Riding on dirt roads

[echo948]

The other day I was out riding and Google Maps had me on a road that turned from pavement to gravel/hard pack dirt.  I have no experience riding off pavement, so I ended up just turned around.  Any tips for riding on that kind of surface with street tires?

[KellyL]

Centralise yourself on the bike
More weight on pegs, less on seat
As little weight on handlebars as possible, no death grip - "you should be able to play the piano on your handlebars"
Don't lean into corners; stay upright and push the bike under you

Street tyres actually grip reasonably well on dry hard pack

[Its about speed]

A z900 on the dirt roads is easy to maintain control.

KellyL is spot-on. Let the bike move side to side beneath you. Over cranking on the bars will cause a wash-out. Use some throttle stabs to move the rear tire into the slide. Don't hold it on. Use rear tire braking and ease-off of the front brake.

Once you gain confidence, keep your body weight forward over the front tire, bend the elbows more and toss the rear into and out of the slides. You'll begin to steer with the throttle and engine braking.

If you can locate smooth hard pack, practice power sliding starts and stops.

The z900 loves to slide.

[Cazzy_R]

 Zeta from this forum.
 Legend. 

 

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[KellyL]

Originally Posted by Its about speed

Use rear tire braking and ease-off of the front brake.

+1 to that. Very good tip.

Also there's no shame in bailing out if the road gets too gnarly, especially with deep ruts and pot holes. It's pretty easy to smash the headers and/or sump when you run out of ground clearance.

[echo948]

Thanks for the tips.  I'll try them out next time!

[zeta]

Originally Posted by Cazzy_R

Zeta from this forum.
 Legend. 

[PJ69]

I’m getting cold sweats and a sinking sensation imagining having to clean all that dust watching Zeta head up those tracks. Top riding though.

[porkchop]

Originally Posted by PJ69

I’m getting cold sweats and a sinking sensation imagining having to clean all that dust watching Zeta head up those tracks. Top riding though.

Couple minutes in and I was bored with it, was there dust?