Gravel is scary and terrible - how to navigate?

[carver]

gravel is easy and fun
just ride by feel

[StoneY]

Gravel is horrid on my GixxeR but the Duc can handle it

[Leyton]

Or perhaps he read the advice in this thread, had a concrete milkshake and HTFU

LOL, Ask Flux about my sideways handle bar experience!! RAD MAN!!!

Correction : I fuckin Love gravel and it does not scare me. But on a bike that is sensitive to gravel damage... its another story. I would rather not stuff my tyres on gravel.

Exibit A: http://www.youtube.com/user/AgentMi6.../0/GOly0TpqSoQ watch from 3:50 in.

The problem I have with it is also obvious today after cleaning the bike, The splits in the tyres piss me off, so gravel is to be avoided as much as it add's to features of the ride.

In saying that, it was a small price to pay for some great roads on the weekend! If I will do it again from what I have seen of the new splits in my tyres, probably not but then again.. if it was with more people then yeah I would go for sure.

Shame there was not more people to enjoy that route with.

If there was any tips I have for gravel it is..

Ride at around 60km/hr + anything under that and you do not have enough gyro to keep upright
No weight on the front
No braking with the front
Avoid breaking!! and just use the motor.. but do not slow down slower that 60km/hr if it can be helped.
Pick you spots to ease off the gas if you want to loose speed, do not ease off over very loose stuff suddenly
Do no chop that gas

Things that may supprise you.... , you can pull the gas back and spin the wheel if you are riding faster than 60km/hr, the gyro will keep you upright, you will drift out sideways a bit... so I do not recommend this. But for deminstrative purpose's, speed + positive throttle is the key, never coast.

[mister.koz]

You were bitching and moaning about gravel and didn't want to go on a ride because the gravel was too much....

[Taz]

Appologies if this is a repost - i did search!

So, I know a few guys who are quite uncomfortable about gravel, hard packed or not. In my experience (short-ish) I have found the following advice from other riders really useful when navigating gravel patches, please ammend and correct me if needed.

Disclaimer - this is not an epitome, just a collection of advice I have been given - riders should try and find their way rather than follow all advice like sheep.

1. Keep your weight low & central by putting more weight on the pegs and leaning back a bit - don't stand up totally unless you are on a motard
2. Keep your speed down and your bike in the lower rev range (2nd gear at 20 - 30 on my zx10r works nicely on all sorts of gravel assofar)
3. Wind your steering damper softer a click or two if its set really hard
4. Don't lean, put pressure on the pegs and steer slightly - you may see people spinning the back wheel to turn.. all power to them but my bike is quite shiny so I aint trying that.
5. Keep all actions small, especially the brakes & throttle.
6. Do not use the front brake unless you are in a hard-packed spot, use engine breaking where possible or the rear brake - both really smoothly
7. Aim for car tracks where the loose portions of the gravel are pushed aside.
8. If you are riding the clutch you are probably going too slow, change down a gear and keep a constant speed - preferably not 1st on a sports bike.
9. Scan ahead for tire tracks and loose patches and pick your lines early.
10. Always stay on your side of the road, brakes are relatively useless on gravel so oncoming traffic wont stop
11. Keep your distance from other vehicles front, back & sides - if you are worried about holding people up, pull over and let them pass - 1st place doesn't look as good with torn-up fairings
12. RELAX and take it easy, loosely packed gravel is normally quite short and hard-packed gravel is allot easier than it looks

After gravel patches I always wait for a clear and straight portion of road where I can carefully scrub the tires of dust/mud by counter-steering inside my lane. I've almost backed a bike through a corner because of left-over mud on the rear from a gravel patch that was wet...

christ mate you make gravel sound like it's real hard to ride on.

[p.dath]

I'm interested in the comment in tip #1, about leaning back.

I've tried leaing forward and back, and while I can notice a difference, neither feels like it is better than the other position.
Leaning back would raise your centre of gravity as you move your weight back (and consequently up), although it would presumably move the weight to be more evenly split between the front and rear tyre (depending on where your seat position is, I guess).

So clear it up for me, why is it better to lean back?

