ws6transam
Member
- Nov 17, 2005
- 309
- 0
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.
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.