Took the WR on its first off-road excursion this afternoon. Rode some trails around Pilcher's Pond and made the gnarly 4.5-mile ascent up Horn Mountain.
http://www.georgiapinhoti.org/TrailG...rnMountain.htm
Every spring what was once a graded gravel road becomes a rutted, rocky washboard on a 10% grade. It's a 10-mph kind of road in a 4-wheel drive truck and I never broke 30 mph on the bike.
I haven't been on a dirtbike in 15 years, and I wasn't much good at it back then, either. What I've learned:
1.) I'm a complete fucking newbie at riding off-road.
2.) Trying to keep a brisk pace on rough terrain burns about 10 times the calories of scratching in the back roads. Up and down the mountain honestly felt like doing a set of pull-ups.
3.) Standing up on the pegs over ruts and holes on a dirtbike is not like standing on the pegs to hover the seat of a sportbike. I feel very out of control standing on the WR; no way
not to seize a death grip on the bars.
4.) Losing traction in the dirt at 30 mph is more fun than losing traction on the street at 100.
5.) Going up is easier and a lot more fun than coming back down.
6.) Even though I felt awkward and out of my element, as soon as I hit the pavement again, I started hauling mad-fucking-ass. Definitely understand why roadracers train off-road, even if I'm not any good at it yet.
7.) I think I need to sign up for a class. Stubborn old dogs need help learning new tricks...
8.) I might have to keep the SV after all. Digging the WR so far, but not sure it's enough as the only bike in the stable. I'm learning to rev and shift again, but torque measured in negative numbers does not a satisfied motorcyclist make...