"Ya'll should've seen @J5ive out on the trail. He got on my KTM 500, took off and left me like I was yesterday. I saw him jump a whoop and got at least 2 credit cards of daylight off the rear tire!!!"
OK, I told John I'd make him sound good, so now that's out of the way, I'll start the RIDE REPORT...
BEAUTIOUS Sunday morning, driving to Ramona. A little nip in the air, but I don't care....I'm in my truck
We decided to meet up at Dunkin in Ramona, so about 8:30, @J5ive and @ECDave showed up. Then, here comes @DSM8 on his 1290 to wish us good luck. Dave didn't want to ride with street tires but must have needed a morning ride....good for him. Soon after, @Goofy Footer comes strolling in to shoot the bull. So, while Dave is there to wish us well, Tim starts talking about all the mangled bodies he's had to airlift out of sand washes etc. as a firefighter.
Hmmm, John and I started thinking an extra donut and a ride home was sound pretty good. Thanks Tim 🤣
Anyway, after our goodbyes, off we went. I headed through Ramona on Main Street and turned left on 7th......paved to less paved to dirt (Pamo Rd). Just before the dirt, John and I swapped bikes, which was the intent of this whole endeavor. He wants to try some smaller dirt bikes. So, I jumped on his Yamaha Tenere 700, and he got on my 500....a mile or so up the dirt where you turn right to go up to Black Mountain, there appeared to be some trepidation. So cooler (read: older) heads prevailed and I took the group back to Orosco Ridge. Nice riding, but not too intimidating.
Seriously, we had a great time!
As you can see, there was minimal blood and ZERO bandages visible. So, time for another bike swap. @ECDave has been in the rear the whole time. I told him to take the KTM and John would try his Kawasuki DRZ 400....honestly, today I just learned about the Kawasaki/Suzuki badge engineering. Cool!
So, Dave jumps up front on the KTM....BAM! He's gone. I tried to keep up on the Tenere, but couldn't quite do it. John was pulling up the rear on the 400. Good riding, lots of ruts but generally everything was quite manageable. Good for bike swapping....NO ONE wants to dump someone else's bike!
The day ended at what used to be Packard's for a crepe and a Coke, along with a debrief of the ride.
What we learned:
@ECDave found out he kinda likes the KTM 500....it's really skinny in the middle and it responds....but with the 400 and a Husky 701, why? (Great point)
@J5ive found out after 50 feet on the Kawasuki, he liked it better than the 500. It wasn't as aggressive. Makes total sense and that's a good decision on his part. He wants to enjoy learning how to "off road". I totally get it.
Me @moto_rph, I found out what a nice bike a Tenere 700 is. Wide bars, not too heavy, good torque for plunkin along. Also found out it's just fun to go riding with buds.
Wait a minute. I knew that already!