Finally took the Hawk off road.
 

After practicing on gravel roads, my son-in-law finally convinced me to hit the trails with him. He has a 2-stroke YZ250 all tweaked out, but I was able to follow at my own pace. I have to say, I think I get it now. It was so much fun!! However, my arms are wrecked. I am going to have to take baby steps into this. But I did install the new handlebars (beware of the controls on the left side of the hawk..there is a thingy that fits into a hole on the stock bars that will annoy the hell out of you). Also, I installed the replacement shifter, which was a big improvement - still easy to get to and out of the way, so my boots don't accidentally hit it. I gained some skills today, and I plan to go back to it gradually as my body adapts. But man, it was FUN.:)

without pictures, it never happened! :D

glad you had fun!

That reminds me of my first trip out on my Hawk in the spillway. I hadn't rode a bike in years due to a back injury. I took the Hawk out on it's madden voyage for an entire day of off road riding. My arms paid for it dearly for a few days after. lol But it was fun doing it. :tup:

Yz250?? Wow. I would definitely say you have to go at your own pace against that thing ha ha. That is one powerful machine. Did you take it for a spin? Mind boggling acceleration. Back wheel never stops spinning in the dirt as you work through the gears. Crazy power

Sounds like you had fun. Off road is a whole different dimension. I love it. I feel like our bikes are kind of like tractors off-road. A little bit different than the YZ250. But there’s a lot of fun to be had on our bikes off road. They can surely and steadily go just about anywhere!

While sipping on gas. I am amazed at the range on these things. I have two 5 gallon jugs full of 93 octane, non-ethanol gas and ready to put in the tank!

Where'd ya go, Zap? People are starting to think you're an AI bot...:hmm:

I am not an AI bot. LOL. I am a person with bipolar disorder, tons of stress, a serious weed habit, borderline alcoholism probably a couple of personality disorders trying to function, and not make too many errors in my perceptions of the motivations of others. I know I need to stop posting stupid crap, but I have this insane desire to entertain.

Also, sometimes I have to have something beat into my head to learn it (the repetitive stupid questions). But I think I got my crap together in terms of the bike now.

And dudes I had a blast riding offroad.

On to ChatGPT, don't be afraid to copy your text into ChatGPT and give it the following prompt: "Please correct the spelling, grammar and punctuation in the following text, then provide suggestions on changes to style." after that you type in the text you want it to fix for you and BAM it fixes it and also makes suggestions on how you can change your style. Don't be afraid to ask it to write in a particular style, like this one. "Please write a one paragraph description of a motorcycle using the style of Edgar Allen Poe."

wow...this is what it gave me just now:

In the shrouded embrace of a moonlit tempest, there materialized a motorcycle of sinister beauty, a spectral amalgamation of iron and ebony that bore witness to the whispered secrets of the forsaken. Its intricate designs, etched upon the obsidian chassis, seemed to channel the anguished souls of ages past, while its wheels spun with an uncanny elegance, a dance choreographed by phantoms unseen. Adorned with a seat of leather and crimson stitching, and handlebars fashioned in the likeness of skeletal hands, it beckoned daring souls to straddle its form and tempt the unknown. From its depths erupted a mournful roar, a lament that wove together the dirges of the fallen and the echoes of the damned, its exhaust trailing like ghostly tendrils through the air. To ride this machine of shadow and sorrow was to commune with realms beyond mortality, to traverse the crossroads of existence where the boundaries of life and death intertwined, all in a waltz of mist and moonlight that summoned forth the spirits of Edgar Allan Poe's most melancholic dreams.

so you can see, it is a freakin blast to play with. you can instruct it to act as pretty much anyone and it will do its best to adopt that persona whilst also fulfilling your questions, which is hilarious at times. hehe.

have fun guys

https://chat.openai.com/

That’s your next 1000 miles of riding! Ha ha ha.

I love pulling up to the gas station with a low or empty tank and breaking out $4 or $6 to fill ‘er up!

I’m legitimately getting pretty close to 100mpg on the stock Xpect

Or Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory:

Ah, fascinating! Behold, a two-wheeled contraption, colloquially known as a motorcycle, defying Newtonian physics as it generates acceleration through the combustion of fossil fuels. The intricate interplay of gears, pistons, and combustion chambers within the internal combustion engine, while admittedly a triumph of engineering, remains a perpetuation of humanity's reliance on primitive energy sources. Its aesthetic, while mildly intriguing to some, lacks the symmetrical elegance of a Rubik's Cube. And yet, one cannot deny the pragmatic utility it provides for the transportation of Homo sapiens from point A to point B, albeit in a conspicuously inefficient manner. The decibel level produced by its exhaust emissions, reminiscent of a cacophonous symphony, prompts one to ponder the societal implications of noise pollution and auditory discomfort. In summation, an evolutionary step in locomotion, albeit one that leaves room for improvement in terms of efficiency, aesthetics, and auditory subtlety.

Took her off road again. My son in law has some pretty cool trails right down the road from him along the Ohio River. Its coal mine property but they let us ride. I am getting better but I am taking baby steps. The crazy thing is, this sort of stuff will get your upper body in shape. After only 10 minutes on these trails my forearms are burning. But I am gonna keep at it, I am 51 and time is short, gotta squeeze as much good into what time I have left. Take care fellas.