Naked_Duc
Member
First Time Out on Dirt - with Follow up
UPDATE WITH FOLLOW UP TRIP
I knew before I bought the NC700 that it's not an true "Adventure" bike. It's a standard bike with upright / adventure-ish ergo. But in comparison to my other sporty bike, the NC700X is more comfortable and more "capable" offroad. One of the reason I got the NC700X is to be able to ride some logging / gravel roads and on little adventure.
Recently, I got the Pirelli Scorpion Trails put on and worked up some courage to do some off roads out in the Cascades in Washington State. The result was AWESOME FUN! I thoroughly enjoyed my trip.
It was wet and just above freezing. The national forest road (NF-5700) is packed dirt with pot holes. There are some gravel and muddy areas but the bike and tires did great getting me out of those soft stuff.
I took it easy on my first time out. Mainly stayed in 1st and 2nd gear, only up to 25 mph. I worked on riding while standing up, eyes down the road, and light touch on the handlebar. Also worked on leaning in turns (tipping the bike in while leaning the opposite side). I instinctively put my inside foot down on a couple turns. hmmmm.
Snaking around pot holes was interesting, too. I ended up hitting a couple pot holes head on, bottoming out the suspension. I had to force myself to look further down the road and think ahead. Lesson learned. I got a lot better on the way out. I also tested out how much grip I have by working hard on the rear brake to see where the breaking point is. Also dropped the clutch a couple of time from a start to see how hard/easy to break loose the rear tire. The Scorpion Trail has a lot more grip than I expected. Very surprising.
This is the view I got after the trip. What a fun ride. Can't wait till my next trip out. I plan on riding a lot further into the National Forest.
UPDATE WITH FOLLOW UP TRIP
I knew before I bought the NC700 that it's not an true "Adventure" bike. It's a standard bike with upright / adventure-ish ergo. But in comparison to my other sporty bike, the NC700X is more comfortable and more "capable" offroad. One of the reason I got the NC700X is to be able to ride some logging / gravel roads and on little adventure.
Recently, I got the Pirelli Scorpion Trails put on and worked up some courage to do some off roads out in the Cascades in Washington State. The result was AWESOME FUN! I thoroughly enjoyed my trip.
It was wet and just above freezing. The national forest road (NF-5700) is packed dirt with pot holes. There are some gravel and muddy areas but the bike and tires did great getting me out of those soft stuff.
I took it easy on my first time out. Mainly stayed in 1st and 2nd gear, only up to 25 mph. I worked on riding while standing up, eyes down the road, and light touch on the handlebar. Also worked on leaning in turns (tipping the bike in while leaning the opposite side). I instinctively put my inside foot down on a couple turns. hmmmm.
Snaking around pot holes was interesting, too. I ended up hitting a couple pot holes head on, bottoming out the suspension. I had to force myself to look further down the road and think ahead. Lesson learned. I got a lot better on the way out. I also tested out how much grip I have by working hard on the rear brake to see where the breaking point is. Also dropped the clutch a couple of time from a start to see how hard/easy to break loose the rear tire. The Scorpion Trail has a lot more grip than I expected. Very surprising.
This is the view I got after the trip. What a fun ride. Can't wait till my next trip out. I plan on riding a lot further into the National Forest.
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