Drifting Unsuccessfully

[mrliquid]

Hi all,

When I try to drift I find that my front tire jerks either left or right. I tried for 2 hours the other day and wasn't successful once. I've tried 2nd and 3rd under medium power and light front brake and 2nd and 3rd under full power and light on front brake and both attempts end up with my front tire doing the jerky jerk. Any suggestions?

 

[Moose]

Drifting isn't highly necessary...from your previous posts I understand you're new to the CRF450. Why not focus on other skills?

 

[trial_07]

You are sitting too far back. You should be almost on the gas tank and your body should remain perpendicular to the ground.

 

[agressive1]

Hey

Do you mean by drifting the bike out side ways and swinging the tail out? if so this is how i do it.

Your bike should easily do it, should be easier than my bike.

I come up to a fairly tight turn at a good decent speed keeping the revs up as i have just approached the turn i rip the bike harder and turn the sterring wheel in the other direction and at the same time tryin to keep the revs up and keep it under control. This gets me side ways for a long time until the turn ends.

For some reasoon only on some turns i can get a real good drift others are not succesful.

 

[mrliquid]

elliot67: you're absolutely right about learning other skills. I've riden for a long time before buying my CRF and had never tried drifting/power sliding corners so I figured why not start now. Out of everything my biggest obsticle is getting used to boots. :)

 

[Ol'89r]

Hi all,
under full power and light on front brake Any suggestions?

Why are you using the front brake?

 

[directional]

Why not lock up the back and use it to help you slide then nail the gas?

 

[adam728]

When I try to drift I find that my front tire jerks either left or right. I tried for 2 hours the other day and wasn't successful once. I've tried 2nd and 3rd under medium power and light front brake and 2nd and 3rd under full power and light on front brake and both attempts end up with my front tire doing the jerky jerk.

Any suggestions?

Don't use the front brake. It sounds like you are either not smooth enough with it, or you are on an inconsistant surface. A 450 should have no problem powersliding on a smooth surface.

 

[mrliquid]

ok from gathering all the data, I assume the following; LOL.... use back brake to start backend sliding then hammer the mother like there's no tomorrow ;)

 

[Ol'89r]

First of all. What are you calling 'drifting'? Are you referring to the new sport designed by the tire manufactures where the object is to wear out your rear tires on your four wheeled ricer and gag all the spectators with tire smoke? :yikes: Gag me with a Goodyear. :coocoo:

Or, powersliding where you apply power to the rear wheel until it steps out of line with the front wheel and starts spinning? Also known as steering with the rear wheel.

If you are trying to power slide, this is done with power, not the front brake. Using the throttle and front brake at the same time is counterproductive. With a 450F, it should not be a problem getting the bike to slide. Find an open field with hard packed dirt and a consistent surface. Start going around in small circles while applying a little more throttle each lap. Keep your circles at the same diameter while increasing your speed.

As the rear wheel starts to slide and steps out, countersteer with the front wheel. Or in other words, steer in the direction of the slide. The farther the rear end steps out the more you will have to countersteer. From this point it is all about throttle control and balance. Backing all of the way off of the throttle can result in the rear tire hooking-up and tossing you off the high side. Too much throttle will cause you to slide out. You have to find that happy medium and that takes a lot of practice.

Brake sliding is when you come into a corner and apply the rear brake inorder to make the rear wheel step out. This is usually how a slide is initiated. The tricky part is making a smooth transition from a brake slide to a power slide. Again, practice, practice.

Drifting a motorcyle is when both tires are sliding and you are drifting sideways. This is also controllable and common practice on many track surfaces. Drifting takes a lot of practice and balance and should not be tried until you master brake sliding and power sliding.

Be sure to wear all of your safety gear when trying these things since you will most likely hit the dirt a few times learning how to become proficient at sliding. And until you become proficient, keep your speeds low and your circles small.

