TAT: Pre-Ramble Part Two - Two CT125’s Go To Hurricane Creek

A trashed my motorcycle and I liked it

I woke up on Sunday, February 28 and it was a gorgeous day. I decided on a whim then and there that I was going to run Hurricane Creek with the CT125. I texted Johnny Pow at about 10 am that I was off on an adventure.

John: “Think there’s enough time today if I come up? I can leave in about 20 minutes.”

John lives in Columbia, SC. I live in Asheville, NC about 2 hours away.

Ang: “Get your scramble on bro!”

We set off from Asheville at about 1pm and hit the blacktop roads for an hour and a half or so to get to the trail. If you haven’t done it, Hurricane Creek is a famous trail around these parts. It’s known for being tough going and is deeply rutted from overuse by 4x4s. And what we didn’t think about was the two days of rain we’d had. Turns out that would have been a good thing to have thought about.

I have lots of street riding experience and I’ve been on many forest, fire, and logging roads on various bikes. One of my favorite things used to be taking a Harley where a Harley wasn’t meant to go. But before Hurricane Creek - I had zero real dirt riding experience. So I put on my Merrell slip-on laceless street shoes and figured all would be fine. I mean - I’ll figure it out as I go, right? What’s the worst that could happen?

A muddy, soggy, slip and slidey, impossible Hurricane Creek happened. And it happened like a glorious fist right into my face. This was like no riding I’d ever done before. How can something so punishing and so awful be so much god damned fun?! Taking that first hit of crack must be a lot like riding Hurricane Creek on a CT125. As soon as you do it - you know it’s not good for you but you start trying to figure out how you’re going to do it again.

If you want to laugh at my inexperience and ineptitude - this video exists for your viewing pleasure. I don’t mind. I’ve got no shame. Here are some of my favorite comments. I think they speak for themselves without further analysis. I don’t feel it’s my responsibility to fix their spelling or grammar. I have a hard enough time with my own.

“No offence but having a complete lack of any rider skill set, combined with a massive void of common sense added to obscenely high expectations from such a small trail bike will always end up badly , As Ralph Nader once said "Dangerous at any speed" in this case meaning the rider not the bike, The guy needs an entry level street bike, a paved road and an advanced coarse in motor scooter riding. His Self realization of "This is dumb" was the best comment he had to offer, replace "this" with "i" & add dumb….”

“We all give you credit for trying…”

“...I really wanted to watch this because I just bought a CT 110 and plan on riding it on the Arkansas and Oklahoma TAT. But then you started using the F word and other course language that is simply not necessary in polite company…”

“I was laughing with you, not at you…”

Well - there goes the resale value of these bikes. I’d say they’re worth about half of what they were worth before we hit this trail.

I crashed twice. Johnny Pow went over once. My headlight housing got crushed. Both brake pedals were bent. Mud was inserted with much velocity into every crevice of bike and human alike. Fun was had by all.

As unimpressed as we were with these bikes on the roads - we were completely bowled over by their performance on this grueling trail. I would have been absolutely miserable doing this trail on a heavier bike. And for me and my meager skillset, it simply would not have been possible. But the little CT just tractored over everything the trail threw at it, and stayed upright, with only a few notable exceptions. Our bikes and bodies had the crap beat out of them. But it was incredibly fun. And our attitudes about these little ugly red bastards shifted. This is what these bikes were built to do.

Our texts changed tone after this ride. We seemed to be leaning back toward taking the CTs on the TAT.

I went off to California for a work trip. While I was there I rented a Himalayan to give it a good test ride through the Santa Monica Mountains.

Ang: “I like it but I’m also still thinking about the TAT on the 125.... can’t decide.”

John: “I'm leaning 125 now. I hate to fuck up a heavy bike.”

John: “The Hondas did kick ass on Hurricane Creek. On the twisties, the dirt roads, and the trail of course. The only weakness is on fast roads/highways and climbing hills. Let’s plan the Smokey Mountain 500 trip. That would be a legit TAT test for either bike either way.”

And that’s just what we did.