Dirt Bike riding tips & tricks

[jeeper]

I find flailing my legs all over the place really intimidates the mountain, and it lets me by

I just lol'd in priesthood session. Oops.

 

[Greg]

Rider position question: I've been working on standing while riding. I am getting better at leaning forward, and gripping with my legs. According to watsy, you should stand while climbing hills.
While climbing rocky, rough, long, steep climbs I can't stand. I lose control of the bike. I am hanging on to the bars so hard I can't run the controls right.
What do you guys do?

I've been working on the same thing... from what I understand, you need to lean forward and keep your knees STRAIGHT. This drives your body weight to the rear tire, maintaining traction on rough, loose climbs. If you bend your knees, you loose all traction in short order. It's not easy to master, I get the same out of control feeling. Standing while riding isn't easy to get used to, it takes time.

 

[jeeper]

If you are holding on so tight with your hands then you aren't doing it right. You do have to hold yourself on the bike with your hands and arms more on hills than flat ground, but you still shouldn't have a death grip on the bars, and you should still squeeze the bike with your legs so they help you stay on the bike.

It's hard to do, and takes a lot of practice and balance (or confidence in your balance...particularly if it's slow, it makes your doubt your balancing ability and temps you to sit down and take your feet of the pegs) but once you get it down, gnarly up hills lose their intimidation factor.

So mostly talking the hard climbs, when I grip with my legs enough to stay on the bike is firm and doesn't "flow" well. So I grip more which doesn't work, so I sit.

 

[djgardner]

Are you riding on the arches of your feet and gripping the bike with your thighs?

I find myself gripping the bike with my ankles and calves. This, while riding on the balls of my feet (rather than the arches of my feet and gripping with my knees/thighs) allows me to hold onto the bike and yet still move the bike around beneath me to help it flow.

I have one disclaimer when it comes to technique...sometimes I find that doing something in a way that you feel comfortable is more important than doing it "right".

 

[Greg]

I really enjoy learning trials-based techniques and would like to practice and use them in my riding the dirt bike... one thing I'd love to learn is how to 'splatter'.

[video=youtube;m4giPVsfyf0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4giPVsfyf0[/video]

Anyone have experience with this? I want to go out and try this weekend, I have a perfect place with some big rocky ledges near by.


Here's another related one...

[video=youtube;HBDQWUoOb2Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBDQWUoOb2Y[/video]

 

[STAG]

4 stroke question: I see guys all the time that start their bikes and keep their hand at the back of the exhaust. Why? The only thing I can figure is to gage engine/exhaust temp. Seems silly.

I just figured they were warming up their hands. I see a lot of super cross racers do it.

 

[djgardner]

I just figured they were warming up their hands. I see a lot of super cross racers do it.

Softening the leather in the palms of their gloves.

 

[jeeper]

Lets Talk Flexx bars.

My buddy has some serious shoulder issues. (round the clock morphine pills, plus others I dont know the name of) He is a super stubborn guy and insists on riding. He can make it about an hour before the vibrations and bouncing put him in tears. I have suggested to his wife that they look into the Flexx bars. I have talked with a few folks who say they are quite a bit better, and help with fatigue and vibration.
What are your thoughts? would they help my poor injured combat veteran friend? are they worth the $360?? HOw long can they be run before a rebuild in needed?

 

[anderson750]

They won't solve his problems with pain and riding but they will probably lessen them. I love my flexx bars and I have noticed less fatigue in my arms and blisters on my hands since I put a pair on. Are they worth the $$ for them? That all depends......I think they are and if you ever damage them, they are rebuildable instead of having to replace them. They will last the average recreational rider for ever and will not need to be rebuilt unless they see some extreme abuse. I wanted a pair for a long time and finally decided to buy some when they gave my boy and I some rider support. Our discount on our bars was only about 35% but I still feel that they would have been worth it at full price now that I have them.

 

[jeeper]

With the Flexx bars, there are multiple bends. I imagine for the mostly trail riding done, taller bars would be better. Looking at the Fasst sight, it is not clear how the adjust for height. Does the angle of the bar just get increased to produce more height, resulting in a steeper grade?? it seems that would be stupid.. but their picture sure makes it seem that way.

 

[Greg]

I learned a new trick on the 990 Adventure on my way to Moab on Saturday... how to do a clutch-up wheelie..... at 60 - 70 MPH. :greg:

It's easy to blip the throttle or bounce a dirtbike into a wheelie, but getting a big bike's front end in the air at high speed takes a little more effort. The first one was over the RR tracks in Cisco, UT... the 2nd one was over a slight hill at 70. Both of them felt like the front end was at least a couple feet in the air... they felt awesome!! :freak: For me the idea of pulling the clutch in at speed, opening the throttle and THEN releasing the clutch pretty quickly is quite unnerving. Knowing what you NEED to do is very different than actually DOING it. The 990 weighs well over 500#'s and makes 100 HP, so it's no lightweight. It was sketchy, but I was way excited to successfully do a clutch-up wheelie!


[video=youtube;1FMdGTX9HtI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FMdGTX9HtI[/video]

 

[Tonkaman]

Awesome! I'll bet it's way scary on a big bike. Sweet video too

 

[Greg]

Awesome! I'll bet it's way scary on a big bike. Sweet video too

You know, the first one I did it was just instinctual... I wanted to wheelie, stood on the pegs and just did it! Glad it worked out how I wanted....

 

[glockman]

Here is a riding tip that I have known for years and tried to apply as much as possible but I rarely get it right.

Ride your motorcycle as much as possible and you will get better.

I'm really struggling with this trick year to date.

 

[Greg]

Here is a riding tip that I have known for years and tried to apply as much as possible but I rarely get it right.

Ride your motorcycle as much as possible and you will get better.

I'm really struggling with this trick year to date.

Makes sense!

 

[Tonkaman]

Here is a riding tip that I have known for years and tried to apply as much as possible but I rarely get it right.

Ride your motorcycle as much as possible and you will get better.

I'm really struggling with this trick year to date.

That's what I keep doing wrong!! I'll have to give that a try

 

[anderson750]

That appears to be a problem I have been having.

 

[Gravy]

I've been struggling to get up some of these nasty hill climbs here in Bountiful by the "B." So I've been watching the body english these extreme enduro guys put on their bikes.
Surprisingly a good tool for me to learn on has been trying easier hillclimbs (ones that are easy on a 300 or 450) with my 125. It's been forcing me to hold it wide open and feather the clutch and FEEL for wheelspin then adjust my body position to get traction with less risk of getting hurt on a more dangerous hill.

I'm still not that great but I'm learning to feel more comfortable with my weight further back and actively moving during the climb instead of just holding it open and staying in one position all stiff and robotic.

 

[Tonkaman]

Using the 125 is a genius idea. Those bikes make you really earn every inch of the trail. It's funny how these new cool bikes make us go places we never could before, but they also make us lazy riders.

 

[jeeper]

I think there is a lot of validity to the idea of riding an under powered bike for skills learning.