Tag Archives: off road



Being a member of a Christian off road motorcycle club you often see people that kind of break out in leadership and that is a good thing, much like a church an organized club especially a Christian one needs leadership and it normally needs more than one person in a leadership role.

Some people in leadership are good at public relations some are good organizers some are good at a little of everything but like everyone they too have a life outside the club so it’s important to have people that will do things in that club.

I have been with RUTS MC (motorcycle club) for almost 30 years now and with RUTS North since the beginning so I have seen people come and go, grow and fall there is always good and bad but what RUTS has stood for over the years has always been good and that has kept me with this fine group of men and women.

I have also seen jealousy pop up now and then over leadership and by enlarge God has protected this club well but it’s never a shock to see people feeling put out or left out over overwhelmed and I hate to see this whenever it happens because if there is one thing I have picked up on or learned over the years is everyone that chooses to be in this organization is important.

Yes sometimes you have to stand up and start the leading process but for the most part most those who want to be with our clubs (RUTS, RUTS North, RUTS Central Coast, RUTS Oregon) end up making an impact whether they know it or not and this is what I mean.

Let us say we have two race bikes, say a 450F and a 300 2stroke, what sets those bikes apart is the engine the heart of the bike. The engine makes the power it makes the bike go it makes all the noise. I’m going to call the two engines Fred and Elizabeth since I don’t know anyone by that name.

ktm 450

Now it takes time to develop those engines, lots of R&D testing to get an engine just how the designer of the bike wants it to work. Two different engines, they put out similar power but react different and respond different but the end results do basically the same thing.

Now when we look at the bike mainly we look at the engine size and that basically gets all the focus. The engine gets a lot of attention for the most part, we can always add to the bike but the engine is really what we are after it’s the heart of the bike.

Everyone that works on and maintains a motorcycle knows yes the engine or the piston is what makes the bike move but there are other parts in that engine that help it move.ktm piston

One of the important parts that help the piston move is the crank bearings. Without crank bearings it can’t move, most crank bearings are designed with smaller ball bearing that work together to allow the piston to go up and down.

crank b

Let us call our ball bearings Doug, Steve and Sue there are more but I’m trying to streamline things and since I don’t know any people by that name I’ll go with it. If Doug, Steve and Sue are not working properly then Fred and Elizabeth won’t work well and the designer of the bike knows this.

When the piston does not work properly the gears on the bike and I will call the gears Greg will not move or allow the forward motion to be enhanced and mind you there are always more than one gear on a bike.


The designer of the bike knows if he does not put in the best long lasting strongest ball bearings in that crank bearing his two pistons won’t last long and the gears can’t be used correctly.

The pistons might seize up, they might explode or just wear out and then the bike is useless and nobody will get anything out of a bike that does not perform well. They will look at this powerless bike and look for another bike or just give up on riding all together.

Those bearings are oh so important to the piston, I know no one sees those bearings because basically they are out of the sites of everyone’s eyes but they are important.

The designer of the bike knows those bearing are important and that is why he put them there because no other kind of bearing could endure the punishment no other gears could handle that kind of stress, pistons can put out power that can be quite awesome.

When the designer of the bike created the bike all the parts he put on that bike was his intent. The bearings the gears and the piston all were chosen for that bike.

Yes the piston gets looked at the most and sometimes that is all that gets noticed at because be honest pistons get a lot of stress and sometimes bikes go through more than one piston. Without the bearings the piston cannot work properly making the gears ineffective and without the piston the bike can’t move people.

The RUTS’s clubs are full of bearings, gears, bolts and pistons that is what makes the club go. If you would like to be a bearing, gear, a bolt or a piston with a RUTS club feel free to ask a club member and they will help you; as a bolt writing this I can tell you first hand this is one bike that is worth being a part of.