Tiny Dancer Goes Ice Skating: The Maiden Voyage of the Yamaha XT250

I recently bought a brand-new 2015 Yamaha XT250 a couple of weekends ago. I know, I know. "Underpowered bike," "You'll grow out of it," bla bla bla.

Technically, this isn't the official maiden run since I took her out to our local foothills and ran her around in the dirt for a couple of hours the other evening. But I didn't take any pictures then.  Still, this was her first attempt at a run up our local mountain roads, which involved some highway riding. I was sure to choose a good one.  One that is notorious for being in shitty condition year-round, but especially in the early spring when the snow has just started to melt in the higher elevations and the debris, dirt, and mud are still piled up at various spots in the roadway. This road is pretty much patchwork.  There are sections where entire chunks of pavement are missing right at the apex of corners, and the asphalt has sunken into the hillside.

Since the boyfriend doesn't have a dual sport yet, my chosen companion for this mission was my best friend and riding mentor.  17 long years of friendship and 8 years of him mentoring me through the trial and error of developing my motorcycling prowess; add to it, his expert level skill on all things two-wheeled and in most terrains and I figured that it wouldn't be much of a challenge for him on his V-star.

We hit the road.  Our destination was Breckenridge road.  It's a mountain road, like most others, that begins as some smooth undivided pavement in the barren foothills, but then winds its way up to some single lane dirty road peaking at 7,000 feet. It's a popular destination for dual sports and touring bikes.

Some pics I took during a scouting mission last year:

Whilst riding the XT on the highway, I tried to keep the rpms in the midrange.  As a result, she puttered along at a whopping 65 mph with the help of my head and shoulders in a full tuck to reduce some of the wind drag on her tiny frame and motor. It wasn't ideal, but it was manageable and I imagine that ditching the emissions shit and giving her a full exhaust system will at least let her breathe a little easier. As it was, she felt a little stifled (not that she has all that much power to begin with), but we made the most of the 10 mile jaunt to the connecting route. It was a smooth ride and I didn't feel anything of a shimmy from the front end.  The Bridgestone Trailwings felt pretty good whilst thrashing around in the dirty foothills, so I had no doubt they would do just fine in our trek up the mountain.

The first few corners of Breckenridge were dumped with dirt.  If I had been on my sportbike, I might have experienced a little anxiety, but the XT didn't even grimace and I have to admit that I felt a little pitter patter of excitement as I envisioned all of the obstacles that would soon be overcome by the mighty XT.