Off road experience - good or bad?

[Trapper]

From the Master Strategy Group

From the perspective of on-street riding, the question often comes up as to whether or not prior off-road riding experience is beneficial or harmful. Invariably I fail to satisfy the questioner because my answer is 'both'.

There should be no doubt that off-road experience provides an opportunity to learn great skills in the handling of a motorcycle, particularly for those situations where traction is less than optimal or when the bike is close to its limits (big lean or during obstacle avoidance.)

On the other hand, off-road experience tends to be irrelevant when it comes to having to deal with traffic or interstate speeds.

It is generally true that off-road riding involves an increased expectation of accidents. Spilling (dumping) a bike off-road happens with some frequency. On-road motorcyclists expect to never have such an accident. (That is not to say that dumping a bike doesn't happen - it does, usually in a driveway or in a parking lot at an effective speed of zero MPH.)

Except when racing, off-road riders that experience an accident can be virtually certain that they were responsible for it. On-road driving accidents are about equally the responsibility of someone else as of the motorcycle rider.

On a more subtle note, off-road experience tends to result in riders who become convinced that they, unlike all the 'squids' out there, are more likely to survive riding motorcycles on the street. This, in turn, tends to lead to these riders being more willing to ride closer to 'the edge' - taking risks that others shy away from.

Of the surveys that I have conducted here on the site it is clear that those who ride dirt tend to have slightly fewer accidents than those who ride street, but when you add any form of racing (motocross, for example), they have the highest incident of accidents, by far. (By the way, those who ride dirt have many more accidents, but not as many accidents that involve injury or death - probably because they tend to ride with far superior protective gear such as hard armor.)

When you have off-road experience you are unlikely to be intimidated with unpaved roads or even riding on hard packed sand.

One interesting observation that my site surveys have shown is that riders who have off-road experience tend, almost universally, to wear a helmet when they ride on the street. (Bravo!)

http://www.msgroup.org/discuss.asp

[Atlas68]

Before I took my MSF course, I would have answered without hesitation that having experience in the dirt would be an asset for the street. However, when I first met my instructor, his reaction puzzled me at first. He started hinting about all the bad habits he was going to have to 'undo'. Before starting the course, I appreciated all the experience I had gained in the dirt for the same reasons expressed in Trapper's post.ie (opportunity to learn great skills in the handling of a motorcycle, particularly for those situations where traction is less than optimal or when the bike is close to its limits (big lean or during obstacle avoidance.)
Over time I began to see things in riding style that are beneficial to do in the dirt that wouldn't be done on the street. That being said, I would have to agree that having riding experience in the dirt can be good and bad. It all depends on how well one can take the skills from one and incorporate only those skills into the other. Having the ability to seperate the dangerous, bad habits from those that will prove to be an asset.
I am glad to have MX experience as it has given me the confidence to consider the street experience. Without it, I may have not taken the leap to the street. The difference is now I see the other side of the coin and am aware that the dirt experience is only relative.

[Audiomechanic]

Well, I rode a dirtbike for about 3 years before hetting on my first street bike. Riding on the street was easy for me because I also already had car-in-traffic experience which taught me about how to behave in traffic. However, I did learn that riding a bike and driving a car in traffic are two different animals, but I adjusted pretty quickly.

I think dirt experience is good. That way, if you're a brand new rider and you dump your bike, you hit dirt and grass, instead of pavement.

[old-n-slow]

Dirt experience = Very Good Thing, provided that it is more than just MX or track racing. Take a nice 100-200 off road trip on a DP through every situation you can think of, sand pits, rock fields, stream beds, bogs, mud holes, and you'll learn traction, throttle control, braking techniques, how "when in doubt, gas it!" really IS true, why you don't put a foot out when the front end goes away, etc, etc, etc, and you can do it without endangering yourself (too much) and others out there. You can learn more about biking by riding off road for a week than you can in ten years on the street. The best part is when you transition to the street, the basics of operation are already ingrained and now you will be adding new techniques and knowledge, rather than learning them cold.

I've heard people say some dirt techniques are bad when street riding, but I haven't come across any that are. (and to the MSF instructor who says don't two finger your clutch lever a-la MX, I'll bet he's never ridden a litre bike in rush hour traffic.)

[Rickster]

Originally Posted by trappercase

From the Master Strategy Group



http://www.msgroup.org/discuss.asp

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