Friday night Amy asked me if I had any plans for the weekend or anything special I wanted to do. I hesitated for a moment of thought and then she interjected, "I bet you're jonesing to go for a ride on the new bike." Sold! I was agreed that Sunday morning was mine.
Excited and wanting to make the most of my time, with other afternoon plans, I was dressed and ready to saddle up at 5am. Wait, it's pitch black out at 5am, I've never ridden in the dark! I'll wait a bit.
6am, as soon as the sun crested I was in the saddle. I stopped for fuel and then headed north out of Phoenix to the Carefree Highway. On the way I took a big step and ventured out on to highway I17 and got myself up to about 60mph. After a few exits I got off and continued north on secondary roads. For the most part I averaged 45-50mph along with the speed limit and headed east to Bartlet Lake.
I took the turn off for Horseshoe lake, before Bartlet, and ventured down that unimproved dirt road, down hill for about two miles. I was a great chance to see how effective the engine braking is on this bike for downhill.
About a mile into the road I rounded a corner to see a white pickup about a quarter mile ahead. The driver was seated and the passenger was out to the side of the truck quickly instructing two other guys who were drinking water and changing clothes in the back of the truck. I got a bit closer and all of a sudden two more guys came tumbling out of the desert brush down a five foot embankment on the side of the road. They looked at me, jumped in the back of the truck and immediately began changing clothes. I just waved and kept on going! Hmmmm?
A mile later I turned around and headed back up for my first chance at uphill corrigation with the NX. Standing up is deffinitely the way to go and I'll need more practice with controlling the throttle while standing.
Once at Bartlet Lake I stopped for some water and a picture then took a dirt road which goes south of the lake, down below the dam. This provided some up and downhill twisties on loose dirt. And to my surprise after rounding a corner, a bit of a rock garden full of 8-12" river rock, never done this before!
I'm sure it looks like nothing in the picture but it was just enough for me to stop on the other side, once I was through it, and pause for a moment to review. After the picture I jumped back on and started off. Unfortunately, although a great learning experience, I had stopped in a mixture of deep sand and loose rocks. So, after sinking my rear tire six inches I was officially stuck! By myself, with nobody around - Smart.
I dug out a bit of a trench in front of and behind the rear tire and removed any obstacles from the front tire. I tried to drive out but just spun. I placed and long flat rock in front of the rear tire as a ramp, but just spun. After the two tries I put the bike in neutral and rocked it back anf forth until it rocked up and out of the hole. I turned around and happily headed home considering the ride a success!
Total mileage for the day was 115 miles.
Top speed was 80mph while adjusting to traffic on Hwy 101.
Lessons learned: 1, be careful where you stop in sandy areas. 2, practice throttle control while standing. 3, remember to slow down more before corner turns - I took one open right hand corner with too much speed and not enough turn which pushed me to the outside too close to the centerline for my liking.
Brian
Excited and wanting to make the most of my time, with other afternoon plans, I was dressed and ready to saddle up at 5am. Wait, it's pitch black out at 5am, I've never ridden in the dark! I'll wait a bit.
6am, as soon as the sun crested I was in the saddle. I stopped for fuel and then headed north out of Phoenix to the Carefree Highway. On the way I took a big step and ventured out on to highway I17 and got myself up to about 60mph. After a few exits I got off and continued north on secondary roads. For the most part I averaged 45-50mph along with the speed limit and headed east to Bartlet Lake.
I took the turn off for Horseshoe lake, before Bartlet, and ventured down that unimproved dirt road, down hill for about two miles. I was a great chance to see how effective the engine braking is on this bike for downhill.
About a mile into the road I rounded a corner to see a white pickup about a quarter mile ahead. The driver was seated and the passenger was out to the side of the truck quickly instructing two other guys who were drinking water and changing clothes in the back of the truck. I got a bit closer and all of a sudden two more guys came tumbling out of the desert brush down a five foot embankment on the side of the road. They looked at me, jumped in the back of the truck and immediately began changing clothes. I just waved and kept on going! Hmmmm?
A mile later I turned around and headed back up for my first chance at uphill corrigation with the NX. Standing up is deffinitely the way to go and I'll need more practice with controlling the throttle while standing.
Once at Bartlet Lake I stopped for some water and a picture then took a dirt road which goes south of the lake, down below the dam. This provided some up and downhill twisties on loose dirt. And to my surprise after rounding a corner, a bit of a rock garden full of 8-12" river rock, never done this before!
I'm sure it looks like nothing in the picture but it was just enough for me to stop on the other side, once I was through it, and pause for a moment to review. After the picture I jumped back on and started off. Unfortunately, although a great learning experience, I had stopped in a mixture of deep sand and loose rocks. So, after sinking my rear tire six inches I was officially stuck! By myself, with nobody around - Smart.
I dug out a bit of a trench in front of and behind the rear tire and removed any obstacles from the front tire. I tried to drive out but just spun. I placed and long flat rock in front of the rear tire as a ramp, but just spun. After the two tries I put the bike in neutral and rocked it back anf forth until it rocked up and out of the hole. I turned around and happily headed home considering the ride a success!
Total mileage for the day was 115 miles.
Top speed was 80mph while adjusting to traffic on Hwy 101.
Lessons learned: 1, be careful where you stop in sandy areas. 2, practice throttle control while standing. 3, remember to slow down more before corner turns - I took one open right hand corner with too much speed and not enough turn which pushed me to the outside too close to the centerline for my liking.
Brian
Last edited:
