Tips and help for a first time offroader.
Comments
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The roots don't look too bad in the photo but I appreciate there are probably worse at some point. When you get a better bike you probably wouldn't notice then but as money is tight you have to work with what you've got. A lot of riding off road IMHO is picking a line; the same trail could be really difficult or really easy just depending on in which exact position you stick your front wheel. :P
I know it might be difficult at first when you're belting around to try and spot a nice smooth line but it gets easier, just ride where the roots are flattest if you get me (obviously). You don't want to go arse over tit if you can help it...
It all comes with a bit of practise and you probably won't even think about it too much when you've got a bit of experience, it's all trial and error. I'd definitely go and explore all the local trails you have at your disposal,you might find something good! I don't know what your fitness is like but I find the fitter I get, the easier it is because I'm not too knackered to pop the front wheel up and over an obstacle.
I don't wanna sound patronising but do you have a puncture repair kit and stuff like that? I know you're notgoing to get really remote but pushing home is a pain! Take your phone too and preferably tell someone what you're up to. Sorry for sounding like your mum (mmmmm) but you don't want to find yourself alone in the woods, lost, injured and vulnerable. Especially not when I'm around.
Have fun!0 -
Those photos didnt really do it justice, they are quite more rough than they seem in the photos. I do try and take a line, and i found myself taking a better line after each time i did the trail, since i kinda memorized what part of the trail came after next etc. Before it was just taking it as it came. I always go for the parts which allow me to go fastest and get the best line into the next corner (the trail was a bit narrow, so didnt wanna smash off into the trees).
My fitness id like to think is really really good. My thighs have sort of tripled in size within the last year LOL! And the trail i ride is called "hilly fields" (name speaks for itself) so it is really good for fitness, my legs get properly warmed up while im out there so its all good in terms of fitness. I can power up the hill as fast as possible, and i can do the whole thing with only the 42t chainring so fitness is not bad at all! I give it 100% on my school commute since im on the verge of being late almost every day
and doing that every day keeps my fitness up. Can ride a million times faster and longer than when i first started to ride properly 2-3 years ago.
I didnt take any kit with me to these trails, i know its a bit foolish but i risked it, didnt want to have a bag with me while i was trying to test my abilites. It would have only been a 20 minute push home if i did get a puncture though. If i were going further then id go equipped obviously. I have quite a good sense of direction, but i do take my phone anyway just incase something does happen to me. I have a reputation for being a bit of a daredevil on the bike.
This bit cracked me up!!!! "mmmm" ahahahacbtmrt wrote:Sorry for sounding like your mum (mmmmm) but you don't want to find yourself alone in the woods, lost, injured and vulnerable. Especially not when I'm around.
Thanks alot for advice and the laugh mate, i appreciate it!0 -
GT-Arrowhead wrote:I can never imagine myself doing a wheelie on a motorbike, the cost and pain of going off the back would be unbearable!
I didn't hurt myself (just landed on my arse and sat watching my pride and joy cartwheel down the road end over end, then launch itself over a hedge and into a field, about 12 feet in the air as it went over, lol). The mechanical carnage was rather expensive though (check out the snapped fork stanchion, lol):
124 :shock: Mate, you must have balls of steel. Haha, ive heard a few stories about R1s.
I used to be an complete idiot on a bike (as was my mate), but I got old and had one crash too many, so these days I'm a lot slower (but still a bit of an idiot really, lol). The R1 was one of the original '98 models, but converted to wear motocross handlebars, and it was a savage, violent, nasty thing, and a proper giggle to ride. Even someone like me who's crap at wheelies could look impressive on that thing - second gear at 80mph, just close the throttle and crack it open again and the bars came up and tried to hit you in the face, lol, it was a proper laugh. He could pick it up in second at 80, then go through the gearbox and not put the front wheel down again until he was doing over 150, with a cloud of smoke and long black line of tyre rubber on the tarmac, impressive to watch. I considered buying it off him when he gave up bikes, but I knew it would kill me eventually.My brother had an Aprillia R125 GP. The one with the 2 stroke engine. That thing sounded incredible!
