Any tips on dirt riding? - Page 4

 Sliding is part of dirt riding. Stand on your pegs to lower the center
of gravity and shift your weight as far to the front as you can at
first. Learn to apply front brake as you apply rear brake and proportion
them according to your sliding. The rear will slide with rear brake only
so learn to ride that slide and practice carving in corners, a bit like
skiing. It takes a while to get comfortable and anticipate all the
little terrain changes and speed differences in a slide. Keep your feet
on the pegs, do not put your leg out to prop a bike in a curve or slide.
You see a lot of that in motocross competition, but it serves a
completely different purpose with riders trying to negotiate really
tight turns. Learn how to balance your bike at 3 MPH first over real
rough terrain standing on pegs.

cheers
T.Alan

 T.Alan Kraus wrote:

I see one problem right off, it's difficult to make a Strom go 3 MPH.
Idling in low it's doing about 10--you have to either coast or slip
the clutch to go slower than that.


--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

 J. Clarke wrote:

Brake, clutch,brake, clutch,throttle, brake,clutch ....repeat until you
get it right and it becomes second nature as you are balancing bike on
pegs. Works 2 ways. Makes your brain work balance without thinking,
which you will need when you go faster, makes your hands work controls
without thinking. You want that muscle memory to kick in. It does take a
little time.
cheers
T.Alan

 J. Clarke wrote:

You need a two speed final drive. No bike has enough gears for me. Low
isn't low enough and high isn't high enough.

--
Blattus Slafaly  ? 3     :)  7/8

 
It's not ever going to handle like an 80. On hard pack,
a big bike is easy to ride. On shallow mud it's a little
dicey. In deep mud, you need some serious tires
and skills I'm a little deficient in.

Oddly, in really deep mud, I've sometimes done better
sitting on the seat with feet spread out as far as I could.
Maybe this lets your feet act as a balancing device.
I don't know.

I recently switched from Metzler Tourance to Avon Gripsters
and think it was a good move.

In really crap conditions, you may want to drop your
tire pressures. I carry a cut down Wallyworld compressor
under the seat to reinflate again.

On steep downhills, use a combination of engine and
rear wheel braking. Do not disengage the clutch.

Riding with a buddy is way better when one of you
drops his bike again and you've got to pick it up
for the sixth time. Always much better to have two
or more people.

Buy an ugly stick, go out to the garage and whack
all the pretty parts of the bike with it before you start
out on the trip. This is a tremendous timesaver and
makes you feel much less unhappy when you drop it.