Her First Offroad Ride
 

Elizabeth got her first taste of dirt last night on the Hawk!

We went to Prairie Creek Reservoir just outside of Muncie, IN. Its about 50 acres but a great intro to off road riding. We had lots of rain the last couple of weeks so it was pretty muddy but the terrain overall has a mix of dirt, gravel and rocks and climbs.

I will post a video soon of the highlights of our ride. You can tell by the grin it went well :)

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The bikes once again took the punishment pretty well. She was really riding the clutch at first on her bike and it got pretty hot to where the clutch swelled. I will also say that I have not yet installed the oil cooler on her bike either, while mine had zero problems, the occasional stall because I was being too light on the throttle. We ended up switching bikes and she said mine had a better feel to it overall. I suspect this is because of the oil cooler. I know some think the oil cooler does not do much, but I think in high-stress situations like off road riding, everything you can do to pull stress from the bike will help the bike run better. I know I'll be installing the cooler on her ride right away!

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They got even dirtier than last time, but this is what we bought them for. A quick rinse off in the yard and let dry was all they needed.

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I'm in love with these tires. They hook up extremely well and while they are not pure full knobbies, they certainly get the job done!

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You guys are so cool! Love the player 1 and 2 !

Are the tires stock?

They are not, they are a Shinko 804 front and a Michelin T63 rear. We went with these because the stock rubber is great on dirt, but lousy on road because of the very tall lugs. I have found that these new tires are great on dirt and decent on the road for such aggressive tread, the main reason we switched. If the trip was purely dirt, I would have just run the stock rubber.

I'd say Elizabeth is a real keeper.
Muncie, IN is the mythical home of one of my favorite cartoon characters: Tom Slick.

She definitely is a keeper! Noticed her at a big vintage moped wrench-a-thon when she brought in a Aermacchi Harley to tear to pieces. Covered in dirt and grease with a spanner in one hand, a beer in the other and that big ol grin on her face. Cupids arrow, right between the eyes! :D

Muncie is a neat little town. We went to a brewery afterwards with some interesting and tasty beers, we will definitely be back to the place for more practice and more beers. Ancestral home of the Ball Corporation that made Ball jars, though the jars are still made the name is owned by a big old holding company that owns a bunch of other brands. Still the home of Ball State University though!

I hope to have the video up. I taught a motorcycle class this weekend and though I had brought my laptop to mess with the vid I didn't get very far. Soon!