I learned to ride on performance 2 strokes, and will always have a love for strokers (I still have one, but it's half built, and not turned a wheel since 1996).For the second time by the same company (albeit a few years apart), somewhat unluckily, lol.
Unlucky? More like total bullshit! I would have gone mental!
I took a more philosophical view, going mental wasn't gonna change anything.Wow. :shock: Thats proper sexy! For some reason i was expecting a classic Triumph, but this looks better than the classic ones ive seen. Id sleep with that
You keep your hands off her, she's a one man woman, lol. Only I get to ride her (hard and fast, like I ride my women, lol ). She is very sexy though, and I love the rare candy metallic orange (only ever seen two others in the same colour).Wow, they are on the other side of the country to me. Would cost a fortune to post a frame to them, let alone strip and anodize it. That sounds really cheap for everything they do though.
More than reasonable price, i thought, and they're not too far away for me, I took the parts over there, rather than posting them.0 -
njee20 wrote:Getting a frame anodised won't be cheap,
Wouldn't be expensive, based on what I paid for my parts doing. Cheaper than having it painted (it's not a labour intensive process requiring a lot of meticulous preparation like painting is).0 -
As for riding advice, I can't tell you how to ride a mountainbike, 'cos I'm a complete newbie myself, but one piece of advice I can give you, from over twenty years of riding motorbikes, that's equally transferrable to MTB is to look ahead down the road (or trail) - not at the ground just in front of your front wheel. The further ahead you look, tha faster you can go, partly becuase you have more time to react to what's coming up (and can pick your line), and partly because your brain perceives that you're travelling slower than if you're looking at the ground just ahead of your front wheel. Look where you want to go, not where you are, and the bike will follow. If you see an obstacle ahead that you don't want to hit then don't look at it, look at the route you want to take to avoid it - if you look at the obstacle then you'll hit it (it's called target fixation, and is the cause of many avoidable motorcycle accidents).
And, if you can help it, don't ever hit a tree - no matter how hard you hit them, they will not move, lol (ask Marc Bolan).0 -
ive only jus started myself
thou im having issues retaining speed over loose terrain partly perhaps to my lack of "off road tyres" and experience also sliding around loads then again decent tyres will fix that.
my front suspension seems very sensitive (active) which i guess is good im yet to fall off yet despite racing down a rather steep hill into a narrow forested area and over a shit load of loose dirt and tree roots. but i did nearly run a guys dog over jus as i was nearing the end of the forest area some guys dog ran across my path never braked so hard. going downhill hang on for dear life whilst attempting to keep the front wheel straight is really hard work. really fun thou0 -
Holy moly...so how many sleepless nights and money did that cost you? :/Must have been some sight to see your bike cartwheeling like that though, then 12 feet over a hedge...bloody hell, must have been beautiful.
That is mental, 80 in 2nd and wheelspinning and wheelieing at that speed is outrageous. Must be alot of fun though, and must have been a pussy magnet! Mind you, you must be too. Your bikes are well sexy. can i borrow one for a week? Haha.
2 strokes need to be left for about 10 minutes to warm up if im not wrong, otherwise you risk damaging it apparently.
The RPM they do is outrageous, so is the power output from such a small engine. But you have to get them rebuilt quite often.
I know exactly what you mean about looking ahead. I always do that, its something i learnt the hard way unfortunately. But it really is a great technique. Im guessing you must be really really good at it, since you ride motorbikes.
