learning how to ride - lesson 9 offroad riding

Once you have mastered highway driving you can go almost anywhere, however, there will be times where you are going to want to go off of (or will run out of) paved road. This is particularly true in rural areas where the road can turn from paved to gravel or compacted dirt quite unnoticeable. Even if you never find yourself having to drive different surfaces other than pavement it is still a good idea to force yourself to drive on a gravel / dirt road at least once or twice a year to keep your riding skills sharp.

If you ride a Dual-Sport, Dirt-Bike, Motocross or motorcycle with dirt tires you will have a much easier time as these bikes are designed to be driven on most surfaces. Dirt, rock and gravel are a different type of traction and your riding needs to be adjusted for that. Your bike will feel a lot "looser" and will want to move about on the road. Stay calm and do not fight it, as this is just the front tire finding improved traction on loose rocks/gravel/dirt. As long as you are moving in the direction you want to go you have no worries.

Most dual sport bikes are raised higher, this so that your center of gravity is higher than the bike to help keep it under control. You can increase the height of your center of gravity by standing up on the front pegs. Shifting up a gear will give the rear wheel less power to slide.