Hey what's up ADV crew. I'm new to dirt but have been riding for years on street bikes, cruisers, and now a 2007 Vstrom 1000. I'm heading up to Big Sur area and want to ride "The Old Coast Road" that's now just a dirt fire road maintained by the county. It has some steep hills and switch backs I hear. Like I said I have never ridden dirt in my life but I'm game to try. Am I dead meat? Mountain biker sites rated it beginner, and just said there's steep uphills. Locals drive 2 wheel drive cars on it. Sounds totally like cake but there has to be way more to this dirt thing than it seems. What do I do? Tires to what pressure? Stand up, sit down, use the front brake, don't use the front brake, skip the whole thing, plan on falling, or falling is unlikely..... hook me up. And yeah if I can keep the tires pointing down I'd love to save the tupperwear trashing for another day. Thanks, K2- AKA Greenhorn
Don't know your neck of the woods at all. BUT......................... Having ridden lots of dirt and road bikes (CB900, GSX750, FZ750) and ridden road bikes on lots of gravel roads you will be surprised what a road bike can do in gravel and a bit of water. Definaitely use the front brake but be prepared for it to lock up if used moderatley hard. Rear brake will become next to useless in loose gravel. Ride accordingly. Have a wee practice at braking when you first get on the gravel. Increase the braking pressure each time so you know what the bike will do. Standing up in rough - lumpy - gravel is good as it lowers the centre of gravity and lets the bike move around. Bikes are very forgiving in this way. Have a practice and see how it feels. Do it on tarmac first if you want, going in a fiqure eight pattern. It's good for getting your "body language" going. Tire pressures - stick to your road riding pressures. If in doubt at any stage in your ride if your alone - go back the way you came. Take a cell phone and let someone know where you are going. Ride accordingly. Have fun. Trev.
You need this: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246657 An excellent how to DVD fully demonstrated step by step. Moving this to Perfect Line and Riding Myths
first time on dirt on a V-strom and you are going to have a hard time remembering complicated dirtbiking skills. I offer three things for you to focus on. 1) go slow and you will be fine. 2) keep your body relaxed, try standing on the pegs if you are comfortable. 3) back brake is your budy if you are going slow. Front brake is face plant. good luck, have fun and take lots of pictures. nk
+1 Good advice for a beginner. Easy mountain bike trail means really easy dirt road. You don't even have to pedal! I liken the traction on a good dirt road to that of a crappy paved road in a new rain. Relax and slow. The bike will move on you, no worries. Have fun, take pics! VI
I'm also pretty new at dirt on a bigger bike. I took this course: www.rawhyde-offroad.com It was just excellent, and gave me huge confidence. This was about riding big bikes on dirt. What the others have said above is correct. Here are some more thoughts for new guys. (I say this with full knowledge that, with your experience, you're probably a better rider than I already. I'm just reporting what I learned at Jim Hyde's course.) Learn to ride standing up on dirt. The knees are in the tank, and you can do a lot of quick maneuvering on the footpegs. Counterlean outward rather than lean inward. Stay oh so loose on the grips. Jim Hyde told us also to use the "uphill" brake predominantly. That was cool, and it has served me well. When going up hill, more emphasis on the front. When going downhill more emphasis on the back. Having said that, more emphasis on the back in most situations has caused me less crashing! He had us deflate the tires considerably: from 40 to 20. I don't think that does any good for the sidewalls and life of the tire, but the grip sure felt nice. On the road you're talking about you probably won't need that. But on trails, with a GS it was really useful.
I hear that one half of this road is all downhill, or uphill if you start from the other end... what would you rather do as a beginner? More up or more down? All good stuff guys thanks. I'm starting to practice standing up in parking lot first. Hardest part is the throttle control for me. Vstroms can be twitchy and a little on/off with the juice.
