Loose Surface - Weight back or Attack Position?

[Twisties]

This is a corrolary to joniel's thread on instructional videos. Ned Suesse came up. I Like Ned too. I just have the first one, but should get the second. Just re-watched the first one the other night and now that I am little more experienced, still pretty much low on the learning curve, I noticed something that went by me the first time. Most folk say to get your weight back, like descending, when in deep loose stuff, sand or mud. But Ned said to stay in the attack position and the getting too far back in loose material can lead to loss of control.

Thoughts?

 

[~TABASCO~]

This is a corrolary to joniel's thread on instructional videos. Ned Suesse came up. I Like Ned too. I just have the first one, but should get the second. Just re-watched the first one the other night and now that I am little more experienced, still pretty much low on the learning curve, I noticed something that went by me the first time. Most folk say to get your weight back, like descending, when in deep loose stuff, sand or mud. But Ned said to stay in the attack position and the getting too far back in loose material can lead to loss of control.

Thoughts?

I myself like to stay "centralized" standing on the pegs, so I can move my body position quickly.. But more times than not I feel like im trying to put more on the rear when going fast in deep sand..

 

[Firefight911]

I tend to stay somewhat central as well. Yes, weight needs to be moved around as you flow with the bike but, I think, what the issue Ned is addressing is that any time you move too far back you loose the ability to adjust quickly to changes in terrain and reduce your ability to operate the motorcycle effectively. Over commitment versus commitment with ability to continue to respond and react.

The other thing is that is you move too far off center you need to use your arms to pull yourself back to attack. This inherently adds steering input and makes the bike "stiff" and can cause handling issues.

 

[FlaDave]

I'm not a "A" class rider by any means but, having a background in off-road riding down here in the land of sugar sand...
I always tried to stay in a standing position where my weight is equally distributed on the pegs. Unequal weight distribution will cause you to fish tail
because you try and correct (or over correct) as the bike moves underneath you because you are weighting one side of the bike more.
I may bend my legs a more sometimes but, I'll try and stand unless I would get into some really deep sugar.
If you are in a lot of soft stuff, lowering tire pressure a bit may help. 8-12psi are common down here,
Warning....I have no experience dong this on a tubeless tire.
Practice in the soft stuff to develop your technique is key to riding it with confidence.
Good Luck and have fun ::008::

 

[Firefight911]

Running down to 24 front and rear is what I do and is equally the recommendation of Jimmy Lewis on large adventure bikes. World of difference!!

Note - lowering pressure is more in the realm of suspension than it is a traction tool.


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