Adventure in Ohio?

[BigOhio]

I can't believe that Sion didn't mention that he finally got to ride part of Swingset's BBA II route yesterday too. Had him doing some breakin miles on the new Super Sherpa and me on the KTM690. Put over 200 miles with lots of backroads and gravel on the way up and back. Happened to stumble on some sections of the Bootleg and looked like they had some nice routes set up. Rode across the walkway of a bridge under construction and was chased by several dogs. For some reason the dogs really hated me on the 690 but in both cases they totally ignored Sion on the Sherpa. I think the Sherpa may have some cloaking or stealth device installed. Decided on this ride that I need to do something with the seat on the 690. Better than the last time I put more than 100 miles on it, and was able to do about 150 miles on the GS-A today with the wife, but it is just brutal and I know sion was feeling the Sherpa too. Par for the course, stopped for one picture.

[mic_detonator]

Originally Posted by sion

dumb question, but just to make sure you havent overlooked the obvious...have you checked/adjusted the cable/lever?

yes forgot to mention my adjustments are on the take up the most space in the loop possible mode.

ony thing i could imagine is that i would have to either add some kind of spacer or adjust the action at/on the splines.

[mgorman]

Originally Posted by swingset

Just got back from Bootleg....awesome trails this time around, hills galore and great single track! Rode a bit with Mgorman and Alacrity, watched some of the Caveman challenge and enjoyed every bit of it.

I stop to take the dudes picture, he blows by me on the gas and never looked back. I'm sure he'll just say something like "all you KTM riders look the same"

Met Alacrity and another Oh-Adv rider but his name slips my sun fried brain. I believe he has the 990 at the Swingset's BB2 last weekend.

The trails were sweet. Been years since I got to ride a little bike on such nice trails. I usually ride to and from the trails on the 640 which is about as svelte as Opra, the 250 felt like a motorized mountain bike.


Swing, did you get your phone back? Jack Penton found it and was asking at lunch who lost it. I figured it couldn't be yours, he was ahead of you. Then back at the lot, a guy came though yelling your name holding a phone. I showed him your car and gave a bike description, he said he'd wait for you to come back.

[Whitey1]

Originally Posted by vivid dadas

The worst I was on today was not quite as bad as the Batwing, (or Batwhatever,)

Originally Posted by MeefZah

Bat's Nest Rd.

Damn embedding is disabled.

http://youtu.be/n6PAUSlCLXM

[swingset]

Originally Posted by mgorman

I stop to take the dudes picture, he blows by me on the gas and never looked back. I'm sure he'll just say something like "all you KTM riders look the same"

Met Alacrity and another Oh-Adv rider but his name slips my sun fried brain. I believe he has the 990 at the Swingset's BB2 last weekend.

The trails were sweet. Been years since I got to ride a little bike on such nice trails. I usually ride to and from the trails on the 640 which is about as svelte as Opra, the 250 felt like a motorized mountain bike.


Swing, did you get your phone back? Jack Penton found it and was asking at lunch who lost it. I figured it couldn't be yours, he was ahead of you. Then back at the lot, a guy came though yelling your name holding a phone. I showed him your car and gave a bike description, he said he'd wait for you to come back.

Yup, got my phone, thanks for pointing me out.

And yes, all you Katoom riders look alike. Orange, with some black....there were only 150 of you there not like I'd have any trouble picking you out.

[Gabby]

Originally Posted by mgorman

Met Alacrity and another Oh-Adv rider but his name slips my sun fried brain. I believe he has the 990 at the Swingset's BB2 last weekend..

That would be me. Nice to have breakfast with you Mike.

[mgorman]

Sorry I forgot your name, should remember Gabby, it was the nick-name of my neighbor and dad's co-worker growing up.



I need to get south more, I have a yearly permit for Wayne so maybe someday we can meet up for a ride

[sion]

Originally Posted by BigOhio

I can't believe that Sion didn't mention that he finally got to ride part of Swingset's BBA II route yesterday too. Had him doing some breakin miles on the new Super Sherpa and me on the KTM690. Put over 200 miles with lots of backroads and gravel on the way up and back. Happened to stumble on some sections of the Bootleg and looked like they had some nice routes set up. Rode across the walkway of a bridge under construction and was chased by several dogs. For some reason the dogs really hated me on the 690 but in both cases they totally ignored Sion on the Sherpa. I think the Sherpa may have some cloaking or stealth device installed. Decided on this ride that I need to do something with the seat on the 690. Better than the last time I put more than 100 miles on it, and was able to do about 150 miles on the GS-A today with the wife, but it is just brutal and I know sion was feeling the Sherpa too. Par for the course, stopped for one picture.

I hadn't gotten around to pulling the pics off my phone til I saw your post...so I'll jump in here with my take. First off, thanks again to Swingset (aka Craig) for creating the route in the first place...and to Steve for letting me ride one of his bikes again.

speaking of the bike, its an 09 Kawi Sherpa 250, as seen here:



cant remember what road this was taken on, but Steve was busy GPSing trying to make sure we were still on route...meanwhile, I circled back 100 feet or so and took this picture of some guys shed made up to look like a dugout. Must be a big Cleveland Indians fan, coz I remember see a couple other Indians things in the yard.

