08 WRR in Central PA and feeling good

Hey everyone!

Well, I dropped the bike in the dirt 2 hours after I got her off the truck...so I got the initial new bike tiptoeing out of the way. Suffered a bent brake lever, that's all. Bent it back in the vice and all was good. I'm not suppose to baby it, am I? As a noob to off-road riding, I'm heeding the advice of my friends with dirt bikes - "If you don't dump it at least once a week, you're not riding hard enough." If I'm going to learn, I can't be afraid to make a few mistakes along the way.

So yesterday, I got to test her out on the street with a little (8 hour) ride through central PA. I'm coming from a SV650S and I'm wasn't used to the upright riding position, higher revving engine and knobby tires. So you can see why I was a bit anxious on my first ride. I definitely didn't know how I would fair keeping up with the rest of the sport bikes in the group. But to my surprise, I was running faster in the curves than I ever did on my SV. What? Better than my sport bike? Who would have thunk it? The bike just seemed to say to me, "Toss me into any turn you'd like to boss, turn that throttle on and I'll take care of the rest." Whether it was hairpins, sweepers, s-turns, bumps, gravel, dips, potholes or horse poop - that little WRR didn't seem to care.

This bike has already proved to be more than I bargained for.

Welcome, HI!

dlw5065 wrote:

Hey everyone!

Well, I dropped the bike in the dirt 2 hours after I got her off the truck...so I got the initial new bike tiptoeing out of the way.

I did the same thing! Only I didn't have mine in the truck, it was right after I got it. Those stock tires were the first thing to come off after cursing...wrecked the left shroud decals when it went down in some sandy shit. Just ride the bike and have fun, don't worry about break in garbage. I came off a 600 sportbike and never looked back. This thing is WAYYYY more fun to ride. Plus, you can leave the group of crotchers and take off on that trail that begs to be raped, then come back an hour later and still ride the twisties.
Welcome to the pack!

The entire group I ride with all have dirt bikes as well as sport bikes. I am the only odd one in the group. About 2 months ago, one person got a DR-Z400 followed by another rider getting a DR-SM...have to say I was kinda jealous. Only thing was, I didn't want another Su-suck-i. Don't get me wrong, the Suzuki will get the job done but the build quality is not in the same league as the Yamaha. Everyone is a little jealous of me now. :)

I'll have to add here too, the entire group has no fear of taking the sport bikes off road. Whether it's the R1, CBR, YZF, Frankenstein or any other bike, we are adventure seekers at heart. It may not be trails but it's still not pavement. It's a wonder why it me so long to get a DS. Here are a few pictures of us sport bikers off-road...



Frankenstein looking for dirt bikes to play with.
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Frankenstein and rider following me on a logging road up Mt. Greylock in MA.
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I'm not sure what name I will give the WRR but I'm sure it will come soon enough. Pictures of her will also be following soon...


Cheers!

Hi.