Went on the weekly ME breakfast ride yesterday and wished I had an Enfield! After breakfast, they decided to go up to Palomar and then someone said they were going to take the Cole Harrison Grade, which is a dirt road that goes up from the West side. I've never been on it before. Some of the group said they'd stick with South Grade, the standard twisty way up there. Well, here I am following who I thought was everybody, and when they got to Cole Harrison, they turned left to go up the road. I didn't see anyone going straight! Oh, what to do. Oh, well, I'm here, might as well give it a shot! So, I'm last and following a guy who's kinda dropping back from the pack, but he's going as fast as I need to be. We went about a third of the way up when he stopped and said he as turning around. I figure I made it this far, I may as well continue. I caught up with the gang about half way up where they had stopped for a break. then I stayed with a couple of guys who had bikes that were more my size!
Now, ya gotta understand that I haven't been on a rugged dirt road in close to twenty years. This road has all the obstacles you need, mostly loose dirt, potholes, washouts, torn up bits of pavement, very tight turns usually going steeply uphill and way off camber. And the most stutter bumps I think I've ever seen! Actually most of the road was stutter bumps.
The Goose wasn't too bad for the most part considering it's a short barred cafe racer. Except for the stutter bumps. The suspension is way too stiff for that, and was really rattling my teeth out! But I managed to blast my self out of some deep enough trenches to fall off in, really digging into the way back machine to recall what I as supposed to be doing in these situations. Kinda like riding a bicycle, with twenty five years of practice, I guess some of it has to stick. I was definitely relieved to get to Mother's without falling off, and really had fun doing it. It would've been a lot easier on an Enfield, though. My Enfield suspension would've handled it better!
Boggy, while you out playing around, give this one a shot. You'd enjoy it on the Suzuki! Just go down the 76. It's down by Pauma. It doesn't take much special on tires. My Sport Demons handled it quite well. It's no Triple Diamond by any stretch.
Bare