10-01-2013, 08:39 PM
I would say it was
75% due to lack of skill and experience on the wild variety of terrain. Decending rutted, root covered, tree infested hills that were so steep I couldn't control my speed was my least favorite.
20% being out of shape
5% bike
The bike did awesome, the only thing I can complain about is the weight. After picking it up 10+ times or trying to turn it around in place, having it be 30+ lbs lighter like a newer KTM would have been nice. We half joke that a 150 would be perfect since it's even lighter and would fit between trees. That being said, no teen or adult is riding those and all the fast guys are on grown-up bikes, so I doubt we're "on to" anything there. You'd also need to do some suspension work on a 150 to get the clearance and suspension travel up. Either way, I have to think 4-stroke and electric start is a good call for a beginner, but then again, looking at the field, I'm in the vast minority there too.
And I don't *think* being out of shape would be such a huge problem if I could keep moving and not hit everything. Going slower turned out meaning I had to fight more and the bike doesn't help keep itself up.
Oh, I forgot to mention and/or appreciate that I was actually pretty happy with my personal gear. Jeans are just fine. The armor vest is sweet over a rather revealing long sleeve "warm gear" Under-Armour shirt. Boots, knee guards, I was happy to have it all on. If it was 90 deg out, maybe not so much. :dunno:
75% due to lack of skill and experience on the wild variety of terrain. Decending rutted, root covered, tree infested hills that were so steep I couldn't control my speed was my least favorite.
20% being out of shape
5% bike
The bike did awesome, the only thing I can complain about is the weight. After picking it up 10+ times or trying to turn it around in place, having it be 30+ lbs lighter like a newer KTM would have been nice. We half joke that a 150 would be perfect since it's even lighter and would fit between trees. That being said, no teen or adult is riding those and all the fast guys are on grown-up bikes, so I doubt we're "on to" anything there. You'd also need to do some suspension work on a 150 to get the clearance and suspension travel up. Either way, I have to think 4-stroke and electric start is a good call for a beginner, but then again, looking at the field, I'm in the vast minority there too.
And I don't *think* being out of shape would be such a huge problem if I could keep moving and not hit everything. Going slower turned out meaning I had to fight more and the bike doesn't help keep itself up.
Oh, I forgot to mention and/or appreciate that I was actually pretty happy with my personal gear. Jeans are just fine. The armor vest is sweet over a rather revealing long sleeve "warm gear" Under-Armour shirt. Boots, knee guards, I was happy to have it all on. If it was 90 deg out, maybe not so much. :dunno:
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a van is a good guy with a van