Off orad tis and hints please.

I remember Steptoe one posting something along the lines of "Go out, stuff happens. Stay in, stuff doesn't happen." So great that you've taken the first steps. Like dentistry or skydiving, this isn't something you can teach yourself from behind a screen. It's a judgement, feel, seat of the pants skill. Go out. Stuff will happen. You'll learn from it.

Some of the fastest guys I've ridden with had all the "wrong" kit, bikes, etc.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
If you ride offroad

You will fall off - it's inevitable

However I try to limit my falls to one per ride nowadays

Yesterday I was out doing some Trials practice for 2-3 hours and nearly fell off about 10 times (leaf mould, over clay was lethal) - but managed not to let the bike touch the ground

A 70kg bike with no seat helps in this respect

However falling off is a given

It's totally different to road riding where you try to avoid crashing of course

As a first foray into offroad - you are embarking on totally the wrong bike

I have had a Xcountry and they're are hard to ride slow (BMW 650 FI fuelling is really jerky at low speeds) and are heavy too

Get a cheap 125 to go offroad on......... to learn (so many don't and buy too big a bike)
 
I thought my tyres being Enduro tyres were off road types? I am just getting more and more confused by it all.

Simon,

There are varying grades of off road tyres to suit varying terrain.

The mitas E07 will be fine for gravel and hard packed stuff....mud is the devil if you have anything other than aggressive tyres such as the one's on this page.
http://www.mitas.co.uk/Motocross-Tyres/?wizid=nnnm9bksvgbhkoa6btn8b9sfd4
TKC80's and similar tyres can also be okay (I use them on a second set of rims) and used them to go ploughing on salisbury plain...but even then they still slide a bit.

When riding offroad you need to be prepared to drop bike and damage something...and if your not prepared to do that with your current bike...then change it for one you are prepared to.

If all your thinking is "don't drop bike" "don't drop bike" "don't drop bike" "don't drop bike" you won't be relaxed and it certainly won't be fun....if I've learned anything of offroad riding you need to be relaxed...stiff arms legs and bodies are no help in dealing with uneven and slippy surfaces....my suggestion would be a yam serrow or a DRZ.

When I started off road riding on my blue and white 1150 I was prepared to drop the bike and brake things and I did....mirror, MRA vario screen, indicators..scratched the tank and cyl heads and dinged the rear wheel.

As I'd fitted crash bars and replaced the indicators with less vulnerable and easily obtainable units I was prepared to let it hit the deck.

In terms of looking ahead...this is one of the hardest things to master when we are uncertain we lack the confidence to scan the ground well ahead then let the subconscious deal with the immediate terrain by feel and peripheral vision....soon as you look down you stop forward planning and loose your reference point which keeps you upright when the bikes twitching and sliding.

I'm still very much a novice off road rider but there is a lot of the psychological theory and body management that carries over from my ski instructing days that is also true of many other pursuits.

Managing yourself is often the hardest part of any activity....hence why youtube is no help, you have physically got to experience it...to learn it. just watching is just no education in this regard.
 
Thanks for taking the trouble to answer guys. I will wait for this rain and everything to stop and just go scouting for lanes leading off the roads around here. I remembered a little ford and went and did that the other day, well a couple of weeks back. It is trying to remember all the techniques. I saw Nick Sanders and he gave me some hints about how to tackle fords, but I can't remember what he said now! I just did it gently and got through without getting my feet wet! Welly boots are great for waterproofness. :beerjug:

I don't want to go Enduro racing or motor-crossing / scrambling. I just want to be able to access tracks to go fishing. The Elan Valley reservoirs have some good trout fishing and they open in a few weeks, so I was going to try and get some practise in so I could ride around the reservoir to get to bits that people can't be bothered to walk to. Other bits are walking distance from where you can park. I have only seen Elan Valley dam once and we parked by the green railings at the dam - I was photographing a bike for CBG, old Triumph I think it was. I have seen people do ride a track that goes around one of the reservoirs, but they keep going. I will be stopping to fish! I can't risk breaking my rod either! So confidence in being able to ride tracks like that is what I am trying to build up to. It's good to know my tyres will be OK for there.
 
The Elan valley track is bumpy but easy. A mate who has never ridden offroad took his hex head gsa down there with absolutely no problems.
 
dont wear wellies ,you will snap your ankle wear motor cross boots . an easy trip to a&e for sure
 
dont wear wellies ,you will snap your ankle wear motor cross boots . an easy trip to a&e for sure

But wellies are what I have to go fishing in.....so i ride in them. One of the reasons I go steady. My bike is a means of transposrt, not a toy.

Going fishing....it was mighty icy that morning, so I had to be very ginger. Matlock Bath - Ashbourne road I was doing a steady 30, except for the hill down into the village, where I doubt I was doing 5mph. Sorry to not be a mad, freaky racing around the lanes type who pulls wheelies for fun. I have managed to keep both wheels firmly planted for 47 years, except for one occassion that caught me by surprise, it has never happened since. It frightened the living daylights out of me.



For touring I have some nice Sidi Deep Rain, but I wouldn't want to go in the water in them. Maybe I need to pack the wellies and change when I get there then. I won't be taking the big bike up the track.

 
That's all we wore in the 1980's, no money for proper MX boots

We managed fine, just take it steady

Dunlop ones with steel toe caps off the farm! Saved your toes on a frosty morning when a cow trod on your foot. :aidan
You can't them any more, or at least not round us.
 
carry on with wellies leave your good boots at home . back in time we all wore wellies but times change and we hope to improve our out kits for good reason ... so as you like to wear cords wax cotton and a piss pot hat carry on, as long as the fishing good and your happy there is no point in asking for tips as you already know the answer ..5mph and 20 is plenty. mind out for that bamboo rod and lead weight !!
 


Back
Top Bottom