Wasn't sure if to post/chat in the Uly forum - but they probably would get bored by my ramblings.
I thought it more valuable here to post; my prior "dirt" riding consisted of a three mile stretch of road I encountered on a ride once earlier this year and again about a 1,000 yard steep hill with billiard-ball size rocks making up the surface (that was tough, but it was over before I knew it).
Anyway, this past weekend I mapped out a 100+ mile route through Central PA (north of Carlisle and West of Harrisburg in Tuscarora State Forest and surrounding country roads). About 42 miles of the route was on dirt/loose gravel roads with several climbs at 15% grades and being over 2 miles in length with descents to match. The intervening riding was undulating ridge tops and mini-valleys between the tightly packed mountains. Deep forest cover, ditches on each side of the lane-and-a-half wide road surface and for the most part, crowned road surface was the conveyance.
I will admit the first five miles off-road were quite a**-puckering to say the least. However, on the TT, you could sense the self confidence picking up by the mile. Mind you, never having driven these roads I was thinking they were "hard pack dirt roads" as the map suggested. Unfortunately, due to PA's overabundance of natural limestone and the state's propensity to use it for everything under the sun - the roads were mainly large grain gravel (about the size of two-knuckle fist). Only occasionally would you get a reprise and have a section with a grass strip down the center of the lane (it would provide some stability to the surface).
But I digress...the point here is to let y'all know how the bike handled. I can remember thinking after about 45 minutes of riding that I could really tell the dirt-tracker inspired origins of the TT's geometry. Especially on the sections where you'd have slight crests every few hundred yards and proceeded by 200-300 yard tangents in one direction of travel before the road would weave the other way - all with trees tightly lining the road on either side. Shifting weight forward on the saddle and relaxing the arms while staying in 3rd or 4th gear allowed easy body-weight shifts to maneuver the bike. Also, some judicious throttle application allowed me to bite down, gain traction and move to the next turn (Pirelli Scorpions - stock tires). I felt a bit like a downhill slalom skier.
I experienced very little fish tailing unless induced for fun on purpose and I was using the front brake almost exclusively with very, very little trail braking on the rear to bring speed down on the steep downhills and tighter turns (there were at least a dozen 180's).
As a side note, I rode out (under beautiful skies even on some back roads) to Harrisburg from Pittsburgh the preceeding evening hitting 110-120 a couple of times on US22 East. And then after the ride on Sunday morning rode back to Pittsburgh. Total weekend mileage was 522 miles. Just shows the wonderful flexibility of this bike and engine.
I hope to do more of this riding and also have a route map (google maps) I can share. Hopefully get some pics up soon as well.
-wp
I thought it more valuable here to post; my prior "dirt" riding consisted of a three mile stretch of road I encountered on a ride once earlier this year and again about a 1,000 yard steep hill with billiard-ball size rocks making up the surface (that was tough, but it was over before I knew it).
Anyway, this past weekend I mapped out a 100+ mile route through Central PA (north of Carlisle and West of Harrisburg in Tuscarora State Forest and surrounding country roads). About 42 miles of the route was on dirt/loose gravel roads with several climbs at 15% grades and being over 2 miles in length with descents to match. The intervening riding was undulating ridge tops and mini-valleys between the tightly packed mountains. Deep forest cover, ditches on each side of the lane-and-a-half wide road surface and for the most part, crowned road surface was the conveyance.
I will admit the first five miles off-road were quite a**-puckering to say the least. However, on the TT, you could sense the self confidence picking up by the mile. Mind you, never having driven these roads I was thinking they were "hard pack dirt roads" as the map suggested. Unfortunately, due to PA's overabundance of natural limestone and the state's propensity to use it for everything under the sun - the roads were mainly large grain gravel (about the size of two-knuckle fist). Only occasionally would you get a reprise and have a section with a grass strip down the center of the lane (it would provide some stability to the surface).
But I digress...the point here is to let y'all know how the bike handled. I can remember thinking after about 45 minutes of riding that I could really tell the dirt-tracker inspired origins of the TT's geometry. Especially on the sections where you'd have slight crests every few hundred yards and proceeded by 200-300 yard tangents in one direction of travel before the road would weave the other way - all with trees tightly lining the road on either side. Shifting weight forward on the saddle and relaxing the arms while staying in 3rd or 4th gear allowed easy body-weight shifts to maneuver the bike. Also, some judicious throttle application allowed me to bite down, gain traction and move to the next turn (Pirelli Scorpions - stock tires). I felt a bit like a downhill slalom skier.
I experienced very little fish tailing unless induced for fun on purpose and I was using the front brake almost exclusively with very, very little trail braking on the rear to bring speed down on the steep downhills and tighter turns (there were at least a dozen 180's).
As a side note, I rode out (under beautiful skies even on some back roads) to Harrisburg from Pittsburgh the preceeding evening hitting 110-120 a couple of times on US22 East. And then after the ride on Sunday morning rode back to Pittsburgh. Total weekend mileage was 522 miles. Just shows the wonderful flexibility of this bike and engine.
I hope to do more of this riding and also have a route map (google maps) I can share. Hopefully get some pics up soon as well.
-wp
