Drifting through the corners.

irvs

I've been watching loads of vid and plays of the riders seem to drift or flick the back wheel mid corner and personally it looks good but maybe not so much when racing. I'm just wondering how they do this, I've been trying but just can't make it flick out.

cooldad

Go faster

sanchez89

probably a sharp dab of rear brake, then be ready to 'catch' the slide and hold it without it flicking you off the other way.

if you go absolutly balls out into a really loose corner and weight the front heavy it will probably go aswell

bluechair84

Try it on loose shale. At a slow pace, turn slightly, but sharply and push with your heel to whip the back wheel out slightly. Weight on the front wheel will help. When doing it at higher speeds into fast bermed corners, remember to tilt the bike beneath you, don't lean like a motoGP racer. It's much easier to catch and hold a slide this way.

irvs

Cheers for the tips lads il be giving it some practice.

Thanks neil

ilovedirt

sanchez89 wrote:

probably a sharp dab of rear brake, then be ready to 'catch' the slide and hold it without it flicking you off the other way.

if you go absolutly balls out into a really loose corner and weight the front heavy it will probably go aswell

This, doesn't really work in really compacted corners like trail centres, but it's silly fun on looser trails. Not very fast though :roll:

jairaj

The proper way is to use weight transfer. Shift your weight to the front of bike, this un-weights the back end allowing it to break traction and slide round while using your hips and legs to push the back end round. Helps to learn on loose gravel or muddy conditions where you are traction limited at the best of times.

The cheat way is to use the rear brake to skid round the corner.

irvs

I had a wee go on some fire roads last night between trails, fun trying it though seemed to work better if I give it a dab of the back brake also, as mentioned. Ill just have to keep practicing.

Cheers lads.

jairaj

TBH I wouldn't actually bother to learn to drift. It just comes naturally as you go faster, I would concentrate on learning good cornering technique and practice getting faster and the drifting will just happen.

I guess Cooldad summarised it well:

cooldad wrote:

Go faster

bluechair84

jairaj wrote:

TBH I wouldn't actually bother to learn to drift. It just comes naturally as you go faster, I would concentrate on learning good cornering technique and practice getting faster and the drifting will just happen.

I guess Cooldad summarised it well:

cooldad wrote:

Go faster

But only if you have the correct position on the bike. Somethings are very hard to achieve or control if you don't. And that doesn't come naturally to everyone. Manuals are another thing that can't just be learnt naturally through riding lots, if you developed a style different to the technique, you'll find it very hard.

Northwind

Drifting by back braking is a good way to practice the feeling, but please don't do it when you're out riding, it's a quick way to make holes in the trail.

cooldad

bluechair84 wrote:

jairaj wrote:

TBH I wouldn't actually bother to learn to drift. It just comes naturally as you go faster, I would concentrate on learning good cornering technique and practice getting faster and the drifting will just happen.

I guess Cooldad summarised it well:

cooldad wrote:

Go faster

But only if you have the correct position on the bike. Somethings are very hard to achieve or control if you don't. And that doesn't come naturally to everyone. Manuals are another thing that can't just be learnt naturally through riding lots, if you developed a style different to the technique, you'll find it very hard.

Very true. I was being a bit facetious. I don't mind the back kicking out a bit but being both a coward and delicate I prefer my wheels planted and as close to the ground as possible.
Even on little jumps (I don't do big ones) when other people are flying I tend to push into the slope and hardly get any air.
Throwback to my MX days when I was taught that whenever the back wheel is spinning or off the ground you're losing traction and hence speed.
A pic of me from those days :

peter413

If you're using the brakes it's skidding, not drifting. And as has already been said, please don't do it on the trails, it rips them up. There are exceptions when it's acceptable, mostly when it's your own little trail that you built.

A word of warning though, if you do it a lot you will find you go through bushings and frame bearings very quickly, especially if you do a lot of cutties. That's assuming you're on a full suspension bike.

Dirtydog11

Slack head angle and a long front centre will help, less likely to end up over the bars.

Not sure I'd want to try it on a XC type bike.

irvs

Thanks again for the tips, I know the score no skidding on the trails, it's just really for fun on the fire roads between trails.

Neil.

DannyUK

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzWLOjXaaAs

Cutty?

bluechair84

cooldad wrote:

bluechair84 wrote:

jairaj wrote:

TBH I wouldn't actually bother to learn to drift. It just comes naturally as you go faster, I would concentrate on learning good cornering technique and practice getting faster and the drifting will just happen.

I guess Cooldad summarised it well:

cooldad wrote:

Go faster

But only if you have the correct position on the bike. Somethings are very hard to achieve or control if you don't. And that doesn't come naturally to everyone. Manuals are another thing that can't just be learnt naturally through riding lots, if you developed a style different to the technique, you'll find it very hard.

Very true. I was being a bit facetious. I don't mind the back kicking out a bit but being both a coward and delicate I prefer my wheels planted and as close to the ground as possible.
Even on little jumps (I don't do big ones) when other people are flying I tend to push into the slope and hardly get any air.
Throwback to my MX days when I was taught that whenever the back wheel is spinning or off the ground you're losing traction and hence speed.
A pic of me from those days :

That's incredible...



Why did the Flinstones have motorised bikes but not cars!?

And correct me if I'm wrong, but is the suspension on that front end not dissimilar to a torsion beam? Seriously advanced bit of kit that!

cooldad

Yeah but the lack of damping sucks.

an_original_name

DannyUK wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzWLOjXaaAs

Cutty?

i was riding that trail today. awesome fun!

lochussie

All I can do is agree, the few times I have drifted I have been really forcing myself to go into a corner faster than I think is a good idea. Feels great though. In the pro vids, I especially like it when they drift the rear end out the opposite way as they go to the outside on the approach to a corner then the other way through the corner.

Blind Danny Johnson

lochussie wrote:

All I can do is agree, the few times I have drifted I have been really forcing myself to go into a corner faster than I think is a good idea. Feels great though. In the pro vids, I especially like it when they drift the rear end out the opposite way as they go to the outside on the approach to a corner then the other way through the corner.

I believe that's called a scandinavian flick and it's not exclusively/originally a bike thing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sbr1K3uuOPk

As for drifting I've been practicing this lots recently and some corners are easier than others, looser corners are best to start because you need less speed to drift and off camber helps too so you can get the feel of drifting without necessarily needing loads of speed. After a while as you get used to that feeling and get used to cornering faster in general you'll feel it happening. I can't induce it as and when yet but every now and again I get it and it's awesome.