Off road playing in the dirt...

[UberKul]

I really don't have any off road experience so whatever I get I will be taking it easy at first.

This statement does not equate to a Euro enduro.Riding a slow bike fast is more fun than riding a fast bike slow.

I've heard this before as related to riding on the road, but can't get my head around how it would translate to the off road. It seems to me that one would always enjoy riding the more capable bike off-road, regardless of how capable the rider is, the better bike will make the ride better.

Power to weight ratio makes power that can be a challenge to harness and control.Great brakes makes for easy lockup.

Stiff frames are less forgiving.

Big stiff suspension makes for tall ride height and too harsh for all day trail riding.

All the things that make them fantastic single-track bikes make for miserable trips to the trail. Best to truck them from point A to point B.

I'd rather ring-out a 100 than short-shift a 450. Odds are you can keep up with your average riding buddy on any of the Japanese 250s unless they are hitting big hills, ledges or rocks.

Ride any AMA sponsored dual sport event and you will see an ocean of orange, most being good fast riders, but DRz's are probably the most popular model for Joe Weekend. Diamonds and hard-splits are the meat these things eat. Feeding them fire roads is a waste of performance.

 

[Powerman]

I lied, High School kids on 2 stroke KTM MX bikes made the old wimpy guy whine like a little girl.

Mind wrote checks my body can't cash.......

Fred, my wife said I can't afford that rack.

 

[Mr Bill]

FREDW said
If I had the money my accountant friend from MA does, I'd have an LC4 KTM too.

I can't help it if my two girls promised to never marry. Only one more year of college tuition and I'll be able to work less. Only six days instead of seven! How did I get dragged into this anyway?

My first bike was a brand new Yamaha DT250 when I was 16. That poor bike took a pounding! A few years later I bought new DT250. The first year with a mono shock. It was really fun to land and not wobble like I would on the older two shock model.

I'm really glad I got the 690 rather than the 250 Yamaha this time around. 690 has gobs of torque low down and I helped that along with a huge rear sprocket. This bike is not good single track though. The 690 has a street bike frame and it takes big wide very big turns.

 

[bikerskier]

6'2" 200 lbs. rode dirt bikes for about 35 years and preferred weight and balance of the 250cc bikes. Never had an issue with power to climb mountains or trees since I changed the gearing in every dirt bike I ever owned. Dropped a cog on the front sprocket and added 2 on the rear and rarely needed more speed on the terrain and trails we rode. Mostly cross country, at altitude, closer to trials than moto cross., with plenty of swamp, rocks, streams, trees and almost all single lane or no lane riding. Best ever was a Can Am 250 Qualifier, two stroke, with the gearing changed, Rotax engine with Jake brake for braking down long mountain downhills.

I really miss that ****.

 

[Torchsport]

Twooooooooo stroooooooooooooke!!

 

[HotRodZilla]

 

[XWinger]

Ill take the 2 stroke supermodel that smokes a little and likes to get dirty!

 

[russperry]

There are lots of people out there wasting lots of money on unnecessary maintenance.

That's what i keep telling my wife when she asks for money to get some work done.....

 

[CAJW]

I really don't have any off road experience so whatever I get I will be taking it easy at first.

This statement does not equate to a Euro enduro.Riding a slow bike fast is more fun than riding a fast bike slow.

I've heard this before as related to riding on the road, but can't get my head around how it would translate to the off road. It seems to me that one would always enjoy riding the more capable bike off-road, regardless of how capable the rider is, the better bike will make the ride better.

Power to weight ratio makes power that can be a challenge to harness and control.Great brakes makes for easy lockup.

Stiff frames are less forgiving.

Big stiff suspension makes for tall ride height and too harsh for all day trail riding.

All the things that make them fantastic single-track bikes make for miserable trips to the trail. Best to truck them from point A to point B.

I'd rather ring-out a 100 than short-shift a 450. Odds are you can keep up with your average riding buddy on any of the Japanese 250s unless they are hitting big hills, ledges or rocks.

Ride any AMA sponsored dual sport event and you will see an ocean of orange, most being good fast riders, but DRz's are probably the most popular model for Joe Weekend. Diamonds and hard-splits are the meat these things eat. Feeding them fire roads is a waste of performance.

This! Colin Edwards (The Texas Tornado) has a boot camp where they use 125cc bikes to teach technique and handling skills vs throttle mashing. Even Rossi rides dirt for cross training, so your street riding skills will benefit from sliding around in the dirt as well. My advice is start out with a small cc bike (250) learn the skills, take your lumps, then move up to something more exciting if you find that's your passion. BTW, KTM & Beta mnt schedules are predicated on racing schedules but, with sane trail riding use those numbers are regularly extended. Also, I've owned a number of dirt & dual sport bikes and do not consider the Beta or KTM's as a "compromise" as long as your focus is dirt and only need a plate to get to the trails or to ride connector roads.
https://www.motorcycle-usa.com/2015/09/article/texas-tornado-boot-camp-colin-edwards-camp-revisited/

 

[Abercrombie FJR]

I'm going to high jack Richouse's thread, but since he is new to riding dirt he may also be interested in the subject of my question. For those of you that ride dirt, how much protection do you wear as far as deflectors or guards. For boots I have a pair of Sidi Adventure goretex and a pair of Sidi Discovery so I think I'm good there short of a full motocross boot.

