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Riding in the wet

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 10:14 pm
by nic g
Hi
I'm after some advice in riding in slippery conditions, it seemed the more gas I gave the more wheel spin I got. Should I be having abit of momentum before an obstacle or focusing on keeping weight over the back wheel?

Hard to explain, I was practicing on a couple of wet logs not quite a bike length apart, hopping up the first log was fine but trying to get the back wheel to hop across to the next was difficult as i would wheel spin and loss momentum. I got to work once but it just didn't feel right?

any help would be great

thank you
nic

Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2007 5:21 pm
by seiko
Get a four stroke ;-)

Nah can't cheat all the time.. .. When I had the gasgas and the terrain became a bit slippery I found that using a gear higher than normal helps to prevent the wheel spins and riding on the rear brake to control speed halps stability. In really slippery take-offs full contact on the back wheel certaintly helps too, no point in trying to take off with only a small portion of tyre contact. food for thought anyway....

Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2007 8:21 pm
by nic g
hhmmm four stroke aye?

Thanks seiko :D

I'll put that to practice.... when it rains again?

nic

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 8:26 am
by Neo
Hi nic g,

It’s hard to give any opinion without seeing the obstacle(s). But I remember words of a wise trials rider (Howard) very clearly…”Change your style, not your bike”

Finding the technique to beat this section will make more of a “Trials Man” of you than any Four stroke.

That’s not to say that 4 stokes aren’t great bikes for certain types of riders…but at the end of the day ALL bikes have their pros and cons. I once felt I needed a four stoke. But on the drill down it wasn’t the bike I needed at all.:wink:

Best of balance.

Neo

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 4:28 pm
by nic g
Hi neo

yeah was abit hard to explain the obstacle's will take a couple of pic's next time.

Changing the technique was all i needed to do! I started on a slippery wet hill climb, first I tried a hand full of gas and only got 3/4 the way up, then I tried keeping the same high rev's but feathering the clutch, more when i got traction and less when it started to spin. For me this worked well i could even shorten my run up's each time as I got more comfortable.

thank you the tip

oh yeah no offense to 4 strokers but I love my two banger to much! :D

nic

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 9:07 am
by Neo
nic g wrote:Changing the technique was all i needed to do! I started on a slippery wet hill climb, first I tried a hand full of gas and only got 3/4 the way up, then I tried keeping the same high rev's but feathering the clutch, more when i got traction and less when it started to spin. For me this worked well i could even shorten my run up's each time as I got more comfortable.

Brilliant!!!......this is what Trials is all about.

So change or modify your bike when you've got the money….and not when you can’t get through a section. :lol:


Best of balance.

Neo

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 12:43 am
by Phoenix
oh yeah no offense to 4 strokers but I love my two banger to much!


Don't worry, none take :)

Re: Riding in the wet

Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 10:42 pm
by Stu
I hope everyone has been out practicing in the wet stuff? It should give a good start to the year.. :lol:

Re: Riding in the wet

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 6:46 pm
by BJ
Stu

Allright for you say up there in the Hunter but I can't see the wet stuff for dust :cry:

Last time I rode anything slippery was after laughing too hard at a hill climb :oops:

Re: Riding in the wet

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 8:23 am
by Stu
how does 154mm of rain in 24 hours sound? It's just a little bit wet under tyre now... :shock: