Some winter rides

**felix** · 01-19-2011, 10:19 AM

The pic where andy is standing looks pretty steep already. Multiplying that by the factor of 8 necessary for appreciating steepness in pictures, all i can say is fair balls!

**andy74rc** · 01-19-2011, 03:32 PM

Originally Posted by felix

The pic where andy is standing looks pretty steep already. Multiplying that by the factor of 8 necessary for appreciating steepness in pictures, all i can say is fair balls!

First of all, thank's ChinaV for the usual wonderful pictures and comments!

Well, let's say that:
1) despite the limited horsepower, TGR's have a really nice low-end torque and a pretty short 1st gear, which gives a lot of grip on the rear wheel in almost any situation, and allows to climb really steep shit. And you can still add a bit of clutch when needed (quite a bit on that trail...).
2) nevertheless, we had to push the bikes to go over couple of nasty tight rocky steep sections as it was either having the front wheel...wheeling, or the rear wheel spinning as there was no enough space to build up any speed. Anyhow, that's the way I intend Enduro riding. If you don't push a bit, well, that's touring...

3) Different attitude toward that trail. When I first saw it, wow, that's a hell of a trail! All what I could ask for. ChinaV came up with a: "you sure you wanna do it?". And, as often happens when we ride together, he made it straight as a tank!

Enduro riding is like heroin, once you begin, you think you can stop anytime, but you're already fucked up since day one.
And, once arrived to the end, and seeying it was reaching a paved road (we got a new loop now....), we were all high five!

**richardktm** · 01-19-2011, 04:36 PM

Looks like a great new trail you guys found, the tgr's look in their element doing the slow hill climbing stuff. Are you ready for a new back tyre yet Andre??
Shame your going back to italy for new year.. hopefully we'll get to ride again soon. I think we need to buy you a red spotted jersey to wear for the off road rides.. king of the mountain! right.
i just bought a new helmet cam so we can have different camera angles of our crashes

rich

**ChinaV** · 01-26-2011, 12:57 PM

One last ride before my riding buddy heads back to Italy for the Chinese New Year. I found a way to make the hills look steeper, just rotate the camera a bit.

Next week all of the factories will be empty and I'm looking forward to the peace that comes to Guangdong during CNY.

Hope the Shenzhen boys are ready for some riding

Cheers!
ChinaV

**richardktm** · 01-26-2011, 01:21 PM

The question is what bike are you going to ride?? If you can get Andre to lean back a bit in the next photo you could fool me for asplit second longer

I thought he was launching his bike off a cliff!

**Serpentza** · 01-26-2011, 02:45 PM

As soon as I have the appropriate bike... I am so joining you guys, damn that looks fantastic! Reminds me of my solo enduros I used to do way back in the day on my XR500 :)

n519495980_302256_1708.jpg XR.jpg

A 1984 XR500 is a bitch of a bike to get out of a muddy ditch all by yourself I might add :P

**ChinaV** · 01-30-2011, 02:03 AM

The new year draws closer and the factories are shutting down. You can feel the difference in the traffic, and the air starts to clear as the pollution dissapears. I wish every week was Chinese New Year. With nothing to do, I decided to fire up the QingQi and go for a little ride.

Stopped here for lunch and enjoyed my turkey sammich in a spot of warm sunshine. The temp was about 15º in the sun, but the air was pretty cold while moving. I really love the hand warmers, when your hands and feet are warm, you barely notice the cold.

Followed some dirt trails and came out on this temple attraction being built. Will probably be open soon with a fee for entry, so it's was nice to get a free peek.

Lots of beautiful statues being carved and covered in gold.

Bike pic at the entry gate.

I saw a sign that said "campground"

Had never seen an official RV campground in China before, so I decided to go in and take a look. I couldn't believe they actually had RV's. I had no idea you could find one in China. Dog help us if they start letting tourists roll down the highways with 40 foot campers and trailers.

I found the source of all those orange trees everyone gets during the new year. There were thousands of farmers along the road cashing in on the harvest.

Nothing epic, just a nice little ride close to home. The QingQi was feeling good and really likes to cruise between 85-95 km/h. I gave her one push up to 119.45 km/h on the GPS, and I don't expect getting much more. Fuel mileage was good at 70 mpg (3.36 liters per 100km).

Distance 336 Kilometers - Time 7:00 Hours - Average Moving Speed 60 km/h

Cheers!
ChinaV

**jape** · 01-30-2011, 02:33 AM

Nice little ride and great pics, thanks. Bike looks good.
I wouldn't mind that little farmer's trailer bike either for shopping trips to town! Would save a fair bit of fuel over the 3 litre 4WD I reckon.

Good to see that wood and stone carving is still flourishing alongside the modern caravan parks, I'd love a statue like one of those on my porch.
The weather looks ideal for riding if a bit cool. I went for a Sunday morning spin myself a few hours ago but didn't go too far, its a bit hot at 38C (100F) despite the breeze on a bike.

**richardktm** · 01-30-2011, 02:49 AM

Amazing pics as usual mate, i can't believe you found the chinese caravan club, i would love to see some of the comedy parking maneuvers from these guys

We went for a spin and ended up at the beach, found some nice coast roads and great seafood.. totally ramdom, a russian looking guy was looking at our bikes, he came over and said "i'm Leonard, from Ukrian" turns out he is a gymnastics coach in Shenzhen, but his day job is a high diving act in a chinese water amusment park

i think he was trying to drum up some customers hahaIMG_0558 (Custom).jpg IMG_0553 (Custom).jpg IMG_0555 (Custom).jpg

**Serpentza** · 01-30-2011, 05:28 AM

You guys are making me jealous, BTW, after our drinking session the other night, I came home, pulled out the spark plugs on the virago, gave them a good clean and it's running on both cylinders again (albeit a little choppy, carbs are out of sync I'm guessing since one plug was too white and the other like chimney soot), still no good for any sort of distance since the stator's busted, either way, looking to join you guys on your next ride after new years (even if it's on the scooter before I buy a dual-sport).