Dry track practice

Gilby122
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Gilby122
Random but does anyone struggle on dry sand or dry conditions in general? My bike has felt so uncomfortable lately and I’m chasin my tail tryin to figure it out. Very dry conditions with the flour-like sand. Slippery. Last time it rained I felt great. Bike felt great. But the last few sessions have been borderline sketchy!! Curious if those conditions can affect the bike/technique/handling?? Frustrating!!!
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DoubleA
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DoubleA 9/14/2018 3:34am
9/14/2018 3:34am
Take a bit of air out the rear tyre if your sliding too much, soften up your suspension a bit also, maybe sit a bit further back on your seat to stop the back sliding around.

I would keep a note of the settings you are running atm, as you can always go back if its starts raining again Laughing
EZZA 95B 9/14/2018 4:06am
9/14/2018 4:06am
All we got to ride was dry, slick, square-edge, shit. If it rained, we got to ride even more slick, square-edge, shit.

I foam at the mouth when I see some of the tracks people get to ride these days.
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kb228
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kb228 9/14/2018 4:08am
9/14/2018 4:08am
I used to ride a hard pack track like that. Sucks. Ive had my rear psi down to 10 and it just doesnt hook up. Trying to take flat insides is almost impossible without spinning out. Not to mention how hard every landing is. Might as well ride on pavement.
mattyhamz2 9/14/2018 6:29am
9/14/2018 6:29am
Practice, practice, practice.

If it’s dry and hard packed, roll your bars back a little bit and ride a gear higher. Track super slippery and your riding in 2nd and 3rd everywhere? Ride in 3rd and 4th instead. Carry momentum and avoid the higher RPM’s when it’s hard and slippery.
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kkawboy14
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kkawboy14 9/14/2018 6:33am
9/14/2018 6:33am Edited Date/Time 9/14/2018 6:34am
Powder is sketchy for everyone not just you. Upshift sooner, easier on the throttle.
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Myke
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Myke 9/14/2018 9:17am
9/14/2018 9:17am
mattyhamz2 wrote:
Practice, practice, practice. If it’s dry and hard packed, roll your bars back a little bit and ride a gear higher. Track super slippery and your...
Practice, practice, practice.

If it’s dry and hard packed, roll your bars back a little bit and ride a gear higher. Track super slippery and your riding in 2nd and 3rd everywhere? Ride in 3rd and 4th instead. Carry momentum and avoid the higher RPM’s when it’s hard and slippery.
Excellent advice.
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mattyhamz2 9/14/2018 9:44am
9/14/2018 9:44am
mattyhamz2 wrote:
Practice, practice, practice. If it’s dry and hard packed, roll your bars back a little bit and ride a gear higher. Track super slippery and your...
Practice, practice, practice.

If it’s dry and hard packed, roll your bars back a little bit and ride a gear higher. Track super slippery and your riding in 2nd and 3rd everywhere? Ride in 3rd and 4th instead. Carry momentum and avoid the higher RPM’s when it’s hard and slippery.
Myke wrote:
Excellent advice.
Thanks Myke. Many many days/laps spent at Gorman Laughing Both dry/hard packed and in the rain with hard packed. Lots of fun and a lot of track time alone with people watching since no one wanted to ride in the rain haha.
Gilby122
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Gilby122 9/14/2018 10:03am
9/14/2018 10:03am
Appreciate the advice! I have decreased psi and messed waaaaay too much with the suspension. Just a few landings with tight corners right after that I'm having a hard time shutting down for. Bout died three times now! Not an issue when there's some moisture, but when it's the powder with the hard packed, wind blown underneath, I struggle. Blow right on through the corner. Been feeling like I'm regressing as a rider, but I know some of it is conditions more than me as a rider, so trying to practice through it.
TEL36
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TEL36 9/14/2018 11:32am
9/14/2018 11:32am
Carry momentum, hard braking and hard acceleration are going to cause you to slip. Practice doing nice slow laps and just try to "flow" around the track. Also, focus extremely hard on technique, lots of weight focused on the outside peg when leaning and grip hard with your knees.

My advice for the tight corners after the jumps are: practice specifically on braking and getting to the apex of the corner first, don't worry about accelerating. DO NOT lock up the rear brakes. Once you have that down then start SLOWLY accelerating out of the corner, practice being smooth with the clutch and throttle.
Gilby122
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Gilby122 9/14/2018 11:58am
9/14/2018 11:58am
TEL36 wrote:
Carry momentum, hard braking and hard acceleration are going to cause you to slip. Practice doing nice slow laps and just try to "flow" around the...
Carry momentum, hard braking and hard acceleration are going to cause you to slip. Practice doing nice slow laps and just try to "flow" around the track. Also, focus extremely hard on technique, lots of weight focused on the outside peg when leaning and grip hard with your knees.

My advice for the tight corners after the jumps are: practice specifically on braking and getting to the apex of the corner first, don't worry about accelerating. DO NOT lock up the rear brakes. Once you have that down then start SLOWLY accelerating out of the corner, practice being smooth with the clutch and throttle.
Appreciate that. Hard part is the one jump I'm referring to I don't have time to worry about accelerating...I can't get it shut down in time to make the turn! I slid right through and blasted off this angled berm last time and puckered up good! Saved it...barely. Braking bumps are pretty good size after the landing into the apex. Just not sure how to attack it. Tryin to case it a bit with my front wheel but that's hard to make yourself come up a bit short on purpose.
Falcon
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Falcon 9/14/2018 11:59am
9/14/2018 11:59am Edited Date/Time 9/14/2018 11:59am
Back in my day, after we fought the dinosaurs off our front lawns and pushed our MX bikes uphill for 10 miles in the blazing sun, all we got to ride was baked, blue-groove hardpack dirt. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, grasshopper. Relish in the opportunity!

Sand is a different story, but if you work on your body positioning, it will help.
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TEL36
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TEL36 9/14/2018 12:11pm
9/14/2018 12:11pm
TEL36 wrote:
Carry momentum, hard braking and hard acceleration are going to cause you to slip. Practice doing nice slow laps and just try to "flow" around the...
Carry momentum, hard braking and hard acceleration are going to cause you to slip. Practice doing nice slow laps and just try to "flow" around the track. Also, focus extremely hard on technique, lots of weight focused on the outside peg when leaning and grip hard with your knees.

My advice for the tight corners after the jumps are: practice specifically on braking and getting to the apex of the corner first, don't worry about accelerating. DO NOT lock up the rear brakes. Once you have that down then start SLOWLY accelerating out of the corner, practice being smooth with the clutch and throttle.
Gilby122 wrote:
Appreciate that. Hard part is the one jump I'm referring to I don't have time to worry about accelerating...I can't get it shut down in time...
Appreciate that. Hard part is the one jump I'm referring to I don't have time to worry about accelerating...I can't get it shut down in time to make the turn! I slid right through and blasted off this angled berm last time and puckered up good! Saved it...barely. Braking bumps are pretty good size after the landing into the apex. Just not sure how to attack it. Tryin to case it a bit with my front wheel but that's hard to make yourself come up a bit short on purpose.
You'll get it down, just have to keep practicing. It sounds like the main thing you need to perfect is your braking, focus on making sure you aren't locking up the rear wheel. Maybe even try just getting up to speed in a straight line and slowing as fast as you can with out locking the rear wheel. And you are going to have better results downsiding the jump, that will allow you to begin braking immediately and begin setting up for the corner. You can't slow down when you are bouncing off the jump and your suspension will be unsettled trying to set up for the turn.

That's all the advice I think I can give lol it just boils down to looootttssss of practice.
Spudnut
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Spudnut 9/14/2018 12:29pm
9/14/2018 12:29pm
A lot of times if I have trouble getting slowed down for a corner right after a jump I’ll case it just a little bit to help slow me up a bit. It doesn’t always work but may be worth trying
Gilby122
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Gilby122 9/14/2018 12:39pm
9/14/2018 12:39pm
Falcon wrote:
Back in my day, after we fought the dinosaurs off our front lawns and pushed our MX bikes uphill for 10 miles in the blazing sun...
Back in my day, after we fought the dinosaurs off our front lawns and pushed our MX bikes uphill for 10 miles in the blazing sun, all we got to ride was baked, blue-groove hardpack dirt. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, grasshopper. Relish in the opportunity!

Sand is a different story, but if you work on your body positioning, it will help.
40 year old grasshopper! ha! Thanks for the tips guys.
colintrax
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colintrax 9/14/2018 12:46pm
9/14/2018 12:46pm
Take ya a month off work, rent a hotel in Rome Georgia. Spend every day of that month riding this https://youtu.be/4jzNeSv_JH8
731chopper
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731chopper 9/14/2018 2:03pm
9/14/2018 2:03pm
I use to hate riding dry, hard packed tracks because I was use to properly groomed and watered tracks but when I got my own track and got tired of prepping the track for 4 hours to ride for an hour (all I had energy for after spending 4 hours prepping), I learned to just ride the track in whatever conditions were available. During the summer that usually means a hard packed, roached out track.

You'll learn how to ride it if you have the right attitude. If you accept the conditions, you'll adapt and have some fun. As far as how you adapt, you'll need to be smoother so you don't upset the bike as much on hard breaking or acceleration.

I think it made me a better rider to boot. Went from slow to not as slow. Grinning
Gilby122
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Gilby122 9/14/2018 2:19pm
9/14/2018 2:19pm
731chopper wrote:
I use to hate riding dry, hard packed tracks because I was use to properly groomed and watered tracks but when I got my own track...
I use to hate riding dry, hard packed tracks because I was use to properly groomed and watered tracks but when I got my own track and got tired of prepping the track for 4 hours to ride for an hour (all I had energy for after spending 4 hours prepping), I learned to just ride the track in whatever conditions were available. During the summer that usually means a hard packed, roached out track.

You'll learn how to ride it if you have the right attitude. If you accept the conditions, you'll adapt and have some fun. As far as how you adapt, you'll need to be smoother so you don't upset the bike as much on hard breaking or acceleration.

I think it made me a better rider to boot. Went from slow to not as slow. Grinning
That's funny! Kind of been my thinking. Sucks, but can only make me a better rider in the end. Just trying not to kill myself in the interim....
oceantrav
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oceantrav 9/14/2018 2:56pm
9/14/2018 2:56pm
colintrax wrote:
Take ya a month off work, rent a hotel in Rome Georgia. Spend every day of that month riding this https://youtu.be/4jzNeSv_JH8
Shannon, best track in Georgia hands down!

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deluxeman
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deluxeman 9/14/2018 2:58pm
9/14/2018 2:58pm
Think of riding on ice or on wet pavement. Smooth inputs with throttle, brakes and steering. Smooth is fast on slippery surfaces.
Rhody
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Rhody 9/14/2018 3:33pm
9/14/2018 3:33pm
Brake in a straight line, roll into the throttle before the apex of the corner. If you try to whoa it up too hard it won't want to turn because it's bound up trying to endo, you can probably make the turn much faster than you think you can if you turn under power rather than trying to brake hard to apex. At least that is what works in my sprint car and on my crotch rocket. On the GSXR I'll make the bike really unhappy trying to ride deep into the corner, but when I back off my entries and get on the gas sooner it feels much happier, not like it's fighting to get into the blackberries rather than hit the apex. With the sprint car I find that I have to drive like I'm on pavement with skinny tires when the track is slick, so I assume the dirt bike is similar, ride it like you are on pavement with skinny tires.
Gilby122
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Gilby122 9/14/2018 3:37pm
9/14/2018 3:37pm
colintrax wrote:
Take ya a month off work, rent a hotel in Rome Georgia. Spend every day of that month riding this https://youtu.be/4jzNeSv_JH8
Swear on my life, when my track is wet, it's like yellow wet beach sand. As good as that video! When it doesn't rain for two months... it's like a bowl of flour with no breeze to blow the dust away and slick like ice!
plowboy
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plowboy 9/14/2018 5:41pm
9/14/2018 5:41pm
JMO but for me...get all the braking done before you enter the corner, weight the outside peg super hard, ride a gear high, accelerate through the corner. You'll spend a fortune but a good Dunlop or Pirelli makes a world of difference. In the summer around here a rear tire lasts 2 hours max. I have also found that when dicing with folks of roughly equal speed the inside line is usually just as fast as the talcum powder blow thru berms. It's never fun in those conditions but you CAN find speed if you look for it.

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