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Balance Practice -Dif terrains -

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2014 7:57 pm
by Tristan14
Hey so I've had my trials bike about 3 weeks now and put about 3 tanks through it just practicing at my sisters property I thought I was making pretty good progress with balancing stationary but this week I've been riding down the road on an abandoned block of dirt after work and I feel like all my practice is undone I cannot balance for more than 2 seconds now.

First time I was getting somewhere I was on grass and last 2 rides Ive been on dirt which feels slippery and I seem to get no resistance when I move the bars to oppose my weight shift.

How much harder should dirt be compared to grass ? Any pointers to help me out for balancing on dirt ?

Re: Balance Practice -Dif terrains -

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2014 8:04 pm
by Craigus77
I'm no expert but, I've been practicing in the garage with the engine off.. Makes the grass feel easy :)

Re: Balance Practice -Dif terrains -

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2014 8:56 am
by paulm
let down your tyre pressure - 3psi front, 2 psi rear. Bend your knees and your arms a little - relax and don't grip the bars - and remember to breath - have patience you'll get there :)

Re: Balance Practice -Dif terrains -

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2014 2:35 pm
by jml
(Also a very new rider, so take my advice with a grain of salt :mrgreen: )

I did around 2-3 hours of balancing in the garage on a smooth concrete floor with the engine off, I could balance for around 2-3 minutes without issue. I then went onto the road (bitchumen) and found that I had to drastically modify my technique for that surface as it vastly changed the rate at which I could turn the bars, the same occurred when I went to dirt and the same again when the rear wheel was higher or lower than the front on all of those surfaces. I think the most important thing is to get experience and practice on all surfaces and under all conditions as you don't really have a choice when you are on a section. I did lots of work with the bike off, now I'm getting used to holding the clutch in while balancing.

I guess my advice for your question about how hard is it comparison would be (if you are just starting out): Pick one surface and learn it really well (with the engine off). To the point where you start to understand why you do certain things and how certain movements affect the bikes balance, I believe this can be best achieved by picking the same surface for all of your practise as this removes lots of variables, allowing you to notice how subtle movements in body, bar and footpeg pressure cause the bike to move. Once you have a really good idea of how these movements influence the balance of the bike you then can move to other surfaces and the learning time should be much shorter as it's just a matter of adjusting to how the bike behaves on that surface. I would definitely say that dedicated sessions of balance practise helped, which can easily be done during days "off" of riding, like late at night. You just have to dedicate some time and say, "I'm going to spend 30 minutes working on balance".

P.S. when you get on, get on very slowly and also make sure the bars are on full lock (against the lock stop) and keeping both brakes on. Once you are on the bike and have some initial balance, try back it off full lock (a few degrees) and leave a little breathing room between the bars and the lock stop - this extra gap allows you both left/right movement of the bars as opposed to movement only away from the full lock.

Goodluck and have fun! =D>

Re: Balance Practice -Dif terrains -

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2014 2:45 pm
by paulm

Re: Balance Practice -Dif terrains -

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2014 2:47 pm
by jml
paulm wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG3IyREyFVc


Haha ^ and this and all of the videos from this user :roll:

Re: Balance Practice -Dif terrains -

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2014 10:11 pm
by PA
After a bit more practice...

Debbie-Headstand.jpg
Debbie-Headstand.jpg (130.85 KiB) Viewed 39193 times

Re: Balance Practice -Dif terrains -

Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2014 7:44 pm
by dragster1964
Just a thought here, why do we practice balancing when non-stop rules may come in?

Re: Balance Practice -Dif terrains -

Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2014 8:02 pm
by Trango
It is the main skill in our sport. Even if we are riding non stop rules we still need balance. If you master it while stationary you will find it easier when you are moving

Re: Balance Practice -Dif terrains -

Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2014 7:40 pm
by Rod
Figure 8's. I'm an old and mediocre trials rider, but in my opinion and that of many others, conquer the lock to lock figure 8's first, if you haven't already. Single best practice technique on two wheels.