Needing help with gravel driveway riding on sports bikes

[Maha]

The worst bit about this is, the constant cleaning of a beautiful bike.

[Akzle]

Where to start…….
Roading gravel is relatively cheap so my starting point would be to find some nice friendly Kiwibikers with access to a trailer, a decent tow vehicle and some spades..

hwey my fuckwn driveway needs doing too

[koi]

ignore advice to get a new bike- that's not the ideal way to solve the problem as you (presumably) like your current one and it's better to adjust your skill to get past the issue. it's silly to buy a whole new bike just for the sake of getting up and down a driveway which can easily be solved through much better methods

idk what the driveway looks like in terms of stones and stuff but maybe get rid of any really big ones if there are any and consider putting something on the clay to like "dry" it, maybe a little bit dirt, sand, pine tree leaves or something just to stop it from being so slippery??

Even some thick rope put across the width of the driveway every foot or so to provide a "ledge" for your wheel to prevent it from rolling when you're going up/down the driveway might help to prevent you from wildly skidding out of control and give you time to stop and collect yourself halfway through or something like that

[awayatc]

Rope .?
cod ends and bits of ripped up trawlnets would work a treat....
and would last surprisingly well ....
contact some fisho's at wharf ....
tons of ripped up trawls get thrown out all the time....

[Bald Eagle]

Hi Pie

Had a chat with Ratti about your issue with the drive ( she's seen it so knows what it's like ) she suggested you get hold of Ross or Stu at twobaldbikers.co.nz and get one if them to come and do a site visit, give you tips and help about how to beat it.

[rocketman1]

Appreciate any help in advance. [/QUOTE]

Katiepie

Seem like it has all been said , some good advice here BUT.............
An R6 is not a good dirt bike end of story. Great Road bike , for which it was built. I would not like to ride it up and down your driveway.
Unless you change your bike or driveway I can see it ending in tears.
You master the driveway for say 50 or 100 rides but it will catch you out eventually.
If you cannot change the driveway, change your bike, buy a adventure style bike. With adventure style tyres.
There are some very good dual purpose bikes out there that will handle your drive, a peice of cake, and ride the road just about as well as the R6.

Good luck

Horses for courses.

M

[Gremlin]

We've got it all wrong... she just needs some knobblies!



Of course, this would screw the 99.99% of her other riding, but she's not asking for advice on road riding

Ok ok... I'm going

[FJRider]

The worst bit about this is, the constant cleaning of a beautiful bike.

Cleaning IS womens work ..

[caseye]

Hmmmmmmm!.
Go on Pie, give those bald fuckers a call, te he he. if they know Ratti, they'll be can do boys.
I'm not brave enough to suggest you change bikes and I'm pretty certain after all you and it have been through, that it's not an option either, but, comes a time when needs must.
A short dirty with a bit of punch might be just the thing?????
Problem with that, is this, you'll make the change and that bloody driveway will spit you and it anyway, just so you know who's boss.

[FJRider]

We've got it all wrong... she just needs some knobblies!

Another Honda ...

And friends ...

[Katiepie]

I'm not brave enough to suggest you change bikes and I'm pretty certain after all you and it have been through, that it's not an option either

Bingo - those who don't know me will not understand why getting rid of my R6 is not an option I am willing to look at (especially when I brought it for the very purpose of commuting on it and travelling up and down country which I do with much satisfaction).

Thanks Baldy - will do. Know those lovely gents will have a few tricks up their sleeves to help me handle it a little better.

And thanks to Spyda for coming around last week to check out the drive in person, in it's current state - have a few things to work on from that too.

Appreciate all the genuine advice on here, it will actually help me a heck of a lot.

And the R6 stays, just sayin - non-negotiable. Got that bike til she dies a natural death this time, no cliff jumping though.

[george formby]

I guess it's all about attitude and the length of your legs.
This bloke could help.


Nuckin futs.
Ya gotta keep on gettin on..
Get some oggy knobs, crash bars & Distanzias and get stuck in.

[haydes55]

Second gear, feet off the pegs, ride the clutch, keep revs up and let the rear wheel spin up. If you can get used to the rear wheel squirreling around under you. If the rear has broken traction, chances are, your front won't.

I normally ride gravel on my Z1000 with my feet on the pegs. But if it's difficult, steep and slippery, I'll basically do a skid the entire way up with my feet out to stabalise me.

Sent from my HTC Desire 310 using Tapatalk

[Latte]

Probably a bigger can of worms but "walking the bike" maybe? - walk beside it as you "ride" it up the drive, feathering clutch.

[Maha]

The CB1300 had no trouble with dirt/tree root and the odd rock somewhere around the East Cape, once on this downward road I had no alternative but to keep going until I reached the bottom, hoping there was a turn-around area, luckily there was. Being two-up made it all the more interesting, thank goodness it was dry.

The photo doesn't really show the steepness.