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Honestly I have no idea. The first half it was possible to go quickly as the road was dry but I had to watch out for the crap on the road, but that was easy to spot. Second half was tricky as it was dark and wet (and 12′ colder). The way back was interesting as that was directly into the sun. With the light reflecting off the wet road I would be blind for many seconds at a time. Interesting when you know a bend is coming up but you cant see . I actually had more fun just taking in the views but I think you could get some spirited riding in there during the summer. Kinda wishing I had tackled that gravel road now but it’s easy to say from the comfort of my sofa

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This area is a little to the east and north of Monroe. There is a Google route map at the end of the post.

Dual sport is a general classification for bikes that are designed to go both on and off road. It’s kind of a broad/fuzzy classification and bikes tend to fall into more street or dirt biased. I’m leaning towards a Kawasaki Versys which is 99% street oriented but it could tackle a road like that one. It was actually a good looking road but a 550lb scooter with 12″ front wheels and lots of expensive tupperware is not the machine to be taking chances with. I was tempted though.

The were hordes of bikes out today, probably because it was so warm. Must have been close to 60′ today. Hard to believe it’s the beginning of February. I actually had to remove my GoreTex outer layer as I was too hot. That’s my summer mesh jacket I’m wearing there and I was very comfortable. I’m gonna have to get one of those cooling vests for the summer if I get too used to riding in these temperatures.

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Yes, that is me on my Piaggio MP3, 500cc version.
Picture was taken east of the Cascades at Wildhorse Wind Farm. Cool place to visit if you get a chance (you can read my report on that day here

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I recently purchased an Arai helmet and the thing is a fog machine. Pisses me off as it is dangerously bad. I don’t understand why Scorpion can make fog free helmets and others cannot in helmets that cost 3 to 4 times as much.

Anyway I recently made my first purchase of an anti-fogging product and I went for Clarity DeFog as reviewed in webbikeworld. They seemed to like it and so far I have been very happy with it. Might be worth a try if you are desperate. Not sure how it compares to the other products out there.

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What part of town you coming from? That general area is pretty quiet but it’s hard to get there without going through a busy section. I live downtown (Belltown) so I very quickly adapted to riding in traffic, but since I have an automatic scooter I had it easy.

I wouldn’t stress over trying to make this practice session, I would focus more on getting your own practice in. I’m not entirely sure how this big session will go as this will be my first time doing this. While I regularly stop by and do a 10 or 15 minute practice session, I might be bored with a large group practicing for a couple of hours. But I have to confess I am secretly looking forward to watching folks attempt the box. It will be interesting to see the skill levels on show.

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If you two are competing on who gets to buy the drinks then yes, I’m in

So, you renting a bike when you are down here? You can even rent 3 wheel scooters here Just kidding. I guess you are not ready to get on a bike for the first time in months in the middle of a strange city. I sure wouldn’t.

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There is no legal requirement to put a fut down in WA but the cops are trained to look for folks who don’t put a foot down. So you are more likely to be pulled over if you do a full stop with no feet than if you simply dab a foot down and roll through. Got this tidbit from the MSF coach on my ERC who works/trains with local officers.

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Wow…I think you just bumped the experience level on this site up by 1000%
Hope you remain an active member to help all us noobs and “experienced” noobs out.

I remember watching trial riding on tv when I was a kid and then trying to emulate them on my bike. This was pre-bmx days so I wasn’t very successful. I had an old grocery delivery boy style bike. Built like a tank, indestructible but not the easiest thing to throw around.

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Jay, the meetup group I ride with is having a practice session in a few weeks time at Magnusson Park (just north of of UW in Seattle). Going to watch Ride Like a Pro and then go out and practice some. I’ve never watched that video but some of the folks on here swear by it. You would be more than welcome to come along.

Greater Seattle and Puget Sound Motorcycle Riders Meetup

Seattle, WA
2,710 Pacific Northwest Motorcyclists

We’re a Seattle based motorcycle riders group and a whole lot more! Meet with other local Motorcycle Riders in the Greater Seattle and Puget Sound area to plan group rides, tr…

Check out this Meetup Group →

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That’s not me, I shamelessly stole them from someone on advrider.com
I would guess that is some Forest Service road somewhere in the Cascades. I think that guy lives around North Bend area, I forget now. He’s posted a few pictures like that and they amaze me each time I look at them (one for riding in conditions like that and two, they are just amazing pictures).

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Correct syntax is < img src="https://www.learn.cl/personal/imgs/10kmiles.jpg" />
(minus spaces of course)

Included below

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The 2010 Versys is the hot favorite for my next bike but it is no off road bike. It has tall suspension so you have ground clearance but the 17″ front wheel limits your tire choices. Not sure you can get knobblies in that size. Plus off road bikes have spoked wheels so they can flex when it takes a hard hit, a hit that would buckle an aluminum rim.

I plan on tackling US fire roads and I think the Versys is perfect for that. Chilean mountain roads I’m not so sure about. I keep looking at the F800GS but I’m not sure it’s worth the extra money for me, for the type of riding I will do. Might be more appropriate for you though.

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It is recommended that even experienced riders head to the parking lot whenever they get a new bike. Every bike handles slightly differently so you need to learn the intricacies of each in a safe environment. Riding in the street (even quiet ones) has its own set of dangers and things to learn. Best to eliminate them while you focus on what you need to learn first.

Oh and I would practice 90′ turns from a stop. i’ve read of a few people dropping their bikes at right hand turns at a stop sign. Lot’s of reasons for it but having cars around when you are not confident in your ability certainly factors into it.

Learn to ignore the advice of others where their ego comes into play. Whether it is around the size of your engine, your brightly colored clothes, your full face helmet, how fast you ride. Do whatever you are comfortable with and ignore the others. As you start to meet other riders you will quickly learn a large percentage of folks are not interested in learning how to be safe and skillful. That’s their choice and I do not try to force my choices onto them, but I ignore any “advice” they may give me.

And thanks for the kind words but I just happened to be the first one along.

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I would say you want to do as much parking lot practice as you can. You want the controls to be 2nd nature to you before you have to start worrying about traffic. Practice all your slow speed maneuvers, starts, stops etc. It’s a lot safer to get the mistakes out of the way in a parking lot than when there is a car on your ass. Then, light traffic as much as you can while you start learning how to read traffic, best lane position etc. In the first few weeks it can be a bit overwhelming but you learn quickly.

Good luck and be safe.

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I’m pretty sure that account (JennyT) was used for a spam message a little while ago. All that was missing from that message was the link to cheap Viagra at end of it.

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