[Taz]

Few of those tips make sense..... Some peeps over analyse the simplest of tasks.

[mister.koz]

I'm interested in the comment in tip #1, about leaning back.

I've tried leaing forward and back, and while I can notice a difference, neither feels like it is better than the other position.
Leaning back would raise your centre of gravity as you move your weight back (and consequently up), although it would presumably move the weight to be more evenly split between the front and rear tyre (depending on where your seat position is, I guess).

So clear it up for me, why is it better to lean back?

My main thought for leaning back is to even out the weight balance, my bike is fairly forwards, I guess it would be different for different riding positions.

[Leyton]

You were bitching and moaning about gravel and didn't want to go on a ride because the gravel was too much....

Bull.....$hit.

What I acually did, was let those with super inflated ego's run rampent over a concieved idea that gravel scares the shit out of me, Enough said about that.

Just ride FFS

And for anyone reading the tips, Another bit of advice I have.

Keep it simple.

The moment you start thinking about riding over gravel, survival reactions kick in when things do not go your way and you feel even more uncomfortable. Start off with the logical points, ie.. weight on pegs = low center of gravity.

[awayatc]

My man thought for leaning back

And your womans thought please...?

[buellbabe]

All great advice people and the bit about going a bit faster than you are actually comfortable with did make sense cos its quite logical that the bike would have smoother travel over the bumps.

When I rode Harleys I never had a problem with gravel roads or bush tracks for that matter, they are great all terrain bikes but the Buell??? Holy crap its freaking horrible in gravel, just feels like its all over the place and I am REALLY uncomfortable. I have noticed some people doing it motard style and putting a leg out but if I do that it means I'm leant past the bikes centre of gravity and then its all over rover cos there is no way I'll get it upright again... So instead I just do it slow and steady but now I'm wondering if I'm doing it too slow. LOL.

[mister.koz]

Bull.....$hit.

What I acually did, was let those with super inflated ego's run rampent over a concieved idea that gravel scares the shit out of me, Enough said about that.

It's one thing to defend yourself and quite another thing to directly insult people who have gone a long way to help you out. Well done.

[mister.koz]

All great advice people and the bit about going a bit faster than you are actually comfortable with did make sense cos its quite logical that the bike would have smoother travel over the bumps.

When I rode Harleys I never had a problem with gravel roads or bush tracks for that matter, they are great all terrain bikes but the Buell??? Holy crap its freaking horrible in gravel, just feels like its all over the place and I am REALLY uncomfortable. I have noticed some people doing it motard style and putting a leg out but if I do that it means I'm leant past the bikes centre of gravity and then its all over rover cos there is no way I'll get it upright again... So instead I just do it slow and steady but now I'm wondering if I'm doing it too slow. LOL.

There's a video somewhere of carver coming back from the cape going downhill on a gravel road riding his scooter. He passed sports bike after sports bike at a fair amount of speed.... I'd be doing about 15km/h - 25

Harley ATV hehe I saw some buell's a the training day yesterday, they have some awesome technology in them! They look like their weight is quite far forward... I wonder if that could be it? You have to do whats comfortable for you.

[Leyton]

It's one thing to defend yourself and quite another thing to directly insult people who have gone a long way to help you out. Well done.

Good point, But that was to those whom is guilty of such, so in saying that, Direct it was not. In hinesight, I don't give a toss, say what they want, do what they please... . And thankyou for all your support, and that is a direct thankyou. So unless you consider yourself fitting into the catagory of super inflated ego, you have nothing to worry about.

I do not think you can use direct insult as perhaps a form of defence.. you decide because you had previously use my name, in the same sentence as your insault, this being a direct insualt. And yes, it has pissed me right off. Can you see what I am getting at here ?

I do forgive, quit it and just ride.

Leyton

[Leyton]

So instead I just do it slow and steady but now I'm wondering if I'm doing it too slow. LOL.

#1 - What method works If you are finding yourself getting little scares every known and again then thats no good, but if you are consistant and confident with your pace over gravel, I would not change it for anyone.

Perhaps that logging truck coming up behind you.. one hopes they forgive :P