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Could we hold a dirt bike clinic sometime next season?

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Posted by: ws6transam---------------------

Hi everyone,
I haven't yet made it to any of the FES events, though I hope to attend the end of season ride in late October.

After a 19 year absence from dirt bikes, I returned this season. Time has been hard to come by, but the Vaportech shows almost 15 hours of operation and over 400 miles on the odometer for the WR500. (combination of dirt and around-town gravel roads)

I've made it into the actual dirt about five times:
St Helens (which buggered me for a week)
Gladwin (really fun)
Bois Blanc Island (way fun)
and a couple outings to the Mounds in Flint.

I have learned a few things:
#1 I need to loosen up: The bike does so much better when I let it slide, lean, and stuff. I keep trying to ride it like a street bike. As a result, I think I may be getting tired & sore faster than I should.

#2 I need to trust the suspension. I'm pussieing it, which luckily for me, the WR500 seems to do okay with. However the other day, I was trying to do jumps at the mounds, and I was getting about 3 feet of air under the wheels, but when it came time to try using a bit more gas, I wimped out, and never could bring myself to use any more than half throttle. The landings were always butter smooth as the Tech Care suspension sucked up the impact.

#3: I need to get used to riding over whoops. It wasn't until I happened upon them by accident and just cranked up the gas that I realized the smoothest line isn't always the slowest one.

#4: Berms: After riding over the tops of a couple berms, I began to realize that with a little more gas and a bit more tip of the bike you could make it cut like a quarterhorse.

#5: Log hops are fun but I don't know what I'm doing. I'm going to get hurt unless I get some coaching. The last one I hopped, a 14-incher, I got hit in the face with a bunch of branches, got off-course, and then nearly explored the forest floor for truffles.

#6: I have no idea how to wheelie or jump stuff. I don't know where the balance point is, so I keep panicking and chopping the throttle as soon as there's more than a few inches of air under that front tire. I am afraid this;ll be a problem, especially when I try riding up a few steep hills.

--
Next spring I am getting my 9 year-old a motorcycle. Probably a CRF80. What I am hoping to find is a dirt bike riding clinic where we can both learn the basic skills of dirt riding, and then move onto some of the more finer points. That way we can be ready enough to try a few of these FES events in 2010.

Do any of our local clubs put these types of events together?

I really want to practice what I'd already learned, but also get rid of any bad habits before they get really bad.


Posted by: D.LEATHERS---------------------

The best advice I can give you is to just get out & ride as much as possible, no amount of coaching is going to give you the skills you are looking for as "LOTS" of seat time. It takes a lot of years to achieve excellent riding skills. I've been riding/racing for 30+ years & still learn something new everytime I ride. Just go out & "HAVE FUN", the speed & skills will come to you the more you ride. If you would like to come out & get some track/practice time, I would be more than happy to have you as my guest at PTR since you are nearby in the area, or come up to Jackpine & we can go for a trailride, as my wife & I spend a lot of week-ends & our vacations there. I hope this helps, see you at TRAILFEST!!!!

Dave Leathers.


Posted by: Yam7M---------------------

Good post; great questions. Have you looked into video's?? Shane Watts has a couple really good instructional videos that go over some of the things/techniques your inquiring about. Also, ride with some faster riders and ask questions...or ask them to follow you for a mile or two of trail, then stop and get some feedback. That helped me a lot. I didn't get on a bike til I was 24. Having someone follow me and point out some stuff really helped.

#1. Have fun!!!!




Posted by: duckboy---------------------

I agree, just get some more seat time.

Ride with someone with the skills you want to learn.

When you can't get seat time get in shape. Run, pedal, lift eat healthy. Workout what ever gets sore when you ride.

Read books on offroad riding techniques. Dirtrider magazine and Gary Semics have some I've found useful.

Be a chicken, don't get crazy with the jumping if you still work. A bad landing or fall can cost you three months easily. Work up height and speed slowly. Keep a close eye on how mush suspenison you're using. Especially with a non-motocross bike, you'll bottom-out faster and harder. Which means wrist and ankle injuries.


Posted by: 09oneL---------------------

ws6transam,

I have a few of the Shan Watts videos that I am willing to loan you providing you are the type of guy that returns shat.

I noticed on your profile that you live in Haslet. I live in Bath and work in East Lansing. Let me know and I will be happy to bring them in or meet up with you. They are really good tools for some of the things you are discussing.


Posted by: ws6transam---------------------

I do indeed return stuff, and I loan stuff, too. Let's get toether and talk! My cellnumber is 388-BURK.
I'm looking forward to meeting you all, and hope to get out on the trails again this week. I gotta tighten a few loose bolts on the WR first, as the 490 is a real paint shaker. Breaking out the Loc-tite! The big bottle!!


Posted by: silver---------------------

Riding is the best way to learn.You can't beat seat time to figure out what works and what doesn't.I started racing enduro's in 2007 my first couple races I encountered stuff and I'd be like I'am never getting over that but most of the time I would and it is a real confidence builder when you do make it.Hook up with some good riders and just try and stay with them and watch and learn.I think no better way to learn then a nice 6 hr enduro.Not knocking your ride but a newer 250 2-stroke or 4t would really make your learning curve easier.Go to trail fest and ask to ride some newer bikes.You'll quickly see what I'm talking about.


Posted by: 24mph,m/l---------------------

I agree with Silver. Don't turn your bike into a boat anchor, it may be worth something someday as a "vintage" bike. But anything that powerful and poorly suspended is giong to hurt you. And don't feel that you have to catch big air. As D.leathers said, get all the seat time you can. The Mounds is crowded and full of show-offs. Michigan is the Mecca for trail riding, you just have to travel north a bit. Check out the Cycle Conservation Club and the DNR websites. You'll be amazed at the trail opportunities and potential riding buddies that exist.


Posted by: fatherandson---------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by 24mph,m/l
I agree with Silver. ...............You'll be amazed at the trail opportunities and potential riding buddies that exist.


Ride, ride and ride some more. However, do not ride alone. You can always find someone to ride with and this forum is a great place to find riding partners.


Posted by: ChrisKring---------------------

Actually, even a few hours of coaching by someone that knows what they are doing would be a huge benifit. Just riding with someone will not help a rider learn body position, foot peg weighting, etc. I don't know how chasing someone will tell you that your elbows are too low or that your feet are in the wrong postion on the pegs. Stuff like that is so fundamental and it's hard to break bad habits later.

i have been to a few riding classes and got a ton out of them. After the class is when you practice the technics everytime you ride.

Not sure if Fenton is going to be open this winter. However if it is, I recommend Tommy Barron's clinics there. For what it's worth, we didn't even work on jumps the day I went to. Just cornering.


Posted by: ws6transam---------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisKring
....
..


i have been to a few riding classes and got a ton out of them. After the class is when you practice the technics everytime you ride.

Not sure if Fenton is going to be open this winter. However if it is, I recommend Tommy Barron's clinics there. For what it's worth, we didn't even work on jumps the day I went to. Just cornering.


Yeah, that is what I mean-- I did a *lot* of riding back in 1987-1990, but never did I feel as if I was very good. Just "good enough" to stay relatively injury-free. About the only time I ever felt fast was just before I left Australia, and got to pre-run the Finke desert race track for a couple of hours with one of the competitors. In the end though, it cost me an operation on my hand, after a brief altercation with a sand dune tore the ligaments off my left metacarpal (thumb).

BTW, on Thursday morning we had back to Gladwin to re-try the south loop.



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