Month: December 2011

Ride Report #17: Carnegie SVRA

Since my first dirt outing to Metcalf I have been itching to do it again. So last weekend, I found myself at Carnegie SVRA and spent a few hours on the trails there.

Carnegie is beautiful! Some very nice trails, long and curvy, challenging at times, but manageable on a DR650. Carnegie is also much bigger than Metcalf, so one could possibly spend a lot more time there.

I spent most of my time on the greens (Pottery Loop trail, Juniper Trail and Klin Canyon Trail) and some blues (Golden Eagle and Franciscan Loop).

Here is a picture of the hill training area. Riding up that hill is harder than it seems!

On top of one of the hills there

A nice view

A nice view is incomplete without the DR!

Some people were attempting (successfully) ridiculous stuff ! That grade is close to 60 degrees there (Big Bear Black, at the end of Klin Canyon Trail)

A nice tight blue trail

Spending some quiet time at the top

I spent so much time riding the trails that I came into reserve while doing a hill climb. So before heading back home, I had to gas up in Tracy (about 10 miles down on Corral Hollow Road) before I rode back to Fremont.

Again, I was amazed at how well the DR goes from riding trails to doing 80mph on the freeway. A truly awesome machine!

International Motorcycle Show, November 2011

The last few weeks have been intensely busy at work and other things. I’ve not had a chance to ride very much although I got to see the International Motorcycle Show in San Mateo a couple of weekends ago. Suminder was in town, and we rode together and spent a couple of hours at the show.

The show was pretty much like any auto show, if you’ve ever been to one… Large meeting halls filled with OEMs, vendors, dealers and local merchants.

I spent some time checking out the Japanese OEMs and was especially impressed with the Kawasaki Versys and the Yamaha Super Tenere .

The Suzuki booth was pretty much business and usual. I sat on a Busa as Suminder clicked this picture. They did have a DR on the floor, sitting there as probably the most unsexy bike in the whole auditorium. The 2012 DR is colored in this dull gray, a color that really does not excite, and hence was not photographed.

As I walked past all the different bikes I came off with lingering thoughts about my next motorcycle. Such, tend to be dangerous thoughts, but as long as they are only thoughts, who’s stopping me from dreaming? I liked the BMW R1200GS Adventure and I liked the KTM 990 Adventure (pic below). Note to self: both bikes worth consideration.

Before we left the show, we had a chance to test ride some Harleys. I rode a 1.7L Fat Boy for about 20 minutes, to come to the realization that Harley’s are super smooth, powerful, heavy and probably not for me. That thing could do 60mph in first gear! I could rest my whole foot flat on the foot peg (really a running board)! And I could scrape my peg at 25 mph on a turn. Fun ride for sure!