Riding on the Darkside
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DARKSIDE AND GRAVEL ROADS

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saber
CaribCruiser
Larry Simpson
coldweatherfreak
quadancer
smokey2255
ESKIMO
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Post  ESKIMO Sun Aug 28, 2011 12:53 pm

Darkside and gravel roads are a HAND FULL..have over 16,000 miles on the toyo t1r 215/45zr/18...on the 27th had the honor to ride in a funeral escort that turned off of pavement onto a small narrow highly crowned gravel road with LOTS of loose gravel and very little in the way of hard pack ruts with a distance of approx 1 mile to the grave site..top speed was about 12/15 mph ..was bike # 6 behind the casket with about 65 bikes behind me. The seat grabbing pucker factor was in full operation not because of me falling but for the factor of all the bikes as well as that many cagers that were behind me. I am not a gravel road person but am glad i was able to stay in the saddle and make it thru. RIDE SAFE.... ESKIMO

ESKIMO

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Post  smokey2255 Sun Aug 28, 2011 2:20 pm

Eskimo, a few tips for riding on gravel.
1, stay in a taller gear than you need. At that speed 3rd would be ideal
2, and this tougher than it sounds, stay loose on the bars. Most of the time I am on gravel I only use my throttle hand and it hangs loose.
3, if making small speed corrections use the rear brake instead of the throttle.
4, never NEVER use the front brake.
5, practice practice practice



Good luck and thanks for taking the time to serve the fallen.

See you out there
Smokey
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Post  ESKIMO Sun Aug 28, 2011 2:38 pm

SMOKEY..tnx for sugggestions...had #1<#2,#3,and #4 covered but the seat cover pucker factor was still there. Guess i'll have to cover #5 with more practice . As much as i dont like loose gravel but that is sometimes part of ridding in groups that you have no control of direction of travel or the option of dropping out of line or direction of travel which on the 27th really didn't feel like i had that option....Hope that maybe this thread may help some in this type of situation in the future....everbody ride safe................ESKIMO

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Post  quadancer Sun Aug 28, 2011 4:46 pm

As dirt bike riders know, sand or loose gravel will get really mushy and scary at slow speeds. We would actually ride as fast as we could on that and in mud, making it more "solid" to the bike and giving you a better measure of control. The worst would be pea gravel, which is totally unforgiving. I'd rather fight
mud than those rock bearings.
quadancer
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Post  coldweatherfreak Sun Aug 28, 2011 4:52 pm

I don't think the CT is your gravel issue as much as your front tire, I fly on gravel better than ever with a CT on the back, course I'm runnin a knobby Metzler Karoo in front

I have to disagree very strongly with the "do not use front brake"

sure, ya gotta be careful, can't be hamfisted, doesn't matter, your primary stopping power is still yor front wheel, regardless the surface or if you got a car tire on back

learn to use the front brake, you can get on it harder than you might think and make the difference if you hit the guy turning left in front of you or not
coldweatherfreak
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Post  Larry Simpson Sun Aug 28, 2011 5:50 pm

I am going to agree on not using front brake on gravel roads but then I only use front brake in an emergency on any surface.Has worked good for me for 50 years.
Larry Simpson
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Post  CaribCruiser Sun Aug 28, 2011 6:02 pm

Agree on not, or barely using the front brake.
Ride safe,
Robert.
CaribCruiser
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Post  quadancer Sun Aug 28, 2011 8:31 pm

Merely an issue of what you're trained for. If you always use one finger (a bad practice to be sure) you'd probably not overbrake much.
If you stay conscious of what you're on and how to apply braking (reverse of pavement - rear first), you're better off.

Also, an old trucker's trick the noobies don't know today - testing your surface, be it wet or wild by brake stabs to determine just how
greasy or loose that surface is, so you don't get caught with your pants down.
quadancer
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Post  saber Mon Aug 29, 2011 5:35 pm

Gravel is the same as riding on ball bearings, but I found the car tire more stable than the mc tire. The front tire is the same slippery tire as always.
That said my first riding love is dirt riding, and all who I ride with use the front brakes constantly. I also use the rear to do trail slide turns in order to swing the rear around. I also will use the front on a turn and accelerate the throttle to do the same. It all depends on the situation. This is done while moving, not from a stop.
On street, I constantly use the front brakes; mostly I ride with my feet up in the highway pegs and only bring down my left foot to shift. Right foot almost never comes off the peg, city and country riding.
My #2 son is able to do stoppies with his 06 FJR1300, which some said can't be done. He always uses the front brake same as I, hell I taught him and my other 2 sons how.
It all takes practice though and confidence of what you can do as a rider.
saber
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Post  coldweatherfreak Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:10 pm

saber wrote:
It all takes practice though and confidence of what you can do as a rider.

gravel is what I originally learned to ride on. and about 40% of my riding is still gravel roads, most of the time they are hard packed, no different than pavement with scattered loose stuff, but gravel roads are graded & york raked and ya never know when the top few inches will be loose
coldweatherfreak
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Post  LeeWonnacott Tue Sep 06, 2011 9:19 am

In the last week I had the chance, not really by choice, to experience some honest to goodness mountain roads that were gravel and large rocks. Actually ended up in a mostly dry riverbed in SE Kentucky. The ST1300 is a heavy beast, especially when loaded with all of my camping gear. When I got to the river I knew I couldn't ford the flowing water so I was forced to turn it around ... NOT a place where I could initiate the lean before letting out the clutch so the turn was pretty wide. Actually think I was better offer with the CT than a MT mount beacause the extra wide tread made it impossible for the rear wheel to fall down between the rocks. Not the case with the front, however... had to carry a bit more speed than I thought was safe just to keep the front wheel rolling OVER the large rocks.

At the end of that little adventure I gained enough confidence to run some well traveled gravel mountain roads and that has expanded the world of this ST rider. Almost takes me back to the days when I had a CL350K4 ... but without the higher clearance. I'll still be careful in my route planning to avoid gravel, but if I must I won't hesitate when riding with the CT mounted (Hankook). thumbup
LeeWonnacott
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Post  ranger351w Wed Dec 07, 2011 6:01 am

I have almost two miles to ride from home to hard surface. I found that when I lowered my pressure to 31 lbs it became very managable and use that on highway and gravel. Actualy it works better than the mc tire.The higher pressures do not work on the 2011 RK with the Hankook H426 for me.

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Post  Metalman Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:27 pm

I have found the CT to handle better on gravel than a MT. I suppose the size of the gravel has a lot to do with it, but the stones I encounter in KY and FL gravel are smaller than in New England. I find the CT to be much better in sugar sand than a MT. However the weak link in riding in sand, gravel, and other nasty stuff is usually the squirrily front tire. I tend to treat gravel the same as riding on a steel grate surface...just go with the flow.

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Post  Fudd Fri Dec 09, 2011 12:56 pm

Eskimo

I'm trying to figure out who you are. I'm guessing that you were riding with the Patriot Guard, and I ride with them too. I've noticed at least 3 others on PGR missions riding darkside bikes. I've also there are at least 4 members on this forum that are from Denham Springs.

Come find me at Hooter's one Tues nite and introduce yourself. I'm usually there, I ride a jade and black Valkyrie.

Fudd
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