- Week Small Bore fun

[klaviator]

One of my riding friends recently got a CT125 so we decided to do a small bore ride. 8 riders showed up with 6 of them on bikes under 200cc.

The trail 125 won the award for the biggest and fanciest tail box.

 

[klaviator]

We ended up riding around 140 miles on back roads of middle Tennessee. Most were paved but some weren't.

 

[klaviator]

We did some bike swapping and I had the chance to ride a Grom as well as the trail 125. The Grom could use more power but other than that I liked it. At 6-2 I fit on it just fine. the seat was comfortable for the short ride I did on it. It handled well and I think it would work great on many if my favorite twisty roads. The Grom rider was faster than the trail 125 and one of the Van Vans on the ride.

The trail 125 also lacked for power. The handling also felt vague and bouncy. The owner thought it was due to the Shinko 244 tires he had just installed on it. He said it handled much better with the stock tires.

More pics.

Lunch.

 

[klaviator]

After lunch one rider headed home. The rest of us continued.

 

[klaviator]

As we continued riders peeled off and headed for home. Some of us continued on. I made up our route as we went and we had to do U turns a few times.

Still some color left.

One of my favorite paved goat trails.

Only three of us left at this point.

 

[klaviator]

A few more shots before the end of the ride.

The ride between the meeting/finish spot is over 30 miles each way and not that exciting. At least I had a nice sunset on the way home.

 

[klaviator]

As I got closer to home the sunset kept getting better.

I finally found a good place to stop and take some pics.

 

[klaviator]

I rode to another location and stopped for some more pics.

By the time I got home I had over 200 miles on the odometer.

Everyone enjoyed this ride. I expect we will do some more small bore rides in the future.

 

[ZoomerP]

Nice photo series! Your over-the-shoulder shots are impressive.

We did some bike swapping and I had the chance to ride a Grom as well as the trail 125. The Grom could use more power but other than that I liked it. At 6-2 I fit on it just fine. the seat was comfortable for the short ride I did on it. It handled well and I think it would work great on many if my favorite twisty roads. The Grom rider was faster than the trail 125 and one of the Van Vans on the ride.

The trail 125 also lacked for power. The handling also felt vague and bouncy. The owner thought it was due to the Shinko 244 tires he had just installed on it. He said it handled much better with the stock tires.

Did you like any of them better than your ADV150?

 

[klaviator]

Nice photo series! Your over-the-shoulder shots are impressive.

Did you like any of them better than your ADV150?

No. Both of them were quite a bit slower. I would like to get a mini moto like the Grom someday but I want a bit more power. The Grom wouldn't do 60 on level ground. I'd be happy with 65MPH. The CFMoto Papio126 I rode last month felt a lot faster.

The CT125 was really cool. The owner said it attracts more attention than any other bike he owns but it also needs a bit more power. The owner of the CT125 got it in a trade for a Himalayan. He said he will probably sell it soon because it's just too slow for many of the local roads.

 

[ZoomerP]

I don't know what generation of Grom you rode, but I think the latest gen has a little more pep than earlier ones. No offense to RE, but I'd probably take a CT125 over one of their older, rougher models.

 

[klaviator]

I don't know what generation of Grom you rode, but I think the latest gen has a little more pep than earlier ones. No offense to RE, but I'd probably take a CT125 over one of their older, rougher models.

This was the latest generation Grom with the 5 speed. I had ridden a couple of older generation Groms in the past. This one was much more comfortable but with less than 600 miles on it I don't think it was completely broken in. Honda claims a top speed on 59 MPH for the latest Grom.

 

[DJ_MI]

Very nice pictures! 👍

 

[klaviator]

Just for an idea of how small these bikes are, the total displacement these 8 bikes:

Is less than the displacement of just one of some of the indians I rode a few weeks ago:

 

[ZoomerP]

I know which photo represents the fun I'm after.

 

[klaviator]

I know which photo represents the fun I'm after.

That Indian Challenger was way more fun to ride than I expected but it wouldn't work well for most of the riding I do.

 

[ZoomerP]

No knock on the Indian, but it's not for me. I'm sure it does some things very well and owners love their Challengers.

 

[klaviator]

No knock on the Indian, but it's not for me. I'm sure it does some things very well and owners love their Challengers.

I think the Challenger is a very good bike for what it is, an 800+ pound large bike. It has Brembo brakes and a good suspension. It's somewhat of a Battle of the Baggers bike for the street. If I won the lottery I'd consider buying one. Until then, I'm with you. I'll stick with smaller bikes which IMO are more fun and far less money. I did the calculations, all five of my bikes have less displacement than the Challenger which is not the largest displacement bike that Indian sells.

My current fleet adds up to just under 1600cc.