penguin

~SPONSOR~
N. Texas SP
Feb 19, 2000
390
0
I need to know what techniques some of you use when riding in mud. We don't have to do it that often here in Texas and I know some of you guys in the Northeast ride in it all the time, share your wisdom with a wallowing Texan.

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You weren't born knowing this stuff.
 

Dec 23, 1999
24
0
Wear lots of pads :D

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Dennis                                            Col Oh
99husqvarna wr250
 

Jewell

Sponsoring Member
Oct 23, 2000
118
0
Here I go destroying my credibility again.

This may be totaly incorrect for most people but this is how I deal with mud and slimy stuff.

VERY LIGHT ON THE THROTTLE! My kx has a nasty hit in the power band and when I know it's about to hit I use the clutch to smooth out that hit. If not the back end will just wash out usually resulting (for me anyway) in a high side situation. It seems to me that when I'm in the slime it is best to pick the straightest line possible. I ride woods so if there is a muddy turn with a tree on the inside of said turn I will cut to the inside of said tree where there will usually be some brush to allow for more traction in the turn. There is also something to be said for center of gravity. I try to stay right on top of the bike, preferably stand on pegs in the attack position. Leaning to one side or the other will result (for me anyway) in the rear tire kicking and again another high side, or was that low side. Anyway neither is good so I keep my weight on the CL (center line).

Hope this post isn't too long but I love it when I can give some advice. (it's not very often I get a chance to do so) I do alot of mud puddle dodgeing, all the while skiming across the wash out from these puddles. I think the main idea is not to let your back tire spin resulting in a loss of traction.

Cool?

Oh yah! SOFT TERRAIN NOBBIE!
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Shake it but don't break it. Already got's a crack in it.

[This message has been edited by Jewell (edited 11-01-2000).]
 

MX221

Member
Jul 21, 2000
122
0
Momentum is the key. Keep your speed up and don't be afraid of the bike moving around under you. Ride loose on the bike and keep up momentum :D
 

wardy

2005 Lori Nyland Award Winner
Nov 12, 1999
2,681
9
Keep your speed, stay loose and maintain constant throttle presence. Meaning keep the rear wheel lit up to keep it cleaned out.
NOw there is a few different types of mud, gumbo, tacky, and slippery. all take some what different approaches.
Main thing is to keep the tires cleaned out maintianing a good speed.

ALso don't always follow the beatin path if you think its a better spot try an area that has not been rode on it mite have better traction.
keep the clutch in hand also, bike will stall easier with the lack of traction.

most of all HAVE FUN mud can be a great time......but it also can be nasty be careful

wardy
 

penguin

~SPONSOR~
N. Texas SP
Feb 19, 2000
390
0
Taraker, how much did it cost to rebuild your bike after that race? :)
 

LocoCD

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Mar 22, 2000
352
0
Throttle control and the ability to shift your weight around (balance) are imperative. Take it slow through the water holes - covering yourself with muddy water is miserable. I laugh after the end of a ride and I am relatively dry and my son is soaked, he has a hard time understandimg that going slow sometimes makes you faster.

And finally, when it gets really nasty you might need to use your feet as "outriggers" for stability.



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2000 XR650R - The ultimate beginner's bike.
 

bud

Member
Jun 29, 1999
433
0
Technique depends on what type of terrain you are on. I pretty much do what wardy suggest when it possible to go that fast. Keeping the knobs clear makes life a lot easier. Brand new soft terrain tires are also worth their weight in gold in some slippery spots.

Where it's not possible to go that fast, I often do as lococd suggests. Using the clutch for more precise control over rear wheel traction can help also.

One section on my local single track that gives me a lot of pleasure to get thru clean is a very slippery, muddy, rooty off camber on a slight hillclimb. The rut/line leads straight into trees in many spots, and the only thing that seem to work is standing up the whole way - if you have to dab, 99% of the time, you end up having to get off and push - being very conservative but constant with the throttle, and being able to balance well, as for several hundred feet both wheels are sliding down the off camber a foot or so for every foot forward. Ie, have to oversteer carefully.. Dunno if that would help anything in most places, I've never seen anything else quite like it.

Btw, Taraker, have some feelings for us lowly modem users will ya? :) That bloody thing took a minute to load for me :(
 

taraker

Freedom Ain't Free
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jul 3, 1999
1,046
0
Man, I did not realize how big that pic was, sorry.

Some of the posts have a good point on riding cleanly through the mud when possible and that is a very good point. The cleaning job on my bike and equipment plus car and trailer took a whole day.

Additionally, I thought about your post last night and I think the technique for riding in the mud in allot different on a 4 stroke than a two stroke. I have not ridden in mud like Pittsburg on a two stroke bit I think it is probably alittle easier on a thumper. Where are you located anyway, we will have to hook up and go riding sometime.
 
Dec 23, 1999
24
0
A lot of good tips here but nobody has said anything about RED CLAY. That stuff is nasty.If it's thick and soupy not to much of a problem but if just a little wet on top and hard pack underneath lool out it's like riding on ice.

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Dennis                                            Col Oh
99husqvarna wr250
 

taraker

Freedom Ain't Free
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jul 3, 1999
1,046
0
Well this is not a slam on the Badlands in Texas, but one August day, no rain for 60 plus days, black dirt and hard as concrete and some high school kid decides to check out the new side sprayer on the water truck on a flat no grove corner and I hit it without thinking.