My first question is upper body protection. What are you wearing? I am looking at the Acerbis Koerta 2.0, Acerbis Cosmo with jacket, Acerbis Deflector X-fit, Acerbis Deflector MX, Leatt EDF AitFit, something from ONe industries, or ONeal Under Dog 2. Is upper body protection like this overkill for off road riding?

Next question, what do you guys wear to protect hips and legs. I am looking at Acerbis Soft Knee 2.0 or something like that or does a guy need knee braces for adventure riding. For my hips and ass I am looking at at Leatt Impact shorts GPX 5.5

So am I nuts getting this much protection to ride off road or am I nuts ridding without this type of protection?

 

[HotRodZilla]

You're nuts if you don't gear up. Way too easy to go over the bars or crash hard, even at slow speed.

After your helmet, look at the Thor Sentry Body Armor. I didn't look at all the stuff you listed, but the Thor body armor is awesome. Light weight and COMFORTABLE. I LOVE mine! The back protection kept me out of the hospital.

I wear Mechanix high impact gloves. Well made, cheap, available almost anywhere, and comfortable. Everything a MX glove should be.

I wear a pair of Fox shorts with hip pads. As far as that goes, wear whatever you want, but wear something. I'm sure the Leatts will be fine.

Boots. Wear MX boots, and don't cheap out. Patch and I have both broken bones in our feet, both with inadequate boots. Patch had to have surgery. I now have Garnae SG10s, and Patch has the SG12s. I really liked a pair of Formas I ordered, but they were too narrow. Great boots cost money. Broken feet cost more than that. BUY THE ABSOLUTE BEST BOOTS YOU CAN AFFORD.

Buy good MX socks, but don't pay too much. Make sure you're comfortable. Buy cheap jerseys and wear them OVER your expensive body armor. Jerseys get torn. Get over it. Bilt jerseys are perfect in this regard. Buy good pants. Patch and I buy the Klim pants on clearance. Bilt pants are NOT good in this regard. I also have a pair of ANSWR pants that I love.

Oh, don't forget goggles. CycleGear has Oakley goggles for easy money. Also, get a good Camelbak that you can carry food and tools in.

Now that you're all dressed and safe, go get yourself on your dirt bike and have a blast! That is all...

 

[HotRodZilla]

Ok. Absolutely do NOT buy a chest rig that has a zipper in the middle. The Acerbis Cosmo you list and the Thor I recommend have solid chest plates with the zipper on the side. Go down hard, one time, with a zippered chest, and hit a rock or a stump, and you'll end up buying what you should have bought in the first place.

 

[Hudson]

What Zilla said. For single track on the Husky, I usually wear a chest protector (Troy Lee Designs), knee and elbow guards, good MX boots, and good gloves (not the cheap crappy MX gloves - they are pretty worthless above 15 mph - my fav is the BMW rallye glove). I wear MX pants and a jersey for single track riding. Oh, and you can get a good MX helmet like a Scorpion for cheap online - no need to spend $$$.

If I am doing mixed riding - road and forest roads - on the KTM where I am exceeding 50mph, I dress like I do for the road - Motoport. Ok, sometimes I will wear a motoport compression suit under KLIM gear, usually when the mix is mostly off-road but I still have to travel a ways. I also have Alpinestar Toucan boots for road/mix riding - nearly as protective as MX boots but something I can wear for long distances.

 

[N4HHE]

What Zilla said. For single track on the Husky, I usually wear a chest protector (Troy Lee Designs), knee and elbow guards, good MX boots, and good gloves (not the cheap crappy MX gloves - they are pretty worthless above 15 mph - my fav is the BMW rallye glove). I wear MX pants and a jersey for single track riding. Oh, and you can get a good MX helmet like a Scorpion for cheap online - no need to spend $$$.

The most expensive suite of clothes I own is my dirt riding gear. My Sunday Going To Meeting Clothes!

I use a plastic wire tie to anchor elbow pads to chest protector. This has been the best and only way I've found to keep them up on my elbows.

A fannypack is tied to the front of my chest protector to hold keys, wallet, etc.

As for gloves, anything is better than nothing. Bought a pair of neoprene winter gloves from Fly on closeout 5 years or so ago. Too hot to wear above 50°F on dirt or 65°F on FJR, but these are my most cherished gloves. Cost a budget busting $15 or so. Keep watching for similar to reappear.

Most of the time I wear a very lightweight Fly MX summer glove on the FJR. Florescent yellow. Loud yellow.