OK, finally got a more capable bike - now to try to hook up with a few of you guys for some exploring and such. Anyone mind having a tag-along dual-sport? I'll be building racks for it soon.
Where has everybody been? No posts in almost two weeks? Hope everyone is well!!!! I am still working 6 days a week, 12.5 hours a day........on Saturdays off until late July. With one day off its difficult to squeeze in riding time other than to and from work.. Anyway, just saying heya and seeing whats happening!! A
Careful, that workin stuff will kill ya Riding for me in SFla is over Relocating to Central FL, come on up for a visit.
Guys, I've just moved to North Miami Beach from NJ and i'm looking for places and people to ride. Big Cypress, Everglades are the possible areas (by looking at the map). Can anyone give some guidelines?
No 2 wheelers allowed in big cypress. Everglades levies are fun, look back in this thread for some ride report action.
There are a few on Meetup.com, but at least from Broward county's choices they seem a strange mix of people who just want anyone to ride with, and they're all road bikes at that. Check the Miami Dade area Meetup lists to see. I'm off work on Tuesdays and Wednesdays... so that's about the free time I have to go riding any distance. Locally, well, there doesn't seem to be anything much to ride. I know of one property where guys trespass and ride (it isn't used by anything, I imagine it was going to become another housing plan), but I think they're mostly tard-chariots who use that area, not bikes.
Hey guys. New member here. My name is Chris and I reside in Wellington (South Palm Beach County). I think it's funny we have a whole subsection devoted to Florida. I never thought much of the riding here. I ride a r1200gsa. I'm looking to do a couple local jaunts before I leave July 1st for a trip in which I have no time frame. I look forward to meeting you and learning about this beast of a bike! Cheers
Hi Chris Best way to get a grip on the big beast is to ride the levees to Clewiston. You get on the levees at Rotenberger/ Hollyland at the Broward/PB county line on US 27, go west 'till you hit the Miami Canal and ride the levee on the west side north to Clewiston. Google maps is your friend...
So It's been a while since I've posted in here, but, I'm ready to get active again. Here's the rundown... I live in Sebring, and I recently converted four friends to dual sporting. I myself own/ride a R1200GS, TW200, and a DR650. My two best friends just got a DR650 & a DRz400, along with two other good friends buying two of the same. So now we have a group of 3 x DR650's and 2 x DRz400's (all tagged)... We are all 26-28 years old. I typically am pretty good at organizing hangouts and general slaughtering of beer, but am having difficulty with this endeavor of starting a group here in the 863. I would love to start a weekly/bi-weekly ride here in Highlands County, but damn, it just doesn't seem like there is much here for us Dual Sporters... I'm going to head out today, and attempt to recon a route for the group... So... If any of you have suggestions, or live in the area that would like to get together for rides, etc... let me know. I would love some info on good roads/areas to ride. Thanks.
I like Loop Road but there are only so many times you can ride it. And it's a long loop from Key West. With dirt And wildlife But no hills and no twisties.
Enter through Fakahatchee Strand and keep going west as far as you can. If road repairs are done you can pop out near Naples.
It's famous as a Florida Road with lots of curves. Head north from the Miccosukee rest area on Alligator Alley. It's a main road in to the rez But it's not that twisty The speed limit is an absurd 45mph and it is heavily patrolled by tribal police. It is scenic - sort of: The other cowboy country.
The main road through the Florida Keys is usually described as the only road connecting the islands. Technically that's true but three of the islands in the Upper Keys, that is those Keys closest to the mainland have short stretches of alternative routes between bridges marked by an unobtrusive blue sign: Not very fast: Nor very twisty: This is the Hurricane Monument in Islamorada: Wedged between Highway One on one side and CR905 on the other. If slow moving cages on the main road bore you, this is a brief diversion.
conchscooter, I am in debt to you for you posting some of our options - thank you. I know the rest of you have already done it all down here, but I guess there's a few of us who just got more capable or enjoyable bikes to do it, and I'm looking forward to it.... a little, lol. Just got my ProCycle jet-kit put in, and she is running smoother. I think some low-speed touring should happen soon (maybe a set of bar-risers first to create a more neutral cockpit, but then some touring).
I'm thinking about heading out to Corbett this morning. I've never been there. I'm working the night shift, so I may be out there at about 8. I'm wondering just how bad of an idea it is to ride alone out that way, but I have few options otherwise with this crappy schedule. ... and some electronic box behind me just started smoking here at work... this morning is going great. Edit: This is the bike at the start of the ride - I'm just coming form work here, so I have to deal with having that box of work-gear with me: I left the main road for some trail / field riding. I found water and such, then more water, so decided to turn around and get back on to Stumpers Grade road. But then Stumpers Grade got to be boring, so I took the first interesting dry-er looking road/trail I found. That would be the powerline trail. I didn't quite realize that even it had water. This next photo is after I got through it, then turned around to look at it. It turned out to be way WAY deeper than I thought it was... And I forgot my access-panel to the airbox is off, so water got up into the airbox and stalled the bike right in the thick of it. It didn't help that I was trying to bomb my way through it with the open airbox that I had forgotten about... Once through I was going to do what I could to not have to ride back through it. Thing is... one 'smaller' looking pond north of it was even deeper yet. I learned to hit them really slowly to not push water up into the airbox, but for the puddle that came up soon afterward it wouldn't have mattered - had I had to run the bike at the depth it was for even three more feet it would have been all over. In the end I feel I got really, really lucky that I made it through the last deep one, so I took the first dry-er looking side-trail I found, which was trail #13 (which was far closer to what I should have been riding being alone out there) through the pines. When that popped me out onto North Grade road I decided I had had enough adventure and luck until I have riding partners with me. I knew that if I stayed in Corbett I wouldn't be able to resist leaving the main roads to explore, and that would have me eventually walking out without my bike. My Shinko 705's amazed me ... or at least the rear one did. I sank the bike's rear in a deep mud-pit in addition to the soft-bottoms of all the 'ponds' I had to go through, and as long as the bike kept running the tire did its job. I imagine a knobbier front tire would be worth it for handling through the softer sands though. Looking at these pictures after I posted them, it's incredible how much more the 705's look like regular street tires on the bike than they do in person. Considering I worked an overnight shift, I don't mind only getting in a few hours worth of exploring. Damn, though, did the ride back kill my butt... I dislike I-95 if I have to do near the speed limit. Also, came across these guys with a cool 6x6 deuce-and-a-half: Just outside the park:
I'll just keep on my series of posting posts here until one of you unfriendly south FL types finally goes and rides with me.
Going to be heading to Lehigh Acres on Saturday for some off road ripping. Going to be running the FTR series later this year and need to start training. Anyone that wants to join for some fast trail riding and maybe a bit of DS thrown in shoot me a PM. The more the merrier!!