You are not going to have a problem as long as you take it easy. But that doesnt mean at an idle. Ride in a smooth manner, do your breaking for the turns early. It really is an easy, relatively smooth, dirt road. It is all almost up or down. The very south end is the choppiest but I dont think it matters if you go up it or down it. You are going to have fun on this and it is pretty. There is another dirt road just north of <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1lace><st1laceName>Old</st1laceName> <st1laceType>Coast</st1laceType></st1lace> that is easy and fun too. Damn, I cant recall the name.
I'm pretty new to dirt, and I find going uphill a lot easier for me. I don't know if it is easier physically, but it is easier mentally. If you stuff up and/or lose too much traction going uphill, you will just slow down. If you do that going downhill, you speed up. That's my theory anyway.
I firmly disagree. Unless you are running wimpy-sidewalled tires, I suggest chopping your road pressure nearly in half for dirt terrain. Carry a compressor and make it a habit. Deflated, your contact patch will be 2-3 times bigger, which equals more traction, better braking, and more buoyancy in loose stuff like sand. Now, remember this is all assuming that you are riding under control and can choose lines which aren't gonna pop your tires... I guess you've never stalled while bogging it up a hill... stall it going down and the bike will restart due to gravity. I would wager that more bike damage is caused going uphill than downhill.
Er, slow on a Strom and tyre pressure doesn't make THAT much difference. It's still a fat heavy pig. Running at the low end of road pressures (~ 28F 32 R) works well for me on GOOD dirt roads. Yes, lower is better, but it can make the bike squirm around unpleasantly if the surface is hard. The stock Trailwing tyres are bad news on loose sand though- if you hit sand - oh yeah, definately lower the pressures. It's a Strom, not a single - it's near impossible to bog going uphill, and certainly not possible on a good dirt road. You MIGHT stall one by riding at too low RPM but that'd be the only way. Even my 650 makes easy work of slopes that'd be tough on a 250 dirt bike. (About it's only advantage admitted). On thing I would suggest though, if it's raining, or has been recently - have the balls to not go there. I will take my bike on wet dirt roads, but it requires a lot more experience than you have at the moment to make it even a 50:50 chance that you won't fall off. As everyone else has said, take it slow - ride at your own pace no matter what anyone else does and you should be fine. i.e. don't chase the 250 dirt bikes, they are capable of handling a dirt road better than you can. Pete
I'm speaking from the perspective of a 650cc v-twin sportsbike, so it hard to bog down if you keep the revs half decent. Being a road bike I'm also used to using a lot of cutch when on low-speed dirt track. If I'm about to stall, I just pull the clutch in slightly to let the revs go up a bit. I do agree with the possibility that going up hill is riskier, because you have to push the bike a bit. What I'm saying is the consequences of stuffing up are different. If I lose the front end, slide out, crash, etc, I know I'd prefer to be going slower. It means I've got the option of giving it a bit of gas without accelerating to warp speed in a hurry.
K2 - go up hill and dont sress. If you have a twitchy throttle, start working on feathering the clutch. Parkinglot circles (while standing) is a good way to practice a few of these skills. 3/4 of the way through this video the guy talks about lower body control. Note the rider body is verticle, but bike is leaned. Thats the form you are looking for. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53g4-NFiot8 Try this: See if you can turn a circle in 2 parking spaces while standing. 1) relax the bike under you and tilt the bike to turn the tight circle 2) feathering the clutch with a dash of brakes (back first) 3) balance once you get this down, try doing fig-8's inside of 4 parking spots. Fig-8's will help you loosen up those hips and get comfortable tossing the bike from side to side. The smaller the fig-8, the better you are doing. SLOWLY! you should be clutching these without any throttle. once you get that down, go to a big flat dirt area (with lots of room) and see how tight you can do your fig-8's. good luck, have fun. remember, it never happened if you didnt take pics. nk
It’s a dirt road that has up hills and down hills in which ever direction he goes. Cars travel on this road. I do not think that anyone with moderate experience on a road bike would have trouble on this road. But you do need to take it easy.
