offroad a klr

[Ingo Lahnemann]

My KLR world has come crashing down on me... First that low life "Fireball" kills Jennifer (I still have her JC Penny catalog picture on the garage wall!)... then I realize that I can't ride off road. I tried last summer in the New Jersey Pine Barrens... almost went down a few times in soft sand...hated it... then today I tried to ride this gas pipeline near home... very muddy, I panicked, too much front brake and you know the rest... flipping through the air, landing in ankle deep in mud and water with "Katie" on her side! At least nothing was broken... picked her up (I'm a man, not a girly man)and walked her to dry ground. I know you're supposed to stay on the throttle... but the little voice in my head says that if I do, I'll only crash harder. I guess its pavement and gravel roads for me from here on out? Unless I can learn to ride this beast... and ideas? Ingo

[Dale_Johnson@ahm.honda.com]

I ride OK off-Pavement. That doesn't stop me from crashing.. Start easy (No mud, No sand) work your way up to that.. But you'll still crash.. I crashed 3 times on the ride-4-kids.. Dale

[richardm@gowinnt.com]

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., "Ingo Lahnemann" wrote:

>then I realize that I can't ride off road.

You are letting the tires down to about 20psi, right? RM

[IronJungle@Hotmail.com]

Ingo: 1st, the KLR is pretty heavy, but it seems to handle pretty well. Try this.... practice doing tight U-turns and/or circles on those gravel roads you are driving on. Go slow and try to be on thick gravel. Thick gravel is easier to ride on than sand (you don't sink), but the feel is kinda the same. GO SLOW and try not to put your feet down, but it you have to put a foot down, you should be going slow enough not to drop the bike. This, of course, assumes you can do tight turns on hard pavement. If not, try taking a Motorcycle Safety Course. They are really helpful. Good luck, Pat Austin, TX

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., "Ingo Lahnemann" wrote: > I guess its pavement and gravel roads for me from here on out? Unless I can > learn to ride this beast... and ideas? > > Ingo

[Rich Kickbush]

----- Original Message ----- From: Ingo Lahnemann To: KLR 650 List (E-mail) Sent: Monday, April 09, 2001 5:26 PM Subject: [DSN_klr650] I Can't Ride Off Pavement My KLR world has come crashing down on me... First that low life "Fireball" kills Jennifer (I still have her JC Penny catalog picture on the garage wall!)... then I realize that I can't ride off road. I tried last summer in the New Jersey Pine Barrens... almost went down a few times in soft sand...hated it... then today I tried to ride this gas pipeline near home... very muddy, I panicked, too much front brake and you know the rest... flipping through the air, landing in ankle deep in mud and water with "Katie" on her side! At least nothing was broken... picked her up (I'm a man, not a girly man)and walked her to dry ground. I know you're supposed to stay on the throttle... but the little voice in my head says that if I do, I'll only crash harder. I guess its pavement and gravel roads for me from here on out? Unless I can learn to ride this beast... and ideas? Ingo No 1. STAY OFF THAT FRONT BRAKE IN THE DIRT! I have heard of some riders who are able to use their front brake off road but it is an advanced skill IMHO. It is possible to lock up the rear and dump it that way too, but its a lot harder and even if you do, you still have more control. No 2. Rename your bike. The name 'Katie' suggests something you would handle with gentleness and care. That ain't a KLR in the dirt. The KLR is a heavy pig, there's no way around it, and to do well you sometimes have to muscle that weight around with pure aggression (works for me anyway). Calling your bike Katie sets you up in the wrong frame of mind...call it something macho and give it stick, not respect...or at least think of Katie as a 300 pound butch dyke who chews 'baccy and changes truck tires without tools. Rich Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Post message: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: DSN_klr650-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com List owner: DSN_klr650-owner@yahoogroups.com Support Dual Sport News by subscribing at: http://www.geocities.com/~klrdsn/page2 Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[PRBKLR@cs.com]

Unless your "Katie" is wearing true dirt oriented tires, I would suggest avoiding the mud and sand... Put some knobbies on the little lady and she'll do much better! If you aren't comfortable off-road, maybe you should be careful on the gravel too. Good hard packed dirt is the place I want to be.. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[squidwannabe@hotmail.com]

Advise ? Ya be a man !!!!!!! Here's me and my friend, roughing it out in the mud ... http://www.geocities.com/therealsquidwannabe/newklr/

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., "Ingo Lahnemann" wrote: > My KLR world has come crashing down on me... First that low life "Fireball" > kills Jennifer (I still have her JC Penny catalog picture on the garage > wall!)... then I realize that I can't ride off road. I tried last summer in > the New Jersey Pine Barrens... almost went down a few times in soft > sand...hated it... then today I tried to ride this gas pipeline near home... > very muddy, I panicked, too much front brake and you know the rest... > flipping through the air, landing in ankle deep in mud and water with > "Katie" on her side! At least nothing was broken... picked her up (I'm a > man, not a girly man)and walked her to dry ground. I know you're supposed to > stay on the throttle... but the little voice in my head says that if I do, > I'll only crash harder. > > I guess its pavement and gravel roads for me from here on out? Unless I can > learn to ride this beast... and ideas? > > Ingo

[Tengai650]

At 6:18 PM -0700 4/9/01, Rich Kickbush wrote:

> No 2. Rename your bike. The name 'Katie' suggests something you >would handle with gentleness and care. That ain't a KLR in the >dirt. The KLR is a heavy pig, there's no way around it, and to do >well you sometimes have to muscle that weight around with pure >aggression (works for me anyway). Calling your bike Katie sets you >up in the wrong frame of mind...call it something macho and give it >stick, not respect...or at least think of Katie as a 300 pound butch >dyke who chews 'baccy and changes truck tires without tools.

