Dusty Butt 1,000km adventure ride

[warewolf]

My gravel problem is that I've never done the "rear wheel steering" thing.
If either wheel moves around a bit I panic.
Do I lean the bike through the corners like on dirt or keep the bike upright?

TA's link is okay but all too brief. That's why I was suggesting a proper training course.

The trick is to understand that the bike will move around, and that this is NOT a bad thing. In a nutshell, you steer with your feet (which at least slightly tips the bike on its side but can be a lot more) and always balance the bike. If you are balanced and in control of the bike, it does not matter if you have firm unyielding contact with tar, or are drifting on tar or gravel, or all locked up on gravel. A standing position gives you best control. On loose surfaces, locked brakes cause the snow-plough effect which stops you faster than at the point of lock-up, the latter being a tar technique.

When I get on the throttle, the bike is being driven/steered by the rear tyre so it matters less what the front is doing... and the bike suddenly handles. The front is floating over the bumps, the rear driving through them, working the shock.

We'll talk offline, way too much to put in a message.

The previous tyre owner must have been running it far too soft and it's cupping badly.

More tyre is always better off-road. Sometimes you have to run low pressure to get grip at the expense of tyre life. But in that case, a chunkier tyre might have been a better choice in the first place.

[cooneyr]

TA's link is okay but all too brief. That's why I was suggesting a proper training course.

Yer but how much is it going to cost and what am I likely to get from it. If it gives me the skills to go 10-15 kph faster and costs $500 is it really worth it? The whole point of adventure riding is to have a look around the place. I'm getting pretty comfortable at speed on gravel now anyway and find that when I wick it up I don't have time to look around. Things like the DB you have to keep it moving but on general adventure rides I tend to like to slow down a bit so I can look around and maybe crank it over a fun section or two.

I learned/am learning pretty fast just from trying to keep up with others. Is is really worth the $ or are the better spend just doing it and learning that way?

Can you tell I'm not sold on the idea yet

Cheers R

[Zukin]

I learned/am learning pretty fast just from trying to keep up with others. Is is really worth the $ or are the better spend just doing it and learning that way?

Cheers R

You are probably a good rider on gravel now, and I think that 99% of other adventure riders will slow down to stay with you, not you trying to keep up with them?
Has anyone else noticed this?

[cooneyr]

You are probably a good rider on gravel now, and I think that 99% of other adventure riders will slow down to stay with you, not you trying to keep up with them?
Has anyone else noticed this?

I guess that is what makes it adventure riding and not long distance gravel road racing.

In saying that there are times when the people I ride with (including myself) do wind it up (somewhat) - we just wait for those who are choking on our dust further down the track. In my mind if you don't, you might as well not bother to travel with anybody else as you are not going to get the the social interaction side. The trick for me in those situations is to determine how often to stop.

Did I get what you were meaning Zukin?

Cheers R

[NordieBoy]

Just done the Maungatapu-Rai-Nelson loop.

Tried pushing the bike down a bit more and...

It works

Before I stopped pushing it down if the front moved
This time I intentionally pushed it past that level in each corner and it worked nicely with rolling the throttle on from the apex (or just after).
The back whilst not power-sliding was sliding.
The front tyre was fine.

The bike felt planted and this was with 32psi rear and 30 front.

It was a matter of getting past my comfort zone, going through the uh-oh zone and ending up in the hey-this-works zone.

Now to work out when to start rolling the throttle on.

DynoJet wise, I could go back to my old setup without a second thought.
More bottom and top ends. The middle was better as well.
Booked the Dyno tomorrow so we'll see if it can be sorted.


Can't wait 'till the DustyButt part 1b to show off my mad gravel riding skillz

[PLUG]

Just done the Maungatapu-Rai-Nelson loop.

Tried pushing the bike down a bit more and...

It works

Before I stopped pushing it down if the front moved
This time I intentionally pushed it past that level in each corner and it worked nicely with rolling the throttle on from the apex (or just after).
The back whilst not power-sliding was sliding.
The front tyre was fine.

The bike felt planted and this was with 32psi rear and 30 front.

It was a matter of getting past my comfort zone, going through the uh-oh zone and ending up in the hey-this-works zone.

Now to work out when to start rolling the throttle on.

Can't wait 'till the DustyButt part 1b to show off my mad gravel riding skillz

good on ya nordy ... i compair it to a waltz ... ya bikes ya dance partner ... hold it tight & ridged & ya toes get stood on ... hold it gental & sence the flow ... you'll dance better than you ever imagined

[Balrog]

Hey Guys

What do you mean by pushing down?
Do you stand up straight and just lean the bike under you, rather than
leaning with the bike?

On a different topic, got my front tyre replaced today.
The tube inside didn't have a mark on it.
Awesome repair job Plug, the old patch on the inside worked a charm.
Its all re-packed for next time

[Transalper]

... i compare it to a waltz ... ya bikes ya dance partner ... hold it tight & ridged & ya toes get stood on ... hold it genital & sense the flow ... you'll dance better than you ever imagined

Nicely said, i can see myself repeating that quote myself sometime soon.

[PLUG]

Hey Guys

What do you mean by pushing down?
Do you stand up straight and just lean the bike under you, rather than
leaning with the bike?

fucked if i know ... what ever it is, it's workin for NB ... sounds impressive though

[NordieBoy]

What do you mean by pushing down?
Do you stand up straight and just lean the bike under you, rather than
leaning with the bike?

Yep, body upright - bike leaning.
At this point it's seated but standing and corners will come...

[PLUG]

On a different topic, got my front tyre replaced today.
The tube inside didn't have a mark on it.
Awesome repair job Plug, the old patch on the inside worked a charm.
Its all re-packed for next time

just quietly, i was pertty pleased with the out come ... gave me self a pat on the back for that ...

[NordieBoy]

But did you really have to do it nekid?

[PLUG]

But did you really have to do it nekid?

arrrr... so that was you making all those rustling noises in the bushers ...

[cooneyr]

just quietly, i was pertty pleased with the out come ... gave me self a pat on the back for that ...

Rightly so - was a good effort and well though out.

Yep, body upright - bike leaning.
At this point it's seated but standing and corners will come...

Body upright and bike leaning works really well for me. If the bike decides to slide then feels much more controlable. Well done Nordie. I now understand better why motard, motorcross and enduro riders want narrow seats that extend onto the tank.

But did you really have to do it nekid?

Just dont ever share a room with him!!!

Cheers R

[NordieBoy]

DynoJet wise, I could go back to my old setup without a second thought.
More bottom and top ends. The middle was better as well.
Booked the Dyno tomorrow so we'll see if it can be sorted.

Well that was surprising...

Run#2 Is pre-dynojet.
Run#3 Is DynoJet kit - Needle 4th from top, 160 main, open airbox lid.

Running much richer but more power and torque...