Riding on "marbles"

[FROSTY:Me]

New challenge for this rider.
On my local er "track" the winter riding has ripped up the clay and hard mud and its balled up into marbles kind of like loose gravel on top of the hard clay underneath. Instant slide either front or rear going into corners.
How do you guys ride this stuff ?

[NordieBoy]

Badly ?

[cooneyr]

Sitting as far forward as possible and on the gas. Better to slide the back than the front.

Cheers R

[cave weta]

Sitting as far forward as possible and on the gas. Better to slide the back than the front.

Cheers R

X2- but dont forget that your tyre pressures need to be around 8lbs

[4stroke]

stand foward over the tank and steer with your feet and weight, on a left hand corner push down on ur right foot and vicea-versa for a right corner. well thats what i was ttold for riding in the mud anyway.

[Ixion]

Horizontally, would probably be the most common answer.

[theblacksmith]

I agree with 4 stroke - always weight the outside pegs on corners with your weight as forward as practical. Try and keep the bike as VERTICAL (Stu) as possible as well and keep throttle and braking commands smooth.If you hit jumps land as straight and upright as you can-lean back a little whilst airborne.Riding on this kind of slop requires instant corrective manouvres and physical fitness, but it can be fun and builds a lot of new and useful skills.Good edged tyres are also a great help.

[boomer]

The same old problem you've always had Tony.... Gas it ya poof!!!



ps.. belated wishes to you and your lovely Wife.. CONGRATULATIONS BROTHER !


pps... you still owe me $20

[westie]

If you ride it long enough the way the others have mentioned then it will get nicely burmed up and faster!

[CRF119]

I find if you ride slow u will be sweet (Not really a option for me)
If you ride at a average pace you will lose the front end and fall off more or get close to falling off.
On lose tracks and mud i tend to find the the faster you go the easier it gets because the faster you are going the more likely you are to hold balance and stay upright, more likely to get to another section of track with grip.

I do 95% of my riding standing up that way you can react quicker.

Why do you think the top riders look out of control sometimes, because they are on the section with out grip and bounce or slide to the easier section of track.

Thats my theory anyway. If you do a make a mistake it tends to hurt alot more. As i have found out twice this year.

[cave weta]

Try and keep the bike as horizontal as possible

Horizontal is like the horizon!
- that is what he is trying not to do

[takitimu]

I find if you ride slow u will be sweet (Not really a option for me)
If you ride at a average pace you will lose the front end and fall off more or get close to falling off.
On lose tracks and mud i tend to find the the faster you go the easier it gets because the faster you are going the more likely you are to hold balance and stay upright, more likely to get to another section of track with grip.

Rumour has it if you go faster it keeps the tires clear which helps heaps, the Nield boys runs 12-13psi for that reason as well, personally it's all rumours to me, I've yet to experience going fast .
Throttle control, standing ( I prefer not gripping tight with your knees & letting the bike move around under you ), weighting the outside peg ( critical ) & keep your arms straight ( you can put a plank on them from your shoulders to the bars & your arm touches all the way down ) for max control are the techniques from what I can tell.
But mostly it's just practise, doing standing real tight figure of 8's around markers on a greasy as surface ( non flat ) will help, a few practices over winter I did that & it really helped with bike control when it's slippery.

[warewolf]

How do you guys ride this stuff ?

Badly but improving. Something very useful I learnt from a speedway-riding mate: he says the trick is to tip the bike into the corner, THEN back off the throttle to control the slide. Doing it the other way 'round results in chaos, particularly front-end washouts. Apparently a never-ending source of amusement at the speedway club, watching people try to get the hang of this.

My technique is to push down on the inside bar to initiate the turn and apply throttle to drive the bike through the turn from the rear, tending to wheelspin. Head up and looking where you want to go. Weight up front. The front does drift in some situations but usually more throttle pushes the bike forward rather than sideways, and/or lifting the bike up tends to make it drive straight ahead.

Like with a road bike, tilting the bike down tends to cause oversteer, and lifting the bike towards vertical tends to produce more drive. IIRC I work both the throttle and the lean angle of the bike, some body positioning front/rear too.

Of course, I am much braver at this when I have lots of room to manouvere, ie to correct a complete tangential slide situation . I'm lucky, lots of places to practice hereabouts.

[FROSTY:Me]

ok half an hour then its time to go practice this stuff

[FROSTY:Me]

Well I thought I was a right ol hero.--ripped around twice to get relaxed then start sitting well forwards on the slippery corners. Trying the stuff you lot said and bugger me -all is good -back end skippin and sliding around front pretty planted. -Woohoo I've cracked It
THEN one of the kids quads decided to "play up" so I had to walk the corners--BUGGER --no hero at all --just that so many laps had swept the marbles to the far outside.