Off road riding

Went on one of these day long courses on Tuesday. Brilliant fun. £199 for the bike and all the kit. Start off just riding around getting used to standing up and turning the bike by weighting the pegs, then progress to locking the front wheel under braking (and recovering from it) going up and down steep climbs, through some of the nearby woods, the odd jump if you're up for it... and an awful lot of sliding around. With only a bit of falling off. Best fun I've had on a bike since I started riding

place that runs it is www.tracksense.co.uk

[Skip]

That looks like great fun! I wanna go!

As an aside, do you think its true that learning off-road skills can help you as an on-road rider?

Originally Posted by Skip

As an aside, do you think its true that learning off-road skills can help you as an on-road rider?

Yes, without a doubt.

Just being able to have a bike slip around beneath you under safe(ish) conditions gives you experience and practice at something you would not get under normal circumstances.

I started my riding off road (and still do), now I am the best road rider in the world

[Skip]

Originally Posted by andy

I started my riding off road (and still do), now I am the best road rider in the world

Wow maybe I should start so I can try and emulate you

[fizzwheel]

I'm doing one of the 12th May I cant wait

Originally Posted by Skip

Wow maybe I should start so I can try and emulate you

What, old, fat, crap at wheelies and getting knee down, no balls to race anyone?

Need I go on.....!

Motocross is great fun, I do it up at a track near Dover, bout 30 times now.

Best fun I've had!

I can't recommend it enough. Kenny Roberts once said "If you're on the gas, you can't lose the front" so it's good to get on the throttle out of a turn. But riders are so worried about the back sliding that they will back off the throttle or even apply the brake if a corner starts to look or feel wrong. This weights the front and makes big demands on an already overworked tyre. It may even cause the crash they were trying to avoid.

It'll do wonders for your road riding if you get used to the feeling of a back wheel stepping out and spinning up and, if it happens on the road, you'll learn to weight the pegs, control the throttle and keep the bike turning. You'll learn loads about the way your body weight has an effect on a bike.

Try http://www.ktmadventuretours.co.uk or http://www.yamaha-offroad-experience.co.uk

Ian

[Balky001]

Originally Posted by andy

I started my riding off road (and still do), now I am the best road rider in the world

Does it improve your confidence too

Yeah, I've done quite a few track days but this looks really good, they do Hatfield which is fairly near me - oh, I want to book it

Well worth while apart from improving your riding skills it will get you fit in no time. The great thing is you don't really notice your getting that tired until you get off, way more fun than the gym.