Today I took my SW from Medford up to the end of the road on Roxy Ann peak. The road is narrow and about three miles of very winding gravel on hard packed dirt with hairpin curves and very spectacular drop offs sans guard rail. The altitude gain is about 2500'. I wouldn't have tried it with my Goldwing but wanted to see how the scooter would do. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was no problem at all, no slipping or skidding and the bike felt completely stable both on the steep uphill turns as well as coming back down. I was concerned how the downgrade would affect the bike but found as long as you keep enough rpms up to maintain clutch engagement the little scoot didn't have much tendency to pick up speed, the compression braking was very good. I didn't have to use the brakes except for a couple of very sharp curves. On those I kept a few rpms above idle and dragged the rear brake to slow. That worked fine. It was a fun ride and I'll probably try it on some unpaved Forest Service roads in the near future. The only downside was the whole rear end of the bike was brown instead of maroon due to the dust but that washed off easily.

It sure is a great bike!!! I love the way it gears down going down a hill. Nice not to have to use the brakes all the time. Sounded like a fun ride.