Dave--
The Oranges are really inconsistent as far as
neighborhoods to live in. Parts of them are *really*
nice, parts are pure ghetto. But you'll see that when
you house shop.
For trail riding--while it's no SoCal--the Pine
Barrens are pretty great by the standards we have
around here. It's the largest piece of open space
between Boston and Richmond and because 150+ years ago
it was settled, the area is crisscrossed with "stage
roads" that are technically still legal roads. (the
area was totally "unsettled" when they figured out how
to get iron out of the mountains in PA) Most of these
roads are about 4' wide and full of sugar sand, but
they're easy pickins on a 650. The area is
crisscrossed by literally hundreds of miles of this.
The east coast also has a pretty active enduro scene
if you have a real bike (
www.ecea.org) and they run a
number of organized dualsports, many of which are in
south jersey. The Pine Barrens is almost totally flat
(noticeable elevation changes of more than say 30' are
REALLY uncommon) and totally sandy (and muddy). If
you need rocks and hills you'll be miserable.
The downside to all this is that once the sierra club,
the Pinelands Preservation Alliance and the other
morons succeed in getting the area off limits, there
will be NOTHING around here to ride--they've been
working at it for years, and in the only 3 years I've
been riding down there there are areas that have been
made off limits. There is currently NO legal trail
riding in all of New York State, except a small land
donation up near Plattsburgh (read: Quebec).
Pennsylvania has also made a lot of trails off limits
or (perversely) only open to ATVs and not trail bikes.
Even north Jersey, up by the Oranges, has exactly NO
legal riding. Years ago most of those state parks
were open, but no more.
This isn't to say that guys don't ride illegally, but
then you're taking your risks. The Water Gap area
(about 45 minutes west of the oranges) has dirt roads
and illegal trail riding, too.
For street riding, NJ is horrible. If you're willing
to ride a few/three hundred miles round trip, though,
you have all of the catskills, which is pretty good by
eastern seaboard standards. The area around Port
Jervis is alright, but it's well worth it to push a
little further and ride the area around the pepacton
reservoir and east of there. In 2 days you can have a
lot of fun, in three days you can be anywhere you
want--this is the east coast, things are close
together. You could enjoy PA, spend a day in WV, and
enjoy your way home in a 3 day weekend. There's
plenty of camping and stuff available.
Lane-splitting is illegal and untolerated in most of
jersey. It used to be you could split near and in the
city, but they're currently having a HUGE crackdown
and it's pretty risky. Taxes suck, real estate
reflects proximity to NYC, but NJ consistently has the
cheapest gas in the country. Air pollution isn't an
issue like out west because we don't have a mountain
range to catch the air... if you live right near a
bad factory or refinery it will be horrible (anyone
who's had a bad experience riding I95 knows this) but
it's really isolated.
Hope it helps. If I didn't have to be near the city
for work, I'd move the hell out of here... and I
wouldn't move to suburban NJ, seems like the worst of
both worlds to me--all the expense and hassle of the
city without the freshness and diversity of the
city--but that's just me.
Luke (who just rode the Sandy Lane dualsport in south
jersey on sunday and is still feeling it)
--- Dave Svoboda wrote:
> My wife is itching to move from Sunny Sandy Eggo
> back to her native
> New Jersey, and as we all know, "If Momma ain't
> happy, ain't NOBODY
> happy." She's from West Orange, so we're looking in
> that area.
>
> So I'm looking at the issue. First of all, I by no
> means expect the riding
> to be the caliber of that available in Southern
> California, but really, how
> bad is it? What's available on a one day ride? Two
> day weekend?
> Three day long weekend? I like twisty riding best,
> but backcountry hiking
> and camping is right up there. I also love taking
> my dualsport bike on
> mountain fire roads. How does that translate?
>
> I know there's no legal lane splitting there, so how
> bad is traffic, really?
>
> How's insurance? Taxes? Air Pollution?
>
> Any local listers wanna be friends? (I don't
> actually know anyone there.)
>
> Thanks.
>
> - Dave Svoboda, Sandy Eggo
>
>
Brooklyn NY
92 CB750 nighthawk--naked simpleton
03 KLR650--fat girl with a dirty mind
____________________________________________________________________________________Ready for the edge of your seat?
Check out tonight's top picks on Yahoo! TV.
http://tv.yahoo.com/
OR, either rebuild your stock shock with thicker fluid
and a heavier spring (eshocks) OR spring for an F1 or
Works rear shock. Put progressive springs in the
fork, and if your wallet can handle it add emulators.
If the height doesn't bother you, add raising links,
too.
Luke
Brooklyn NY
92 CB750 nighthawk--naked simpleton
03 KLR650--fat girl with a dirty mind
____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a PS3 game guru.
Get your game face on with the latest PS3 news and previews at Yahoo! Games.
Progressive springs and some 10-15w fork oil makes a nice improvement!
--
Jim Priest - central NC - 04 KLR650 'Gonzo'
Checkout the KLR Resource List and Master Tool List