DannyMoto07
Member
- Apr 12, 2007
- 170
- 0
I've just started riding dirtbikes (93' Yamaha RT180) and I've gone out on trails a couple times already. I know the trails very well considering I ride fourwheelers on them all the time. The first time I went out I thought it'd be a cake-walk other than learning the bike, however I was totally wrong.
In two short days I learned SO MUCH about riding and I just want to know if it's good, or if I should change my style/practice to become a better rider.
1. Clutch, Throttle, and Brake control. I've tried learning how to balance all three in order to not stall the bike on hills, turns, hard rear-brake stops, front brake stop, and during slow manuvers. Basically what I do is clutch on, throttle off, brake on, all at just about the same time but I'm always sure to do the clutch first and foremost as to not stall the bike.
2. Hills crossing. I've practiced stopping, starting, tipping, and picking up the bike on hills. I find that if I ever have a problem going up-hill, I use the front brake ONLY. Downhill, I use the rear-brake and the transmission to slow me down and balance the front brake to ensure I don't pop my butt over the bars. (Also, uphill I stand and lean forward, downhill I stand with my butt way back on the seat.) Also with hill-crossings, I practiced putting my up-hill foot down first and leaning UP the hill... the one time I didn't.. I paid for it.
3. Hard Accel/Decel. I've practiced taking off from a full stop and gunning it into 4th gear as fast as possible without popping the front wheel off the ground. I've also practiced a full-throttle 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gear run coming to a complete stop without skidding or popping my rear end off the ground. I've done these on grass, rocks, dirt, and some sand. (I can't get a good enough hookup on sand, plus my front wheel tends to dig in too much on stops... so I pretty much just use rear-brake.)
4. Turning (woods/grass). I found that my biggest problem is foot-placment. I try to set my foot forward, and out from the bike about a foot with my heel down. My problem is that my foot either digs in too much, slides, or gets hung up some how and puts a lot of pressure on my knees. I wear good work-boots when riding and don't have a whole lot of heel articulation, so I don't know if that's my problem, but I can't seem to not get my foot stuck and almost get pulled off the bike. Anyways, in the woods I found that I cannot turn nearly as sharp into a corner as on a quad.. mainly this is because the bike tilts and quads flat-track (duh). So I quickly discovered that the fastest (and safest) way around any corner was to take it wide, pull the clutch, tap the front brake, select the next lower gear, line up my exit, let go of the clutch and throttle on. I began practicing throttling through the corner, but on the wood-trails, it got a little hairy. Not to mention that there are no banks built up in any of the corners on the trails yet. I'm sure that after a few weeks of riding I'll be able to dig in a little harder. In order to NOT kill myself in the woods I went out to one of my pastures and made a little figure-eight track with some cones. I can't get out of third gear, but I can zip around it pretty quick, it's also banked a little (it's on the side of a small hill) so I've practiced sliding my bike around the corners (much like how I do in the woods, only faster and without the impeeding trees).
5. Wheelie. Now, I don't condone any noobie (such as myself) to try to wheelie without fully learning how their bike responds... but I kinda fell upon it accidently during step 3. I was practicing just cruising around in each gear to feel out the power. I know how fast I can go and how slow I can go in each gear without stalling, or over-reving the motor. So, during my second-gear practice I was cruising around about 1/4 throttle and decided to just hop on it and see what happened. Low and behold my front wheel gently came up as I put on the power. It was probably a good 25 feet, and the only reason it came down was because the bike hit the top-end of the powerband and began to level-out on the power. I can pull a power wheelie in first gear, but I can't get it to go very far because it's such a low gear I'm sure that if I balanced the rear brake and throttle better I could do a super-slow wheelie no problem. Second gear is by far the best. 3rd gear doesn't like to, but it will on a flat if it's going around 20mph. My main focus is to keep doing the easy 2nd gear power wheelie and train myself to keep my right foot over the brake and at least one finger on the clutch. I think I just get anxious and need to throw my knees out to keep me balanced, but as soon as I do that, it cocks my foot away from the brake. I know I need to work on this a ton.
6. Hopping. After becoming comfortable with the front wheel actually leaving the ground, I decided to do some practice with logs (telephone poles), pallets, and boulders. I started by doing small clutch pops trying to get the front wheel over the obsticle, then pre-loading the rear (jumping on the pegs) and gassing over the obstacle. I probably stalled the bike twenty times but I ended up getting the hang of it.
I have done a search and read some great tips which I have applied to my riding. I'm still practicing, so hopefully I'll only get better from here on out... however I want some opinions from you guys as to if I should be doing what I'm doing.
I know I'm moving fast, but I'm a pretty fast learner, and I'm really quite comfortable on the bike itself (mainly from riding street bikes and quads).
