Why we ride on dirt

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Mike B

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Mar 23, 2011
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Carnegie

What a great place!



Wildlife up close and personal;



I'll be back tomorrow, it's only 12 miles from my house - :)

 

MEASURE TWICE

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Jul 13, 2010
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It looks almost as if the side walls on those tires are half knobby. Maybe you can do as those prior pics where it seems the rider is at quite an acute angle?

MT
 

Ludwig II

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Jul 17, 2012
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I certainly can. Often followed by lying down and watching a bouncing motorcycle.
 

MEASURE TWICE

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Jul 13, 2010
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In comparison to doing a loop windsurfing, completing the loop but not landing where you continue to sail on, which is better.

Question one, are you hurt afterward?

Question two, is the vehicle damaged?

Question three, can you say I meant to do that and people believe you?

MT
 

Mike B

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Mar 23, 2011
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This is the first dirt bike I've ever owned, and it's not even a "dirt bike", it's a dual sport. Street legal. I ride it to the dirt by way of public streets.

It's pretty cool. Low power (200cc, 15 HP), light weight (290 lbs gassed) and the fattest tires I could find. It's pretty cool, good learner's bike. Has all the power I'll ever want.

I just motor on over, ride the trails till I'm tired (which don't take long) and ride back. Carnegie ain't like riding trails in the flat lands, even the "bunny hills" are a challenge. Next time I go I'll bring the camera and pic ya the top of the "bunny hill"
 

Ludwig II

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Jul 17, 2012
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In comparison to doing a loop windsurfing, completing the loop but not landing where you continue to sail on, which is better.

Question one, are you hurt afterward?

Question two, is the vehicle damaged?

Question three, can you say I meant to do that and people believe you?

MT
Quite obviously the important question no.2. Is the vehicle damaged? Pain is generally transient, and other people don't matter.
 

MEASURE TWICE

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I just got my dual pane vented lens in persimmon color for my riding goggles. Less fogging and no more needing to look for sun glasses that fit both the goggles and helmet. Now looking to get on the trails again!

MT
 

Mike B

New Member
Mar 23, 2011
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Central CA
Carnegie

I've been here so often now the ranger just waves me through.



Top of the bunny hill



Top of a bigger hill



Yup, going down is way more freaky than going up but I have trust in my Tdub - :)

 

MEASURE TWICE

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We ride in the dirt til it rains, then if they have the gates still open carefully see if the mud is not too bad and try. Burning Man Event mud this year in Black Rock Desert, NV was something that is probably the exception, just have what you need and stay put till it dries enough. One thing I did see is plastic bags on feet and it seems to work. Probably still slippery, but no cake of 5 pound pie plate size build up of mud on each foot. Motor vehicles just stop!
 

wheelbender6

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Sep 4, 2008
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Brad Baker illustrates why we ride on dirt at practice for the Superprestigio in Barcelona. Try that on your Ninja!
 

Ludwig II

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Jul 17, 2012
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I don't understand why you think you can't race big multis on dirt. Every other weekend in winter, we have idio- sorry, riders with triples and fours on the sand at Mablethorpe.





Kawa!



Of course, they may be too slow, so you buy something that weighs zero and runs on methanol and has no brakes.

 
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wheelbender6

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Alvaro Bautista almost saved this one but soon went bouncing across the macadam.
He should have been a Speedway racer.
 

Ludwig II

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Jul 17, 2012
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These road racers would be saved a lot of grief if the designers got their heads out of their collective backsides and created 180 degrees of lock, instead of treating it a a quasi religious belief that they are meant to have restricted lock.

A back wheel will slide, and once it has swung out far enough, it starts turning the front wheel as the frame and the forks come into contact. This means more, and unwanted, turning then forcing the back wheel to swing harder. The bike then goes completely sideways, and too often, the tyres find grip and the rider is spat off , to fall to earth hoping he doesn't break anything.
 

Barnfresh

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Sep 5, 2011
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That's old school design from when gp bikes were a handful and evil handling. Have you ever ridden out a 140 mph tank slapper? Trust me you were thankfull back then to have those short steering stops!
 

Ludwig II

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How's Bubba doing these days? I remember seeing him on ESPN sourced programmes and simply not believing what I was seeing. One race, so far ahead on a 125 that "shouldn't" have been competitive against 250s that he got bored, lost concentration and fell off. Went down to 3rd. On a track that was all hills, and with no working front brake, he won. That young man was abnormal.