Thread: Short Ride Video

Here we are in Northern Ontario, riding logging roads that go and go and go. That's my brother's 8-year old son on his 1976 z50, and my brother parenting on a'72 CT. The camera operator (just shooting with a handheld crappy vid cam) was also on a CT. These are great trails, though at times they were a little trickier than what's shown, and almost a bit much for an 8-year old. He didn't complain, though.

Those roads look fun. The boy almost bit it going over the branches. If I had one of those 50's as a kid, I would have wore it out.

The roads are fantastic, and there's nobody on them at all. The young lad on the 50 was at the end of his rope by the time we shot that as we had been riding for about 2 hours up until that point and his 50 was having gearing issues.

By the way, the first bike to enter the picture has one of Bob's Super Stealth mufflers on it with the 88cc bigbore kit from Beatrice w/ultra head.

That's sure looked like a good time. We have a lot of old logging trails in MI too. I think its one of the funnest way to ride these bikes. Your nephew will turn out to be a good rider.

Not a bad vid by any means. Some of the rougher spots look like the smoother sections of logging roads I covered a couple of weeks ago in the Keweenaw. It was a lot muddier where you were. You're absolutely right, the camera just can't capture the full impact, visual or otherwise, of being there. You'd need a fisheye lens to get a sufficiently wide field of view and rocks smaller than fist-sized vanish between camera res & digital artifacts. Still, it's a great snapshot/video postcard. Those of us who trail ride can fill-in the missing details and those who have zero access to such places are afforded a nice CT70 travelog.

I tend to agree with Greg, this is the kind of riding the CT70 was designed to do. Back in the day, it was enough to be able to cover trails and take in the scenery. Speed doesn't really enter into the proceedings. Perhaps I'm just getting old but, imo, you'd have to be nuts trying to ride trails faster than 30mph on a bike this sized. 10" wheels are just too small to deal with football-sized rocks and 18"-deep potholes. Instead, you learn to ride around them...at moderate speeds.

BTW, your 8-year old nephew handled the bike very well for his age. By the time he's 12 you probably won't be able to keep up with him

I agree with the speed thing. 30 mph on those trails is asking for a serious wipe-out, but yes, those trails are, to me, what these bikes are made for. Personally, I sit back and enjoy the ever-changing play of light and shadow and bushy-type smells and sounds. We're there to relax, not race.

The young lad did quite well (he's only had the bike less than a year and had just been riding it around and around his parent's property. Figured it was time to reward that repetition. He's also quite the decent handler of a 1980 Yamaha 250cc Enticer, come winter.

Originally Posted by steampick

I agree with the speed thing. 30 mph on those trails is asking for a serious wipe-out, but yes, those trails are, to me, what these bikes are made for. Personally, I sit back and enjoy the ever-changing play of light and shadow and bushy-type smells and sounds. We're there to relax, not race.

Absolutely, you'd likely damage the bike at speed anyway. Quiet, idyllic, settings such as these are getting harder to reach. Why try to blow through them? There's nothing quite like riding through a deep-woods are on a nice summer day. As you say, the sights, sounds and smells are what it's all about. The adventure is in taking the time to savor the experience. Some of my favorite offroad sections are downhill, where the bike can be shifted into neutral, coasting along for maybe 1/2 a mile in near silence. Can't do that anywhere near home. All-too-soon, it's time to rejoin the rat race and worry about getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible. There is, however, one aspect of trail riding where the sensation of speed is amazing. After spending hours crawling along the trails, getting back on the road for the return ride can make 40mph feel more like 140.

Amman to that brother