- Joined
- Mar 19, 2008
- Messages
- 2,406
- Reaction score
- 525
- Bike
- KTM 950 Adventure
Well, I always heard that riding a dirt bike is supposed to help with your on road skills.....and I must say, I concur!
For either amusement or mutual benefit, I share the story below.
Traveling home yesterday on my road bike, I entered a traffic circle. I am just getting aquinted with the bike in its pure road format so lean angles have been experimental for now. I felt that I could lean it some more but I wasnt really thinking that my speed was actually appropriate for the amount I was leaning.
Anyway, cranked it over more on a steady throttle......and the front just washed...aarrrggghhhh, instinctively, I stuck out my right leg to where the front wheel was (well it was there a moment ago!), kicked my boot into the ground and by some minor miracle, managed to pick it up again, straightened the line out, got it back on track and continued on.
Bloke who was waiting for me to exit the circle so he could enter seemed to find it rather amusing/startling/etc has his head snapped to the right as he saw my antics.
When I got home I checked out the marks on the front tyre. Its a newish tyre and since I have never been on a track day with it, there is still a chicken strip on the outer edge (ok, seriously, I only JUST get rid of the front chicken strip when I take my proper road bike to a track day). For about 40-50% of the circumference, there is a tangential slide mark thru the chicken strip from where it gave way.
Truth be told, i would not have got serisously hurt and the bike would have survived but in days gone by before I started doing offroad and dual sport riding, I think it would have been a defnitely rider/tar interface moment.
Sorry honey, gonna have to keep playing on my dirt bike, errr sorry, I meant training on my dirt bike!
For either amusement or mutual benefit, I share the story below.
Traveling home yesterday on my road bike, I entered a traffic circle. I am just getting aquinted with the bike in its pure road format so lean angles have been experimental for now. I felt that I could lean it some more but I wasnt really thinking that my speed was actually appropriate for the amount I was leaning.
Anyway, cranked it over more on a steady throttle......and the front just washed...aarrrggghhhh, instinctively, I stuck out my right leg to where the front wheel was (well it was there a moment ago!), kicked my boot into the ground and by some minor miracle, managed to pick it up again, straightened the line out, got it back on track and continued on.
Bloke who was waiting for me to exit the circle so he could enter seemed to find it rather amusing/startling/etc has his head snapped to the right as he saw my antics.
When I got home I checked out the marks on the front tyre. Its a newish tyre and since I have never been on a track day with it, there is still a chicken strip on the outer edge (ok, seriously, I only JUST get rid of the front chicken strip when I take my proper road bike to a track day). For about 40-50% of the circumference, there is a tangential slide mark thru the chicken strip from where it gave way.
Truth be told, i would not have got serisously hurt and the bike would have survived but in days gone by before I started doing offroad and dual sport riding, I think it would have been a defnitely rider/tar interface moment.
Sorry honey, gonna have to keep playing on my dirt bike, errr sorry, I meant training on my dirt bike!
