Riding On Gravel
Posted by Mike Werner on Nov 11th 2016
| Ask any street motorcycle rider what kind of surface they fear riding on the most, and most will say icy roads. And they would be right, however one road surface is almost as dangerous as ice: gravel. |
| When the gravel is tightly packed, it’s less of a problem, but loose gravel can have disastrous consequences. |
| When riding over gravel with your motorcycle, particularly heavy ones that are not suited for off-road riding, the gravel will be moving around under the pressure of your tires. And that movement is what can cause your bike from crashing. It’s going to be a bit like riding on ice, you need to be very careful and delicate. When you do find yourself on gravel, pretend you are riding on ice. |
| Of course you can say to yourself that you’ll avoid gravel, that you will never intend to leave the blacktops, but it’s not something you control. Road works, driveway paths or even a strong wind that has blown sand and gravel on the road, you will eventually face riding on gravel. |
| And when you do, better be prepared. But one thing: DO NOT PANIC! If you suddenly find yourself riding on gravel, do not slam the brakes to slow down, because you’ll be picking yourself up of the ground. Hitting the brakes will make your tires slide over the gravel and you’ll lose control. Your tires just lost adherence, as if you were riding on ice, and the bike will crash. |
| Here are a few pointers for when you do find yourself riding on gravel with a motorcycle that is not suited for this kind of surface (of course off-road, even dual purpose bikes can ignore this): |
| When you find yourself riding on loose gravel, don’t hit the brakes, just let the accelerator go to slow down (but watch out if your bike has a strong engine brake, then slowly let go of the accelerator). |
| Do not lean the bike, since your bike will slide to the side. If you get caught in a curve, slow down and lean as little as possible. Maybe it’s better to run out of curve than to fall and slide. But each situation is different so you’ll need to make the call. Run as wide as you can! |
| Watch out with the front brake! If your front tire is slightly turned, you stand a very big chance of low-siding. You’ll lose the front, so if you’ve got to hit the front brakes, do it gently and do it with the front wheel straight. NEVER, EVER, LOCK THE BRAKES! |
| Putting pressure on the rear brake will make the bike go sideways. Some bikers like doing this, and granted it’s fun, but if you motorcycle is slightly heavy you might have a problem controlling the slide and end up lying next to your motorcycle. So apply rear brake pressure gently, and if possible rely more on the rear brake than the front. |
| Obviously a sudden acceleration is not a smart thing to do. Your rear tire will start spinning (and there goes your rubber) and your bike will go sideways. If you need to accelerate, do it very gently. |
| If there’s traffic in front of you, stay will behind. First of all, gravel gets caught in tires profiles and then gets launched when it gets free; heading straight for your face! Staying well behind other vehicles will avoid gravel rain. It also gives you the opportunity to slow down without having to hit the brakes hard. |
| Keep a sharp lookout of bigger portions of gravel, like small rocks, since if your tires go over them, the small rocks will detach and even if you are riding in a straight line, you bike may suddenly keel over. |
| So if you keep these things in mind, you should be quite safe, even if you’re riding a super fast sports motorcycle with slick tires. Keep calm, keep your mind on the job and don’t do anything sudden. Slow down until you get to that black stuff. But watch out when you do …. Your tires will still have gravel in the tire profile. |