The Benefit's of riding dirt

[stamford]

Originally Posted by Hunter-scout

^^^bro, buy that kid some gear. He's gonna need it.

I'd buy all armor, dirt boots, complete dirt leather under all the armor, and hard gloves.

Meh, you don't need gear riding in a state where the hardest thing you attempt on a dirt is done in a straight line .

now HERE you need gear lol.

[billiam]

You can also learn most of these concepts on a bicycle and a rear wheel drive 5spd car.

[Unsane125]

I leanred everything about riding on dirt, when I got on my 1000 (as a first street bike) all it was was fine tuning to the pavement, and learning that getting down close with the road isnt as much of a death sentence as I thought it would be.

[Hunter-scout]

Originally Posted by stamford

Meh, you don't need gear riding in a state where the hardest thing you attempt on a dirt is done in a straight line .

now HERE you need gear lol.

bro, this is the dirt riding I'm use to. Far N of CA, in Trinity County, had property backed up to Trinity/Shasta National Forest, so I had three dirt loops of old logging roads.

The years we were up there, I never saw ONE bike when riding, although I did see a couple pass by the property.

Saw about everything else, though.

One example of Trinity:

http://users.snowcrest.net/wb6fzh/SBRD.jpg

[bassjones]

Originally Posted by stamford

Meh, you don't need gear riding in a state where the hardest thing you attempt on a dirt is done in a straight line .

now HERE you need gear lol.

Hey! Southern Indiana's got hills...

all my dirt experience sure helped me out when I started on the street. I don't have to think about the mechanics (clutching, throttle, brakes, staying upright, etc...), so I can have more of my attention on my surroundings - cars, road conditions, etc... Just like driving while talking on a cell phone, riding a motorcycle while worrying about the mechanics of riding is dangerous.

[Justice06RR]

i never really saw the correlation between the two.. i see them as two different halves of the riding circle.

Altho a lot of dirt riding techniques can translate to street riding, not much can translate in reverse when you get to the technical aspects of track riding, canyon/twisties and relate that to dirt. Coming from a backwards experience from street/track to dirt, i felt like i was totally new to riding again when i hit the dirt. Body positioning, foot positioning, arm positioning are all different from street/track riding to dirt riding.

and there's more things to consider like traction in dirt vs pavement, top speed, leaning techniques, etc. in comparison of the two.

[ghostriders999]

it gives you a broader experieces base if you get in trouble to find a way to get you out of trouble,,,

back years ago they had a race and i had a mid sized machine compared to most and i spanked them all and actually made them look foolish.

but i have been riding something since 6 or 7 years old,,,

experience makes all the difference in the world,, keeps you cool under pressure and also give you more room to understand the absolute limits of your machine

[636blurr]

Originally Posted by Justice06RR

i never really saw the correlation between the two.. i see them as two different halves of the riding circle.

Altho a lot of dirt riding techniques can translate to street riding, not much can translate in reverse when you get to the technical aspects of track riding, canyon/twisties and relate that to dirt. Coming from a backwards experience from street/track to dirt, i felt like i was totally new to riding again when i hit the dirt. Body positioning, foot positioning, arm positioning are all different from street/track riding to dirt riding.

and there's more things to consider like traction in dirt vs pavement, top speed, leaning techniques, etc. in comparison of the two.

The vast, vast majority of your top notch racers will ride on the dirt as well.
As stated earlier, it really helps you in those oh shit situations since in the dirt you have an entire day of oh shit going on. It helps with the basics, throttle clutch control, and even more so with slides. For those of us who started on the dirt getting on the rear brake to hard is fun. for those who have not it usually does not end so good.
Nicky Hayden super moto

[Hunter-scout]

Originally Posted by Justice06RR

i never really saw the correlation between the two.. i see them as two different halves of the riding circle.

Altho a lot of dirt riding techniques can translate to street riding, not much can translate in reverse when you get to the technical aspects of track riding, canyon/twisties and relate that to dirt. Coming from a backwards experience from street/track to dirt, i felt like i was totally new to riding again when i hit the dirt. Body positioning, foot positioning, arm positioning are all different from street/track riding to dirt riding.

and there's more things to consider like traction in dirt vs pavement, top speed, leaning techniques, etc. in comparison of the two.

Yeah, pretty much sums it up. Street, if conditions are right, the dirt rider struggles a little in learning to trust the tires.

But I see mega problems with the street only rider transitioning to dirt, but at least the crashes are often at a slower speed, and the bike is way lighter.

[Hunter-scout]

Originally Posted by 636blurr

The vast, vast majority of your top notch racers will ride on the dirt as well.
As stated earlier, it really helps you in those oh shit situations since in the dirt you have an entire day of oh shit going on. It helps with the basics, throttle clutch control, and even more so with slides. For those of us who started on the dirt getting on the rear brake to hard is fun. for those who have not it usually does not end so good.
Nicky Hayden super moto

ha, but not exactly what you think. On my dirt loops I was very confident at spirited speed.

But I had to dodge a lot of bear and cougar crap. For some reason the critters love to crap on quite a few single track trails that I used.

Then you have the tree down 'oh shit' coming around a twistie.

Or, doing the practiced/known twistie slide, all of a sudden, there's a family of mountain bikers miles inland, in the middle of no where. Yeah, that would get me sweating. I just leaned harder and hit the rear stiffer, trying to modulate the front brake, coming to a stop so as not to freak out anyone.

Don't know what I'd do if one hard freakin rock.

Do miss the dirt on that WR. Perfect bike set up for some nasty stuff.

[636blurr]

:bump

[Tripped1]

Originally Posted by Nightfall

My dirt experience I feel saved my bike the other day, again lol

was making a u-turn at about 5-10 mph and there was some gravel there and the back end popped out, what do I do? kick my leg out and push the bike back up and throttle out!

granted this wouldn't be a smart thing AT ALL at high speed, too any n00bs who might be reading.


love it

Yeah I had a similar event leaving a dealership the other day. Twenty-Five degrees, wet back tire (snow melted by salt) and, paint strippes. Spun up bigger then shit on me the second I started letting the clutch out, had to catch it on both sides, MAYBE going 10 mph feathering the clutch and praying the back would catch before I tossed it.

Thought I was going to eat shit but caught it. The little tricks you learn climbing hills in wet Georgia red clay, just add 250lbs to the bike.

I started on a little 50cc yami that I got for raking a lawn when I was 8. Spent a GOOD two hours hitting EVERYTHING in the back yard with my Father laughing his ass off till I figured out there was another throttle possition then WFO.

For that matter I would love to find another 250 two stroke to play with, MAYBE a 450 four stroker. I really miss the feeling of my old KX coming up on the can, it's still one of the biggest rushes I've gotten outside the track with a motorcycle. That little bastard was riproaring gnarley mother.