From Road To Dirt: Riding Off Road Tips

Sometimes you can be riding along and a little dirt track will catch your eye at the side of the road, running off into a forest. If you find yourself thinking, I wonder where that goes?.. then maybe it’s time you start riding off the beating track and hit the trails. Going offroad is an exhilarating experience, if you’ve only ever ridden on the tarmac the dirt can be a real shock to the system. Although you’re still riding a motorcycle; going offroad takes an entirely new set of skills, which you’ll develop as you go. Bike trader, We Buy Any Bike have created this guide to help prepare you for the trails and give some tips while riding:

Protection

Riding a motorcycle anywhere should mean you want to get some protective gear on. Some people think you can be a bit more relaxed when you’re not on the road but it’s actually the opposite, learning to ride on dirt means you will be falling off! You never know what terrain you’ll face, mud, sand, grass; all can be skiddy and take you by surprise. Offroad gear is really quite different from road gear, as it’s a very different setting. Trails are ridden at slower speeds than motorways, for example, so you need to think about temperature, air flow, visors steaming and so on. Here are a few more items to keep in mind:

• Helmets: Have a peak to offer protection from the sun, good ventilation
• Boots: Tall boots to cover shins and they usually have reinforcement around the ankle area
• Goggles: Mostly worn instead of a visor, offering better airflow at slower speeds
• Gloves: Lightweight and flexible to deal with a range of movement
• Protective Hard Padding: Across knees, shoulders, chest, elbows

Get Limber

If you have been riding a while you’ll already know not to stiffen up while on the road, but when you hit to dirt there’s a bit more to it. There is a real art to getting loose and relaxed with the movements of the bike off the tarmac. Trails are completely unpredictable:

• The terrain surfaces change quickly
• If you’re trying an offroad bike the suspension travel might surprise you
• Hardly any traction
• Stress on your body due to manhandling

As the last point mentions it’s likely you will be dropping your bike, heaving it up again and so on. Your body will already be up against it, so don’t make it worse for yourself by becoming stiff and rigid while you’re going along. Try to move with the bike and let it drift a little without fighting or pulling it back. You need to relax while riding off-road, so get limber and have fun.

Riding on Dirt Stood Up

A motorbikes centre of gravity is usually around the engine area, so when you sit on the bike astride that centre get raised. So your body actually adds to the machine making it more top heavy, this makes everything harder! If you raise yourself up from your bike by standing on the footpegs, you actually push the added weight downwards. When you’re on the footpegs the bike can move freely between your knees, you can turn the bike tighter, can jump it over small ruts, fallen branches and so on. So some tips for riding standing up: 1. Make sure you have the balls of the feet on the pegs, not the heels or middle foot. 2. Slightly squeeze your thighs so you can feel the seat and tank area 3. Bend your knees slightly, to absorb the ditches you ride over 4. Keep your elbows out, covering the bars so if you hit something you don’t get deflected

Brake

Braking isn’t so black and white when you’re off-road, due to lack of traction and terrain you’re riding. You’ve probably heard of the term ‘washing out’, losing your front wheel as you grab the front brake and tucking the front end in. When you’re off-road, get used to the idea of using your back brake more. Skidding and sliding can actually be used to your advantage when riding on a track, using the back brake you can practice sliding to a controlled stop. This is a safer way to stop offroad then using mostly front brake. This will feel weird when you first start, but will start making sense in time and will probably save your bacon one day!

Head On

Going from road riding to the dirt can present a few obstacles, literally. When riding on the street you automatically want to avoid anything that could make your tyres leave the tarmac. This makes complete sense as road bikes aren't really built for reacting to terrain change the way off-roaders are. Learning to trust that the bike can cope with what’s in front of you is half the challenge when first starting out on the dirt. Off-roaders are made to handle bumps and ditches through the excellent suspension travel, tyres have the grip to handle mud and sand. The offroad bike will be able to deal with what you put in front of it, so when you see some ground ahead that looks unstable, head straight for it! If you try and go around at the last minute you might put yourself in more danger. Swerving on the road isn’t the same as swerving on dirt. You don’t know what the traction is like, so plough through and don’t hesitate.

Face Plant

Yep! You’ll fall off when going off-road for the first few times, and probably a load of times after that as well. Don’t let that put you off, except that it will happen and just crack on. You have to fall sometimes to learn and build the skills required to ride on dirt. With the right gear on, you are protecting yourself as much as possible. If you ride bikes, you already know the risks and have come to terms that you might get a wee bit hurt if things go wrong. Offroad offers so much excitement, you just got to get out there and have a blast around in the dirt!