What did you do to/with your other motorcycle/scooter/trike today?

[Janus]

A couple days ago I went up and rode through the Capitol Forest and did some singletrack on my DRZ. My buddy and I rode through this particular trail with great difficulty a couple weeks ago. Neither of us have good mud tires.

I figured the trail would have been dry but about halfway up I discovered a few thick mudpits.
I understand why the Trailwings are called the 'Deathwing' tire. I lost the front end and planted myself into the hillside. Another time I appreciated having full body armor and great boots.

Later on I dropped the bike again and got my foot wedged under the bike for a minute or so. I really should be riding with a partner. At least this time I fell less than half as often!




It's hard to stay away from this kind of splendor.

 

[670cc]

A couple days ago I went up and rode through the Capitol Forest and did some singletrack on my DRZ. My buddy and I rode through this particular trail with great difficulty a couple weeks ago. Neither of us have good mud tires.

I figured the trail would have been dry but about halfway up I discovered a few thick mudpits. View attachment 45396
I understand why the Trailwings are called the 'Deathwing' tire. I lost the front end and planted myself into the hillside. Another time I appreciated having full body armor and great boots.

Later on I dropped the bike again and got my foot wedged under the bike for a minute or so. I really should be riding with a partner. At least this time I fell less than half as often!

View attachment 45397

View attachment 45398
It's hard to stay away from this kind of splendor.

This stuff is so much more exciting to me than riding on the street, but where I live these opportunities are very limited. Enjoy! And thanks for sharing the pics.

 

[Janus]

Yesterday I convinced my wife to ride my buddy's TW200 around the house. She has a MC endorsement and took the MSF course two years ago. Hasn't ridden since.

She highsided by grabbing a lot of front brake through a turn during practice. But what really did her head in was what she pulled shortly after crossing the finish line of the final test. A wheelie.

She was on a Benelli TNT 135, which at the time featured stoppies and wheelies in the adverts. She didn't know this, and I hope the MSF guys didn't either. She gave it too much throttle and dumped the clutch and up she went. She had the presence of mind to pull the clutch back in and came back safely to earth. The instructor told her that had she not already completed the whole course, she would have been flunked out right there.

She's been really anxious about riding since, convinced any bike is a hooligan ride just waiting to be stunted. We haven't had access to a small and easygoing bike other than the Honda Monkey until recently, and she was too anxious to really commit to riding.

She got all kitted up and then balked at taking control of the bike, so I rode her up and down our rural street and talked her through what I was doing and how much of an easygoing tractor the TW is. We got back home and I convinced her to do the clutch-walking exercise, which is kind of difficult with such an underpowered bike. I got her to give it a bit of throttle and put her feet up, and she did several laps around the house.

When she pulled her helmet off she was beaming. She's not completely over her fears, but said she wanted to ride again soon. Even if she doesn't end up riding like I do, I'm proud of her for (eventually) getting back on the horse that threw her.

 

[Janus]

This stuff is so much more exciting to me than riding on the street, but where I live these opportunities are very limited. Enjoy! And thanks for sharing the pics.

I had to move a bit over 100 miles to get a half hour away from this. I'm incredibly lucky. The more I ride this kind of stuff, the less interested I am in street riding

 

[dduelin]

Escort rider for JAX Triathon this morning. 538 entries! Olympic length, a bunch of tough men and women.View attachment 45427

 

[Bulitt]

Saw this weather forecast for the mountains last week, and took off for TWO. Turned out, the weather man was right! Absolutely perfect!

 

[NWGABikeGuy]

Replaced the neutral position sensor switch on my '09 Royal Enfield Bullet 500. Starting was getting sporadic because "Bullet" didn't trust that he was in neutral. Then took him for a recon ride in the mountains to Fort Mountain State Park to check-out campsites. When I can, I ride to my next couple of potential campsites and check them out so I can get one close to where and what I want (Rule#1 - As far away from the restrooms/shower facilities and playgrounds as possible.) I usually have no trouble with mid-week reservations getting the site I want. I have found that the walk-in sites, usually less than 100 yards from the parking area, are best for seclusion and shade. They usually have water, a picnic table, a fire ring, and a tent site. No electricity and no other amenities also means no 100' RV yachts with 60" flat screen TVs, screen porches, jet skis, and color matching tow behind Jeep Wrangler or Land Rover! So I get to actually camp and avoid the crowd. It is sometimes fun to observe from a distance the RV guys setting-up and taking-down. This seems to occupy most of their time while "camping", but DANG their rigs sure look sexy! It is even more fun watching them at the waste dumping stations. Why somebody with that much money would want to mess around and pump their own poop and pee for a half hour or so is beyond me. But I digress (Big Time!)... the Bullet is an old-fashioned thumper that is a blast on shorter back country rides. "Silver", the NC700X does the hauling and camping. (Oh, C'mon, admit it - you have named your bikes too!)