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andrewgrundill wrote:ive only jus started myself
thou im having issues retaining speed over loose terrain partly perhaps to my lack of "off road tyres" and experience also sliding around loads then again decent tyres will fix that.
my front suspension seems very sensitive (active) which i guess is good im yet to fall off yet despite racing down a rather steep hill into a narrow forested area and over a shoot load of loose dirt and tree roots. but i did nearly run a guys dog over jus as i was nearing the end of the forest area some guys dog ran across my path never braked so hard. going downhill hang on for dear life whilst attempting to keep the front wheel straight is really hard work. really fun thou
You seem to be having all the problems that i have, to the word. (bar the dog though )
I went to the place where i believed there were trails. So it was the first time.
I was absolutely dead by the time i got there. I didnt plan a route, just knew whereabouts the forest was and just went there. LOL. The uphill ride there was slaughter, and i havent got a front mech at the minute (waiting on a BB tool) So i was using the 42t ring. I only realised i could have stopped and put it down a ring once i got to the top...LOL.
I got there eventually, and it was not a bad bit of offroading. Problem is, the downhill parts looked very very challenging and i didnt bother throwing myself onto a very steep downhill with many bumps and jumps and trees etc after having 2 days out on trails. I just rode around the trails instead, just getting a bit of experience. The forest was HUGE. And i was the only person in it! I shat my pants! It was a bit dark in there because of their being so many trees, ive never been a big fan of large forests...
Im going to just get a bit more experience before i go back to that downhill area and give it a go. I was by myself today so i didnt fancy having a massive off.0 -
GT-Arrowhead wrote:andrewgrundill wrote:ive only jus started myself
thou im having issues retaining speed over loose terrain partly perhaps to my lack of "off road tyres" and experience also sliding around loads then again decent tyres will fix that.
my front suspension seems very sensitive (active) which i guess is good im yet to fall off yet despite racing down a rather steep hill into a narrow forested area and over a shoot load of loose dirt and tree roots. but i did nearly run a guys dog over jus as i was nearing the end of the forest area some guys dog ran across my path never braked so hard. going downhill hang on for dear life whilst attempting to keep the front wheel straight is really hard work. really fun thou
You seem to be having all the problems that i have, to the word. (bar the dog though )
I went to the place where i believed there were trails. So it was the first time.
I was absolutely dead by the time i got there. I didnt plan a route, just knew whereabouts the forest was and just went there. LOL. The uphill ride there was slaughter, and i havent got a front mech at the minute (waiting on a BB tool) So i was using the 42t ring. I only realised i could have stopped and put it down a ring once i got to the top...LOL.
I got there eventually, and it was not a bad bit of offroading. Problem is, the downhill parts looked very very challenging and i didnt bother throwing myself onto a very steep downhill with many bumps and jumps and trees etc after having 2 days out on trails. I just rode around the trails instead, just getting a bit of experience. The forest was HUGE. And i was the only person in it! I shat my pants! It was a bit dark in there because of their being so many trees, ive never been a big fan of large forests...
Im going to just get a bit more experience before i go back to that downhill area and give it a go. I was by myself today so i didnt fancy having a massive off.
im gonna grab myself a pair of "off road" tyres. then give it another go full whack no fear style :x my brakes are pretty decent so hopefully a emergency stop will be easy enough
was racing around a small forested trail behind a industrial estate today lots of loose dirt and stuff couple smalls jumps nothing major bit of laugh thou nearly came off and hit a tree racing round a tight corner thou scary times . the trial only takes 5 mins or so if you proper go for it with no braking or slowing down I wasn't that mental I did it in 6-7 mins according to phone clock and nearly hit a tree then. 
its a U shaped trial
first part in slightly uphill narrow and few tight turns.
longish "U" turn at top followed by a slightly downhill section where lots of speed can be acquired with small jumps and loose dirt and tree trunks/roots about 50% way down then its a straight blast to end including one nice long corner to slide round at the very end of trial.
happy times.
only really tried the trial today didn't know you could get completely round now last time I tried it was boarded up half way
ill try video some of it on my phone.0 -
Im gonna get some non bald offroad tyres aswell. Then im gonna grow a pair and throw myself into that downhill bit and get lost in the forest. LOL!