Flat tracking with knobbies sucks! - This stuff was like ice. I probably owe the kid an apology for all the colorful names I called him.

I then spent the next couple of laps using techniques very similar to MX221 goon riding skills
 

SUnruh

Member
Aug 24, 1999
49
0
penguin,
while i'm no pro (or even as good as Lightspeed Pattison) here are a few things you can practice this winter that i used to do as a kid. go find yerself a frozen pond and ride on it this winter. riding on a solid sheet of ice will prepare you for ANY slick mud situation that you ever encounter. here is a free tip, don't touch the rear brake! ;) also, try riding in the snow and transistion to ice. sort of like going from dirt to slick mud. yes, use can use engine braking on a 2stroke. you just have to really understand your bike and it's power band (pink or gray?)

tchss had a mud slop race back in may. one of my buddies and classmates passed me 5 times. he was never upright when i passed him. at the end, he was covered in mud and had bruises head to toe. i was clean except for some roost spray.
 

LocoCD

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Mar 22, 2000
352
0
Now if you want some real practice go riding in a feedlot after a good rain. I grew up on a farm in Oregon (real feedlots, not like Texas) and every so often we would do it (call it stupid youth syndrome). Slick... and there ain't no way to describe the sweet scent of manure on a hot exhaust pipe!

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2000 XR650R - The ultimate beginner's bike.
 

bud

Member
Jun 29, 1999
433
0
I didn't grow up in Oregon, but I bet manure smells the same everywhere. I avoid riding on my parents farm for that reason. However, one day, a bunch of horse riders came and crapped out on my nice clean single track. Next time I rode, the... stuff stuck on my fenders and the smell made me sad for the whole ride :(. Thankfully the horsies haven't been back :).

[This message has been edited by bud (edited 11-03-2000).]
 

taraker

Freedom Ain't Free
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jul 3, 1999
1,046
0
After the racing committee made a careful review of you riding techniques we elected to make the following suggestions to you to facilitate a more pleasurable riding experience to both you and the children you compete against.

1 - Please make more of an effort to stay in front of the younger riders, the mud flying off you blinded some of the slower riders (the last two anyway) causing them minor accidents.

2 - The maximum displacement for your current class is 50cc, please adjust you bike size accordingly.

3 - Center-punching is strongly discouraged in the peewee class so please stop employing this technique immediately.

4 - Please remain on the track at all times, cutting across to the adjoining pig farm to chase the farm animals is strongly discouraged and it upsets the mothers of the children you compete against.

5 - Please do not play with the pigs between moto's. We like the pig farmer neighbor but you actives are straining this relationship and he has threatened us with a law suit.

We are sure, being the fine upstanding member and pillar of the community that you are you, that you will take or suggestions to heart.

Seriously Gomer, what did you do? Were you behind Wardy or what?


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If your two-stroke is rattlin then it's a thumper passin.......

[This message has been edited by taraker (edited 11-06-2000).]
 

penguin

~SPONSOR~
N. Texas SP
Feb 19, 2000
390
0
Thanks for all the input folks. I guess I am going to have to bite the bullet and go ride in the mud. The riding in the goop is not what bothers me, it is cleaning the bike afterwards. And Will, I figured I would come here and get my info, where I haven't po'd too many people. it provides a little change of pace from the flame wars :)

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You weren't born knowing this stuff.
 

viking2

Member
Nov 8, 2000
9
0
Living in Sweden, I know about riding in mud. The major thing is to ride smooth. Brake only when the bike is held upstraight. Don't use the clutch as mutch as when it's dry and have a look at your gearing. It may be a good idea to use a slighly smaller rear sprocket for less spinning on the back wheel. To get better traction you could also reduce the rebound damping on your suspension so that the wheels will hook up better. Don't forget that the mud will ad some extra wheight to your bike.
Have fun and dont forget the tear-offs.
 

katoomster

Member
Oct 16, 2000
8
0
I usually make sure to crash into a bog early-on in a mud ride. Get good and covered, mud in the helmet, make the bike steaming and ugly. That way, I figure I have nothing more to lose, and I ride like a god. Really, it works great.

Seriously, I will say that my KTM 400exc is a lot easier to ride in the mud than my YZ250. No real surprise, but the 4 stroke actually makes mud riding fun. Staying loose and smooth helps on either bike.
 

ToddHawaii

Member
Apr 3, 2000
117
0
Penguin...don't know if you are still checking your post, but for what it's worth - riding in the mud was a completely new experience for me, and took almost a whole year of riding in it to finally understand the physics behind balance and traction.

Hawaiian Ice is probably the slickest around, and since we don't have a lot of flat land, most of our trails are either staight-up or straight-down.

Let's see...Tires aired down(front-10lbs/rear-4lbs)Soft-terrain tire. Momentum is key, and of-course keeping tires cleaned out as much as possible, gearing...lots of practice!

Because our mud is so sticky(Clay) we often-times will coat our entire bike with stuff like Pam(non-stick cooking spray), or Armor All, or WD-40...anything to hinder the clay sticking to every crevice. It takes at least two hours to clean my bike after just about every ride - during the winter months.

Hope this helps...

Aloooha! :)
TrailTramp
98'Husky
 

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