING! John suggested they should turn it off as it probably didn’t have any oil pressure. They then were going to turn it back on its wheels. John suggested they not do that without someone in the car to keep it from rolling away! They got it ipped back on its wheels and we continued on our day. When John came back to the disabled sand rail his car was making a noise. John quickly realized he had lost a rear unibearing. Fortunately he carries two spares in his trailer, and I carry one. Back in camp John repaired it with a little help and lots of supervision. He was ready for an afternoon ride. John brought Marshall’s Suzuki 50, and Marshall simply LOVED riding it. Thanks to Danny Burns’ efforts last season, it runs absolutely like new. Marshall is going to be one of those kids who ride from sun up to sundown!
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November 2021
Sunday afternoon P.J. and Marshall had to pack up and head home and Dave wanted to get an early start Monday, so the 3 of them didn’t go on the afternoon ride. John led a good, appropriately paced for the three cars, ride. We had a great time; getting back late enough we all used our lights. Dinner was carne asada round 2, and it was again great. The day ended with a nice camp re. Monday morning it was very windy, so we decided not to go for a ride, instead packing up in anticipation of a very windy drive home. The three of us were ready within minutes of each other, so we headed off to Baker. We usually end our Dumont trips with a Mad Greek lunch, but the Mad Greek has been closed for at least 6 months. No one we have spoken with knows whether it will reopen. I sure hope so! So the 2021-22 dune season has arrived. I am eagerly anticipating many great trips with great people. Let’s go Dunin’! -Jim Kastle
Anza For The Day Two weeks after the Dumont trip, it was time for the now annual tradition of the October weekend at Anza, usually hosted by Mike Bacon. Unfortunately Pat wasn’t feeling well, so Mike took her to Riverside and wouldn’t make this trip. Jim was already on his way, and everyone else continued their plans to come as well, so he was joined by Doug and Kris Schellinger along will all three of their kids and both grandkids. Dave Huggard and Cindy came as well, and brought out Dave’s Brother and wife as well with their motorhome and Jeep. Not wanting to miss out on the fun, but with a busy weekend of stuff to do at home, I decided to bring the kids and come out for the day. We arrived after lunch on Saturday, and heard of the morning ride to the Ocotillo RV resort (formerly the Blue Inn) which was yet to open for the season. We brought Allie’s Ace, and I led her around her favorite riding place for it on the ats near camp. We got to see Devon’s new Honda Talon, and she even offered it to me to take the kids for a ride. We hung out for the afternoon, and the Jeeps got back from a trip to see the slab city near Niland, then played dominoes at a table outside. A little before sunset Dave began cooking the hot dogs, and soon we had a great pot luck dinner. We had gift bags for the kids, since they refer to this trip as “the one with the prizes”. We topped the night off with playing frisbee and having a camp re before we headed for home and arrived less than two hours later. It was a fun day for us, and a nice weekend for everyone who was able to make it out to continue the tradition. -P.J.
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November 2021
A New Category of Side by Side: RZR Pro R Polaris is building hype surrounding the upcoming announcement of the RZR Pro R, which will take place on November 9, 2021. In a recent Instagram video, Polaris announced that engine displacement options will include a 2.0 liter engine! That is double the size of any other side by side engine, and will place these vehicles in a new category in many states, where current rules for ROHVs de ne them as having a displacement of 1000 ccs or less. Until the laws change, which is likely to happen if the vehicles are as popular as expected, the new RZR will be a factory OHV that won’t require helmets or have operator age limits. This factory OHV will be subject to a whole different set of rules vs its sub-1000 cc competitors, which makes us wonder who else will come out with a new large displacement side by side. We will know more in just a few weeks, so check back for more details next month and over the coming months as these vehicles become part of the dune scene.
Exploring Havasu, Again By Mike Bacon The rst weekend in October Kris & Doug decided to come visit and they brought their Talon, so we had to go out and do some more exploring around Havasu. We ended up paralleling Hwy 95 going south to see how far we could go. We ended up down by Cattail Cove Campground before we decided it was time to turn around and head back to the pool. It was about a 30 mile ride.
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November 2021
On Sunday Don Ford called and asked if we’d like to go over to Havasu Landing to check out the new casino and have lunch, so we met Don & Shirley and Donette & Dave at the Havasu Ferry dock and had a quick ride over.
The new casino looks nice, and the restaurant was pretty nice too, but as we’ve found in a lot of places, very short handed. The food was good though and while we waited Doug and Don tried their luck on the slots. Doug won a nice jackpot, Don not so much! Once lunch was over we caught the next ferry back home. It was a great day!
We’re getting ready for our rst desert trip, the Mona Bacon Memorial Poker Run and Hot Dog Wheenie Roast on Saturday October 23rd. Although we won’t be doing the poker part of the run this year there will be plenty of rides and some great food. Hope to see all of you there!
This month we’d like to thank Jim Kastle and Mike Bacon for sending in articles, and encourage everyone else to share what they have been up to. The newsletter is what you make it, so send your contributions for future newsletters to me at pkastle@msn.com and we will publish them along with a calendar of events each month. -Paul, Melissa, Allie, and Marshall.
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