Would like to see the video. 0 -
GT-Arrowhead wrote:Im gonna get some non bald offroad tyres aswell. Then im gonna grow a pair and throw myself into that downhill bit and get lost in the forest. LOL!
Would like to see the video.
its would be bad quality ill test it some time thou0 -
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Hahaha. Nice meme. And how is it gay? LOL! 0
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GT-Arrowhead wrote:Hahaha. Nice meme. And how is it gay? LOL!
I have no idea? :?:0 -
GT-Arrowhead wrote:Holy moly...so how many sleepless nights and money did that cost you? :/Must have been some sight to see your bike cartwheeling like that though, then 12 feet over a hedge...bloody hell, must have been beautiful.
At the time it was rather annoying. Many bad words were said. Looking back it's something to laugh about, and it was pretty spectacular. The expressions on the faces of the two lycra clad road cyclists who watched it happen was pretty funny, they looked a tad surprised, lol. She lived on though, I pulled her apart to a bare frame and rebuilt her, ahd the bent frame straightened in a jig then powdercoated. I never added up how much it cost, I didn't want to know, but it wasn't cheap. This was how she looked after the rebuild:
Three months later she was on her side in a muddy ditch, all smashed up again, and my collarbone was in two pieces, courtesy of a shortsighted Scottish OAP in a Corsa.That is mental, 80 in 2nd and wheelspinning and wheelieing at that speed is outrageous. Must be alot of fun though, and must have been a pussy magnet! Mind you, you must be too. Your bikes are well sexy. can i borrow one for a week? Haha.
No you bloody can't lol. But yes, wheelies are fun (I just wish I still got the same buzz from riding bikes that I used to).2 strokes need to be left for about 10 minutes to warm up if im not wrong, otherwise you risk damaging it apparently.
The RPM they do is outrageous, so is the power output from such a small engine. But you have to get them rebuilt quite often.
Performance two strokes are a dead breed unfortunately, killed off by tree hugging bullshit legislation. Yes they do need warming up before being caned hard, otherwise you risk a cold seizure. As for rebuilds, yes they do need ding sooner than a 4 stroke, but most would go to 20k miles before needing any major attention, and they're a lot simpler to rebuild than a 4 stroke motor. The reason they make more power per CC than a 4 stroke is that they fire twice per combustion cycle, compared to once for a 4 stroke (and have fewer moving parts).I know exactly what you mean about looking ahead. I always do that, its something i learnt the hard way unfortunately. But it really is a great technique. Im guessing you must be really really good at it, since you ride motorbikes.
It's a skill you learn riding bikes, if you want to stay alive, never mind ride fast. As for going fast, don't concentrate on trying to ride fast, concentrate on trying to ride smoothly - when you're smooth, fast comes with it.0 -
Looks lovely. So did you repair it after the 2nd crash? Did you get compensation or something from the incident?
Im learning quite alot about bikes now, lol. And some cool stories. I would have been so pissed at that OAP....
Smooth is definitely faster.
Ive noticed something different about that though, ive never seen a caliper in that position on the rear wheel. I always see them on the top of the rotor. Why is it lower than "usual"?0 -
Seriously f u c k the f u c k o f f with your crappy motor bike shite. Please stay in the correct genre or don't bother posting. Just so you know, this is MTB beginners. Oh yeah take your lols and stick them up your arses.0
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Do you have anger management problems? I know we arent supposed to be talking about motorbikes...its just a one off. You have a right to rant, i know.
Take your f u c k o f f s and shuv em up yours 0 -
I rather like motor cycles.I don't do smileys.
There is no secret ingredient - Kung Fu Panda
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Parktools0 -
Chunkers1980 wrote:Seriously f u c k the f u c k o f f with your crappy motor bike shite. Please stay in the correct genre or don't bother posting. Just so you know, this is MTB beginners. Oh yeah take your lols and stick them up your arses.