Anyway, the bike: when I threw my leg over it at Steve's at 715 am saturday morning...she had 58 miles on the odo....when we got back she had 281...big day for a new bike...and for my ass as well...yowch...anyway, for a bike utterly unfarkled or modded in any way, she did alright. Very capable bike in stock fettle. Took everything we tossed her way (mostly pavement and gavel) and kept asking for more. And more we kept giving her. The section of Swingsets route called BBA Optional 3 was a real treat and challenge for both of us:

(cant control how the RWGPS maps come up...but for a better view of this section, zoom in a bit and click on the drop-menu in the upper right corner for the satellite view)



it started off as some nice dirt two track...but quickly degenerated into not much more than a path through the grasses/weeds/bushes....only semi difficult because the overgrowth hid many of the holes and ruts...there were a few mudholes that were no problem but prolly would have been horrendous 6 or 8 weeks ago when it was still wet. but the real fun was still to come... the last mile or so of this section was uphill most of the way...fairly steep uphill and pretty much gnarly, rocky, and rutted and I cant wait to take the XR up there and ride it again. sorry, no pics but maybe Craig has some he can toss in here. But I'll hand it to the Sherpa that she handled it with aplomb. I never thought I was gonna get stuck or not have the grunt to make it...in fact, I'm pretty sure I did the whole climb in 3rd, then 2nd gear...never had to resort to 1st gear tractoring....Steve on the KTM just blasted up it, of course.

The Sherpa does have some flaws, like all bikes. The stock suspension is pretty much gooey-soft...needs some major stiffening, particularly up front...and I found the brakes adequate, but only just. another disc up front would make them grab the way they really should. And of course, given its gearing and carb tune, its not going anywhere in a hurry...but it does go, and even stock it is capable of hitting 70 mph (as indicated on the LED speedo). It does feel kind of...um...light, like maybe I wasnt in complete contact with the road surface...at 70 though, so I dont recommend such speeds. Steve got the bike for his son to learn to ride on, and as such I highly recommend it as a very good starter bike. Capable both on and off road and very nimble handling...the boy should have many happy hours aboard the Sherpa.

here's my pics of the bridge from Steve's post:



we discussed riding across the bridge, as it was sturdy enough, but decided that since the big crosspiece was intact on the other side, thus requiring us to come right back, there wasnt any point.



here's Steve trying to come to grips with his GPS (we all know this feeling, right?) about mid-ride:



now, not to get all political, but here's part of whats wrong with America, in my opinion...even an itty-bitty country cemetery has a big-ass list of rules....



anyway, we had a good long ride, with an excellent lunch stop at Jack Havanna's in Zanesville, where we consumed some tasty bbq wings and pork shanks and, even more welcomed, some nice cold beers to wash the dust from our throats...

and yeah, for some reason, every dog we saw lit out after Steve like he was a rolling slab of pork ribs, to which he would reply with a serious burst of KTM acceleration...but after failing to catch him, they barely glanced my way as I putted past on the Sherpa....the last two, a pair of hound dogs who were in perfect position to nail me from both sides, just looked at me as I blatted slowly around the corner towards them...strange...but I attribute it to my ultra cool personality

[buildit]

Speaking of the Bootleg, here's a few photos from the Caveman section I took. Just photos for now, man it was hot, I don't know how some of those guys kept going. :o




















I'll try to get videos up tomorrow.

[sion]

[BigOhio]

Originally Posted by buildit

Speaking of the Bootleg, here's a few photos from the Caveman section I took. Just photos for now, man it was hot, I don't know how some of those guys kept going. :o

Kept going, I don't know how they started going on that!

[mgorman]

The heat's why I bailed out of the caveman sections.

I wonder how many people actually tried those sections? I did 1 & 2 and something called a bunny trail which weren't bad for someone with skill but for anyone lacking confidence, or crappy tires, they were a nightmare. There were very few tire tracks when I did go through them. Section 3 started the real hard stuff which was those rocks. I started section 3 when I dabbed off a rock with nothing to touch down on except what was 30" below me. So I had to bail leaving the bike upside down (to which I believe there is video evidence of). When I picked the bike up sweat was pouring out of ever pore in my body and my eyes were burning from it so I just hit the road to cool down.

[swingset]

I didn't even attempt the caveman sections, kudos to the guys that did.

For someone of my age and skill it's a game of diminishing returns. I look at a giant rock pile and think "self, is there something on the other side of those rocks that's so glorious I need to ride over them for? What's that? A t-shirt if I succeed? Fuck that, t-shirts are really really cheap and a broken fibula is not."

Yeah, there's the satisfaction thing....but I got really satisfied when I conquered Super Mario Brothers. I'm fine with not riding over a huge pile of rocks at this point in my life.

[ThomasVolomitz]

Hopefully our ride to vintage days will be a little less gruesome.

[mgorman]

Originally Posted by swingset

I didn't even attempt the caveman sections, kudos to the guys that did.

For someone of my age and skill it's a game of diminishing returns.

You aren't that old, though I did notice AARP members did seem to outnumber those without gray hair.