Yamaguy55
No difficult problems, just difficult people
This is a repackage of an e-mail I sent to some riding chums. Everyone either chickened out (you know who you are) or was busy this weekend, and since it stopped raining and the wind died down from 35-45 MPH on Saturday, I took the Tenere out yesterday to my favorite riding area over in the the State Forest. I was considering taking the WR250R at first, and in retrospect, I probably should have. However, the Tenere is sold as a dirt capable motorcycle, and it is far more comfortable for the road portion of the trip than the WRR. Plus, with the Tenere's large fuel tank, I don't have to fill up on the way into the forest, and again as I leave. I know: install a big tank on the WRR. It has been considered, and put on the "maybe" list for now. The replacement tanks are all plastic, and I don't want a plastic tank. Also, it is top heavy enough with the stock tank, so more fuel up high isn't a bonus as far as I'm concerned.
Back to the ride. It is in Bald Eagle State Forest, which is east of State College and west of me; about 45 minutes away. There are a series of roads and trails intentionally set aside for dual sport/street legal/plated motorcycles, as well as a large number of stone roads. Some are minivan friendly, some require a trials bike. All have rock. The area once was a large timber operation in the 1880s-early 1900s, so many of the roads are old logging tote roads. It is very much like the rest of the area: steep mountains and narrow valleys, mostly east-west. The soil is more correctly shale, granite and clay.
The plan was to find a series of roads over in the State Forest that you could ride a streetbike or a minivan on. There are quite a few, but I wanted a connected route from the southeast access at Hunter Road, over to the various overlooks on the northern crest of the center of the forest. The forest is in sections, and the section I'm referring to is north of US522, and south of PA45. There are a number of riders that either have street bikes, or street tires on their adventure bikes. My Tenere has the Bridgestone "BattleWings" fitted, and they are very street oriented, although surprisingly grippy on gravel and rock, but snotty clay is not their forte. Not too many tires with similar tread would be good in snotty clay: it is even tough for knobbies sometimes.
So much for plans. I entered on Hunter Road, took that to Strongs Mountain Road, then up the steep rocky section to the overlooks north of Poe Paddy State Park, then on home from there. NOT a streetbike route. Bashed my bashplate with a large rock on Strong's Mountain, had to ford several quite deep mudholes (remember the snotty clay thing?) and one was so deep that I created a drain for it rather than risk losing control of the 575 pound beast in a mud hole, in the forest, with no cell coverage. I'm not very bright, but I'm brighter than that. I'll tell you that while the BattleWings did ok for streetish tires the rest of the ride, they were just about worthless coated in clay. Snotty clay. After I got through the mudholes, I started to smell burning oil. Great: I whacked the bashplate once too many and busted something on the engine. About that time, I realized I was gaining (!?!) on some dirt bike riders on two strokes, which is what I was smelling. Gaining on dirt bike riders while riding a Tenere? I'm a bigger looney than I thought. Nothing like zipping through those woods roads on a bike that size. They turned off, and I continued towards the State Park and the mountain/vistas. If you look closely at the photos in the link, you'll see that with the gravel and clay is a large number of imbedded rock. Very much like riding on a washboard road with loose softball sized rocks added for fun.
I used all of the front and rear suspension on the very rocky, very rough trails. Whacked the bashplate several more times. Met a couple of guys at the top that told me of a woman that drove off the cliff at the overlook, ended up in a tree about 150 yards down the slope, and the car is still there. Truly a place to meet all kinds and see just about anything.
So: I managed to get a number of great camera shots, hit the bashplate with rocks, ford several large mudholes, one requiring draining beforehand, see some nice sights, a few weird conversations, all before heading home. I got back just in time for it to start raining while I washed the mud off the Tenere. I was already muddy and wet, so it didn't matter much.
What I did NOT accomplish is to find an easy route for streetbikes, minivans and dirt wimps/FNGs. Sorry to those that fit that description.
I may go give it another go: I really would like to fit together a nice ride that anyone could enjoy, and not have to have certain equipment/knobbies/dirt skills/etc.
The Tenere is everything they claim it is and more: it handled everything except the snotty clay just fine. That problem could be solved if I wanted knobbies on a 575 pound motorcycle. I think I'll just avoid mudholes instead. The poor WRR feels unloved. The Tenere is still out snoring in the garage as I write this.
