Riding Gravel on a Sprotsbike

[cowpoos]

Hey Mr Poos, do you have dusty shit all through your bike where cloths and sponges can't get at to clean? My driveway is 400m long, is dirt and gravel and it fuckens covers the bike in shit every time I go out.

How do you clean the inside of your front fairing area where the speedo and headlights n shit are? or is it all accessible on the gixxer without having to pull things apart?

well those that know me kinow that I really don't clean my bike much....but when I do I use a a feather duster [thats not acctually feather] and a cloth wraped around a small stick for hard scrubing.....works really well.... my biggest problem in the chain....oil it....gets covered in dust straight away...so solution....don't oil it much and develop a protective layer of crap....

[Fishy]

Cheers man, yep I know what you mean about the shit all over the chain!. That dusty shit stick to my lchain like a fat kid on a cupcake!.

[far queue]

Hmm, two-up on my crappy Harley Sportster ... Not meeting tractors is good too - especially if they are heading in th opposite direction

mmm OK, we all know that smaller gives way to bigger. Yeah, that's not the way it's supposed to work, but if you want to stay alive it pays to be aware of it. So what happens when your tractor meets another tractor scumdog?

[ManDownUnder]

I don;t claim any expertise opn the issue... but I can confirm the only pieces of advice I was ever given on the subject have served me well...

Lower gear and keep a little power on. This lifts both wheels (the rear is down but climbing, and the front is lighter).

Don't "steer" - point the front wheel "in about the right direction" and follow it.

Bend your arms - allow the front to bounce around a little more if it wants to.

Stay out of gravel mounds, go for the worn grooves.

Bias the rear brake - it keeps extra weight on the front wheel meaning you can use the front brake to greater effect - or steer... but not both at the same time.

In soft stuff (i.e. sand) don't stop unless you have to. Keep it in a slightly higher gear to stop it spinning up and burrowing in.

[scumdog]

mmm OK, we all know that smaller gives way to bigger. Yeah, that's not the way it's supposed to work, but if you want to stay alive it pays to be aware of it. So what happens when your tractor meets another tractor scumdog?

Hmm, funny bastard eh?
USUALLY I get around the tractor!!

[motobob]

Don't know about being smooth in the stuff. I reckon you just get aggressive with the throttle and slide or fishtail the rear. Heaps of fun on a gixxer. Key is to get used to having the bike move under you. Course I grew up on skinny tyres not the fat donuts on bikes now.

CowPoos yah poof only 120 KmH in the metal!. 200K is much more fun.

Another reason not to jump on to big bikes too early. If only I could ride like this in the rain.

[cowpoos]

CowPoos yah poof only 120 KmH in the metal!. 200K is much more fun.
.

you trash talkin me fella....wanna race?

[boomer]

you trash talkin me fella....wanna race?

Poo's.. before you getting ya self in shit.. this aint a soggy biscuit race..K??!!

[Wasp]

5ks, pah don't make me laugh. I got my license in oct last year and was 50 kms from martinborough of which 30kms was gravel for the week before new years. (end brag)

[Posh Tourer :P]

what I would do is trail the rear brake. Not enough to slow you down, but enough to stop it spinning up slightly everytime it gets over a stone or so. I dont think spinning up the rear on road tyres really helps, as it gets out of control without the knobs to provide the traction.... Of course, a little spinning up can be good aswell. but I think it is very hard to control. Also, let the front end do what it wants (within reason). If you approach a deep patch of gravel, point in the right direction, and let the bike do what it wants as it goes through.

Of course I´m on an old BMW with skinny (3.50-19 and 4.00-18 rear) tyres, but they are´t knobbly, and the above really helps.....

[motobob]

you trash talkin me fella....wanna race?

Ha ha. Showdown at Taupo III huh. Bring it on dude. Heard you binned out practising to wax my tail.

What is it with you young fulla's got to pick on an old man who is just learning to ride again. I've got K19 all over me at Puke as well now. Jeez.

I'm getting a target painted on the back of my leathers just so you guys don't get confused as to which yellow gixxer I ride. We're starting to congregate in packs up in the north now (just to confuse the constablery). So this will help you get the right guy.