Just my $ .02

 

[directional]

Very well done .. Heh I wish I had some safety gear .. I have beefed it twice at quite high speeds hitting small jumps and my body is all messed up... Cant wait to go out tomorrow though *thumbs up* :)

 

[whenfoxforks-ruled]

I'm still wondering in what circumstance anyone would want to break the rearend lose before the corner and roast the back tire the entire corner, or slide! Even in speedway I don't think its referred as that. Square-off,brake-slide ,power-slide,and just go-for-it, what is drifting in dirt? Maybe if you had a sail? Maybe on ice? Wet grass and your front brake locks up! Maybe sliding off an off-camber! Still curious and thinking someone is trying to input new word on old practices? Layout a figure 8 about 50 yards long,NO MAN MADE CORNERS! Flat ground and keep going as fast as you can, switch directions after 15 minutes or so. Start turning tight and slow,and dig your corner, then start pushing it into your berm. It won't take to long before you are railing it! Do not ride with others, figure 8 is dangerous!

 

[Moose]

Is this what you're talking about?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PkW2zOO010

I still have no idea, whether you want to drift, powerslide or this or that.

 

[Ol'89r]

I'm still wondering in what circumstance anyone would want to break the rearend lose before the corner and roast the back tire the entire corner, or slide! QUOTE]

Short track, flat track, speedway, supermoto, moto-gp just to name a few. :cool:

Can also be used on many motocross tracks in leu of lining up for the berm.

 

[whenfoxforks-ruled]

TV shows ,some idiots burning tires going nowhere fast, Drifting, is like how slow can I take this corner and roast my tires controllably so that I don't hook up and go! I still think what you are calling drifting is a desribed method of cornering, already described. The guy that started this is having trouble in sand, do the figure 8 in sand rules!

 

[JayC]

ok from gathering all the data, I assume the following; LOL.... use back brake to start backend sliding then hammer the mother like there's no tomorrow ;)

You don't need any brakes with a CRF450, and you don't have to 'hammer the mother' either. There are a few advantages to having a bike with an obscene amount of power - although I can 'drift' a turn on my kids' XR80 w/o having to flog it. Just initiate the turn, roll on the power, pressure the inside peg and give the bike a little push with your outside knee and the rear will slide out. Modulate the throttle hold the rear end where you want it.

Jay

 

[Ol'89r]

I'm still wondering in what circumstance anyone would want to break the rearend lose before the corner and roast the back tire the entire corner, or slide!
then start pushing it into your berm. It won't take to long before you are railing it! QUOTE]


foxforks.

Powersliding enables you to go faster through a corner than you could go by simply two tracking around the corner. What we are talking about here are flat corners without berms. Not mx types of corners. As we all know, berms do a great job of keeping you in the corner but, what if there are no berms?


If you were to start riding around in a circle and go faster and faster without increasing the size of the circle, sooner or later the centrifugal force would overcome the traction of your tires. This would result in sliding to the outside of the circle and off the track.

So how does one go faster than tire adhesion allows? By powersliding. When you are powersliding the rear wheel is at such an angle as to push the bike back into the center of the circle. You are using the power of the bike to force you towards the inside of the corner while centrifugal force is trying to force you toward the outside.

In flattrack, the corners are at the end of long straightaways. You have to scrub off speed as you enter the corner. That is done by tapping the rear brake to get the bike sideways when entering the corner and then getting right back on the gas to keep in in the corner. (Engine braking is also used to slow down on a dirttracker.) If you do not get right back on the gas, centrifugal force will overcome the traction of your tires and fling you up into the cheap seats.

Powersliding is a very useful tool even in motocross. Most good riders can use any part of a corner to get around slower riders. When several riders are lining up to hit a berm, you can slide under them on the flat part of the corner. At the Vegas SX last year they had a flattrack style corner that went out and around the back of the arena. It was flat and slick and the guys that were getting around it the fastest were powersliding the whole turn.

Hope this helps.

elliot.

Yes, that is a powerslide. Actually, a little overdone, more of a victory slide but you get the idea.

 

[mrliquid]

started practicing on a small track I made... tried coming up on corner fast then tapping back brake and as the tired starts sliding out I punch it. Only crashed once.

 

[directional]

started practicing on a small track I made... tried coming up on corner fast then tapping back brake and as the tired starts sliding out I punch it. Only crashed once.

sounds like your off to a good start :D