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Originally Posted by Seahawk
Exactly the opposite here: I can jump on the 250 at the barn and ride miles and miles of trails without ever hitting a paved road. All the local folks allow access to other locals as long as we don't abuse the right.
But for the most part the trails are flat and I have been riding them for nearly twenty years.
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Boy, that must be nice. I can see where the same old trails would get old after 20 years, though. Still, to hop on it right in your own barn and go - priceless.
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Originally Posted by Seahawk
Your bike intrigues me because within twenty miles or so are some really great trails with much more challenging terrain: No need for a trailer.
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Therein lies a bit of a quandry with the big 650: I can ride it for a couple of hours on the road very comfortably, keeping up with traffic and all of that, to get to those distant trailheads. It even does great on the freeway. The problem is that when I get there, the level of "challenge" in the terrain I feel comfortable undertaking on this big bike is substantially less than I would try on a smaller, lighter bike. Some trails are just off limits due to its size and weight (and maybe, just maybe, after all of these years, my good common sense...).
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Originally Posted by Seahawk
I also appreciate your "mature bones" attitude. At 56 I stopped chasing my son on his KTM more than a few years ago.
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Oh, make no mistake, the trials and tribulations of regaining my "sea legs" has much to do with my attitude. In six months or so of ownership, I've already been to the ER once. Went home with 16 stitches in the bridge of my nose, of all places, from that one. I wasn't even "riding" it at the time - I was picking it up after falling over in the mud, slipped, and got a footpeg to the face. Then there was the one where I bruised my ribs and hip bone on the left side in a rather low-speed departure from the bike. It took me three or four days to break down and go see the doc after that one, so it technically wasn't an ER visit...
So, yeah, even at my mature bones, putting around the backwoods pace, this ain't no smooth, gliding along street riding like I've grown used to. Still plenty of ways to get nicker nackered up. I'm just not riding in such a way so as to invite it anymore.