Hello Gang,
Since I've only been riding dirt for two years, I don't tend to do anything exciting enought to bother reporting it here. Yesterday however was an exception, at least from my perspective.
A little background first... I've been riding a street bike since before my wife and I were married. She loves being a passenger on my little Honda. I told her last year she should take the "Gearing Up" introductory motorcycle course that is offered here in Ontario. At the very least it would make her a better passenger. Last week, she took the course and by the end of the weekend, they had to basically pry her off the TTR 125 that they provided for the course.
Since she liked it so much, and I am crazy about dirt bikes, she decided she might like a dirt bike of her own. I was looking for a suitable bike as soon as the words were out of her mouth...
We settled on a Yamaha DT100. They were reliable, tame, light and fairly similar to the TTR125. Plus there were quite a few of them in the used market for very little money. We got her all the gear (pants, helmet, jersey, chest protector, boots, gloves, etc...).
Getting to the point of this post... yesterday was my wife's first ride on her new 2000 Yamaha DT100. We loaded up my KDX220, and her little mule and headed to Calabogie, about an hour outside of Ottawa.
We started with me in the lead and stayed on the old K&P rail line. It was pretty easy riding since it is mostly flat and straight. I kept the KDX in second gear and puttered along. She did not seem to be having too much trouble keeping up. The road was a tipical dirt road with water filled pot-holes. The DT's old technology dual shocks seemed to do fairly well on them. Halfway to our destination we found a sizable water crossing. No prolem for me, but I kind of wondered about her. I crossed the water twice to make sure there were no hidden surprises. On her bike the water would be just over the the footpegs. I gave her a few pointers and she gave it a go. She stayed on the gas and made it through without incident.
Once we reached our destination (Flower Station) we turned around and I gave her the option of leading back to our starting point. She took the lead and I folowed her. This was the best part of day for me. It was so great to watch her ride. She went quite a bit faster in the lead than I had been going. She purposly hit so many water puddles that I was half expecting her to turn around and run through the ones she missed. She did a great job for her first time out. We were out for almost two hours.
We took a break and had lunch. After lunch we took a different road. This road mainly followed the power lines. It was more challenging since it had some eleveation changes, some loose gravelly sections, and some ruts caused by water washing away the loose gravel. She had some problems at first with the downhills. Her motorcycle course was predominatly geared for road bikes and never covered things like downhills. She stalled a few times before I figured out what was wrong. Whe wasn't disengaging the clutch while braking to control her speed. Once we realised that, she was able to follow without incident.
I lead the whole way here since it was a bit more difficult, and we stayed out for a full hour. She really liked the uphills and the puddles (who doesn't?). The jury is still out on the downhills.
Once we got home I started to unload the bikes and she went inside. A few minutes later she came out with a couple of well deserved beers... how sweet is that? We chatted about our outing and she washed off her bike and put it away for next time.
Her skill will most certainly outgrow the DT by the end of the riding season, which we fully expected if she continued riding. If that does happen, I'll gladly sell the DT and get her something more modern like a TTR 125LE.
As far as ride reports go, this probably constitues the fastest cure for insomnia, but it was special to me. I'm passionate about dirt bike. I love riding, and I got to share the experience with my wife. I doubt she will ever become as crazy about it as I am, but she enjoyed herself and will definitely come out with me again. I can't wait.
-Mark-
Since I've only been riding dirt for two years, I don't tend to do anything exciting enought to bother reporting it here. Yesterday however was an exception, at least from my perspective.
A little background first... I've been riding a street bike since before my wife and I were married. She loves being a passenger on my little Honda. I told her last year she should take the "Gearing Up" introductory motorcycle course that is offered here in Ontario. At the very least it would make her a better passenger. Last week, she took the course and by the end of the weekend, they had to basically pry her off the TTR 125 that they provided for the course.
Since she liked it so much, and I am crazy about dirt bikes, she decided she might like a dirt bike of her own. I was looking for a suitable bike as soon as the words were out of her mouth...
We settled on a Yamaha DT100. They were reliable, tame, light and fairly similar to the TTR125. Plus there were quite a few of them in the used market for very little money. We got her all the gear (pants, helmet, jersey, chest protector, boots, gloves, etc...).
Getting to the point of this post... yesterday was my wife's first ride on her new 2000 Yamaha DT100. We loaded up my KDX220, and her little mule and headed to Calabogie, about an hour outside of Ottawa.
We started with me in the lead and stayed on the old K&P rail line. It was pretty easy riding since it is mostly flat and straight. I kept the KDX in second gear and puttered along. She did not seem to be having too much trouble keeping up. The road was a tipical dirt road with water filled pot-holes. The DT's old technology dual shocks seemed to do fairly well on them. Halfway to our destination we found a sizable water crossing. No prolem for me, but I kind of wondered about her. I crossed the water twice to make sure there were no hidden surprises. On her bike the water would be just over the the footpegs. I gave her a few pointers and she gave it a go. She stayed on the gas and made it through without incident.
Once we reached our destination (Flower Station) we turned around and I gave her the option of leading back to our starting point. She took the lead and I folowed her. This was the best part of day for me. It was so great to watch her ride. She went quite a bit faster in the lead than I had been going. She purposly hit so many water puddles that I was half expecting her to turn around and run through the ones she missed. She did a great job for her first time out. We were out for almost two hours.
We took a break and had lunch. After lunch we took a different road. This road mainly followed the power lines. It was more challenging since it had some eleveation changes, some loose gravelly sections, and some ruts caused by water washing away the loose gravel. She had some problems at first with the downhills. Her motorcycle course was predominatly geared for road bikes and never covered things like downhills. She stalled a few times before I figured out what was wrong. Whe wasn't disengaging the clutch while braking to control her speed. Once we realised that, she was able to follow without incident.
I lead the whole way here since it was a bit more difficult, and we stayed out for a full hour. She really liked the uphills and the puddles (who doesn't?). The jury is still out on the downhills.
Once we got home I started to unload the bikes and she went inside. A few minutes later she came out with a couple of well deserved beers... how sweet is that? We chatted about our outing and she washed off her bike and put it away for next time.
Her skill will most certainly outgrow the DT by the end of the riding season, which we fully expected if she continued riding. If that does happen, I'll gladly sell the DT and get her something more modern like a TTR 125LE.
As far as ride reports go, this probably constitues the fastest cure for insomnia, but it was special to me. I'm passionate about dirt bike. I love riding, and I got to share the experience with my wife. I doubt she will ever become as crazy about it as I am, but she enjoyed herself and will definitely come out with me again. I can't wait.
-Mark-
