In Search of Single Track Roads

[Scooter Britches]

I agree, SG. I put a 1" riser on my bars and it made a HUGE difference! I can stand and not lean on the bars at all now, making steering inputs a lot easier and more controlled. I might get some wider pegs next spring as well, although my stockers are pretty good for now...

Can't wait for warmer weather!!!

[smoker guy]

I need risers, got a bit of a lean on the handlebars, but the pegs are serious on my bike. They look like Godzilla's teeth. Do you have any tips for this dirt noob? I've only logged maybe 5 miles total on it. I'm trying to get all the input I can before next year's trip up to the Great White North. I know I'll be able to find some good dirty stuff up that way. I'll be loaded up with saddle bags and such as well. Possibly a tent also if the wife can't make it.

[Neilbubbachuck]

I had a so much fun at the Maryland State Police Motor Unit school in Prince Georges county. We spend many days patroling the woods, cow fields and floodwalls. We took many "lovely" rides off road. Up over trees, through mud, cow poop and rutts. And all on a Police RoadKings.
My partner (police partner that is) and I destroyed two roadkings during that two and a half week course. We were never real popular with the Brass anyway. So we didnt care. The course included controlled falls on pavement at various speeds (up to 20 mph). That sucked!

Seriously that was the hardest thing Ive ever done. Insaine, Insaine stuff. I was one of six who passed the course, only to resign shortly after.


But twaz fun! Pics pending. (of course ill send the pics to Boomski so that he can post. Cuz im computer smert)

[Scooter Britches]

NBC, always a good time tearing up someone else's rides! LOL! Nice!

SG, I'm a noob too, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express...ha!

The things I got in those 1-day classes I took were (in no particular order): 1. Make sure the bike fits you-risers, pegs, bar position, etc. Should be as neutral as possible. 2. Look well ahead. Staring at your front wheel or even just a few feet out won't help you. Keep your eyes up. Pick a spot on the horizon and keep your peripheral open. Let the bike feel it's way through whatever (except sand...keep as much weight off the front as possible and keep on the throttle or go a bit faster to keep from bogging). 3. Gear. Make sure your gear is comfy and protective. Dual sport/off-road boots will keep your feet and calves from getting tired & sore. Street boots were killing my feet standing on them all day. I got a nice pair of Sidi dual sport boots and OMG, night and day difference. Felt like I was standing on a flat surface all day. 4. Practice counter-intuitive turning. Get yer butt off the outside of the bike...lean it under you. Find an open flat stretch of dirt and practice doing fig 8's or running some cones. You want 3 points of contact...your foot, your outside knee (in the tank) and your inside calf (exaggeratedly across the seat). Our instructors made us pick our inside foot up off the inside peg...really made you concentrate on technique. Practice this without your bags first unless you need them to help pick the bike up (you will drop it...everyone in the class did, incl me!). Once you are comfy with them, add your traveling weight to get used to it, before you hit the road.

Remember the bike will handle differently on dirt (duh!). It'll wander a bit more and feel like it's wallowing. Let it! Trust your machine.
Oh, air pressure. We were running at 25-28 psi. You want it to be soft enough to bite, but not so soft that your rims are getting beat up. Air pressure may vary due to personal tastes, but I liked it at 25/26 or so.

[Boomer]

(12-19-2011 12:14 AM)Neilbubbachuck Wrote:  I had a so much fun at the Maryland State Police Motor Unit school in Prince Georges county. We spend many days patroling the woods, cow fields and floodwalls. We took many "lovely" rides off road. Up over trees, through mud, cow poop and rutts. And all on a Police RoadKings.
My partner (police partner that is) and I destroyed two roadkings during that two and a half week course. We were never real popular with the Brass anyway. So we didnt care. The course included controlled falls on pavement at various speeds (up to 20 mph). That sucked!

Seriously that was the hardest thing Ive ever done. Insaine, Insaine stuff. I was one of six who passed the course, only to resign shortly after.


But twaz fun! Pics pending. (of course ill send the pics to Boomski so that he can post. Cuz im computer smert)

Send away brotha - always glad to help a friend! Dont know if I would have the courage to be taking even controlled spills on any two wheeled machine. Working for the Dept of Transportation you get to see videos a lot of folks would cringe at. Saw one where they had a guy doing controlled drops at 40mph, and just watching made me hurt. Dont care how armored your gear is how safe you try to be, once a bike drops, it goes where IT wants to. YOU are just along for the ride.

Got my ride in yesterday - all 5 hours, and that included a one stop Christmas shopping trip to the mall. What little we could do is done, but its not much this year.

[Gungawoman]

Gosh, is there really such a thing as a "controlled" fall? Yikes!

[Azooper]

One of my favorites here in Arizona is Seven Springs road. Starting in Carefree and ending up on Bloody Basin rd on the I 17. A few years ago me and my brother did that trip backwards and I got a flat tire about halfway through the trip. I changed the tire, and we got back on the road only to get another flat tire about 5 miles from the last one. I had a plug kit with me and plugged the hole but, my compresser wasnt worth a damn. I could only get about 20 lbs of air in the tire. With a lack of air in the tire, it kept getting flat. We were still about 25 miles away from civilization and it was already about 10pm. Needless to say we had to keep putting air in the tire to make it home.

[desertbear]

One of my favorites in the Phx. area is from Lake Pleasant to Crown King
from the desert floor to pine forest... Love that trip! The wife and I got stuck in the snow on that ride once in a 83 cj-7, no doors, no windows only the bikini top for protection 21/2 feet of snow... brrrrrrrr! We ended up staying in this little B&B overnight. Got up in the morning to a jeep FULL of snow! Was REALLY romantic though.... Oh, BTW welcome to the assylum Azooper! Bear.

[Gungawoman]

There is also (in AZ) the "desert to tall pines" road (288) from Forest Lakes off the 87 and ends up in Globe. Then you can take any number of single tracks to the desert. Really a nice drive except maybe in the monsoon season I live up in the high country, so it's nice to go to the desert now and then.
Welcome, Azooper! Nice to have another Arizonan here!

[New World Man]

There is a bunch in Southern Illinois, in the Shawnee National Forest, including Garden of the Gods, and Cave in Rock, at the very southern tip of Illinois at the Free Ferry near the town of Cave In Rock.