Dirt Riding - When to Stand Up?

[Venture]

So.....how about cornering in/on gravel roads? Is standing good or better to sit and be able to dab or counter steer? All of the above comments helped. At least I think I'm on the right path in regards to standing while I'm blasting down gravel roads etc.

What I was told is this:

1. On a street bike you're taught to lean yourself further than the bike when cornering
2. With dirt, it's the opposite. Lean the bike more than you.

I found this to be very true. If I keep my body relatively stable, cornering on dirt is really a function of moving the bike underneath me.

 

[GrahamD]

SO where is ErnsTT when you need him?

He must have got upset.

 

[snuffcityrider]

What I was told is this:

1. On a street bike you're taught to lean yourself further than the bike when cornering
2. With dirt, it's the opposite. Lean the bike more than you.

I found this to be very true. If I keep my body relatively stable, cornering on dirt is really a function of moving the bike underneath me.

Thanks, that's what feels right and makes sense. Seems like it would help to not push the tires further away from you. Back to that center of gravity thing....

 

[Twisties]

Thanks Twisties... My brain get mushy at times and my idea are not always well thought out. And yes, some of my explanation is clearly incorrect and in flat out wrong. ??? Thank you for pointing that out. And no I'm not kidding. I'm serious. I want facts not bullshit even if that means I need to do a little shoveling to clean out my own space. I know I'm not always right or appropriate or funny. So sayith my wife.
One thing about this medium is that it doesn't allow us to edit and merge quite like a live, on-going conversation. That's what we really need to answer the question. A few inputs and ideas that get distilled down into onegenereatlly agreed upon explaination. I think Twisties has done a better job of explaining this topic than I have. Is anyone willing to merge the agreed upon idea into one, simpler explanation?

Great.... and next time, when I am out to lunch, you will find me equally gracious. Great attitude... Love it. ::008::

 

[rem]

You boys are Okay ..... I don't care what everybody says about you. R ::026::

 

[TRUBRIT]

Time to wake this thread up. For other Novice Dirty ADV Riders like myself, I found this book very helpful. One comment the Author makes is that a lot of people stand up on the easy sections and sit down on the hard. It should be the other way around.

 

[snuffcityrider]

Thanks for the tip, looks like some good reading on these many days that are too cold to ride.

 

[Venture]

Time to wake this thread up. For other Novice Dirty ADV Riders like myself, I found this book very helpful. One comment the Author makes is that a lot of people stand up on the easy sections and sit down on the hard. It should be the other way around.

Relatively expensive book at $26.37 on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Riding-Techniques-Essential-Off-Road/dp/1844255727/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326939797&sr=1-1

The reviews are good, I may just pick this up. I bought Hough's Proficient Motorcycling when I started out on the road and I found it very helpful, this hopefully would do the same for dirt riding.

 

[limey]

I was thinking of taking a weekend course. What do you guys think?

http://cmts.org/adventureTours.aspx

 

[rem]

If I actually had my bike here, and I could afford it, and I wasn't freezing my ass off .... I'd take it. R ::012::

 

[troll]

??? Man, I just want to be able to type like twisties, after about 8 or 10 words I'm all done in. A quick search of the internet will produce some very good offerings in the area of ADV riding skills, both print and video.

The only thing I want to say about standing is that it de-couples your body mass from the bike and allows the rider to shift their mass/weight to better balance and apply load to the contact patch of the tires. This applies to cornering and straight line riding and is achieved throught the bars and pegs. These four points of contact can be managed and loaded independantly to control the loading of both the front and rear tire contact patches. All this discussion about COG, fulcrums, levers and the esoterics of suspension energy dissipation is just to deep for me ::014:: Stand-up and ride.... whew, I am way over me 10 word limit, I need to rest now ::017::

 

[Maybert]

I was thinking of taking a weekend course. What do you guys think?

http://cmts.org/adventureTours.aspx

Excellent idea! Dirtbike school is better than kittens!

I have been riding street bikes for 24 years and never rode dirt until about 6 years ago when I took a class. What I learned in two days of dirt training completely transformed my riding ability (off AND on road) and now I ride dirt as often as possible to hone my skills. What you learn on a dirtbike directly translates to more confidence on the street, and gives you the skills to pilot a behemoth like ours over all kinds of crazy terrain. I rode my R1200GS on a 300 mile dualsport after I took my class, and I would never have considered it prior.

This was the school I took, owner's name is Gary Laplante. http://www.motoventures.com

Great guy and great school! They had a write up in Ride magazine not long ago.

Cheers!

 

[Twitch]

Time to wake this thread up. For other Novice Dirty ADV Riders like myself, I found this book very helpful. One comment the Author makes is that a lot of people stand up on the easy sections and sit down on the hard. It should be the other way around.

Nice find Trubrit. Looks like a good read from the reviews.

 

[TRUBRIT]

Adventure Motorcycle Mag is tring to organize a Rally in the Fall up in the Blue Ridge Mountains and they are asking for suggestions. I wrote in and asked them to run an ADV riding course, 1 to 3 days. Our Brothers on the West Coast have a few of these available. I have not found one in the Southeast. Anyone know of one please post? Not talking crazy Dualsport single track but more geared to the bigger bikes.
http://adventuremotorcycle.com/

 

[Floracycle]

I took a course from these guys.

http://www.rawhyde-offroad.com/home.html

Growing up on dirt bikes I was a bit skeptical of any benefit for me. Wrong. While I excelled in the class I still learned a lot and made some great like minded friends.

Many of the items mentioned in this thread were covered and exercised. Well worth the money IMO. They are BMW guys mostly but all bikes are welcome. I rode my KLR which probably explains why I excelled over those other bikes. >

Considering their couples continental divide trip and training this summer with the S10. >