At least half the Katie's or "KT" as they prefer, are lesbians. So the name is fine where it stands IMHO. Mark B2 A2 A3

[Jerry Jackson]

Several ideas: 1. More throttle 1a. Don't use the front brake. As soon as the front wheel stops turning, you're toast. 2. Sit to the rear on the seat to get weight off the front wheel. 3. More throttle 4. Don't watch the ruts directly in front of you. If you do, you'll overcompensate and give it more steering input than you should. Instead, with your front end as light as you can make it, stay on the throttle and let the front wheel wander around a little as it tries to generally keep you going in the desired direction. 5. More throttle. 6. Don't try this at faster speeds on tight trails or narrow dirt roads until you get good at maintaining the desired line. The trees are generally pretty tough when you smack them at speed. 7. More throttle. This helps to keep the front end light as possible so the wheel can successfully roll over the terrain instead of sinking into it. 8. Practice, practice, practice. Start with the easy stuff and work your way up. 9. Last but certainly not least, BE PREPARED TO CRASH! These are the exact things I've been doing for the past few weeks and it has really helped my soft sand riding abilities on the heavy KLR. Many years ago, before I gained a few extra pounds (70+?) and was riding much more capable dirt machines I never had to think too much about these issues. My recent KLR purchase has forced me to figure out how to manhandle this beast around.....and it's a slow learning process. The way I figure it, I'll practice until my off-pavement abilities are much better on the KLR (while I'm saving my pennies), then reward myself with a much more capable bike like the WR426 or 520E/XC Jerry in Deltona, FL -----Original Message----- From: Ingo Lahnemann [mailto:lahnemann@...] Sent: Monday, April 09, 2001 8:26 PM To: KLR 650 List (E-mail) Subject: [DSN_klr650] I Can't Ride Off Pavement My KLR world has come crashing down on me... First that low life "Fireball" kills Jennifer (I still have her JC Penny catalog picture on the garage wall!)... then I realize that I can't ride off road. I tried last summer in the New Jersey Pine Barrens... almost went down a few times in soft sand...hated it... then today I tried to ride this gas pipeline near home... very muddy, I panicked, too much front brake and you know the rest... flipping through the air, landing in ankle deep in mud and water with "Katie" on her side! At least nothing was broken... picked her up (I'm a man, not a girly man)and walked her to dry ground. I know you're supposed to stay on the throttle... but the little voice in my head says that if I do, I'll only crash harder. I guess its pavement and gravel roads for me from here on out? Unless I can learn to ride this beast... and ideas? Ingo

[Greg Paul]

Ingo, We're talking "DEEP" sand here!?! Shallow sand with hard pack underneath is a whole nuther world!!! The only thing that will stop ANY bike from squirrling around in the sand is getting the front wheel "light" and on top of the sand with speed!!! BUT.... even tho the bike will be squirrly, if you just keep looking "ahead" down the road or sand wash or beach or whatever, relax and let the bike squish around, it WILL NOT crash unless you panic and try to over correct it!!! Just let it jump around. It actually becomes fun when you get used to it. Find a very big area or long sand wash to work on this. Preferably a place where you can get up some speed as you gain more confidence. NEVER TOUCH THE FRONT BREAK. In deep sand all you have to do to break is shut down the throttle. The sand will take care of the rest!! In the final analysis putting in the time in any "particular" type of riding you want to master is the answer. If you are using the original tire in mud, you're history! Even the "best" knobbies are marginal in deep mud. Leave it to the worms. Greg in Dallas

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., "Ingo Lahnemann" wrote: > My KLR world has come crashing down on me... First that low life "Fireball" > kills Jennifer (I still have her JC Penny catalog picture on the garage > wall!)... then I realize that I can't ride off road. I tried last summer in > the New Jersey Pine Barrens... almost went down a few times in soft > sand...hated it... then today I tried to ride this gas pipeline near home... > very muddy, I panicked, too much front brake and you know the rest... > flipping through the air, landing in ankle deep in mud and water with > "Katie" on her side! At least nothing was broken... picked her up (I'm a > man, not a girly man)and walked her to dry ground. I know you're supposed to > stay on the throttle... but the little voice in my head says that if I do, > I'll only crash harder. > > I guess its pavement and gravel roads for me from here on out? Unless I can > learn to ride this beast... and ideas? > > Ingo