Link to my PhotoBucket account with today's fun and games:
http://s1178.photobucket.com/albums/x372/Yamaguy55/Tenere%20woods%20ride/
Lucky for me, I live in moto-heaven: there's enough riding around here that I could do something different every weekend, and not run out before I die of old age, all without leaving the state.
Back to the ride. It is in Bald Eagle State Forest, which is east of State College and west of me; about 45 minutes away. There are a series of roads and trails intentionally set aside for dual sport/street legal/plated motorcycles, as well as a large number of stone roads. Some are minivan friendly, some require a trials bike. All have rock. The area once was a large timber operation in the 1880s-early 1900s, so many of the roads are old logging tote roads. It is very much like the rest of the area: steep mountains and narrow valleys, mostly east-west. The soil is more correctly shale, granite and clay.
The plan was to find a series of roads over in the State Forest that you could ride a streetbike or a minivan on. There are quite a few, but I wanted a connected route from the southeast access at Hunter Road, over to the various overlooks on the northern crest of the center of the forest. The forest is in sections, and the section I'm referring to is north of US522, and south of PA45. There are a number of riders that either have street bikes, or street tires on their adventure bikes. My Tenere has the Bridgestone "BattleWings" fitted, and they are very street oriented, although surprisingly grippy on gravel and rock, but snotty clay is not their forte. Not too many tires with similar tread would be good in snotty clay: it is even tough for knobbies sometimes.
So much for plans. I entered on Hunter Road, took that to Strongs Mountain Road, then up the steep rocky section to the overlooks north of Poe Paddy State Park, then on home from there. NOT a streetbike route. Bashed my bashplate with a large rock on Strong's Mountain, had to ford several quite deep mudholes (remember the snotty clay thing?) and one was so deep that I created a drain for it rather than risk losing control of the 575 pound beast in a mud hole, in the forest, with no cell coverage. I'm not very bright, but I'm brighter than that. I'll tell you that while the BattleWings did ok for streetish tires the rest of the ride, they were just about worthless coated in clay. Snotty clay. After I got through the mudholes, I started to smell burning oil. Great: I whacked the bashplate once too many and busted something on the engine. About that time, I realized I was gaining (!?!) on some dirt bike riders on two strokes, which is what I was smelling. Gaining on dirt bike riders while riding a Tenere? I'm a bigger looney than I thought. Nothing like zipping through those woods roads on a bike that size. They turned off, and I continued towards the State Park and the mountain/vistas. If you look closely at the photos in the link, you'll see that with the gravel and clay is a large number of imbedded rock. Very much like riding on a washboard road with loose softball sized rocks added for fun.
I used all of the front and rear suspension on the very rocky, very rough trails. Whacked the bashplate several more times. Met a couple of guys at the top that told me of a woman that drove off the cliff at the overlook, ended up in a tree about 150 yards down the slope, and the car is still there. Truly a place to meet all kinds and see just about anything.
So: I managed to get a number of great camera shots, hit the bashplate with rocks, ford several large mudholes, one requiring draining beforehand, see some nice sights, a few weird conversations, all before heading home. I got back just in time for it to start raining while I washed the mud off the Tenere. I was already muddy and wet, so it didn't matter much.
What I did NOT accomplish is to find an easy route for streetbikes, minivans and dirt wimps/FNGs. Sorry to those that fit that description.
I may go give it another go: I really would like to fit together a nice ride that anyone could enjoy, and not have to have certain equipment/knobbies/dirt skills/etc.
The Tenere is everything they claim it is and more: it handled everything except the snotty clay just fine. That problem could be solved if I wanted knobbies on a 575 pound motorcycle. I think I'll just avoid mudholes instead. The poor WRR feels unloved. The Tenere is still out snoring in the garage as I write this.
Link to my PhotoBucket account with today's fun and games:
http://s1178.photobucket.com/albums/x372/Yamaguy55/Tenere%20woods%20ride/
Lucky for me, I live in moto-heaven: there's enough riding around here that I could do something different every weekend, and not run out before I die of old age, all without leaving the state.
