Naked bikes and gravel / fire roads

[Goodman4]

I just got an MT-10 and I've been trying to get a feel whether this bike is more manageable on occasional gravel / fire roads than the FJR or worse due to it's tweaky torque.  I grew up riding on gravel and in fields but that was on little bikes.  Still I got the basic understanding of accelerating in the spin instead of braking and how to feather the back brake when needed.  I've been on several gravel roads on the FJR and my Wing, even though I don't enjoy them.  It's not for the handling in the gravel (unless it's thick fresh gravel as discussed in another thread recently), but it's the weight of my bikes with me having to stop in a bad place or have to turn around and drop it.  I dropped the FJR in the Ozarks a few years ago trying to turn around. 

Anyway, the MT-10 isn't a super light bike but it feels like a toy compared to the FJR. I don't have any fear of dropping it when I'm turning around.  I haven't found anywhere that people talk about riding these naked bikes on gravel and they seem to avoid it like the plague.  Is that because of the torque, the danger of throwing a rock into the radiator, the tires, something else, or is it really not that taboo?  It would be nice to hit some fire trails with my nephew on his Tenere once in a while if it wasn't stupid.

 

[Bugnatr]

As you know you can ride any bike anywhere but Yamaha didn't intend the MT10 for that use. I suspect you start riding a lot of gravel with it and you'll find out why folks don't use full on street bikes for dirt work.

Should have bought an S10.   I love mine for off the asphalt duty.

 

[Goodman4]

Thanks for the input.  I'll be fine at this point trading the occasional trail for the performance.  But specifically, do I need to be even more wary of gravel on the M10 than the FJR?

 

[escapefjrtist]

I think you’ll find the MT-10 no more or less stable than an FJR on loose surfaces. Similar (slick) tires and street bike chassis geometry is the hinderance to being successful off the tarmac. Will it work? Sure. Only you can determine if the bike is stable enough to trust on dirt / gravel.

But, for tearing up the backroad twisties...oh my!!

~G

 

[RossKean]

Not a huge suspension travel but enough for modest roads.  My concern would be with the radiator and the small front fender.

Is that an oil cooler below the radiator??  Quite exposed.

 

[Goodman4]

Not a huge suspension travel but enough for modest roads.  My concern would be with the radiator and the small front fender.

Is that an oil cooler below the radiator??  Quite exposed.

Yes, it seems a lot of people add a guard there. I don't plan on doing anything for quite a while except country roads.  It's a blast.

 

[Goodman4]

So the final answer for me on this is that I will be avoiding gravel more on the MT-10 than I do on the other bikes. As Ross has stated, the oil cooler and radiator are very exposed.  Some people have had issues with rocks damaging these and they add protective guards.  That's still not enough to make this a good fire road bike.  It likes the smooth road.

 

[BanjoBoy]

I would think an MT10 would be better in the dirt, 'n a fenda extenda would prolly help w/ the radiator/oil cooler. Ridden my FJR on many a dirt road, 'n the only problem I've had is like you; turn'in the pig around at a dead end. Wet, slimy mud always gives me pucker moments too.

I used to ride w/ this little Asian dude, who'd pull nose first into a street parking spot, (The rest of us would back in do to road crown.) and when we'd leave, he'd just pivot his CBR1000 on the side stand, 'n spin it 180, 'n ride out. The FJR would prolly snap off or bend the side stand butt an MT10 could prolly do it?

Got an FZ6 for dirt back in '12, butt sold it last year 'n got a Z400 ABS. In the end, what works good on the street is gonna suck in the dirt; maybe you need a Tenere? Me rail'in the FZ6 in sum dirt.

 

[Goodman4]

I did get the oil cooler and radiator guards on a few weeks ago. I haven't tried to "spin" the MT10 on the sidestand and probably won't , but in first checking the shock adjustments, I balanced it on the sidestand since I don't have a front stand yet. So I do think it would be possible to do.

I was briefly on a couple gravel spots and rode very conservatively, but not because of handling. It was easy to manage, but I was still very concerned about throwing a rock. 

 

[WBill]

I have to ride 1/2 mile back and forth on a gravel road every time I go out.  It's really no problem once you get used to it. However, another thing to watch out for is getting a "just right" stone lodged between the a fan blade and the radiator or the fan housing, tying it up. WBill