From the Land of Pleasant Living

Many thanks to Lonestar2112 for procuring and Jax for delivery.

BTW That is coffee

I dont remember if the green one that keeps popping up on Bmore craigslist is 1 wd or 2 wd...

Dont get hung up looking for a 2wd. My Ural is 1 wd, and my buddies is 2 wd. It seems like whenever I get stuck, he gets stuck too. I'm sure 2 wd would get you out of some situations... but I dont think it worth the $1000 price difference in used 1 wd vs 2 wd rigs.

I drive my 1 wd in the snow all the time, and it does great. Last year when the hurricane hit (or was it 2 years ago?), I was out dirving my Ural. There was so much debris and downed trees in the road my car couldnt get through, but the 1 wd Ural had no trouble hopping over 6'' diameter downed trees...

If you find a deal on a 2 wd... buy it. But if you cant find a deal, 1 wd will get you nearly as far.

Hackasaurus is not 2WD. Of course he is also a little insane.

Wayne, where were those photos taken?? That looks like some good riding!

Thing is, I really love my f650GS and it would have to go for me to move on to something else. Going to look into hacking it. Urals are listed as 40hp and I've found many complaints about starting on and getting up hills. Need to find out if the f's 10 more (50hp) could move it with enough gusto to make it worth it. More of an issue is are it's brakes strong enough to stop it.

This is what I tell myself before going to ANY motorcycle show: The bike you own is cheaper than anything you are about to look at!

I'm going to lurk "Hacks" and pursue some training before I spend anything but time on this endeavor.

And bug Sidecar Jockey to come to a RTE, so I throw a bejillion questions at him.
Oh, and so he could have a good time

The rocky road is Dunkle Hollow Rd in VA. The ford is on Peru Hollow/Peru Gap Rd in WV. The George Washington/Jefferson NF and the Monongahela NF are full of roads like this.

If you come to one of the campouts in the Valley or WV you'll see miles and miles of roads like these. The BWDR Campout in October near Elkton, VA(no thread yet) would be a good one to start with.(everyone is welcome, all you need to do is say you're "IN" when the thread is posted)

Mickey I have a hack you can use til you are better . It would probably bolt up to your Harley easily and your BMW with some creativity.

Hack We'll talk later... Not sure if I want people calling me Dynahack .
Bill, another idea for a road trip http://freedomsidecars.com/

Hackamick?

Probably more like Dynamahack (dahy-nama-hak ) This is the perfect example of putting the cart before the horse.

I'll try to make it to the next one. My school and work schedule has gotten a bit less crazy recently...

Unfortunately, my Ural is still in storage (I live dontown and cant afford / dont want to have it sit around in Bmore)... but maybe I'll get it out for one of the RTE rides so you can have a go on it.

Let me know if you want to talk sidecars. I've dealt with DMC and Claude Stanley. I love my hacks. They seem to suit my riding style. I beat the crap out of the enduro car. I just got the frame rewelded where I tore it apart at the last Camp Cow Crap event. I actually flogged that bitch down I-95 to Daytona beach one year. Managed 70-ish mph as long as I wasn't headed uphill. If I come into a wad of cash any time soon I dream of having Claude building me a RTW hack for the new water cooled GS. By the way, I came up with the idea of switching to a dual sport hack while laying in bed for several weeks after breaking my ankle, leg, and hand when I dumped the KLR on a gravel road in Middleburg.

VAC

Not that I'm doing it but knowledge is power.

To you sidecar guys, Thank you!!! I really am putting the cart before the horse here. Once I'm on my feet again (literally) I will be hitting y'all up for info. When I started riding, I knew no one. Figured things out the slowly, stupidly and sometimes expensively. If sidecars are the evolution my riding, I feel like I already have friends. ADVrider is the best.

Sounds dirty...

Slightly unrelated question:

Where do you guys go for some good dual sport riding near Bmore?

I usually ride out to Michaux in PA, to Green Ridge in western MD, or down to the Front Royal Va area. All of these places are a 1.5-2 hr drive from downtown Bmore... and I was hoping to find something closer.

I dual sport on an xt500, and a friend of mine is just getting into dual sport riding and is going to pick up a 1980-something xt250. I dont mind an all day trip on the bike to go to these places for great riding, but I wanted something closer to take short trips with my friend to get him 'into' the sport. I think 1.5-2 hrs of 55 mph riding (just to get to some good scenic dirt roads) on a xt250 will be less than fun for him. I would also prefer to ride to the destination, rather then throw the bikes onto a truck...

Riding in B'more city *is* dualsport riding.

, , .

down right bucolic


Define good SCJ.

By my definition Good (Legal) DS riding doesn't start til you hit the gravel just north of Fredneck. By the time you realize that the place is a bit crowded, you end up in Michaux anyway.

Yeah, I ride the Frederick watershed and Catoctin parks a lot (just south of Michaux). They are crowded, and there arent many roads... so im pretty bored of it. I like changing scenery... and I think I ahve every tree memorized up there

I would define Michaux as 'good', even the dirt roads in Green Ridge forrest are nice. I'm not looking for gnarly trails, since im going with a new rider, but some good dirt roads. Twists, steep hills, and small water crossings would be a plus.

I'm basically looking for some nice scenic twisty dirt / gravel roads near Bmore city that I can ride with my buddy who is just getting into dual sport / enduro riding. He has some street riding experience but no dirt riding experience at all. I just want him to 'get his feet wet' close to home on his xt250 so see if dual sporting his for him. I dont think he (or his xt250) are up for the 1.5-2 hr ride to get to Michaux, Green ridge, or the parks south of Front royal Va...

I realize that there might not be anything good and legal closer than the palces I already mentioned... i just wated to see...