I really feel that my only problems are balance, throwing out my leg in a turn, and keeping my foot over the brake lever. If you guys can find anything else out (without actually seeing me ride lol..) please let me know!
Thanks again!
Dan
In two short days I learned SO MUCH about riding and I just want to know if it's good, or if I should change my style/practice to become a better rider.
1. Clutch, Throttle, and Brake control. I've tried learning how to balance all three in order to not stall the bike on hills, turns, hard rear-brake stops, front brake stop, and during slow manuvers. Basically what I do is clutch on, throttle off, brake on, all at just about the same time but I'm always sure to do the clutch first and foremost as to not stall the bike.
2. Hills crossing. I've practiced stopping, starting, tipping, and picking up the bike on hills. I find that if I ever have a problem going up-hill, I use the front brake ONLY. Downhill, I use the rear-brake and the transmission to slow me down and balance the front brake to ensure I don't pop my butt over the bars. (Also, uphill I stand and lean forward, downhill I stand with my butt way back on the seat.) Also with hill-crossings, I practiced putting my up-hill foot down first and leaning UP the hill... the one time I didn't.. I paid for it.
3. Hard Accel/Decel. I've practiced taking off from a full stop and gunning it into 4th gear as fast as possible without popping the front wheel off the ground. I've also practiced a full-throttle 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gear run coming to a complete stop without skidding or popping my rear end off the ground. I've done these on grass, rocks, dirt, and some sand. (I can't get a good enough hookup on sand, plus my front wheel tends to dig in too much on stops... so I pretty much just use rear-brake.)
4. Turning (woods/grass). I found that my biggest problem is foot-placment. I try to set my foot forward, and out from the bike about a foot with my heel down. My problem is that my foot either digs in too much, slides, or gets hung up some how and puts a lot of pressure on my knees. I wear good work-boots when riding and don't have a whole lot of heel articulation, so I don't know if that's my problem, but I can't seem to not get my foot stuck and almost get pulled off the bike. Anyways, in the woods I found that I cannot turn nearly as sharp into a corner as on a quad.. mainly this is because the bike tilts and quads flat-track (duh). So I quickly discovered that the fastest (and safest) way around any corner was to take it wide, pull the clutch, tap the front brake, select the next lower gear, line up my exit, let go of the clutch and throttle on. I began practicing throttling through the corner, but on the wood-trails, it got a little hairy. Not to mention that there are no banks built up in any of the corners on the trails yet. I'm sure that after a few weeks of riding I'll be able to dig in a little harder. In order to NOT kill myself in the woods I went out to one of my pastures and made a little figure-eight track with some cones. I can't get out of third gear, but I can zip around it pretty quick, it's also banked a little (it's on the side of a small hill) so I've practiced sliding my bike around the corners (much like how I do in the woods, only faster and without the impeeding trees).
5. Wheelie. Now, I don't condone any noobie (such as myself) to try to wheelie without fully learning how their bike responds... but I kinda fell upon it accidently during step 3. I was practicing just cruising around in each gear to feel out the power. I know how fast I can go and how slow I can go in each gear without stalling, or over-reving the motor. So, during my second-gear practice I was cruising around about 1/4 throttle and decided to just hop on it and see what happened. Low and behold my front wheel gently came up as I put on the power. It was probably a good 25 feet, and the only reason it came down was because the bike hit the top-end of the powerband and began to level-out on the power. I can pull a power wheelie in first gear, but I can't get it to go very far because it's such a low gear I'm sure that if I balanced the rear brake and throttle better I could do a super-slow wheelie no problem. Second gear is by far the best. 3rd gear doesn't like to, but it will on a flat if it's going around 20mph. My main focus is to keep doing the easy 2nd gear power wheelie and train myself to keep my right foot over the brake and at least one finger on the clutch. I think I just get anxious and need to throw my knees out to keep me balanced, but as soon as I do that, it cocks my foot away from the brake. I know I need to work on this a ton.
6. Hopping. After becoming comfortable with the front wheel actually leaving the ground, I decided to do some practice with logs (telephone poles), pallets, and boulders. I started by doing small clutch pops trying to get the front wheel over the obsticle, then pre-loading the rear (jumping on the pegs) and gassing over the obstacle. I probably stalled the bike twenty times but I ended up getting the hang of it.
I have done a search and read some great tips which I have applied to my riding. I'm still practicing, so hopefully I'll only get better from here on out... however I want some opinions from you guys as to if I should be doing what I'm doing.
I know I'm moving fast, but I'm a pretty fast learner, and I'm really quite comfortable on the bike itself (mainly from riding street bikes and quads).
I really feel that my only problems are balance, throwing out my leg in a turn, and keeping my foot over the brake lever. If you guys can find anything else out (without actually seeing me ride lol..) please let me know!
Thanks again!
Dan
