How to learn off-road riding?

[wanaride]

Besides reading every post on this site and getting thousands of hours of seat time, how does one LEARN how to ride off-road? I know some people have natural talent, but since I don't, I need some help.

Are there any books/videos on off-road riding? I'm not really talking about motocross, I mean trail/enduro/HS type of riding. I have seen lots of videos/books for motocross but nothing (yet) on off-road riding.

Maybe the motocross videos would help since some of the techniques transcend riding style/type?

 

[James Miller]

I have a book that I found at Barnes and Noble called "Pro motocross and off-road motorcycle riding techniques". This book has lots of info of trails, as well as jumping stuff. I'm really not a good rider, but I will tell you that you can read this whole book (like I have) and the hard part is applying what you have read....I can't even do half of what i've learned. I think it will come with time for me, as well as you.

Hope that helped!

James

 

[SpectraSVT]

What exactly are you finding difficult about off road?

The biggest difference for me in mx is I get much farther forward in corners than I do offroad. I tend to stay more neutral and even a lil bit back offroad. I rode MX exclusively for about 8 months then decided to ride off road for a month or so for fun. I then went back to MX and had a hard time readjusting. Its not so bad now that I try and mix the 2 more often. But MX books are really good for getting the proper technique then you can kind of tweak your style to offroad conditions. But the basics are the same.

 

[va_yzrider]

"Pro motocross and off-road motorcycle riding techniques".

Very good book! However, there is so much information in there that you will likely have to read the book several times, but that's ok. Try to pick out a few things that you want to work on and focus on those for an entire day, things like keeping your elbows high in the turns, getting your head over the bars, weighting the outside peg in turns, gripping the bike with your knees. Once you start doing them somewhat instinctively, move on to something else. Learning to ride is a building process and this is the best process I have found yet.

Also, I would suggest asking the fast guys a lot of questions and watch what they do. Then try to apply what they do to your riding style and go from there.

 

[gwcrim]

One word: Visualize

Seriously. The East German Olympic Team once did a study of basketball players. Bottom line was that those who spent time practicing free throws in their minds for several hours a day showed significant improvment over the group that did nothing. And they showed nearly as much improvement as a group that actually practiced.

So read the books to learn technique, ride as much as you can, and daydream about getting through the tough sections with ease.

OK, Crim.... get to work.

 

[wanaride]

Thanks for all of the help...the book sounds like a 'must buy'. I already plan to practice a snippet or two from the book each time out on the trails before moving on to something else.

I don't find anything particularly difficult about off-road riding, I simply want to get better at it. I've only been riding for about a year, and since I know I have lots of room for improvement, I'm just looking for an efficient way to get better.

If I knew everything about it, all I would need is more seat time and I would "get there", but since I DON'T know everything about it, I want to learn from those who know more than me.

That's just the way I work...

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Come on out to TNT this weekend and I'll show you how *not* to do it!

 

[Green Horn]

One word: Visualize

Never in my life have I "visualized" hitting big boulders and trees...Yet I do it all the time. Somebody ought to do a study on that. :yikes: