riding/handling advice needed

I have ridden many types of bike over the years, usually 250cc or less and I have ridden many road bikes off road without too many problems but I am certainly not experienced in setup and handling. Now I have a r/t Kinlon 200 and I am getting around muddy, rocky and rutted tracks a lot more. To my surprise this bike is worse at handling than anything I was used to before!

I accept that this is my own lack of skill so I am asking advice of the more experienced off-roaders here. The worst thing is that the front wheel breaks away a lot, I can usually handle a rear slide, or rather it usually corrects itself before I worry! But the front end on this machine twists and turns a lot more than I expected and that is not a good feeling. Tyre pressure doesn't make any difference that I notice much.

What are the usual reasons for this? Should I keep my weight further back or more over the front? Is it front spring setup that alters this? It is better handling at faster speeds but my worry is that a front end loss at those speeds would be an instant accident. I have ridden trials bikes once or twice when younger and you could pick your way anywhere on them with balance and they seemed much lighter too. I don't want to blame the bike but every small rock or pothole seems to throw the front wheel into a twist or slide so I need to handle this characteristic better.

Which tires you got on that Kinlon 200 Jape? Your handling troubles could be as simple as a poor choice of tires by the manufacturer.

Cheers!
ChinaV

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Thanks ChinaV, they are called 'Cheng Shin' CST 2. 75-21 45P

I take the same route when on road most times so have tried different pressures and now run them at about 28psi which seems best on the tarmac - but usually well below that (around 16psi) off road. The back end has always been a bit squirmy but is easily handled. I have often taken these same bush tracks without dropping the pressure on a shortcut home for example. Doesn't seem to make much difference to this particular behaviour.

Thanks for starting this interesting and surely educational thread, Jape. I'm keen to learn along with you.

I've got a bunch of questions of my own, but don't want to hijack your thread. I'll ask mine as the discussion plays out.

cheers!

Hey mate, I am not exclusive with my threads! Please do ask your questions and we are then far more likely to get people chipping in with experience and ideas, otherwise the threads here often go to sleep very quickly! Not a very chatty forum sometimes but still full of people who know what they are doing if we can only get them to lend us their wisdom.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jape

I don't want to blame the bike but every small rock or pothole seems to throw the front wheel into a twist or slide so I need to handle this characteristic better.

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It should not do that. That sounds scary. On the other hand don't be too scared of little twists, just do quick corrections with hands on grips and throttle. But front slides might freak me on dirt at speeds I drive. In slower speeds it actually doesn't matter what your bike does because you can counter easily everything. But in higher speeds it is not so easy to counter stuff if you bike behaves very badly, and there it begins to be dangerous.

I am not a race driver but when you do cornering try sit in the front of your bike. This gives more weight to the front and should in turn give your front wheel more traction. If you see potholes use the normal obstacle procedure. Stand on the pegs and move your body backwards and give throttle and just fly over the potholes.

It sounds like you would have too heavy (hard?) suspension because you said it doesn't do stuff that much if you go faster. The tire looks fine, it is not a real knobbie but should work well enough. I have in my bike even less enduro tire which does dirt and enduro surprisinly well. Pure road tires usually do that sliding phenomenon. I by the way drive enduro and dirt and stuff with almost tarmac tyre pressures. Can't bother to change the pressures since the ground is usually very hard if it has not been raining a lot.

Most importantly get good gear (including serious MX boots and toss to trashcan whimsy driving boots, they will be heavy and feel clumsy but soon you will learn to love them) and don't drive too fast! Practise all kind of maneuvers in slow speeds first untill they are the second nature for you. And if you don't have good gear don't drive fast at all. It can be fun to drive slowly and enjoy more of the nature and surroundings. 4-stroke engines are great for slower speeds. 2-stroke is what begs you constantly to rev it hard :riding:

EDIT: Play with your bike. Have fun with it. Try everything with it. Don't just drive or "ride" it. Kids learn things by playing, it is perfectly fine way to learn to know your bike. Do things in wrong way so you will really understand why it is bad and why it is good to do them in a right way.

I'm not a dirt bike rider, but I am an experienced road biker and mountain biker. To me it sounds like your front forks are too stiff maybe locking out or something is loose up there. Chengshin usually make OK tires as Maxxis are one of their brand names.