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Hi,
I'm new to offroad riding, could use some pointers. I'm on soft soil or gravel, not mud. I'm going ~20km/h. Is it possible to turn? How?
I'm scared to put my foot down a get stuck under the bike. I'm scared not to put my foot down in case i start to fall and i can't kick fast enough. I prefer to learn, in my head at least, the correct way before i try for real.
Thanks
Hey Slabo,Quote:
Originally Posted by slabo
You might want to check out this video http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/Ri...neringoffroad/ ...for an overview...
Tips
Look where you want to go, if your riding a long and see a pot hole and keep looking at it as you ride, your bound to hit it, see a rock and look at it for too long -you'll hit it too. The eyes are the gun-sight of the brain and therefore there are a few important rules for the way we view the trail, track or road ahead of the motorcycle. Keep your eyes up and look down the trail! Your natural reaction will be to look at the ground in front of the motorbike. Look as far ahead as the trail, speed and common sense allows. Your perception will naturally assimilate the rough terrain and lead the front wheel along a good line. Do not look down! Do not look at the rock in front of your wheel! Do not stare at the pothole in the road! Do not gaze into the pool of soft mud! Look where you want to go and the bike will naturally follow an invisible line towards where you are looking. So don't fixate on an object your trying to avoid.
Keep a 'wide angle view' of the trail ahead - look at everything in general but nothing in particular. This not only helps avoid fixation but allows you to spot stray; animals, pedestrians and other vehicles etc.
When attempting to corner you cannot steer through it with stiff arms. Move forward. Grip the tank with your knees, arms bend and fluid to make small steering movements as you power through.
The worst the road/trail surface, the more important this becomes. Move your butt forward. Lean forward from the waist moving your head and shoulders closer to the front wheel than your butt. This does not mean resting/pushing down on the handlebars with your body weight - this limits manoeuvrability. Your arms must be bent, never locked - elbows out wide away from your sides.
Grip the tank firmly with your knees and push down onto the foot pegs with the balls of your feet. This makes you and the bike into a single unified unit where your body weight is as much part of the steering process as the front wheel. Your upper body should be relaxed and free to move about easily. Should the surface of the road/trail deteriorate even more, keep the throttle open.! A decelerating bike will flounder. Push down hard on your foot pegs. You'll naturally find yourself standing up which is the correct thing to do. Do not use the handlebars to pull yourself up - their job is to steer, not pull.
When riding trail and cornering, keep the motorcycle upright, tyres 90% to the road surface. This means going slowly around the corners but speed can come later. As you build confidence you'll want to corner more quickly. The secret here is to get lots of downward pressure on the outside foot peg as you corner. This keeps the motorbike firmly on the road and prevents the centrifugal force of cornering from throwing the back wheel outwards. The easy way to do this is to stand with your weight on your outside foot. In this position you can even lean the bike into the corner. Very fast cornering off-road using the throttle to twist the bike around is an advanced skill and can come later (assuming you have a bike light enough to make this skill viable).
Hope this helps you visualise how to ride and corner on or off trail.
:)
what a brilliant reply! well done mate
Thanks,
Forgot to mention, i was going slightly down hill. Otherwise turning would not have been a problem.
I know about the saying, you will hit it if you keep looking at it. But it's good to remember this also on the trails.
Playing it back in my head, i remember I was looking down my front wheel. Yes, my arms were stiff. My major concern was keeping the bike upright, so i ended up going in a straigh line. Though in my mind i wanted to turn.
Thanks for the pointers, I'll keep these in mind when i get lost again. Thats how i usually end up on trails.