The Duality of Mud and Color

Alright so, this was about a year ago. Last June actually. I was working on my dirt bike at my uncle’s house and it was some basic things like engine maintenance, new grips, and a power wash. This was some really basic stuff. Keep in mind that nothing I was doing involved the muffler. HINT HINT. Anyways, I got the plastics stripped off so I can access my air filter and other engine parts. Once I got those off and changed the air filters, I went for a test ride. A super simple down the road test ride. I’m riding down the backroad chewing on some jerky under my helmet and I stop to inspect my air seals and fuel intake in case I mess it up. After my inspection I decided to practice a holeshot. If you don't know what a holeshot is, look up any motocross gate drop and you'll see. Basically you rev up and pop the clutch and yeet out.

I get to the middle of the road and get set, I’m in second gear since it’s the best for them sexy holeshots. I rev to ¼ throttle, I find the break point of my clutch, and after 5 seconds I pop it out and go to full throttle. My front tire is about a foot off the ground as I'm ripping down this dirt road and then it happens… i hear a loud pop followed by a thunk and my engine gets stupid loud. Like I could be arrested for the noise level kind of loud. I drop my front tire and look back. My stupid exhaust pipe is just chilling in the road. MY EXHAUST PIPE THAT I DIDN'T EVEN TOUCH WHEN I WAS WORKING ON IT. So I slow down and whip the ass end of the bike around and pull up to the pipe. Of course with my luck it fell into a small puddle. If you know anything about exhaust systems, then you know that water is bad, but on the other hand it was hot enough that it was steaming. I let it sit for a couple of minutes so I don't immediately burn my hand like last time. Once it's warm I pick it up and ride back to the house. It's very awkward carrying parts while riding. I get back and put it on, I put on the plastics, new grips, and wash it… and head out for another test ride!

This time I head through the mud pits up the hill and when I'm heading back I'm doing about 70 through these pits on the way back. One of these magical pits has a rut you have to hit at a specific angle. I did not have that angle, so going 70 down the road, my front tire digs, i go over the handlebars, the bike goes over me, i skid 30 feet across the mud hole, skid even more in the next mud pit, the bike just yeets another 60 ft and my entire right side is pure mud. My left side is clean and colorful. As I'm laying there, I crawl out of the pit and make sure I’m not injured. After that I realized I had my phone on me… it WAS in my right pocket… caked in mud and swimming in water… I go back to the hole and stick my arm in to about my elbow, I find my phone and clean it off. It still worked and I still use this phone to this day. I run to my bike to turn the fuel off since gas is pricey, especially on 2-stroke. I look at my bike and notice that not all my bike is there. I go back to the mud holes and start digging looking for parts. I found my handguard, footpeg, my number, and radiator shroud. Oh wait there's one more thing I scooped out… does anyone wanna take a guess here?! Yes! My exhaust pipe! So now the fun part begins, riding a mile long trail while carrying half my bike and one half of me soaked. I'm not estimating this half either; it was a perfect 50/50 split down the middle of mud and color. Just a fun story i thought about posting and my Creative Writing class has us post to websites every now and then.