Yesterday I went for a ride with my friend over "Lolo Pass" near Mt Hood in Oregon. The road was mostly paved but had lots of curves. She was on her Enduro (KLR) and me on my VT1100. All was awesome until we got to the gravel road. The gravel road was somewhere between 6 and 10 miles long.
I managed to avoid most of the potholes but kept up with her all the way. When we hit the washboards I had a little trouble. Even though I kept up there too I came off of them understanding what "shaken baby syndrome" feels like. On one set of washboards I acrually was rattled enough to be dizzy.
We stopped at the side of the road at a camp site and I just rode the bike right over the edge of the road into the site. She was a little more hesitant but followed. Getting out was no trouble at all.
Then a little further down the road we came upon an area where people ride their dirt bikes. Naturally, on a 600 pound cruiser, you just have to go where the lightweights go, right? Headed into the pits over a burm and all was well. I thought my friend was following but she headed down a different path. Good thing too because I hit some soft and DEEP gravel. Had to plow the bike out nearly dropping it a few times. First gear, street tires, 600 pounds and a LOT of pushing to get the front tire out of that mess. Just when I thought I was free of it I hit another patch and it was all I could do to keep the bike up. Popped something in my hip socket but I'm fine today.
After I got out of that mess, rode through the grass, over a bush and finally got back on the road I parked and waited for her to get out. She had gotten stuck in her own way.
But I kept up with the Enduro.
Later, back on a real road, I just had to reward the bike (and show off to my friend a little) and did a little zero to 70+ in a matter of a few seconds. I managed to get back down to 30 right before the cops turned the corner. Ten seconds later and I would have paid a few hundred dollars for my fun.
We won't mention how my suspension hit it's limits a couple times, nor how my back was killing me, nor the fact that I have 25 years experience and she only a year. No, we won't discuss that part.
I managed to avoid most of the potholes but kept up with her all the way. When we hit the washboards I had a little trouble. Even though I kept up there too I came off of them understanding what "shaken baby syndrome" feels like. On one set of washboards I acrually was rattled enough to be dizzy.
We stopped at the side of the road at a camp site and I just rode the bike right over the edge of the road into the site. She was a little more hesitant but followed. Getting out was no trouble at all.
Then a little further down the road we came upon an area where people ride their dirt bikes. Naturally, on a 600 pound cruiser, you just have to go where the lightweights go, right? Headed into the pits over a burm and all was well. I thought my friend was following but she headed down a different path. Good thing too because I hit some soft and DEEP gravel. Had to plow the bike out nearly dropping it a few times. First gear, street tires, 600 pounds and a LOT of pushing to get the front tire out of that mess. Just when I thought I was free of it I hit another patch and it was all I could do to keep the bike up. Popped something in my hip socket but I'm fine today.
After I got out of that mess, rode through the grass, over a bush and finally got back on the road I parked and waited for her to get out. She had gotten stuck in her own way.
But I kept up with the Enduro.
Later, back on a real road, I just had to reward the bike (and show off to my friend a little) and did a little zero to 70+ in a matter of a few seconds. I managed to get back down to 30 right before the cops turned the corner. Ten seconds later and I would have paid a few hundred dollars for my fun.
We won't mention how my suspension hit it's limits a couple times, nor how my back was killing me, nor the fact that I have 25 years experience and she only a year. No, we won't discuss that part.
