I also have the week off! Yes, there was stuff to do at home but come on - it wasn't raining!
So, as the Connie had got some exercise over the weekend (more on that later), it was the Tenere's time to come out and play. I also decided that it would be worth exploring Ridge Road through to Apiti to see what the road was like after all the rain.
A quite pootle out to Pohangina saw the bike's economy hit 5.1L/100km and I was simply enjoying the sunshine and dry roads.
At Pohangina I pulled over to turn on the GoPro and try an experiment - turning the Traction Control off for the gravel ride up Finnis Road and then along Ridge Road to Apiti.
As it turned out the roads were in mint condition with very few muddy spots to worry about - maybe they're used to all the rain? The run up the hill on Finnis Road gave me a bit of a chance to work out how the bike behaved with the TC off - basically it turned it into a gravel spitting demon...
It was a real hoot blasting all the way through to Apiti. Wheelspin kicked in every time I got on the gas and I got the back end out a few times. The bike's behaviour really brought out the inner hoon but even when I got a little out of shape the bike always seemed to sort things out and bring itself back more or less in line. It was quite a workout for the rider though...and the economy nose dived to 5.7L/100km...
Nearing Apiti and what would you know? I managed to find some rain again - fantastic...
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| See, I'm smiling... |
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| Leaving the rain in Apiti |
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| Greeness |
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| Camera fell over... |
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| Now the other way... |
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| Leaving Cheltenham behind |
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| Big white fluffies and a mint road... |
Midweek runs are great with a lot of gormless motorists off the road - nice! I was surprised how good your economy actually is when hooning it on the dirt. Suppose you need the rest of the week off to recover from the 1000 miler and to get the Connie clean :-) . Good to see that you survived it!
ReplyDeleteNot one other vehicle on the gravel - just a trailer in the middle of the road at one stage...
DeleteYou can make the economy worse but she's pretty good for a big girl.
Sort of survived the ride...
Hooray for mid-week rides. Usually much less traffic.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had fun with the traction control off, while my wee Versys doesn't have TC, it does have ABS, but I cannot turn it off when in the gravel. Sigh
I can't turn my ABS either but it's pretty well behaved. I've even locked the rear momentarily in the loose stuff - not sure how this happens, perhaps it's something to do with how the linked brakes can be disengaged by using the rear first...
DeleteIf only I could make a career out of mid-week rides...
Gotta have traction control off in the dirt mate otherwise whats the point.
ReplyDeleteMotogp only 1 week off now hurry hurry
Oops booked my leave for the wrong week!
Delete