 

[Deleted member 1183]

A couple days ago I went up and rode through the Capitol Forest and did some singletrack on my DRZ. My buddy and I rode through this particular trail with great difficulty a couple weeks ago. Neither of us have good mud tires.

I figured the trail would have been dry but about halfway up I discovered a few thick mudpits. View attachment 45396
I understand why the Trailwings are called the 'Deathwing' tire. I lost the front end and planted myself into the hillside. Another time I appreciated having full body armor and great boots.

Later on I dropped the bike again and got my foot wedged under the bike for a minute or so. I really should be riding with a partner. At least this time I fell less than half as often!

View attachment 45397

View attachment 45398
It's hard to stay away from this kind of splendor.

Lovely pics.

 

[Deleted member 1183]

Headed off on the CRF300L today as part of my testing of the Invoxia Tracker. Lots of rough backroads and some trails where the little bike is totally at home. Forgot pics this time but the terrain wasn't too dissimliar to that in Janus nice pics above.

 

[Janus]

(Oh, C'mon, admit it - you have named your bikes too!)

My NC is "Nikke", the Greek winged goddess of war and inspiration for the Honda MC logo, while my DRZ is Dr (Clara) Zetkin

 

[Janus]

Yesterday I tried to get some riding in before the weather turned completely awful. It didn't get down to the low 80s until after seven. I made it up the trail without falling, and nearly did a clean sweep of the thing. But towards the top there is a hairpin turn (which I fell on previously) which has become very rocky. I had to put my foot down there and do a weird three point turn

There's a MX summer camp at the base of the trailhead at Grays Harbor ORV park, and there are a bunch of families with arrays of bikes. I've never seen so many little kids on bikes before. It's adorable! I think some of the folks have been ripping up the trail because there has been some serious degradation in areas. The tragedy of the commons...

I'm getting a lot better at riding through rocks though. Managed to take a few shots, which don't do the sky justice.







There is an overlook that has views of Mount Tacoma (aka Mount Rainier) and the Olympics and central Cascade ranges. But I could hear someone doing target practice nearby, and I didn't feel like making them nervous by rolling up nearby and taking photos.

The glimpses I got of the mountain were spectacular, it was painted a glowing purple crimson in the sunset.

 

[the Ferret]

Outstanding pics Janus

 

[Janus]

Got my butt kicked by some mud.







This was the third set of roots that gave me trouble. If I had grip I could have made it. I struggled for fifteen or twenty minutes at this particular set. I had to take a break and try and figure out what to do. It was in an awkward position and hard to lift, and I couldn't even waddle it out. Eventually I yanked it backwards enough and got free.

The worst part is that I was less than 100m from the end of that trail. I had to turn around. It hasn't even rained in over a month. We had an unbelievable and unprecedented June heatwave. I still managed to find gummy mud.

Up to that point I had been enjoying myself tremendously. I'm getting comfortable in the dirt and have a couple thousand miles under my boots. I guess it's time to buy new tires. And get some dirt training!







There's still so many trails to explore in the area. So much majesty

 

[670cc]

Today, my wife and I rode the Goldwing to Moonshine store, a popular burger grill destination with outdoor "dining", hidden in the corn and bean fields of Illinois. The NC stayed at home, since it is not the right machine for the job of two-up touring comfort. It was a warm day for me (high 83F), but my cooling vest kept me from overheating. It was a good day!

Moonshine Store - Home

Welcome to Moonshine Store! We are located at 6017 E 300th Rd, Martinsville, IL 62442. Our phone number is 618-569-9200. We look forward to seeing you soon!

www.moonshineillinois.com

 

[dduelin]

I ate a Moonburger at Moonshine 2012. A little more crowded that day.

 

[the Ferret]

I ate a Moonburger at Moonshine 2012. A little more crowded that day.

I went to the last Moonshine Lunch run in 2018. Quite the event I must say.

 

[dduelin]

I went to the last Moonshine Lunch run in 2018. Quite the event I must say.

I wish I had gone when Terry was still alive. I did not know until after his death that the Moonshine Lunch Run was his gift to the people of his community with proceeds from the dinner, bake sale, pancake breakfast, and Moonburger lunch going to support police & fire departments, local schools, and local businesses in the small community he called home.

 

[the Ferret]

Yea it was a pretty big deal on the ST forum. I usually dont do large gatherings, but SIRepair and Ohiodeere convinced me to ride over with them. Glad I went.

 

[dduelin]

Yea it was a pretty big deal on the ST forum. I usually dont do large gatherings, but SIRepair and Ohiodeere convinced me to ride over with them. Glad I went.

At the Blue Ridge Gathering last October OhioDeere showed up on a NC700X but you probably knew that.

 

[the Ferret]

At the Blue Ridge Gathering last October OhioDeere showed up on a NC700X but you probably knew that.

No I didnt know that. I'll have to text him.