Er, it's GT's thread, and he asked the questions - he can hardly "hijack" his own thread, can he? Personally I always find people whining about "thread hijacking" bizarre - a thread is just a conversation in text form, do these same people start whining when a verbal conversation goes off on a tangent or changes topic? That's what conversations do, otherwise they'd all be very short, lol.
So, in conclusion, either chill the fuck out or go fuck yourself. Either's fine by me. Lol.0 -
cooldad wrote:I rather like motor cycles.
So do all red blooded heterosexual males, lol.0 -
Kowalski675 wrote:cooldad wrote:I rather like motor cycles.
So do all red blooded heterosexual males, lol.
:P0 -
GT-Arrowhead wrote:Looks lovely. So did you repair it after the 2nd crash? Did you get compensation or something from the incident?
Second crash? You mean third, lol. The wheelie crash was the bike's second crash - the first one was a 200 yard long slide at somewhere around 80mph (estimated - I think I'd got it down from 110 to around 80 when I nudged the car and went down, lol), lol, but I hadn't mentioned that one. If I remember right that one cost about £1100 to put it back to immaculate.Im learning quite alot about bikes now, lol. And some cool stories. I would have been so pissed at that OAP....
I wasn't right happy with him, and went off on one a bit, lol. By the time the adrenaline had stopped pumping (and I was realising there was something rather wrong with my shoulder) and my mates had calmed things down I felt a bit bad for doing my nut with him, since he was very apologetic. He admitted liability and I claimed off his insurance. Got paid out almost straight away for the bike (a fair price too, didn't get screwed over, and I got to keep the written off bike for £260), but my original solicitor was useless so the injury claim dragged on well over a year before I swapped to a very good bike specific solicitor, who got me about £5500 on top of the £2600 for the bike. 7 weeks off work too, which was nice, cos I hated my job.
I was pissed off with the bike (after all that work, looking at it smashed up again was depressing) so I just pushed it into the corner of the garage and left it there. I bought a Speed Triple, stripped that down to just frame and engine and spent far too much time and money rebuilding it into this:
A month (1700 miles) after finishing building that it ate its gearbox. It looked gorgeous and sounded amazing, but I hadn't really gelled with it (mainly due to the overly harsh suspension), so when it went bang I was that pissed off with it that I pushed it into the corner of the garage, dragged the Bandit back out and patched that up as cheap as possible (some new parts, swome used, and some damaged but intact bodywork from my spares). Didn't worry about cosmetics, just made sure it was mechanically right, so I had something to hack about on, and that's how she remains to this day (although I still might rebuild her again into something really nice like the silver & red one, I have two spare straight frames), so these days it looks like this - battlescarred and not the beauty she was, but she still scalps numpties on sportsbikes that they can't ride for toffee, lol:
Couple of years later I got around to taking the engine out of the black one to rebuild the gearbox, but then got bored with that, and it's still sat there half built years later, which is a shame, 'cos it was gorgeous.Smooth is definitely faster.
Aye, just don't take it too literally and start shaving your legs like those lycra roadie guys, lol...Ive noticed something different about that though, ive never seen a caliper in that position on the rear wheel. I always see them on the top of the rotor. Why is it lower than "usual"?
Some bikes have 'em above the swingarm, some below, either works as well. The rear brake on a motorbike does very little anyway, almost all your braking comes from the front.0 -
This thread does seem to have degraded into something on Max Power or somefink. LOL.0
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best peiece of advise to a begginer going out for longer rides,
Have a realling good trip to the loo before you head out, i mean completely empty yourself.0 -
Thewaylander wrote:best peiece of advise to a begginer going out for longer rides,
Have a realling good trip to the loo before you head out, i mean completely empty yourself.
im waiting to go out for a ride but my tyres still haven't arrived despite my choosing priority tracked delivery on chain reaction
also ordered some cycle gloves from ebay whole saler there are literally tiny they hurt my hands :x0 -
well go have a big poop while you wait :0 will help on the trail.0
