Gravel??

[Don-STOC237]

Go ride a few thousand miles with George Catt. You'll never be nervous about gravel roads again.

Seriously, just relax, let go your death grip on the bars, look ahead and not down, and let er dance around underneath you. It's actually easier, IMO, to ride a ST on gravel then it is a tall dual-sport like my DL1000. The most disconcerting part is hearing all the plastic rattling around and getting loose...

Oh ya, and stay away from the deep sand.

 

[W0QNX]

"Steer the bike with the pegs". In quotations because it's not entirely possible but it does help a bunch on gravel and that nasty nasty, SAND.

Raymond

 

[Ashley]

I can tell you about gravel on the road in WV. 14 Stitches.

 

[hondaholic]

Treat it like ice, no leaning on the curves, stay in the shallow stuff when you can, you get use to it - I've got 3 miles of it to get to my house. Oh and slow way down on the downhill stuff, it can get like marbles. Straight, flat or uphill you really can kinda charge through it.

 

[NCrider]

I ride quite a bit in gravel.....

Don't fight the bike, let it wonder around a little. Don't ride too slow, it just makes things worse, I would love to tell you how fast to ride but.....it's a feeling thing.

Growing up on a mile long gravel road it doesn't bother me at all, not deep loose sand.....I don't like.

 

[teglasscock]

Easy does it. I've got a long gravel driveway, too and I hate it, but I could buy a new ST for what it'd cost to have it paved. Only thing I hate worse is grooved pavement. It's the equivalent of someone scraping their nails across a blackboard.

 

[kieth]

Stand up, stick your *** to the rear, put the throttle on, Loose on the bars.....................

Now the real trick how to turn a corner: do all of the above, countersteer as you normally would, if a left turn lean to the right and weight the outside peg.

When we ride on the street and turn left we lean left and lower our center of gravity.

When in sand, gravel, dirt, we want the weight centered on the contact patch not pushing the contact patch away .

It takes me a while to switch riding techniques but this is one of the first things they teach you in off road Adventure riding schools.


OH yes, some of that gravel is really slick, sometimes it is so bad that I head for the ditch where there is dirts showing.

Loose on the bars !

On the Gas !

Push dummy push (countersteer)

Turn your head and look thru the corner

Stand up

*** out

Weight the outside Peg
by leaning the opposite direction of the turn....

Lots to remember but it works. Kieth


950KTM Adventure, 625SXC , WR450, FZ1, K1200LT, 650 Strom,

Lets get Dirty !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[cptgrits]

Don't mind small gravel as long as it's packed hard. Absolutely hate loose florida beach sand, don't ask why. Years ago I had a Yamaha enduro. If you want a real "adventure", ride one with street knobbies over a bridge with a steel grate road deck. The knobbies catch every oppening in the grating. By the time you get off the thing you'll be at the next bar for nerve medicine, then to the chiropractor for an adjusment, followed by the dentist to replace the fillings you just lost!

 

[corky51]

Thanks, guys. I guess I just have to practice.

10 years later, still can’t ST on gravel. I guess my ride just doesn’t want to.. oh well, may need a drz400 too.

 

[caldercay]

Thanks, guys. I guess I just have to practice.

.

10 years later, still can’t ST on gravel. I guess my ride just doesn’t want to.. oh well, may need a drz400 too.

Bummer. ... key is "slow and easy"

Our 120 yards long "driveway" consists of #3 gravel.

 

[fnmag]

10 years later, still can’t ST on gravel. I guess my ride just doesn’t want to.. oh well, may need a drz400 too.

That DRZ400 would work wonders on dirt and gravel.
As we all know the ST is a handful on gravel but with practice is doable.

 

[STraymond]

I just close my eyes.....and hope the the motorcycle fairy turns my ST into a CanAm or a trike...

 

[Larry Fine]

I've ridden on gravel enough on bikes that I find that a light grip, even steering with only one hand, works better than trying to stop the front wheel from following the jags. It's similar to riding draw-bridge grating; letting the bike wiggle is better than fighting it.

 

[Bush]

You wanna try some REALLY scary gravel riding? Do the Moki Dugway, going downhill, with a passenger, with motorhomes coming up! Never had my heart in my mouth so long as on that day.

 

[spiderman302]

Garvel?...... It is another advantage of going to the darkside........ wide tire, low pressure, flotation, easy balance, no problem......

 

[Northerntour]

Where I live there are lots of dirt/sand/and yes, gravel of every description. At first I was terrified that my ST was not the right choice for where I am, but now after about 10 years of practice I don't even think about it' and truly thats the key! Relax and feather with your rear brake , light touch on the grips and smooth on the throttle. Last year early spring we had a lot of roads underwater because of a big snow melt and I had to cross about 1/4 mile of submerged golf ball covered gravel under about 2 feet of muddy water. Had a couple of seat pinch moments, but made it just fine. Ever since then nothing fazes me, even rode in snow near Timmins last season ( worst part of that story is that someone stole my GPS when I went into grab a coffee to thaw my hands). Ill take gravel every time after that!
Chill, be one with the road grasshopper.

 

[SMSW]

Ryan Fortnine has a video on riding in sand and gravel (off road). Check it out - he has some good pointers (as usual) that are applicable to ST's even though this is targeted to adventure bikes.

 

[CYYJ]

How the heck do you ride this ST on gravel?

As others have noted, it's possible to ride a ST on gravel, but it's not at all a pleasant experience, and after you have done it once, you'll probably choose to avoid gravel in the future.

I got lost once and wound up following a gravel road for about 15 miles - the road got worse and worse, and I was beginning to wonder if I would ever make it out of there.

The only thing I didn't have to worry about was falling off the bike. My arse-hole was grabbing the leather seat so tight I think it left permanent wrinkles on the seat.

Michael

 

[beemerphile]

.. I try to keep my speed up so the front wheel doesn't bog down.

It works while it's working, and it also makes the dismount more interesting when it quits working.

I have a good bit of (old) dirt bike experience and the instinctive learned responses to slides and lack of traction have saved me many times. Those who learned to ride on dirt bikes have a great skills advantage on the rest. I have a half mile of dirt road leading to my half mile gravel driveway, so I get to practice sliding and spinning the tires; hanging the back out; and steering with the throttle twice on every trip. I'm going to agree that you just ride it like a fat dirt bike with bad tires - but don't try to learn your dirt bike technique on one of these.

I love the term "loose gravel". I've never seen tight gravel. HOWEVER, in DEEP gravel...

LORD get me out of this and I promise I will NEVER ride this pig in deep gravel again!!!

 

[Mark]

dirt bike experience and the instinctive learned responses

Completely agree.
This probably helps more than anything else while riding an 800lb bike in hard pack or loose stuff.
I have been riding in the hills surrounding a dry lake bed as well as the lake bed annually for a *long* time.