Off Road Riding

[Storm]

Does anyone else indulge in taking their Spree/Aero/whatever off the beaten track?
I ask as my favourite riding patch is the local riverbed/bush 5 minutes away and I often spend some happy moments thrashing my poor little red rocket around and over rough rocks, bogging sand and dirty great 4 x4 ruts that are 1-2 feet deep.
The tracks have been cut out of the bush by trucks and enduro/motocross riders and some are so tight they must have been set up by mountain bikers
As a matter of fact I had a ripper of a ride on some lovely tight sandy berms just today
I haven't been game to play around with water riding for fear of having to push it home (that, and its autumn/fall here so its getting a wee bit nippy to be riding in the cold wind )
If any of you do get up to off road mischief, what mods have you done, and what tips and tricks would you be able to pass on? eg useful tools for on the spot fixups, bash proofing etc.
I'll take some photos tomorrow and chuck them up if the rain stays away

[808BMW]

Weld a bar between the frame under your seat going to the front right below the steering stem. It will sit between your legs so don't slide forward and smash your balls, but it will keep your frame from folding on jumps.
You can get knobby tires from a honda crf50.

Powerslides on wet grass are fun.

[Kenny_McCormic]

Rear racks are REALLY expensive.

[Wheelman-111]

Greetings:

Three easy steps to off-road Aero adaptation:

1. Remove Ignition switch.
2. Swap Ignition switch into a 1983 XL 600R.
3. Hit the dirt!

Folding frames are hard to realign...

[Storm]

One of the shallower ruts


Those young hooligans, I dont know

Gets a bit narrow in places( I had to find somewhere I could get a sideways shot

The smooth ride down to the bush

Front view of rut





Smooth curves are always good




My favourite bit, the curvy S bend



And the nasty happening when I went over one bump too many
Ironically it was one of the gentler bits, suddenly things dropped a couple of inches and forward progress came to a halt

[chevyguyjay]

yes sir....good ol 84-85 blocks will do that. been down that road before lol.
heres couple of old pix of my 87 down at the creek.

[jesse1234]

niiiiiiice

[Darkness's]

I wouldn't do it with my scooter as it is now, she's street pretty... and not as long as I have my '85 Honda CR60R (Which is a blast for a 60cc!)

The only drawback to the CR60R is it is not street legal so I have to trailer it out to the dirt... It would be nice to build a "Dual Sport" scooter so I can ride it on the streets and go off road when I want.
Looks like I am in the market for another scooter!
Great idea Storm!

[noiseguy]

I had to straighten out a frame bent from jumping. Used a 6 ton bottle jack and some wood. Came out alright.

I've taken mine off-road; the low end torque is poor though so once you get stopped, you have to push out by foot.

[noiseguy]

yes sir....good ol 84-85 blocks will do that. been down that road before lol.

Darn Michigan potholes!

[Spreetard]

I trail ride my spree daily. no big jumps, but lots of winding trails. sand is a bit tricky... just sit WAY back on the seat and go full out, hang on tight and hope for the best i've had a few epic crashes, but no major damage to me or my scoot. and,yeah, noiseguy, michigan potholes are cavernous, and can swallow an entire scooter

[burnt_toast]

settin up my black '94 junker for exactly this purpose

dio dirt ridin!

[Lunytune]

My first experience with an offroad scoot was in the lat 60's. A coworker took an old Husky, stripped it down and regeared it to run top speed about 15 mph. Slow, but it was a mountain goat. We took it to the Big Bend Country just North of Redford. You Texas boys know where I'm talking about. That's rough terrain but the Husky did the job.

Would I attempt such a feat with an Elite? Not on your life. It's too wimpy for that. But I wouldn't mind a rat stripped down like a Ruckus, and geared for rough terrain with knobby tires. However, it would need to be geared different. Not sure if a belt would hold up either. That Husky had a chain drive, a lot tougher.

[GIJoeBob]

I won't take my Spree off road. It is too nice for that.

Now, if I had a Bearkat or a Jak Pak, I would reconsider.

[Lunytune]

GIJoeBob, tell us about the top one. It reminds me of the Husky I was talking about