81forest
2013-11-21 09:01:00 UTC
Here in Seattle, we have legalized recreational marijuana but cocaine is still outlawed, so a twelve-hour ride must begin with the next best alternative: strong espresso.
We planned to do a nice 500 miles of epic mountain back roads. This was my first big ride on the SD, and my riding buddy brought his spotless 848, one of those few bikes that gets more looks than the KTM. She is a beauty, if you're into that red color.
Bert
2013-11-21 09:24:00 UTC
Nice read. Thanks!
robjederuiter
2013-11-21 09:24:00 UTC
nice story and a good lesson too!
shadowman
2013-11-21 09:25:00 UTC
I was holding my breath for a bad ending to the chase.....
Happy it all ended well and the landscape there looks great. Like a scaled up Scotland with less rain!!
Ruprecht
2013-11-21 09:32:00 UTC
Looks like a great area to ride.
Glad the story didn't have the painful/expensive ending I anticipated.
Up until the end there, I was wondering whether it was you, your buddy or Mr Sneakers who drank too deeply.
(...And I thought super sized, iced, chai, mocha frappacinos were the go in the US? Not Charlie Sheen strength espresso.)
81forest
2013-11-21 09:43:00 UTC
Haha, thanks for the replies. I feel no shame in admitting that I felt like the noob that day. There is always something to learn, especially with a domineering mistress like the Super Duke...
bic_bicknell
2013-11-21 10:03:00 UTC
Nice read mate. It's always hard to write honestly about how we all behave at times. It's all to easy to always pretend one's riding is faultless but we are all not perfect. I try not to let this feeling overwhelm me on roads or when made competitive by other riders, (for whatever reason). I like the fact your experienced was driven by sneaker wearing. Very funny. Glad your lesson was learned with a scare and not a crash.
Colonel_Klinck
2013-11-21 15:25:00 UTC
" It's the perfect proving ground for the Super Duke (Doug Fir knows what I'm talking about.) If you aren't careful, the bike will become airborne on some parts of this road, and there are many, many bike crashes here every summer."
Yep! Fantastic play ground. Dirt Bikin in that area is really bad. Really sucks. Don't even think of taking a trail ride there.
DribbleDuke
2013-11-21 16:17:00 UTC
Lucky escape dude. We've all been there, its just too damed easy to get sucked into the moment. Glad you came away unscathed.
Ducati Pete
2013-11-21 16:30:00 UTC
Thank You.
81forest
2013-11-21 17:42:00 UTC
This duck was with me last time I went thru that woods this year.
You know this bike? From your neck of the woods.
It's a bud brothers buds bike.
AGRO!
2013-11-21 19:55:00 UTC
Thanks for posting that.
Great photos.
ktmguy
2013-11-21 21:39:00 UTC
Wow, I have not seen that Duc, would have remembered it!
Yep, NF25 is pretty torn up. Rock slide debris, missing patches of pavement, wildlife everywhere, and "dips" in the road surface that will launch your bike into the air but it is still my favorite ride in the state!
At one point we pulled off to the side of the road to regroup and a lone Harley rider pulled up and stopped. White-knuckling his ape hangers, he looked like he had just shit his pants and says, "does the road get any better further up?"
I was like, "dude, how could it get any better than this!"
PBRnr
2013-11-21 23:05:00 UTC
Yes go fast on track take time and look at the scenery on street wouldn't know what could jump out of those bushes.
DribbleDuke
2013-11-21 23:45:00 UTC
Yet another distraction on that ride, one of 4 mountains.
Ruprecht
2013-11-21 23:48:00 UTC
Post missing.
81forest
2013-11-22 00:34:00 UTC
good story, happy endings.
Edit: also amazing how our brains get sucked into making dubious strings of decisions while otherwise unimpaired!
AGRO!
2013-11-22 04:51:00 UTC
scamb66
2013-11-22 05:53:00 UTC
Post missing.
jambox
2013-11-22 07:29:00 UTC
Post missing.
bic_bicknell
2013-11-22 07:43:00 UTC
I owned a 07 fz1n for a year and it had good power and handled well so dont feel bad mate at least you didnt crash
scamb66
2013-11-23 21:51:00 UTC
Post missing.
bic_bicknell
2013-11-23 22:00:00 UTC
Well yes. Took this, like this, to be controversial!
AGRO!
2013-11-23 22:55:00 UTC
I just got thinking about a incident that happened just up the road from where I used to live back in the 70s.
Two dudes on a bike riding with flip flops as foot protection and a motorcycle cop pulls them up to give them a lecture
on foot wear a drunk driver crashes into them as the cop is talking and the two dudes in flip flops were killed.
At the time I couldn't believe that something so dumb could happen but just think if they had proper foot wear they would most likely still be alive today.
I shouldn't laugh but just goes to show how dumb crap some times happens..
81forest
2013-11-24 01:27:00 UTC
Of all the unpredictable variables in motorcycling, Random Dumb Crap scares me the most...
