First Time Dirt Riding Essentials

[advrider]

Riding on dirt is quite different than riding on pavement. This is obvious to those of us who have ridden both, but if you weren’t one of those kids who was born on the back of a dirt bike, you may not know this. After 20 years of riding on pavement, this was all new to me. All I knew was how to crash from using too much front brake, the most fundamental dirt riding mistake you can make.

For people like four-years-ago-me, Bret Tkacs is here to talk about the fundamentals of riding on dirt. Although the video is titled “First Ride Off Road,” he’s quick to explain that, more than likely, you’ll still be on a road for your first ride, only a dirt one instead of pavement. This is fine and actually preferred, since it will help ease you into the off-pavement experience. This is exactly what I did when I swapped my Honda PC800 for a Kawasaki KLR650.

I’m not going to repeat all of the excellent advice Bret gives in his video here. It’s worth watching all the way through. I will touch on a few highlights, particularly the ones that stuck out in my mind from my own recent experience as a new dirt rider.

The bike will move around a bit underneath you as you ride. This is normal on dirt but can be terrifying for riders accustomed to pavement. The faster you go, the more stable the bike will be, meaning less work for you to stay upright and pointed in the proper direction. That doesn’t mean you should go 90 down a residential dirt road, but once you reach 25 to 35 mph the bike pretty much stabilizes itself. It can feel a bit sketchy for a new rider easing up to that speed, but like a boat going up on a plane, once you reach a high enough speed it gets much easier.

Use both brakes. This is important no matter what surface you ride, but all too often people are told to only use the back brake on dirt. Track racers may be used to only using the front brake. You need both of them to optimally manage speed and control. You may favor the rear more on dirt than on pavement, but the terrain can be a big factor. Bret has some great tips on reading the terrain to figure out where you’ll get the most braking power.

Riding gear is important, of course, but for the most part, you can start by using what you normally wear on the street. You don’t need to outfit yourself with the latest and greatest adventure gear before your first foray off pavement, as long as you have armor in your shoulders, elbows, and knees, which most decent street gear has. The one exception to this is boots. At a minimum, invest in a good adventure touring boot. When you drop your bike (not if), these will provide far more protection from injury than an ordinary soft street boot. They’re still comfortable enough for everyday use, but will protect you from rocks or a bike landing on top of your feet. Personally, I started with affordable motocross boots. You don’t have to go that far, but I’m convinced those boots turned what would’ve been a broken ankle into pain and a limp on at least a couple of occasions when I started out. Bret has a whole video about boots as well.

There is a whole lot more here, but I’ll let you watch the video and hear Bret explain it better than I can. I wish I could send this video back in time so I could watch it when I decided to pick up a KLR and try dirt for the first time. It’s that good.

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