Lootch67
Race Dog
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2006
- Messages
- 1,310
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- South Ockendon, Essex, UK
- Bike
- Honda XRV 750 Africa Twin
This ride report was done on my AT but since I did not stop to take any photos I thought I'd use some of the photos of my previous rides, one of which was with the KLR.
Anyway, so Friday afternoon I manage to slip away from work early and went for a little ride in a piece of field on my way home. Obviously it's not legal to ride there :deal: (hey it's the UK - there's hardly any place left where you can legally ride off-road!) but since it's quite well hidden from the road I do take my chances every now and again. Contrary to what you can see on some of the pictures it was really dry which is a relief as this mud island turns very slippery when wet.
First picture is also from a previous ride in the same area. They're building loads of new houses etc. in this area which provides some nice open spaces to ride. That's until the site manager arrives and tries to catch you with his 4x4. No chance... >
Surveying his kingdom..
View from the top of a man-made hill.
It's lovely gunning the AT up this hill as you get to do some low level flying at the top.eepwall:
And back to the present.. The shock on my AT is finished. About 2 weeks ago I set it at maximum preload to get some more weight on the front as the bike was dragging its arse like a dog with worms which makes cornering a bit of an uneasy affair. On tar it worked (sort of) but within 20m of hitting the dirt I noticed something wasn't right. The back, now with virtually no decompression damping was kicking back like mad and with the increased travel due to the preload turned up it was like riding a freaking pogo stick. :blob7: It was a bit unnerving at first but I was desperate for a ride so thought I'd just go a bit faster and see if it gets any better. It didn't but I realised that it was not going to get any worse so I just kept going.
Here's a pic of the field. It's quite flat but very uneven and you have about 300m of open field where you can really gun it before you have to practice your emergency braking skills on gravel. Try as I might I couldn't get the bike to go faster than 80km/h as it was just not touching the ground long enough to get the traction required.
In the middle of the field is a heap of soil which is just right for practising table top jumps. Just don't take it too fast as you'll a) bottom out the forks quite badly as you hit the bottom of the heap and b) you'll jump right over the hill. :angel7: Sadly, the AT is no MotoX bike but it did not stop me from having loads of fun. Next to this heap is two holes from which the soil for the heap was dug and it's good fun riding in and out of them. You can't afford to stall the bike though as the ditch isn't wide enough so if you do stall there's no way you're not going down - even if you're as tall as I am because the rear will be on the downhill bit and the front on the uphill bit which will leave your legs far enough from the ground for you to call an ambulance before you hit the deck. Somehow I managed to stall the engine as I entered the ditch and there then followed a frantic effort to get the bike started before it came to a standstill. Thank goodness for a happy button hey! :cyclops: Being quite a steep entry and exit I found that the AT's bash plate was scraping on the exit. Now we can't have that! So to prevent that from happening you just have to make sure the front doesn't touch the ground until the rear has exited the ditch. Again, great fun but I really need to fit some progressive springs.
Another pic of the KLR getting dirty..
This field also has loads of small tracks winding between some bushes, over rocky bits and up and down some heaps of dirt. Of course the challenge is a) to see how fast you can get the AT through those winding tracks and b) to see if you can get up the heaps without the front touching the ground. Fortunately I need some more practise!
I then decided to follow the road all the way to the Thames. Again it's not legal as you're on private land but for this view I'll take some risks...
That's the Dartford Crossing in the background for those of you familiar with London's topography
I spent some time riding on the ridges as they follow the river which was really good. You just need to be very careful when you're riding on the one closest to the river as there's no way you'll be able to stop before the bike descents into a very watery grave if you get it wrong. The ridges unfortunately has some nasty tracks in them and with the rear hopping around like a bunny who'd overdosed on vi@gr@ I decided to try the stretch in between the ridges. It had the added benefit of hiding me from view which again is a good thing. Man was that hair raising as the grass is just long enough to hide any dry tracks or medium sized holes. Fortunately I managed to fly over the track and miss the potholes.
