Quote:
Originally Posted by 636blurr
Ok so there are just wayyy to many people going down from what I see are mostly avoidable wrecks from new riders. So this is something that definatly can help people understand control alot more.
The Debate has raged for years if Dirt riding makes you a better street rider or not. There is no Debate, only stubborness on the street side to not see and accept the bennefits.
Here are some reasons why the dirt helps off the top of my head, feel free to ad.
First off it helps in the most obvious area which is throttle and clutch control, second it helps in the braking area, although braking is completly backwards on a dirtbike, rear brake more than front brake usually, you understand what braking does under different surfaces since riding on the dirt you usually encounter mulitple terrain types. If you get on your front brake to hard, it washes, you learn right off to let off your front brake and your fine. If you go around a corner and your rear end is sliding, on dirt, thats calld fun and you stay in the throttle and ride it out woo hoo. Panic situations, on the dirt there is always something new thrown at you, be it an animal, bumps, ditch, rock, tree, pickup, maybe some old people backing out in front of you in a RV at the campsite. So it really helps you in those oh shit situations.
The pothole, ditch thing is everywhere, so its to be expected, you learn to unweight your front end, lean back far and take the obsticle and its not even a problem. So apply that next time you hit a pothole, dog, ect. You would be surprised how fast your body can shift in heartbeat.
Now this seems obvious, but I guess its not, going back to different terrain types, some dirt or gravel on the road will no longer be an issue to you. that right there is a huge plus, as most people tense up, which is what you want to avoid when riding.
And the last thing I can think of its its cheap if you mess up, usually you just go down, slide a bit, laugh, pick up the bike and ride on, no real damage, sometimes you have to fix a broken lever or shifter, but usually, it doesnt get to much worse than that unless your getting pretty extreme.
|
Good post, but with one common mistake: The front brake is still the one who provide more braking power in the dirt - same as on the pavement. Ricky Carmichael, for example, said once that the only thing that prevents him from going faster is the power of his front brake-he wished it could have more (not an easy statement from someone who rode with a Nissin works front brake..). To really learn how to use it...now that's something to practice on! No doubt about it though that the rear brake has a main role too, especially in "rear steering" for cutting corners (and other technics in motocross).
Off road ridin adds a rider in so many aspects:
-Throttle and clutch control, ofcourse
- Better use of your lower body
- A lot of movement on the bike which helps to understand weight distribution.
- Like u said, dealing with the "unknown" and panic situations- even a long straight could hold a lot of surprises on the dirt.
- Riding alot in the dirt helps to keep your body in good shape, much more than road riding (every one who ever got on a demanding trail will realize it in a matter of minutes
)
I learned over time though, that it's important to know what to take from dirt riding to the pavement. It's good to remember that on the typical sport bike, we r sitting with bent knees and very narrow hands span - this limit our movements alot, and make it impossible to save yourself from falling with your leg, for example, or an aggressive front slide like on soft terrain. There's is alot more attention to tires grip than in the dirt, and alot more importance for being smooth (especially on public roads).
But no doubt it adds tons of control - no wonder alot of the GP's riders do motocross even on their vacations. It's just a good useful training.