Adventure Bike Rider Forum

What is your method of practice? How much better do you think you can be?

I do ride a lot including "in the weather", but for actuall focused practice not much really, slow/no speed balance and and what goes with that, at junctions, when parking, and just for fun of it etc. There is a place when I pass by I will take my topbox off (if fitted) and play at a little skidding and and gassing out of it just because the areais big, gravel is so fine and consistent and there is nobody to get pis**d at me. When my rear tyre is near the end of its life, I will play at spinning it up out of T junctions just for the fun but I suppose thats practice, when I have decent tyres (knobblies/trail) I am generally very gentle on them for cost reasons. I ride (usually) an oldlady GS 1200, road and trail, I am neither fast nor expert but willing to have a go. Any low/moderate speed suggestions you have for road or trail practice happy to hear, keep it simple for a wobbler though please. Thanks for the thread.

bikenav wrote: ↑Thu Jan 07, 2021 12:15 pm I do ride a lot including "in the weather", but for actuall focused practice not much really, slow/no speed balance and and what goes with that, at junctions, when parking, and just for fun of it etc. There is a place when I pass by I will take my topbox off (if fitted) and play at a little skidding and and gassing out of it just because the areais big, gravel is so fine and consistent and there is nobody to get pis**d at me. When my rear tyre is near the end of its life, I will play at spinning it up out of T junctions just for the fun but I suppose thats practice, when I have decent tyres (knobblies/trail) I am generally very gentle on them for cost reasons. I ride (usually) an oldlady GS 1200, road and trail, I am neither fast nor expert but willing to have a go. Any low/moderate speed suggestions you have for road or trail practice happy to hear, keep it simple for a wobbler though please. Thanks for the thread.

Well it sounds like sliding the rear and playing a little with skidding and gassing IS extra focussed practice. You said that you don't do much else so I wonder if you think it would be beneficial to your riding to add some focussed practice into the mix.

As for low/moderate speed suggestions for trail or road practice.....super slow speed "races" like who can ride the slowest or how slow can you go is great for mastering slow throttle control and balance. Plus I'm a firm believer in practicing emergency stops, both on dirt and pavement as this is something that may come up in a sudden situation and could be life-threatening. Static body position practice is helpful, as is throttle control while sliding.

Let's look at emergency braking first. What are some important steps to mastering lightening fast emergency stops WITHOUT sliding, locking up the tyres or crashing?

big subject there really isnt any more than one correct order on uncontaminated tar ...sorted ..easy to understand easy to practice

.off road ive heard allsorts of stuff view opinions ...i have me own way of dealing with it based on variables and theres so many ...a one does all solution isnt in my handbook...where you have al;so the ability to move weight to the rear or front much more quickly pack the rear wheel with crap and indeed the tyres you have fitted count much more on slippy off road blah blah
either way defensive riding is much easier than cure ...all the boring shit forward observation anticipation what you can see what you cant and what could be there ...still works off road
a one does all solution to emergancy braking off road cant be done imho best to practice never needing it ..think 60mph gravel vs rugby ball rock garden ..but it always good to practice stopping for sure ..no argument there

had a interseting few years with the fisrt bike i ve ever had with abs .....lore is that it will let go and kill me everytime i touch the brakes ....real worlds on typical uk trails is the front almost never comes on and the rear when i forget to switch it off clicks its tits off but stops me ... theres another can of worms to open

"How much better can you be?"

Not much, really. I'm perfect already. I never crash, I never fall off, and I never get stuck.

I've done a lot of courses, and will continue, as you cant see your own riding. Each school teaches differently, and I always try and take away something new.
2 things I think are some of the most excellent practice by yourself are :
- Slow as poss without stopping on steep loose downhills - you really get to know your front brake then
- Figure-of-8 around 2 things you can move closer together - you really get to know when you've got your weight working properly

I've got 3 bikes that require quite different technique
gs1250 rallye
701 enduro
alp 200

I'd like to find some place with bikenav's gravel as I've yet to feel confident, simply because there's nowhere with loose stony stuff that I ride except on courses.

When I was commuting every day I used to set myself little challenges, like not putting my feet down at all or not using the brakes. Obviously I would stop the challenge if it was dangerous and I did not often manage to complete them. What they tended to do was really make me focus on looking ahead and judging speeds and distances. Different bikes are easier than others, my 1959 Model 50 was the easiest, although to be honest if you ride it in modern traffic you have to sort of ride it like that anyway.
When I get a new, to me, bike I tend to practice things like emergency stops and very slow speed riding so that I get an idea of its abilities.

daveuprite wrote: ↑Wed Jan 20, 2021 7:09 am "How much better can you be?"

Not much, really. I'm perfect already. I never crash, I never fall off, and I never get stuck.

Yes I've watched you "never" falling off Dave

Steve

Misti wrote: ↑Wed Jan 06, 2021 7:25 pm What is your method of practice? How much better do you think you can be?

Reminds me of one of them mindfullness posters...shouldnt it have the sun setting over the sea in the background

daveuprite wrote: ↑Wed Jan 20, 2021 7:09 am "How much better can you be?"

Not much, really. I'm perfect already. I never crash, I never fall off, and I never get stuck.

Hmm, not sure about that. here's exhibit A from 2017...