Riding Technique: How to stop rear sliding round.

[Irezumi aka Reuben]

When riding off-road how do I stop the rear from coming round on me and me ending up sideways or on my arse.

What is the technique once it's started o happen?

More/less power doesnt seem to work so I'm assuming it's weight distribution, but where and how?

Thanks for any help.

[Sparks!]

If the rear wheel comes out to the left the bike tips to the right (wants to fall over) .. so a little less power and pull the bars into the left to counteract it wanting to fall over.

The back usually comes out if you give it too much power ... so best bet is to learn how much power you can get away with to control the rear wheel or just go a bit lighter on the throttle.. if its happening all the time then you're too throttle happy and tone it down a bit!

To be honest, a lot of the time when the back comes round it happens so quick you'll probably fall off anyway.

If you find in really slippery mud that you can't get grip then you're in too low a gear with too many revs... go up to 2nd/3rd and keep the throttle steady but quite low and you'll have more luck... slippery mud with no grip is one place I don't really struggle with, high gear low revs let the back end do it's thing
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Current Toys: 06 Yamaha WR250F | Nissan 350Z GT | Tech 4 Homes

[G]

First off, what wheels are you using?

If it's supermoto ones, then that's definitely making a lot harder.

A lot of it is with being smooth and using throttle only when in a straight line.
I've ridden the KTM with a road (18") rear and knobbly front in incredibly muddy conditions and just about kept up with people with lighter bikes with decent knobblies both ends. Rear was going all over the place and a couple of times I ended up in hedges (though upright) but only timed I dropped it was to the side in a very deep rut where it just rested against the side
A lot of it is being relaxed - to some degree also letting the bars do their own thing as well as not being aggressive on the throttle.

What pressure are you running your tyres? As low as possible as ever is best.

[Blue_SV650S]

'Pin it' ... HTH!!
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The purpose of life is to fight maturity.

[Irezumi aka Reuben]

I was only going very slow (10mph give or take) so in first gear, I'll try shifting up although the gearing is quite long.

Had it happen on both sets of wheels (SM & Trail). Pressures were slightly reduced in both but didnt go below 20psi. Any idea whats the minimum pressure I can get away with roughly, bearing in mind I dont have rim locks?

Thanks for the help sparks, I'll try putting that in to practice. Will putting pressure on to the peg of the side that is coming round be any help (ir if bike is trying to go right then put pressure on left peg)?

[G]

About 15-18 psi depending on how brave you are. Get some rimlocks though, then you can go down to around 10psi - rim locks don't cost much and aren't too much hassle to fit if you can do tyres anyway.

I would suggest sticking to knobbly trail tyres until you've got some decent confidence with the bike sliding around (at both ends) - you'll then find the same skills allow you to ride at a surprisingly reasonable speed on fat, smooth road tyres.

I suspect your biggest issue is actually going too slowly - ok there's not always anything you can do about it. However, while it feels counter-intuitive, going faster often makes it easier as you have more momentum going forwards. I've been in positions where despite worse tyres I've easily caught up with people going slower on more suitable bikes - however when I have, I've then had to drop back as going slower the bike is harder to control.
Going faster means the bike will be more stable both from your general momentum and the gyroscopic forces of the wheels. If it is possible to go faster though, it's still often hard to convince your right hand to turn more when you're already all over the place.
Ideally of course you increase speed in good conditions, then just use the throttle to maintain speed over questionable conditions.