Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Amazing riding in So Cal. It does lend itself to the pickup / van school of access though. Nearest spot is just under an hours drive from me in LA...most is more like 2hrs. Riding out along the freeways is a bit of a no go. I rode back from Johnson valley / Joshua tree on the XR once and was almost a cripple by the time we got back. Arse and hands were completely destroyed by the uncomfortable seat, vibes and stiff throttle spring.

Amazing

Dana Brown’s movie Dust To Glory is on youtube in full. The article had me searching for it. Was a fun watch.

Thanks for the tip off, will try and give this a watch if I get some spare time. Went cycling today to my nearest BOAT after all this talk of dual sports and enduros. Can't imagine how anyone could ride it on a motorbike, my wheels stopped turning after getting so much mud under the mudguards, probably doesn't look that bad in the photo.

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Twist that wrist and fling off the filth.

@pdlouche great watch that. Can't believe he did it in 18hours. That an insane pace.

I have a 1999 r1100gs with ~30k miles to sell. Silver and yellow anniversary edition. Good condition. Square headlight. BMW panniers etc. PM for details.

Exactly! Gas it.

The Baja 1000 is nutty enough without iron manning it. Amazing.

The most mental iron man story I’ve read is of an older guy turning up on his own from Utah in wingtips and a button down shirt on a bike he just bought. Did the whole thing solo, with no support whatsoever. There was a huge crowd waiting for him at the finish where he commented ‘it was a lot more dust than glory’

Can't imagine how anyone could ride it on a motorbike

Hold my beer.

(Thought I posted this photo before? It was a few months ago. That was actually one of the easier bits too...)

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The mud was bad, but the combination of steep hill out of shot made it seem hardcore. Also I thought it was weird there was a locked gate at the start of the boat to stop cars and probably some motorbikes?

Also any excuse to post this

https://youtu.be/CqgEl53x7CM

^ that is internet legend, love him.

The second photo I posted is also an incline, and my tyre track there isn’t a straight line. In the summer it’s where I flew over the bars on the GN125 too.

I think that once you get on a dual sport, you’ll be searching out these lanes. Sometimes the gates are because of livestock that roam connecting fields. Near Bath you spend as much time opening and closing gates as riding the lanes they enclose.

Maybe the lock is a pissed off farmer, they’ve been known to try block legal lanes.

Also, first post page 666. Nice.

I’m still amazed at what you can get through on a proper dirt bike. There is just no comparison to anything else - they suck up hits that you can’t believe, blast through thick mud and deep sand. Basic radness.

Rebuilt the forks on the RM this weekend. Bit of a nightmare they were part disassembled with bits everywhere and I couldn’t find a good exploded diagram. Filthy inside too - they’re heavily pitted but fortunately it’s almost all above the line of travel. Hope they work - they bounce at least! Shitty chrome in the 70s clearly.

on a proper dirt bike

After more trawling online it seems people stretch their service intervals if they're only using enduro bikes as dual sports. This makes me think a WR450f for example could work for local green lanes... it'd be lighter and much faster than any DR-Z. Obviously not great for motorways but imagine changing the gearing would help to bring the redline down. Probably still not good for hand or arse vibrations though.

Beware stretching service intervals. There’s a lot of unconfirmed information floating about.

I was recommended smaller capacity the better for a first dirt bike. Made total sense the moment I found myself giving it an accidental fistful.

On green lanes is a total different experience to tarmac. Unless you’re a diehard dirt muppet, you’ll want mellow manageable power or risk frequent tyre changes.

4T, 450 anything would be a real beast. Like I said upthread, I’d choose a 450 and suffer the consequences if I had the choice now. My 350 is well enough power to get into trouble.

Bear in mind most narrow green lanes I’ve done so far are best served at 20mph, give or take. You’ll be going less than 10 most of the time and 25 when it stretches out.

I don’t know anyone that’s blown up a WR450 - they’re more solid than the YZs, E-start too. It’d be a great choice. Tried to buy one here but there is no way to get them legally plated for street in CA.

Will be uncomfortable for long trips as the seats are typical razor-like dirt bike affairs but the vibes are not bad as all in my limited experience. Maybe a bit more than a DRZ but fine. I often wear bibs on longer rides for a bit of extra padding.

Awesome bikes off road - you’d never need more.

Quick addendum - the WR is a very different beast from the YZ. As PD mentions, avoid 450 MX bikes like the plague - they hit a LOT harder than the enduro versions and stretching service intervals is asking for grief.

Think I've probably pushed my luck in terms of the recent dirt bike chat so will see what pops up online/locally. I agree with both sentiments above although know I'd prefer to look at a WR in the garage over a, probably more suitable, dual sport.

I've almost got enough pennies saved but unsure what's happening with my job the next few months so will make sure that's all sorted before buying anything exciting.
Thanks again for all the help.

It’s a really bad time to buy anything dirt-oriented. Just like last winter, the prices have not dropped a penny and now they are more popular than ever. Worse, road legal DS/enduro have all risen steadily in price. Worse still, dealers aren’t open like before.

Ideally you need a mate to try any old anything on a green lane to know for sure what you want. Like, try it and know if you want more or less power or more or less clearance, more or less mellow etc etc. You can’t even take a dealer bike out for a test ride any more. I was expecting to take a RE Himalayan over a few lanes last year before I set my heart on the DR.

You may get lucky if someone (local) lists a bike on your shortlist and hasn’t upped the price but anything ‘good’ that you can take on a green lane has gone up in price probably 50% in the past year. It will also get snapped up fast.

That DR last year? I messaged within 30 minutes of the fb advert, asked to view that evening, and begged dad to drive me the 2 1/2 hours or more (arriving past 9pm) and did the deal on the spot. The seller had a dozen others waiting for dibs.

Buying an old ratty HD sportster is a bad idea isn't it? They're always gonna corner terribly and handle like shit right?
It's just cos I'm approaching 40 right?

Buying any HD is a bad idea

FTFY

Just don’t. Don’t be that guy.

You might think you’re the other guy, but every HD owner thinks that, when in fact they are that guy.

I didnt see your budget but I lust after a ktm 690 enduro as a do it all bike.
But couldnt afford to drop it, or wouldnt want too, at 6k cost.

Right, and they're slow. You could be riding this 28 year old beauty ...

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Thats rather nice.

when I was learning, my instructor had a 1994 900rr, the white and lairy pink/purple colour scheme.

Love a round eye blade. They are awesome.