We were discussing riding dual sport bikes in the city in another thread, I took off this afternoon and decided to see just how many places I could find to ride off the street in my fine city.
Took a bunch of pics, anybody else that wants to add some pics of their urban adventure riding please feel free.
Alleys and industrial parking lots aren't so intimidating with knobby tires
Old Bush Stadium, where the baseball movies "Eight Men Out" and "A League of Their Own" were filmed, abandoned and in disrepair now
Found an access road leading to an old railroad right of way
Rode for a couple of miles on the right of way in the middle of town, ran alongside a branch of the river
It emptied out into a field, found a gentleman flying his model helicopters
Headed downtown and found a nice view of the skyline and canal
New high rise hotel going up downtown
Found an access road down by the river, got a view of the hotel from the other side
And a view of Lucas Oil Stadium
Wrong side of the tracks
Access road turned into an interesting dirt trail
Found a couple of homeless camps
Found another river access road a few miles down the road
This trail had another homeless camp, sad how many people are living under bridges next to the river
Back to civilization
And when I got home I found out that mesh pants and hot header pipes don't play well together
I enjoyed seeing a different side of my city today, riding on the street is fun, but you miss seeing behind the scenes in places where only a dual sport bike can go. I was probably trespassing on city property at times, but I stayed on the trails and didn't cause any damage. There were plenty of fisherman down by the river, I think those trails are fair game.
I still can't wait to get our bikes out to the country, but it's good to know there's fun to be had close to home if you look for it!
poor people tend to live in clusters.... eric cartman...
Some truth to that when it comes to the homeless. It's a major problem here that we discuss frequently, wish there was an easy answer. We help with the Friends of the White River clean up effort every spring, walking along these same stretches of river picking up trash and they advise you beforehand about how to deal with the homeless you'll inevitably encounter.
Some truth to that when it comes to the homeless. It's a major problem here that we discuss frequently, wish there was an easy answer. We help with the Friends of the White River clean up effort every spring, walking along these same stretches of river picking up trash and they advise you beforehand about how to deal with the homeless you'll inevitably encounter.
down in miami-dade there was a bridge with 70 registered sex offenders living under it because of the state laws regarding them living in close proximity to kids and schools and playgrounds and stuff....
they recently made most of them move and some bullchit homeless advocate feel good hippies a$$holes found them houses to live in....
i am sorry but to me it looked like a perfect place for a mass grave...
oh well.... those photos you took look like you had one hell of a good day... lets not talk about homeless people and screw up the memory...
And when I got home I found out that mesh pants and hot header pipes don't play well together.
Now it's time to try out those aluminum foil spaceman pants on your next trip, they are rated to withstand the high temps of Mars.
So, I've got a question. Can you just ride these bikes anywhere and where ever? Or do you know the areas that you are riding in, or have permission from property owners. I'm interested in getting one just to ride off road wherever I can. I've enjoyed your past couple posts of this dual-sport. Keep 'em coming!
__________________
MH60M - The only Chopper for me...
So, I've got a question. Can you just ride these bikes anywhere and where ever? Or do you know the areas that you are riding in, or have permission from property owners. I'm interested in getting one just to ride off road wherever I can. I've enjoyed your past couple posts of this dual-sport. Keep 'em coming!
I wouldn't ride on private property belonging to a business or citizen, that's trespassing and asking to get shot in some parts of town. I figure public land where there are obvious trails and no signs to the contrary are fair game. There are access roads all long the White River, people drive their cars and trucks down there to go fishing, so I can't see how a motorcycle would be illegal. I saw a teenager with his dad in a Jeep Wrangler today, four wheeling on the same dirt trail I was riding on. The railroad right of way was questionable, but the guy with the helicopter said that area belongs to the city and is a flood plain, he didn't think it was a problem.
I wasn't sure I'd be into this bike but I find myself riding it more and more. It's well suited to short jaunts around town and I love the adventure aspect of knowing I can go most anywhere if the opportunity presents itself. Seems that motorcyclists of all types respond to it, I get acknowledged by both sport bikes and Harleys, and I frequently see riders staring at it with a "that looks like fun" look.