Unfortunately duty called at home (kids to feed and put to bed) so I very reluctantly made my way home. Still, not a bad day at the office..
Anyway, so Friday afternoon I manage to slip away from work early and went for a little ride in a piece of field on my way home. Obviously it's not legal to ride there :deal: (hey it's the UK - there's hardly any place left where you can legally ride off-road!) but since it's quite well hidden from the road I do take my chances every now and again. Contrary to what you can see on some of the pictures it was really dry which is a relief as this mud island turns very slippery when wet.
First picture is also from a previous ride in the same area. They're building loads of new houses etc. in this area which provides some nice open spaces to ride. That's until the site manager arrives and tries to catch you with his 4x4. No chance... >
Surveying his kingdom..
View from the top of a man-made hill.
It's lovely gunning the AT up this hill as you get to do some low level flying at the top.
eepwall:
And back to the present.. The shock on my AT is finished. About 2 weeks ago I set it at maximum preload to get some more weight on the front as the bike was dragging its arse like a dog with worms which makes cornering a bit of an uneasy affair. On tar it worked (sort of) but within 20m of hitting the dirt I noticed something wasn't right. The back, now with virtually no decompression damping was kicking back like mad and with the increased travel due to the preload turned up it was like riding a freaking pogo stick. :blob7: It was a bit unnerving at first but I was desperate for a ride so thought I'd just go a bit faster and see if it gets any better. It didn't but I realised that it was not going to get any worse so I just kept going.
Here's a pic of the field. It's quite flat but very uneven and you have about 300m of open field where you can really gun it before you have to practice your emergency braking skills on gravel. Try as I might I couldn't get the bike to go faster than 80km/h as it was just not touching the ground long enough to get the traction required.
In the middle of the field is a heap of soil which is just right for practising table top jumps. Just don't take it too fast as you'll a) bottom out the forks quite badly as you hit the bottom of the heap and b) you'll jump right over the hill. :angel7: Sadly, the AT is no MotoX bike but it did not stop me from having loads of fun. Next to this heap is two holes from which the soil for the heap was dug and it's good fun riding in and out of them. You can't afford to stall the bike though as the ditch isn't wide enough so if you do stall there's no way you're not going down - even if you're as tall as I am because the rear will be on the downhill bit and the front on the uphill bit which will leave your legs far enough from the ground for you to call an ambulance before you hit the deck. Somehow I managed to stall the engine as I entered the ditch and there then followed a frantic effort to get the bike started before it came to a standstill. Thank goodness for a happy button hey! :cyclops: Being quite a steep entry and exit I found that the AT's bash plate was scraping on the exit. Now we can't have that! So to prevent that from happening you just have to make sure the front doesn't touch the ground until the rear has exited the ditch. Again, great fun but I really need to fit some progressive springs.
Another pic of the KLR getting dirty..
This field also has loads of small tracks winding between some bushes, over rocky bits and up and down some heaps of dirt. Of course the challenge is a) to see how fast you can get the AT through those winding tracks and b) to see if you can get up the heaps without the front touching the ground. Fortunately I need some more practise!
I then decided to follow the road all the way to the Thames. Again it's not legal as you're on private land but for this view I'll take some risks...
That's the Dartford Crossing in the background for those of you familiar with London's topography
I spent some time riding on the ridges as they follow the river which was really good. You just need to be very careful when you're riding on the one closest to the river as there's no way you'll be able to stop before the bike descents into a very watery grave if you get it wrong. The ridges unfortunately has some nasty tracks in them and with the rear hopping around like a bunny who'd overdosed on vi@gr@ I decided to try the stretch in between the ridges. It had the added benefit of hiding me from view which again is a good thing. Man was that hair raising as the grass is just long enough to hide any dry tracks or medium sized holes. Fortunately I managed to fly over the track and miss the potholes.
Unfortunately duty called at home (kids to feed and put to bed) so I very reluctantly made my way home. Still, not a bad day at the office..
