Road riding on a dirt bike.

[daewoo]

Well it appears that many of the GT-Riders use dirt bikes extensively on sealed roads.

Does the different suspension, geometry, tyres, etc require a different riding style to a road bike???

As most will know, I have limited riding experience... I just got back from another 2 hour ride through the National Park near my home, and want to know if what feels natural to me is correct...

I raced mountain bikes for a while, and the secret to cornering was to stay "on top" of the bike, lay the bike down, but keep your body above the bike and upright...

Is that the way to corner on a dirt bike with knobbies on a sealed road, because it doesn't appear to be what my fellow Aussie very good mate (well he might be if we ever meet) Cassie Stoner does on his bike...

Cheers,
Daewoo

 

[ivan the terrable]

I have found dirt bikes excell. for the road.
The high ground clearance is good for going across obects.like gutters and gravel drive ways ,,,also the tight steering rake makes them very manoverable in traffic.
Dunno about the knobbies though.
Would change them if you are doing a lot of road riding
KEV

 

[daewoo]

quote:

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Originally posted by Bush Pilot

I enjoy watching the races on cable where half the the circuit is dirt and half pavement.
I think out of South Africa. Good riding technique to watch.

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Super Motard??? basically a dirt bike with road tyres... they do that type of racing here in Aus but I haven't been to watch...

I am more talking about touring on hired XR250s, not racing as such...

Cheers,
Daewoo

 

[Robin Holmes]

Ride just the same on the road, but take special care on the corners as Knobbly tires do not give as much grip and can feel "strange" as you lean the bike over as they swap from the middle knobbly to the side ones. You need the grip of knobblies on the trail so don't wear them out going too fast on tarmac. A trail bike is much the same as a mountain bike without the power on, but with the power on there is a much greater chance of the rear wheel losing grip. The main thing is don't go too fast or break to hard in the corners till you get used to the bike. If the road is wet take it really easy.

 

[Ian Bungy]

Style depends on your Ability i would Guess and everything is affected by different Tyres, Geometry and Suspension setting, you can get some Tips from the Experts but you can pick it up as you go along anyway. For me Road bikes require more effort in Cornering as they want to Stay upright and go straight, Hence the Moto GP style of riding where as a Dirt Bike will just fall over. If Road conditions aren't that Good a Dirt Bike is Great as you have the Extra Suspension You can still be fast but need a bit more skill if you are going to lay down to Far with Knobblys as the let go faster than Road Tyres, of course that brings us to Motards which are easy Handling, Lite and Have Road Tyres. I think the main reason so many GT-Riders use Dirt Bikes is the Off Road Opportunities everywhere in this region. By the way i am No Expert but have owned Road and Dirt Bikes. What is most enjoyable and works for you is the most important?
Cheers Ian.

 

[penetrator]

The steering can get very light and twitchy on a trail/enduro bike at high speed on the tarmac, this is due to the tyres and the lower weight over the front wheel but overall I find them easier to ride than most road bikes and far more forgiving apart from the tyre/cornering issue. But then I was bought up on motocross bikes so they have a far more natural feel to me.

 

[BignTall]

Reason for Casey Stoner hanging off has nothing to do with riding dirt bikes on the streets given the speed and lean angles dirt bikes attain. It lowers and moves the center of gravity to the inside of the turn. Engineering nerds have equations to calculate this stuff. Since ground clearance is a concern for roadrace bikes hanging off provides a benefit. Not so much on a dirt bike with knobbies on the street. Having said that I've been chasing Luke through the Samoeng Loop on our dirt bikes and seen him touch his pegs down with knobbies. F'ing looney bastard. Your mountain bike technique is fine for riding dirt bikes on the street. After logging quite a few miles on knobbied dirt bikes and super motards I've found for me what works for me is your mountain bike technique. I will start to apply more roadrace technique at higher speeds on the super motard setup. Feeling the footpegs grind away on the go kart track or 1148 is loads of fun on the motard.

The knobbies work well enough and communicate well, getting really squirmy before they let go. The 50/50 dirt knobbies are really nice, providing decent grip on the tarmac.

Having a MTB background you should be doing fine. The tall knobs on dirt only tires will just squirm more than your MTB tires.

Good luck.

 

[daewoo]

Thanks all...

I guess I will just keep on doing what I am doing... haven't had too many moments as yet, other than skidding straight through a red light all crossed up in front of three cop cars...

The reason the cop cars were there was because of a tail-ender, and I hit the brakes at exactly the same time I hit the oil...

By the time I was half way through the intersection, the read wheel at 45 degrees to the front, and still doing 60km/h, I gave up, got off the brakes, straightened up and just continued as if nothing had happened... happy days...

Cheers,
Daewoo

 

[nickpedleynz]

a tip from my motard racing days. If your front end is getting abit flighty at high speed on a trail bike as mentioned, raise the triple clamp up the fork leg 10mm a time until the problem is sorted, you can even go so far a having the fork leg 5mm lower than the top of the clamp, of course this will slow down the steering in the bush so if this bugs you too much spend the coin and fit a dampner, funny as this may sound the problem can also be caused by a loose fitting jacket flapping at high speed, also long plastic mudgaurds and the beadlocks fitted in dirt bikes unbalancing the wheels
if you plan on riding a pure dirt bike fast on the road for long periods of time you need to do some work all of which does not suit off road riding, but what fun it is.

 

[monsterman]

Penetrator never has 2 wheels on the ground at the same time unless he is at stop, so his opinion should only be used by other members of the " Turbo Nutter Bastard Society"

 

[irv327]

The only real problem is the narrow seat which will have you begging for mercy within an hour.