I found this while looking for other people's mistakes when heading off the blacktop, as I'll be heading through Karajini National Park (Western Australia) on my 1200C in August. Just unsealed roads, no dune climbing or river crossings (I hope). Tyre selection seems pretty limited for a 16" rear. I already have 13.5" rear shocks for better cornering/ground clearance. If anyone has any suggestions don't hold back :-)
Not on purpose. I took a ride through People's State Forest on paved roads which turned to dirt.then to a 3 foot wide trail. I used to do a lot of dirt bike riding in my 20's so I felt up to the challenge. It's a little tougher in your 60's,especially on a sportster. Standing on forward controls was more than I bargained for. Anyway, I made it the 3 or 4 miles to a paved road,only to find out that in had just been chip sealed. Riding on 3 inches of stone was worse than the trail!
LOL I thought ok this guy is gutsy, till I read you did it with forward controls. Does the term, "What were you thinking"? Have any meaning? Not saying this in a mean manner, cause I have done just as crazy things in the past, but you gave me a good chuckle trying to picture that in my head.
My head has a cold currently, so its hard to get anything in there right now anyway.
Nothing yet to report on mine off road, we are still drying out here and we keep getting little showers every other day, so its taking longer. Im sure it will do fine on the local fire and logging roads. I know it will be a handful in the rougher areas, but im not planning to ride much in terrain like that, there are much better bikes for that.
That's a nice looking machine @whylee . I was wondering about the tyres, but then noticed your Excel alloy rims - you've given yourself a lot more options for rubber
An 18" rear would be great, it looks so well balanced on your bike
FWIW the 18" rear off the 16+ Roadster is cheap in the US at $330, was a direct swap on my 08 as it the first year with 25mm axles
(but do realize pricing could be very different in Oz)
Yeah this is quite a thread revival, lol, not as bad as some others though. I did once a few yrs ago but I didn't intend to do it. I was told of a road that took you up to the top of a mountain so you'd have a good lookout point over some cities. The person who told me about the road neglected to mention it was a dirt road, used mainly by four wheeled trucks or ATV's, or dirt bikes, not street bike. (mines a 98 1200 custom, with aftermarket shocks) Thankfully mine does not have forward controls and it was not a extremely steep grade road, so it wasn't like some kind of hill climb event or anything. I had new tires but they were street tires. I made it to the top mainly by not stopping and by avoiding all the deep holes and obstacles in the road. When I first started mc riding it was off road with dirt bikes so I had some previous experience. That experience was however 50 years ago. Some people who were already at the top thought I was crazy to do it on a street Sportster, didn't think it was possible. Fortunately I didn't drop it or break anything and the dust and dirt washed off good.
04-14-2019, 07:18 PM
