Dirt Bike R1100RT

[kmac]

So I had a group of friends out in Ocotillo Wells this weekend riding dirt bikes. They really wanted me to come out and hang out. But being off work I just couldnt afford to drive my Jeep out there.

 

So i decide to ride my RT out. He told me that he was gonna park near the hwy so i wasnt too worried about having to ride on the dirt road very far, and they usually grade the first part of the road in so it is pretty smooth.

 

I get out there and i start to ride back looking for them.

For those who know OW they were parked back off of Cahuilla Trail. So i start riding back on CT and I just dont see them.

The bike is actually doing pretty well on the dirt, even after the grading ends and the road gets a bit rough and the whoop dee doos start popping up. So I end up riding all the way back to Gas Dome road. I turn around and buzz back to the cabanas and call them and find out they are on Commune rd. My buddy comes out to meet me on his YZ450. He is leading me back to camp but he is going pretty slow so I gas it and go buzzin past him at about 40mph. He almost crashes in shock at well the giant beast did out there.

 

I left at 8pm and had to find my way out in a no moon pitch black night...no problem

 

Who ever said an RT is not a dirt bike? I dare you guys. Yes cali, even double dog care you...

[johnlt]

I used to crew for an old friend in the Big Bear race and a "dirt bike" was a Triumph with chopped fenders and knobby tires. My friend rode an Ariel single 500 if I recall. They did ok. With an RT, the cost implications of a simple low speed fall can be pretty big just for the mirrors, plastic etc.

[kmac]

I am fully aware of the potential for expense in a dump. I was pretty careful overall, but when it felt good i was on it a bit.

 

The Old school dirt bike is what i was kinda feeling. A flash back to the days of when there was no dirt bikes, just motorcycles. The only thing that made it a dirt bike was the fact that you rode it in the dirt.

 

It was fun though. I was actually surprised at reasonably comffort level i had on it in the dirt. i was even standing up on it through some whoops and bumps like a dirt bike...it even brought a smile to my face.

[cris nitro]

What, no triple dog dare? Sounds like fun kmac.

[Richard_D]

And you're worried about the Tennere ?

[kmac]

 

My RT has already been wrecked before I got. It has a salveged title....thats why I like it, no worry of scratching it.

 

Come on guys, live dangerously....see you guys in the dirt....Hmmm Kennedy Meadows

[jjsrt]

I had a similar experience this summer..09 1200rt on smoke trails..my buddy is on a Buell 1250...10 miles out he drops his in heavy sand..I blast thru and I had to go back and help him pick up the 1250...I still am cleaning dirt out the rt...not recommending this but I got thru it unscathed...

L8tr

JJSRT

[plext]

My driveway is 700 metres of ungraded, rutted rubbish with a 25 metre high hill in the middle and the K1300S goes through it twice a day, rain or shine. Not dropped it yet but have had it very sideways when it's been very wet and slippery.

 

Also, I often take it along dirt roads and have never had an issue so long as I don't try ham fisted corrections and rather let the machine move about as it wants to.

 

I suspect that confidence on such surfaces is key here, those of us who grew up throwing dirt bikes around in all sorts of muck don't really think about it too much and don't tighten up on the bike.

[Froggy]

Hmmmm...I wonder what the RT would look like with Knobbies

[cali_beemer]

Who ever said an RT is not a dirt bike? I dare you guys. Yes cali, even double dog care you...

 

LOL...pretty funny. Althought you wont see me on the dirt....I dont have a dirt bike history, only street, so when things start slipping or sliding, I wet myself.... I dont claim to know how to ride dirt and I realized when the pavement ends, so does my riding skill.

 

I will say the BMW suspension is top shelf...In stock form its much nicer than my Vstroms suspension with over $1500 in modifications and more travel. Other than some extra travel, the RT suspension isnt much different than a GS. So, I am not terribly suprised with how well it did.

[Bruce H]

I have gound myself off road on my RT and even my LT on too many ocasions. I bought a GS.

 

somewhere in the Nevada desert.

 

[SWB]

Hmmmm...I wonder what the RT would look like with Knobbies

 

That's pretty much it, i.e. the tires. I've had my 2005 RT on some dirt roads following a buddy on a GS, and it did get a bit slippy-slidy (and I didn't encounter any of the deep silty-talcom-powder type sand I've encountered before). My old dirt skills kicked in, and I had fun with it. But like the others said, the whole idea of making it an "expensive" day by dumping it kept me in "sane riding" mode.

 

It did make me want to go out and get an on-road/off-road dirt bike though, and hit the dirt. I don't miss the wide open desert riding, but I still enjoy following a fire or mining trail some place I haven't been before.

[Calvin (no socks)]

Flashback to old days...without specialized tires/bikes...I had a BSA 650.... used to pull small fallen logs out of the woods for firewood...Never at night...er.Lucas electric system.

 

Have gone off road with KGT/K12s/LT...etc..not rough stuff, and no pictures.