JH600 Off-Road: West Suzhou Tank Grounds Run

[MotoKai]

West Suzhou Tank Run

After searching around Shanghai for off-road venues to test out the JH600 on a bit of rugged terrain, I finally found a challenge for the bike.
During "(No-)Bike Night in Shanghai" at Boxing Cat Brewery, Felix suggested the West Suzhou Tank Grounds as a nearby (2hr ride from Shanghai) location. I was all-in! (I just didn't know how deep in I'd get.)

Upon entering West Suzhou, you see the first small mountains start to appear from the flat landscape that stretches from East China Sea in Shanghai thru to Suzhou.

I made my way into a farming area where there was a typical 2m-wide concrete "农村” slab that serves as the road linking farmers' homes and connecting them to the main road. Off of this concrete slab I found some fun little dirt and mud runs, that wound and connected back around. Then there were the kick-ass dirt mountain runs for the tanks to practice. I didn't see any tanks that day, but Felix has been involved in a chase (he never told me who was being chased. My guess is that it must have looked like a scene from a "Tom & Jerry" cartoon).

As June is China's "Plum Rain Season"*, it's been raining almost everyday for the last 2 weeks. This would add to the wet/muddy conditions and truly test out the bike with the stock tires which are most suited for mountain twisties on dry tarmac!
Check out the JH600 Tire Comments from Yunnan Ride 2010

* Wikipedia:
The East Asian rainy season (Chinese: 梅雨 méiyǔ; Japanese: 梅雨, tsuyu, baiu; literally plum rain; Korean: 장마, jangma) is caused by precipitation along a persistent stationary front known as the Meiyu front for nearly two months during the late spring and early summer between eastern China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. The wet season ends during the summer when the subtropical ridge becomes strong enough to push this front north of the region.