Throttle Twisting?

[saxman]

Has anyone else tried off-road motorcycle riding? I've dabbled in it a few times. I'm amazed at how much of mountain biking carries over.

On Monday, I had the day off. A friend of mine and I went out to his sister's farm outside of Myersville on South Mountain. I hadn't been on a motorcycle in over three years. The hardest thing for me to remember was to let out the clutch before I put it in gear...I kept stalling it.

My ride was a 1980 Honda TL125. The old TLs have incredibly low gearing. First gear is basically a walking pace. For a regular mountain biker, the motorcycle first feels cumbersome, but then it starts feeling familiar. I definitely prefer the 125s because of their smaller size.

We rode along a power line easement. There were a couple of steep hills. You instinctively shift your weight around just as you would on a bike, and the motorcycles respond accordingly. I soon learned that you didn't even need to brake...just set the bike in first gear and let the engine braking take you down the hill. We were treated to an absolutely spectacular view on the west face of South Mountain. Our speed was never a factor. We were just chugging along.
I think I got up to about 12 mph along the power lines. Out in the fields closer to their farm, I was able to get up to 24 mph. We were also accompanied by three labrador retrievers who decided to come along. You think you're flying along and then you hear the "ching, ching, ching" of their dog tags right alongside you. They were pretty tired after following us around for 4 miles.

I think for pure thrills, the mountain bike is still the way to go, but as a change of pace, I sure did enjoy throttle-twisting.

[Muddy1]

Yep, I actually just started riding last Fall. FUN STUFF!! I'd been dying to try it since I was a kid. Where is South Mountain? I ride some trails around Bowie and have been out to Tasker's Gap and Tomahawk in W.V. I've got a WR250 and a KX100. The KX is like riding a mtn bike with a motor! Its a nice change of pace.

Cheers,
Kristina

[Squirrel Girl]

Yep, I actually just started riding last Fall. FUN STUFF!!
Yeah! Real fun....... until you break your arm!

:p

Glad you're healed up. But I'm stickin' to pedal power. I need every little bit of help I can to burn calories.

[600BENCH]

I raced motocross for ten years from 92 to 2002. I loved every minute of it.
Some of it has carried over to MTB.
The biggest thing is I am used to high speeds from my Honda CR 250.
Downhills on a MTB are a piece of cake. My $.02.

[saxman]

Where is South Mountain?

South Mountain really isn't so much a mountain as it is a long, continuous, ridge line running from the Potomac River up to the Pennsylvania border. It lies roughly halfway between Frederick and Hagerstown. At the top of South Mountain and along its entire length is the Appalachian Trail. My friend's sister has a farm there on the eastern face. His brother has a place farther south on the western face where we have ridden as well.

There was a Civil War battle fought there as a prelude to the Battle of Antietam in 1862. Had the Union committed its full forces to this battle, it could have broken up the Army of Northern Virginia into several pieces and annihilated it, thus bringing the Civil War to a more expeditious close. Instead, it was fought as a series of several small battles around each of the passes in the mountain that ended inconclusively. This brought the armies of the North and South into the Battle of Antietam several days later, the bloodiest single day of fighting in American history.

In more recent times, even though the movie "The Blair Witch Project" was shot in Seneca Creek State Park, it is supposed to occur in the woods around Burkittsville, which would be on South Mountain.

If we head up there again, I can drop you a PM if you're interested.

[Muddy1]

Yeah! Real fun....... until you break your arm!

:p

Glad you're healed up. But I'm stickin' to pedal power. I need every little bit of help I can to burn calories.


Har, har, funny! :p :) A little broken arm won't keep me away. :D

600Bench- Racing looks like a ton of fun-not that I would do it at this time in my life but if I had gotten started earlier, I surely would have. What classes did you race? Well, okay that was dumb- I just re-read you had a CR250. Did you start when you were young and move up or did you actually start out on a 250? Those two-smokes have a heck of a punch! Are you still riding at all?

Saxman-that's some amazing history!! I love living in this area b/c there's so much great history here! Yeah, definitely drop me a line next time you go! I'm always looking for more places to ride since they're so few and far between. I haven't ridden since June when I broke my arm so I'm probably going to be a slow poke until I get my nerves back up again.But, I've got a lowering link and new boots on the way so getting that bike lowered should help a bunch. Are you riding on actual singletrack or fireroads?

[600BENCH]

I started racing at 29 and raced the 30plus intermediate class until I pointed out and moved to the expert class which kind of took the fun out of it. I retired at the pro national in Budds Creek in 2002. My son didn't have much interest in it so I quit.
Now he is 10 and having a blast on single track with his new Gary Fisher.
MTB is alot safer.