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Ever wonder how sport-bikes perform on dirt?

1K views 12 replies 12 participants last post by  Thumper 8 
#1 ·
Well, a group of us found out this Sunday. After completing the Duffy Lake road, we checked the map in Cache Creek and decided to loop north to Clinton, and come back down to Pavilion via the 81. The map was not detailed enough to show surface, but one of us :rolleyes was fairly sure the road was paved. The road from Clinton to Kelly Lake was great, twisty, and no traffic. At Kelly Lake however, the paving ended. It was a long way back through Clinton and down to Cache Creek, so we decided to head down the dirt road and see how it went. The bikes (FZ6, VFR and BMW1200GT) behaved amazingly well, even over severe washboards and steep rutted inclines. The 15 km road took us over a huge mountain, and many sections were one-vehicle width with totally blinds corners, so speeds were generally 10-20 km/h, although we did get up to 80 in some stretches.

We all grew up riding dirt bikes, so I would not recommend this rides to newbs, but it was a great learning experience and adds to things that amaze me about the capabilities of modern sport-bikes.

Needed a 200 km/h wind to blow the dust off once we hit the paved road :evilgrin
 
#3 ·
waterman said:
Well, a group of us found out this Sunday. After completing the Duffy Lake road, we checked the map in Cache Creek and decided to loop north to Clinton, and come back down to Pavilion via the 81. The map was not detailed enough to show surface, but one of us :rolleyes was fairly sure the road was paved.


Needed a 200 km/h wind to blow the dust off once we hit the paved road :evilgrin

Well I was half right - the first part was paved :banghead

Too much fun dirt-tracking around hairpins, one foot out front, steering the bike with the throttle and the rear tire - serious flashback time to my dirt biking days :thumbup All 3 bikes were amazing in the loose stuff.

I will never forget to look on the Fire Warden's faces as he is doing his lookout thing from the top of the mountain and looks over his shoulder to see 3 sportbikes cruise by in a cloud of dust, riders in full gear giving him a polite wave - the look on his face was priceless!

And the return blast through the Duffey pretzelled my license plate but left an amazing amount of dirt on the bike - that interior dirt sticks good, eh? :evilgrin

Definitely the ride of the year so far - an amazing day.

PS - you may not want me to recommend interior roads anymore - many of the memories of backroads are obscured and a little foggy - due to too much alcohol at Green/Bridge/Sheridan Lakes, which always made the return trips to Vancouver fun - I think that partying is adding to my 'geezerhood' :drinkbeer
 
#4 ·
Kelly Lk Rd!!!!!

I HAVE Been over that road quite a few time's in the FALL !! ON My QUAD!!
would not do it on the 954!!!! ESPECIALLY if you are headed NORTH toward's CLINTON, THAT tight TWISTIE down hill to KELLY LAKE wouldn't be too much fun :rolleyes If you want A real ADVENTURE ? When you Get to the TOP of the TWISTIE Hill take the First ROAD to the LEFT!!!! It goes ABOVE TREE LINE to a MICROWAVE repeater STATION!! The VIEW from up there is AWSOME!!!!
 
#5 ·
hehe fun stuff... wouldn't want to do that too much with performance road tires though, would chew'em up pretty quick i'd bet. Not surprised that they handle well on the dirt, given tire size and balance on them (after all flat-trackers are oldschool street bikes with long throw front suspension and nubby tires), bet it felt rather rough at bits though as the suspension definately is not ment to soften that kind of abusive surface...
 
#6 ·
Machinist said:
I HAVE Been over that road quite a few time's in the FALL !! ON My QUAD!!
would not do it on the 954!!!! ESPECIALLY if you are headed NORTH toward's CLINTON, THAT tight TWISTIE down hill to KELLY LAKE wouldn't be too much fun :rolleyes If you want A real ADVENTURE ? When you Get to the TOP of the TWISTIE Hill take the First ROAD to the LEFT!!!! It goes ABOVE TREE LINE to a MICROWAVE repeater STATION!! The VIEW from up there is AWSOME!!!!
Hey Chris, this is how you make Duffy Lake road feel smooth. Sounds like you should have come, you could have led us futher astray, than Thumper did.
 
#8 ·
I loved it when that R1 guys' exhaust spewed out water when he cranked it over after that river crossing....... I rode around Gabriola island one time, took some time to explore the back roads, most of which were dirt, even a a lowly VTR had no problems with them. You just had to keep your speed up a bit.
 
#13 ·
GSP said:
Sounds like a good adventure. :thumbup

And it must be time for a repost of:

One of the coolest threads ever about just riding whatever you've got wherever you want to go.

Brent, good to see you at Mission, and I agree, it may be time for another VFR ride in the late summer/fall - but maybe we should stick to paved roads... you may not want me to navigate!

I saw the thread on advrider before - one of the coolest I have ever seen :thumbup
 
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