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-   -   Riding stood up advice? ( https://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=22662)

Simon 16-07-14 08:49

Riding stood up advice?
 
I'm very new to the whole off road scene and have been riding purely road bikes for my entire riding history. I'm after some advice about riding on the pegs, it feels very alien to me but i know it's a skill worth learning for off road riding.

does anyone have any good tips to help learn this skill?

cheers
Si

bart20170 16-07-14 10:03

raise the handle bars, knees firmly to the gastank

GT-0161 16-07-14 15:06

Bar risers
Use legs as suspension let the bike absorb the rough stuff the only way to improve off road riding is to practice also check out youtube plenty of tutorials


Xt660x 04

Mardy1982 17-07-14 13:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pepsi (Post 201324)
You may find that standing up makes using the back brake a bit of a pain as your foot pushing down has to travel in a slightly awkward angle. I did off-road riding and training with the Army and the options were to adjust the pedal height upwards slightly or to fit an overlapping pedal on top of the original, a bit like a spacer to go under your foot. BMW make a specific item for their 'off-road' GS range.

Also, my chief tip would be to ride gently, (slowly) off road at first whilst learning to apply your front brake more and more progressively until you get the confidence in knowing just how much you can actually yank on that lever before it even thinks of locking ( UP RIGHT manoeuvres only! ). You'll be surprised, but best done on mud and grass surfaces and not rubble or gravel trails. Just don't jam on the front whilst standing. You will not be able to stop your 90Kg flying over the bars and your own bike running you over.

One more - when going down hills or drop-offs put your ass right over the rear axle and lean forward, keeping your weight at the back. On steep downhill stuff, use 1st or 2nd gear and no gas and let the engine braking control your desent with a touch ( A TOUCH ) of back brake to control direction. Never pull the clutch in on down hills, you'll brake the control of the engine braking an as Sir Isac Newton said " Gravity is unstoppable ". Going up hill is out of the seat and put your neck over the clocks whilst standing knees slightly bent and the hands and bars near your chest. A constant throttle ( no random grabbing, on/off, of the twist grip ) on the climb with a slight increase applied as the ascent goes on

Oh go on just one more:- Never ride up a steep incline to a blind crest with the intention of riding straight over. It could be a sheer drop on the other side of a 100 foot. The correct method is to always walk your obstacles through first, even river crossings. I know it sounds a pain and in theory you'd never get anywhere if you did this, but it's a case of risk assessment on the move.

Oh if I must:- Tyre pressures for off roading should be dropped slightly for better traction, but this is on a personal level matched to the terrain. Cinder track / fire trail don't really need this but mud plugging with gradients could use softer tyres. We used to drop our DR350's down to 12psi. The problem was that when we dropped back on to metalled roads we had tyres massively under pressure then. Doh !!!

It might be an idea to buddy-up too. There's nothing worse than busting an arm on a tree root and you're in the middle of nowhere where you're mobile has zero signal.

Last one honest;- Tree roots. If you're in the forest on a trail / track and it's wet, try not to lay on the gas whilst on a root as your back tyre will spin out, spitting you off. Wet wood is a nightmare such as wooden planks that make up small bridges. I broke two ribs in a fall as a tree root and my exuberance to catch a much better mate concocted together as a dealy pair of ingredients.

All in all.....take things slow, and watch for the legal stuff like not razzing past hikers on bridleways etc...But the main thing is enjoy..


Great !! I learnt a lot from your advice :) what psi would u reckon on rear tyre on road and off road ??

Simon 18-07-14 22:19

Cheers guys, some very good tips to think over there.

Sandman 19-07-14 14:58

Some more things to consider:

Look ahead and plan your route, don't just look immediately in front of the bike.

Shift your weight around on the bike to help balance and steer. Move your back side and body forwards when going uphill and backwards when going downhill. When going through soft sand keeping the weight back and off the front will help the front tyre "glide" over and not dig in.
Shifting weight from foot to foot will help you steer the bike with little input from the bars. It will also help maintain grip on side slope - have more weight on the uphill footpeg and it will help the tyres grip and not slide down the slope.

Practice your brake control on nice flat gravelly surface. Get to know how to control the bike to a stop with the back wheel locked and get a feel for a front wheel slide by momentarily locking the front whilst keeping drive to rear. These skill will help lessen panic when your are on a hill and the brakes lock up with a little too much pressure applied or a rapid change in surface under the trye.

Above all...don't be a passenger!!!!
Too many people are stiff and rigid and do not not move and flow with the bikes movements. If you are standing stiffly then you will not be able to control the bike. I often think of the bike as a "sloppy link" between me and the ground, you must allow it to be able to pitch, roll and yaw underneath you while maintaining control of the whole thing.

The best thing I ever did was go on a BMW Offroad skills course and learnt an amazing amount in one weekend. Not cheap but I still think it was money very well spent. Other training courses are available ;o)

Have fun out there!

Simon 22-07-14 13:48

I finally had time today to out everything into practice, I think I'm maybe learning on a route that's to technical as I'm always slipping the clutch to get along, but standing on the pegs I certainly made better progress and could be quicker over rutted ground, bar risers are now on the wish list. The road gearing did hinder things along with the snatchy throttle but they can worked on.

And oh boy are ramblers a funny bunch, ended up sharing a joke with a horse rider who I expected would be the most trouble sum.

Sonny91be 13-04-17 09:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mardy1982 (Post 201355)
Great !! I learnt a lot from your advice :) what psi would u reckon on rear tyre on road and off road ??

I'd like to know also yes ? What are the recommended on and off road tyre pressures ? I just rando;ly but e; on like 2 bar ish most of the time on road since it feels best for me otherwise it feels slippery but off road I have no idea ? Any feedback.

Petenz 13-04-17 12:03

If you keep looking at that rock/rut/hole etc you will hit it...
look ahead..

the bike is going to move around under you . don't tense up &
try to stop it..

Wheel weighting... straight line / bumps / rocks / ruts , keep your weight
back to let the front wheel float over bumps etc... corners move your weight foward.. 9 times out of 10 it's the front wheel that gets you into trouble...

Riding along the side of a hill put your weight on the out side foot peg &
lean you upper body away from the hill....

Being a road rider you will know that while cornering to keep
your weight below the bikes centre line... but on the dirt/lose surface
keep your weight above the bikes centre line...

Another diffrents to road riding is keep your elbows up , don't let them drop
into a road riding position...


and have fun....


..

Sonny91be 13-04-17 12:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petenz (Post 229148)
If you keep looking at that rock/rut/hole etc you will hit it...
look ahead..

the bike is going to move around under you . don't tense up &
try to stop it..

Wheel weighting... straight line / bumps / rocks / ruts , keep your weight
back to let the front wheel float over bumps etc... corners move your weight foward.. 9 times out of 10 it's the front wheel that gets you into trouble...

Riding along the side of a hill put your weight on the out side foot peg &
lean you upper body away from the hill....

Being a road rider you will know that while cornering to keep
your weight below the bikes centre line... but on the dirt/lose surface
keep your weight above the bikes centre line...

Another diffrents to road riding is keep your elbows up , don't let them drop
into a road riding position...


and have fun....


..

Whats this high elbow thing ? Why is it so crucial ? I always put elbows down ON ROAD. why always up off road ?


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