Anyway hope yer mending well.

[KATWYN]

DON"T STAND UP!!!! because of your shit for purpose tyres u want the centre of gravity as low as posible...especially for any little slides as its much easyer to control...:

Ok uncle ya learn summit new everyday. I was standing up on the bike pegs
yesterday on the gravel on our ride. - I always stand on the pegs on gravel,I thought
thats what ya do ??-
It feels safer for me too?? (am used to off roading btw)

Now i'm all confused what do I do ?......arghhhh

[Jantar]

Like cowpoos, I also do a lot a gravel riding on a sports/tourer and our driveway is just over 1 km of gravel. I find it is a lot of fun riding a big road bike in gravel, but there are a few things to watch. Much of the advice already given on this thread is apropriate and safe, but there are many item that can be improved on.

The first thing to consider is your bike/tyre combination. That nice sticky sports tyre that gives so much grip on a dry sealed road is not ideal for a surface that is loose or has a lubricating coating like fine dust on it. Your bike may have 100+ HP at the back wheel, but your tyre is only going to transfer about 30 HP to the road surface before it breaks loose, so a lower gear may not be appropriate if it is going to allow your engine to rev well into the power band. If anything, I tend to ride one gear higher than I would for the same speed on a sealed surface. Ideally your engine revs should be quite low, but not so low as to bog down the engine. You should be able wind on plenty of throttle and get a nice smooth response without exceeding around 30 HP at the rear wheel.

Many gravel roads have corrigations in the wheel tracks, yet the wheel tracks are the part of the road that will provide you with the most grip. When riding over a corragated surface you must either keep your speed very low (walking pace) or travel at a speed that allows your suspension to work and absorb the bumps so that it feels like you are gliding over the surface. The actual speed will depend on your bike's suspension setup, the wheelbase, and the frequency of corragation. On our driveway I generally find 65 kmh or above is comfortable on the GS1200SS yet the RE5 on the same road is comfortable at 45 kmh and above. Perhaps I should take this thread as a reminder to grade the driveway this week.

If you can stand on the footpegs in a reasonably upright postion and still comfortably reach the bars, then that is the ideal riding position. However with most sprot bikes standing on the pegs will have you leaning so far forward that you will look and feel like a hunchback preparing to take a dive. In this case you are better off sitting down, but put your weight on the footpegs, and not on your bum. This helps keep the center of gravity of the bike as low as possible, and allows the bike to move around on a loose surface independantly of the rider.

I use mainly the front brake for slowing down, and the rear brake only very carefully. Braking performance is better than you would expect, but prepare to slow down for corners a lot earlier than you would on a sealed surface.

Wash you bike more frequently after gravel riding, and pay attention to the chain. It will dry out and stretch quicker with a layer of gravel dust on it.

Incidentally, much of my gravel riding experience on large sport/tourer bikes goes back to when we used to have a national road trial championship. I believe that there hasn't been a national championship since the NZACU sanctioned KiwiRider 500 in 1989. Prior to that they were held quite regularly. And the national champion in 1989? Well, I'm still riding...

[ZeroIndex]

My thoughts so far of the little bit of gravel riding I've done, is grip the tank hard with your legs, and switch the frong 70% / rear 30% braking to front 40% / rear 60%

...just my 2 cents

[Edbear]

Been out to Tawharenui but not on the bike, a trip worth the trouble though it's a nice spot. Last gravel road I did was to Sth Head where the last 4k's were gravel. The F handles well on gravel, partly I think because of the weight and the skinnier tyres. Just let the front end go pretty much how it wants and relax. Biggest problem is the short suspension travel on a road bike, and it really isn't pleasant feeling the corrugations hammering the blazes out of the fairing! It's already cracked so I try to avoid gravel only for that reason. Usually get along around 80kp/h and the bike's really steady at those speeds. Always very cautious about braking, don't really want to try lifting 200kg off the road! The DR650 would have to be about the 'bee's knees' for NZ roads. Good weight, exc comfort, adequate power and handles everything you can fling at it, or so I've heard. Not ridden one, but apart from not really liking the style, I think it would have to be on my short list when I upgrade.