MY GOD!!!!, even the tires on that thing are too clean.................................seriously though, looks like a fun day of boondocking.
FMF used to have a heat shield you could add the the header pipe, looks like one is in order.
MY GOD!!!!, even the tires on that thing are too clean.................................seriously though, looks like a fun day of boondocking.
FMF used to have a heat shield you could add the the header pipe, looks like one is in order.
Dan
I think it's teflon coated Dan, nothing sticks to it!
I'll check into the heat shield, and figure out different riding pants.
Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat
Well, I'm not an expert, but from what I've read much of the problem with homelessness is due to mental illness. Many homeless people have serious mental problems that render them unemployable, or they can't take care of themselves. They have no family to take care of them or help them, and the government doesn't provide enough funding for treatment or housing. Decades ago, we didn't have these people on the streets because they were institutionalized. But these days, if they aren't a threat to society, they can't be locked up. So there they are, out on the streets.
By the way, sbeau1960, cool pictures. Even city people can have a motorbike "adventure"! Some weekends, I like to just get on my bike and set off in a random direction. I see something new every time! Now if I had a dual sport, I'll bet I could find some really crazy sh-- here in Chicago!
Well, I'm not an expert, but from what I've read much of the problem with homelessness is due to mental illness. Many homeless people have serious mental problems that render them unemployable, or they can't take care of themselves. They have no family to take care of them or help them, and the government doesn't provide enough funding for treatment or housing. Decades ago, we didn't have these people on the streets because they were institutionalized. But these days, if they aren't a threat to society, they can't be locked up. So there they are, out on the streets.
By the way, sbeau1960, cool pictures. Even city people can have a motorbike "adventure"! Some weekends, I like to just get on my bike and set off in a random direction. I see something new every time! Now if I had a dual sport, I'll bet I could find some really crazy sh-- here in Chicago!
You're right on the money with your observations. It's a complicated social issue, there's a lot more at work than someone just deciding to live under a bridge one day. Indiana closed down Central State Hospital in 1994, it was the public psychiatric hospital and housed thousands of patients. Many of those patients weren't successfully relocated with family or in other facilities and ended up on the street. As well as these former mental patients you also have veterans who were messed up when they got out of the service and couldn't reintegrate with society, along with the temporarily homeless who may have lost their job and house and had no where to turn. Of course there is also a large percentage of the homeless population with drug and alcohol addiction problems that contributed to them losing everything.
And how about this dual sport thread, tying together societal issues with adventure riding?
Arizona would deffinatly be the place for a D/S, you guys seem to have lots of wide open public land to explore.
Dan
Indeedy we do! Great area for some rugged trail explorations/ghost town hunting/etc etc. We love our guns though - a few places that many go to ride are the same places people go to plink. Have to be extra cautious.
The missus is on the edge in terms of continuing to ride (she's not sure she enjoys it enough to justify the enhanced danger) and her little Savage would become a KLR within the week Otherwise, it's on the docket for post graduation present.
I'd love to join your urban adventure riding club but I live in a town of 1800 people, not much "urban" around here, we don't even have a stoplight, not that I'm complaining about that. and the railroad tracks have no trespassing signs here. great pictures Scott and excellant job exploring off the beaten path in the city.
__________________
I Don't try to explain to people why I ride a motorcycle
"For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who don't understand, no explanation is possible."
Sbeau,
Most excellent post/report. One of the best and most interesting I've seen. My whole life I've absolutely loved the "lost" areas of cities. Tracks of forgotten fields, woods, industrial parks etc. And I love to see what use the local citizens put them to, that are often the only people that know about them.
Seriously dude, you got a good basis there for a documentary movie, book etc. It could have some real wide appeal if politics were kept to a minimum and you just let the pictures talk.
It would make a good on-going adventure for a website.
Until the 10th grade I grew up in inner city Memphis. As a child I knew every abandon building, field or woods within five miles of my house. Had endless adventures exploring these areas with my friends on our bicycles. We did what would now probably be called "extreme" exploration. I could travel over a mile through the underground storm drainage system under our neighborhood streets, and dozens of miles through the open air drainage systems that crisscrossed the entire city.
