Took my first ride of any length yesterday, around 45 miles, nearly all dirt & probably a third of that, fairly rough woods trails. I was also able to implement a few things I learned of here on the forum & that definitely made things more enjoyable.
I have added a skid plate, so I didn't worry about the terrain, bought a Wolfman tank bag & also changed my gearing, going from the US stock 13/52 to 13/49. I did buy a 14T front sprocket from Brian a while back but thought I'd try changing the back one first as I could use my old chain (shortened it). I can report that my top end on hard surfaces is noticeably better but I still had the "tractor mode" that I needed for quite a few sections.
The tank bag also worked well as I was worried about it being in the way but really didn't notice it at all, even on the really rough stuff.
We had a late spring here & things are still wet out there but I'm looking forward to exploring more of the hundreds of miles of trails here.
Attached is one pic from one of the real roads. Looking to the east into New Hampshire (Mt Washington far off in the distance still has snow)
"Spring is sprung, the grass is ris. I wonders where the birdies is. They say the birds is on the wing. Ain't that absurd? I always thought the wing was on the bird!"
