Tips And Hints about riding Offroad!

[JBurrows88]

It say it in the title!

I was wondering if people could give pointers on area's such as braking and cornering whilst going off road? Even pointing me to sites would be helpful.

I went off roading on the drz with the SM wheels and i lacked grip (like riding slicks on a cold morning in the wet ), especially in mud and i was snaking down the track most of the time. I constantly locked the rear wheel up.

Also' where is best to position myself when cornering or giving it a little power when doing a small "hill climb"?


Thanks!
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Dave
XJR400 Kenney Roberts Paint Job

[Polsta]

new bike dave ?

ive just got a dt-r and will be venturing of road myself, which will be new to me

[JBurrows88]

Yeah! I've only been able to put 900 miles on it in the past month due to me actually having to work!!


Sunshine/rain or snow im out on it!


Was a bit mad yesterday when we went off road! There were patches of snow on a bit of the trail! My mates Cg125 seemed to take it pretty well. Actually better than the DRZ with its SM wheels!
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Dave
XJR400 Kenney Roberts Paint Job

[Polsta]

good stuff

cant wait to gte out myself, im itching to get going !!

[G]

Get trail wheels would be the first tip, then .

Going up hills you generally want to keep forward - but if you don't have grip you need to move your weight back to get it over the rear. Makes it easier to flip, however.

Down hills you pretty much always keep your weight back.

Around corners you generally put your weight forward to give the front end grip - and a loose rear end isn't as much of a problem.

If the front end is starting to push a bit, often getting on the gas will solve the problem - either by taking some of the weight off, or by spinning the bike around a little, so some of the steering is done by the rear.

Still very much a novice myself, so best bet is to just have a play and see what works for you .

[colin1]

standing on the pegs rather than sitting down helps things.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[Max77]

never use the front brake downhill on the green lanes.
if you do, your know why I said that and wont the second time
Use the low gears to slow it down to advoid rear slides.
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I`M NOW OFFICIALLY TOO OLD, TO DIE YOUNG

[.....]

[----]

I found it impossible to learn from what other people were telling me to do off-road.
I think it's because everyone has a different way of doing things.

The best way i learned is to get out on the track and really hoon around it,falling off many times in the process,but i learned something new every time i fell off.

Your not likely to hurt yourself when you do fall off,and majority of the time your bike will get away with just a few scrapes.

Best advice i can give you is: if you dont fall off a few times while learning,your not going fast enough.Going too slow is usually worse than going a bit too fast in my experience.

[baldy]

i found that letting the bike move about under you helps. Don't grip the bars too hard or you'll end up in a bush. Concentrate on the front wheel, let the back go where it wants, it will follow the front.
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One day i will rule the world, just not today.

[Max77]

troble is that most bikes on the lanes want to go where you really dont want to go
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I`M NOW OFFICIALLY TOO OLD, TO DIE YOUNG

[Max77]

A good tip is spend a day at a motocross track and watch the riders. Talk to them in the pits, or better still, have a wizz round yourself.
Your pick up some good practice and experience on a track that will help you on the lanes.
Some of the best riders I've seen are the motocross boys.
A few came with us on Sailsbury Plain last Monday (now there's a good place to start on)
And these boys did some jumps that I would never attempt, But you got to admire there skills.
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I`M NOW OFFICIALLY TOO OLD, TO DIE YOUNG

[Will87]

Follow exactly what everyone else has said, the best way is the push yourself, if you think you can't do it, try it. They only way is to develop your own technique, the obvious similiarities eg humping the tank while cornering will soon emerge and it'll boost your confidence. My only advice is while standing grip the tank/seat with your knees, this takes alot off your arms and stops you crouching and becoming tired quicker!

[colin1]

keeping legs more or less vertical, but body towards the horizontal also helps for balance particularly when going on and off the throttle
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[Hunnibeast]

if your your sitting down when cornering (motocross style) which you shouldn't really do on a lane, you should always be standing up, even though i never am all the time. but anyway IF you are sitting down lean your body out of the corner pushing the bike into the corner and sit right up the seat virtually on the tank.

also when standing up loosen up your body, grip the tank with your knees, slightly bent (but not too hard) and try and aim for your chin to be over the bars but without sticking your bum out!

a good test to see your standing position is to get someone else to hold your bike upright, get into your standing position and let go of the bars, you should not fall forwards or backwards, you should be able to stay in exactly the same position but with your hands OFF the bars.

also supermoto tyres are road tyres, not offroad tyres, so they are bound to slip and slide everywhere when they are ridden on the gnarly stuff
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Suzuki TS50X, Yamaha DT125R, CCM 404DS

[JBurrows88]

When i was on holiday over the past couple weeks i've been doing a fair bit of quading and taking an old XR250 on the desert (not the soft sahara sand but stoney desert)...

However the lack of a helmet that would not fall apart on impact reduced my efforts, but i think i will be putting the trail wheels on in a few weeks and take it proper off road! Only problem is that they say "Not for highway use" or "Offroad use Only" which is a bit of a problem as skipton police are very strict on motorcyclists.


Thanks for all the help!
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Dave
XJR400 Kenney Roberts Paint Job

[G]

Apparently a stanly knife carefully wielded might solve your problem .

[KTM Gordo]

Not knowing exactly where you are this might not help much, but if you can get down to Cambridgeshire then I don't mind taking you out on a few lanes - there's a perfect set of starter lanes near here with a bit everything: grass, light gravel, puddles, ruts, mud and the odd fallen tree.

The best way to learn is to get out there and ride - as with road riding, there's no substitute to getting the miles in.

If you can look as far ahead as you can (difficult, I know) then it does help - and you need to get a balance between a firm grip on the bars and letting the bike do its own thing.

HTH
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Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine.

KTM 990 Adventure | KTM EXC 250 Racing | Land Rover Freelander SE Td4

[JBurrows88]

thanks G


I live up near skipton/Leeds so im a good 170miles from cambridgeshire!


I'm definatly going to go out alot more often on trails near me!
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Dave
XJR400 Kenney Roberts Paint Job