Google earth pictures below show the entrance and exit points.
JohnnyB
Below images shows the entry point. What looks like a road is actually a giant open air, concrete storm drain. Note the catwalk (above arrow) that crosses. The drain was about 15-20' deep, you can see the trickle of water running down the middle. I crossed this catwalk every day walking to school. The entry point was a circular concrete tunnel in the side of the drain, probably 4-5' in diameter. We could ride our bikes into the tunnel. These tunnels connected to the various street storm drains. If one of the grates was missing we could climb up and look out to see where we were.
This image shows where "our" tunnel came into open air again. After passing under streets, houses and yards it crosses a road and turns into a small concrete ditch about 6' wide and 4' or so deep. Arrow shows where it transitions to open air again.
This image shows the area we would cover underground. Pin on the left is the entry point. Pin in the middle is the approximate location of my house (circa. 1970), pin on the lower right is the exit point. We could continue on in a combination of open air, and tunnels for several miles. But the bikes would have to be left behind not far from this point.
Needless to say you did NOT want to be caught down there when a rain storm was coming in. This adventure was just the tip of the iceberg of all the various exploratory trips we would make on a regular basis.
Thanks for reminding me of those good old days.
JohnnyB
PS. These google images are current .... so yes I assume the kids living in the area now are doing the same things we did.
Thanks JohnnyB, there is much to explore when we look a little deeper into our cities. Cool adventures you had as a kid, my time at that age was spent hiking through the woods and streams of Iowa looking for adventure wherever I could find it, the city was a foreign concept.
Sadly everyplace I used to play, ride or sneak off to shoot the pellet gun is now paved or sporting a housing development or apartment complex, gotta love CA
Great report Sbeau! I must've missed it the first time. Dualsporting is a blast, ain't it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by sbeau1960
sad how many people are living under bridges next to the river
that's a shame. At least I have a van.
JohnnyB - looks like a cool way to ditch the cops!
I grew up in NW PA and our little town had some cool stuff - old paint factory, railroad tressel over the Shenango River, etc, some neat back parts lost to grownups but nothing like that.
Sadly everyplace I used to play, ride or sneak off to shoot the pellet gun is now paved or sporting a housing development or apartment complex, gotta love CA
Dan
Your comments make me realize how lucky I was to grow up in the country. When we go back to Iowa it's largely unchanged from when I was a kid, same fence rows, same timbers and fields. Only thing different since my brother bought our family farm and surrounding lands is that he's put a lot of money into building ponds and lakes, so there's a lot better fishing than when I was a kid.
Strangely enough, in the bottom photo in my previous you will see my house a couple of blocks from lots of green with an interstate running through it. 40 years ago that was miles of empty woods, no interstate, no homes, nothing but rural Tenn. ( it was actually called the J.F.K. Wildlife preserve). We called the area the "Wolf River Trail". So while my home sat in the inner city, I was two blocks from miles of virgin woods that drifted off into the Tenn. countryside.
The best of both worlds. Besides our urban adventures we built "cabins" in the woods, went out and shot our rifles, swam in the river, camped out endlessly.
Here's a shot of part of the Wolf River Trail about a mile from my house. You can see the train tressle we used to run across exactly like in the movie "Stand by Me". There was no deck but the cross ties so it got scary if a train was coming.
JohnnyB
Our homestead is shown at the top center, our farm encompassed all the farmland and timber areas on the left side of the road. The only pond there when I was a kid was the small arrowhead shaped one south of the buildings. My brother owns the land on the other side of the road as well now and built the other ponds and the two large lakes
I'm seeing a potential for a great private motocross track at your place. I'm amazed you ever left... I'd be moving right back there and building a compound for the coming end times
JohnnyB
Linear Mode
Chevy Camaro Forum
Ford Mustang Forum
Jeep Wrangler Forum
Volkswagen Touareg Forum
Land Rover Defender Forum
