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.