Riding Gravel on a Sprotsbike

[SwanTiger]

the biggest obsacle to over come is apprehension....thats where most people fail.

That be true Mr. Pooey.

[pritch]

No it doesn't. It makes you a sprung mass.

I'm no expert but I would have thought I was sprung mass whether my weight was on my fat arse or on my feet. Since I'm not part of the suspension.

Since the pegs are approaching half a metre lower than the seat, weighting the pegs instead of the seat must lower the c of g .

[Motu]

No,standing on the pegs doesn't lower the CG,your weight may be on the pegs,but your body mass is now higher.I don't like to stand on gravel roads - oh,some people are very fast standing up on gravel,but I think you'll find they are fast no matter what they do.

[Crasherfromwayback]

I think it was 'Jantar' that mentioned using a higher gear, and I'm with that 100%, not only for what was mentioned there, but also in a higher gear engine braking is not as pronounced, so you don't get such a violent weight transfer to the front tyre just when you don't want or need it.
When I went from a KX500 (very little engine braking) to my RMZ450 (plenty of engine braking), I really struggled with the front end burying it's self in soft sand (not that different to deep gravel) when I shut it down.
When I ride in deep soft sand now, I wind the idle up to combat the effect, bit like riding your road bike in a higher gear.
Try and practice riding your bike at lowish speed while applying more and more (really progressivley, NOT aggressively) front brake until you get to the point of lock up.....see how far you can ride the bike in a straight line with the wheel locked. THE best practice you can do.....once you've learnt what it feels like locked, you'll never panic and bin it when you do have a wee lock up, just ease off and carry on!

[Jantar]

No,standing on the pegs doesn't lower the CG,your weight may be on the pegs,but your body mass is now higher.I don't like to stand on gravel roads - oh,some people are very fast standing up on gravel,but I think you'll find they are fast no matter what they do.

On a sprotbike, I weight the pegs rather than stand on them. The idea being that that the bike can move around a bit more under you. The total C of G of the bike rider combination is indeed higher, but as the bike can move a small amount independant of the rider it will act as though the C of G is lower. I would not suggest that you try and stand on the pegs on a sprot bike. The ergonomics are not set up for that, and you would only succed in transferring weight further forward. Ideally, if there is to be any weight transfer it should be further rearward.

[Motu]

I've found the bikes that feel best on gravel are what these days would be termed ''classic'',but really just the old bikes.They have a more even weight distribution,the sports bike has far too much over the front wheel,a dirt bike not enough.When I do a lot of kms on gravel I find my inner thighs hurt - that's how I'm moving the bike around,I don't put my leg out,it's just from weighting my inside leg.

I've found it great going to a 2 stroke Crasher - corner entry is a breeze,I can do brake slides and stuff,make a mess of it and overshoot...what the hell,it doesn't matter what you do.And mid corner when you hit the thick loose stuff it just goes over it like it's not there,a big thumper will bury the front and you'll be sawing on the bars fighting for control.Mind you,when you get the gas on there's a bit more work to do!

[cowpoos]

When I went from a KX500 (very little engine braking) to my RMZ450 (plenty of engine braking), I really struggled with the front end burying it's self in soft sand (not that different to deep gravel) when I shut it down.
When I ride in deep soft sand now, I wind the idle up to combat the effect, bit like riding your road bike in a higher gear.

I throttle a lil as soon as I turn on sand...winding more throttle on till I get a lil oversteer as I'm turning to sharpin it....take a bit to change your brain but works very well.....thou...I mite try your technqe next time I'm out hav a play on the dirt bike...havn't thought bout that....hmm

[carver]

i find the main thing is keeping your wheels at 90 degrees with the slope of the cambered corners, i stay in the left wheel track for as long as possible!
tire pressures are a biggie, i run 20 psi at the front and 25ish at the back it helps to smooth out the feedback, and lets you hang on less and relax more.
i put my weight forward, and use the rear brake and gears a lot for slowing down, i "feather" the front brake.
use power to keep you where you want to be, i find once you loose your nerve and hit the anchors stuff goes bad.
look ahead and try get it smooth and flowing
i got a record, i challange anyone to try it
i rode a 03 suzuki Burgman 250 down pironghia west road (high up the mt to kawhia) and only came close to loosing it once
unsure of what a burgman is? http://www.dailymotos.com/backoffice..._opinion_5.jpg
20kmh of sheer hell.

[Jantar]

tire pressures are a biggie, i run 20 psi at the front and 25ish at the back it helps to smooth out the feedback, and lets you hang on less and relax more.
i put my weight forward, and use the rear brake and gears a lot for slowing down, i "feather" the front brake.
use power to keep you where you want to be, i find once you loose your nerve and hit the anchors stuff goes bad.
look ahead and try get it smooth and flowing
i got a record, i challange anyone to try it
i rode a 03 suzuki Burgman 250 down pironghia west road (high up the mt to kawhia) and only came close to loosing it once
unsure of what a burgman is? http://www.dailymotos.com/backoffice..._opinion_5.jpg
20kmh of sheer hell.

You are on a KLR, hardly a sprot bike. Remember that when riding a sprotbike on gravel it will normally be set up for the open road. That means no playing with tyre pressures or anything similar. Sprotbikes already have too much weight forward, and that is the reason for NOT standing on the pegs.

As for the Pironghia West Road? I love that road. pure delight, not hell. It was one of the roads in the 1989 Kiwi Rider 500, and I absolutely blitzed it on a GSX750. Didn't even come close to losing it. But the road from Kawhia to Raglan gave me a fright when I came too close to a holiday bus at a rather high speed.

[carver]

You are on a KLR, hardly a sprot bike. Remember that when riding a sprotbike on gravel it will normally be set up for the open road. That means no playing with tyre pressures or anything similar. Sprotbikes already have too much weight forward, and that is the reason for NOT standing on the pegs.

As for the Pironghia West Road? I love that road. pure delight, not hell. It was one of the roads in the 1989 Kiwi Rider 500, and I absolutely blitzed it on a GSX750. Didn't even come close to losing it. But the road from Kawhia to Raglan gave me a fright when I came too close to a holiday bus at a rather high speed.

well, the wheels on the burger aint exactly big, and i had a passanger on it too!
they are very unstable at low speeds, have a long wheel base, a automatic tranny (no engine braking) and you sit with your feet forward on a deck! no pegs.
kawhia raglan is easy, if you need something good try raglan- pt waikato!
might do it soon.
did that on my DT 175

[Smorg]

On the christmas holidays we hired a campervan and while we were driving it up to Cape Reinga there was a VFR doing 2 up all the way along that gravel road. It was hard enough on 4 wheels let alone 2 with a pillion. Will post a pic when i get home

[Motu]

I used to do a lot of gravel roads on the bike in my avatar at the moment.Most Aucklanders enjoy SkyHigh Rd,so do I - but I enjoyed it more when it was all gravel...I blew the gearbox up on that bike on SkyHigh Rd....