Track days are huge fun! The downside is it's incredibly hazardous and very expensive. Part of the reason I started trials was to keep myself distracted from track riding and it's doing a good job so far. So if gaining speed on the dirt to get up hills is what your after I would recommend finding somewhere with a bunch of good hills and spend a day failing. Mx or enduro has been good for this. To me going fast on the trials feels awful. The way the suspension is setup is not lending itself well to speed. On the mx bike, pinned in 3rd gear approaching a sandy hill climb is a normal occurrence. Then by the time you hit the top you are in first searching for traction to make the last bit. It teaches you how important momentum is. Also hills can be scary. The same concept applies.. Learn how to fail a climb gracefully and then you won't be afraid to try a hill that is possibly too difficult. For me I'm finding going down steep stuff on the trials to be a bit daunting. More so than the mx bike. I suspect my forks are not setup properly so that is on my list of things to do. I guess I should take my own advice and learn how to fall down some hills:)
Damn you! Ya I get tired really quickly just trying to hop around too.. It's hard work! Well to be completely honest I get tired just practicing balancing. Endeavoring to get in better shape.
All the reviews I've read about the Bou video are. If you want to watch vid of Bou then great. Or if you are already an advanced rider than there are some decent parts, but if you are beginner or intermediate looking for real tips then this is not the best. Granted Ive not seen it but I had found a good review somewhere when I was looking into it.
I was also enamored with the idea of doing this after watching all the cool videos of the pros. Reality is this is incredibly difficult. If you manage to learn this quickly I'm going to need you to come to Reno and teach me.
I think any skills learned on two wheels of any sort will help. Like others have said, this is a very difficult sport. You have to concentrate on your victories, not your defeats. Every time I go out I learn at least one little thing, and also I fail doing many things. It's the one thing I did right that keeps me going out every day. As far as learning to ride aggressively, I think the trick is controlling your fear. You must push yourself until you crash.. A lot. You will probably Injure yourself but the more you beat your self up the tougher your body becomes and the fear goes away. Also the more you crash, the better you get at crashing without hurting your self. Being able to crash well is crucial in any sport. Watch some of the top riders coming off huge obstacles. They look very casual for the most part. Just to clarify I don't recommend this because you can really hurt your self! This is how I learned to skateboard and I was very aggressive after a while, but also perpetually injured. I think it's the same for any sport... Well maybe golf aside. What type of road bike do you ride? Is that the cbf500 in your sig? I think road biking can teach you something as well. I find it interesting that for cornering, on the street the more you lean your body weight to the inside the better, while on dirt you want to stay on top of the bike and let the bike do the leaning. Also after topping out at 179mph at the track on my cbr1000, nothing else really seems fast to me so there is some cross training skills for Ya
I will whole heartedly agree on how physically difficult this sport is. I had considered myself in pretty fair condition prior to starting. Riding enduro aggressively is pretty darn tough but I usually go out for 4 to 5 hours at a time. Just not having a seat really ups the difficulty alone, not to mention the hopping and balancing, and not having any airflow to cool you off. I go out for about an hour to hour and a half, 5 to 6 times a week and I'm still beat every time I get back. I've also just started some weight training as well.
I really wish I could find people to ride with here but so far have not had any luck, hence my obsessive posting and lurking here. I came across a couple trials people on adv rider and messaged them. One had moved, and never heard from the other. Sacto pits is a few hours away so I'll probly go to a meet at some point but that's a whole lot more effort than just riding local so for now it's just YouTube and trials central.
Sorry if the title was misleading. I'm not looking for which technique is better, but rather how to not fall over backwards when doing either. It appears most people start with their weight as far back as possible, presumably to create forward momentum. I've seen that RY video segment. It would be a whole lot more helpfull if it was in slow motion. He makes it look like nothing at all to both balance and to complete the move. It's probably more of a question of what am I personally doing wrong. I'll try to get some video if I make it out today
Can anyone give tips on the technique for this? I'm referring to getting up a boulder from a stop with the front wheel on the face. Even balancing that way seems difficult to me but I have had some luck finding balance long enough to zap the back tire up on top. The problem is once the back is up I end up falling over backwards.
Hey Redfly, I'm in the process of learning about the exhaust system on my GG. Can you tell me if you rebuilt the perforated pipe in your center box? I'm interested to know if the stock perf pipe is constant diameter or if it has a bit of an expansion chamber. Upon looking closer at your picturei noticed a spare piece of perf pipe on your bench. Thanks!
Edit: Rereading your original post answered my question. So how does it run?
Well the sherco certainly appears to have an expansion chamber. Thanks for the pic Steve. It is interesting what dadof2 has mentioned. The perforations in the expansion chamber appear that they would soften the sound wave resulting in a less pronounced hit. Ok well I found the picture I mentioned. Take a look. There doesn't appear to be much of any expansion chamber in the gasgas
Here is a link to the thread. I'm now wondering if this is not how it looks in stock form.
What I gather from 2 stroke exhaust theory is an expansion chamber consists of a divergent cone followed by a throat, then a convergent cone. I can't seem to find it now, but I saw a picture where someone had cut nearly the entire back side of the middle box out, instead of the two window method on motomerlins blog. It appeared that the perf pipe inside was a constant diameter in an S shape. If this is correct than there is no true expansion chamber unless an S pipe has similar properties due to the bends. Unfortunately I can't find that picture now so let me know if anyone remembers what it looks like. I'll probably get going on mine next week.
Seems like an odd system. Other 2 stroke engines get by on a much smaller single silencer. Is the higher compresdion engine louder and therefore needs more silencer length? Seems like something else is going on
That does make sense but it brings me to my next question. Why have a middle box at all if no expansion chamber is needed? it seems like weight could be reduced by just having a 4 stroke style system and maybe a bit of a brace for the fender.
The exhaust system seems like it's not liked by many.. Tire rubbing, very difficult to service the middle box. I've been studying a bit in preparation to service mine. It occurs to me that the system is quite a bit different than other two stroke systems I've seen. The middle box is full of packing with just a perf tube running thru so it doesn't really seem to be much of an expansion chamber. It's almost like there is a middle silencer and an end silencer and no spans ion chamber. Can anyone shed some light on this? Has anyone tried gutting the middle box so it would have an expansion chamber. It seems like if a guy did that and then put a light weight aftermarket silencer (fmf or something), would be a big improvement in power and weight.
This is on my to do list. I might have to tackle the middle box surgery as well. I'm leaking spooge out of a craked weld at the hanger at the top of the middle box. Also it seems to burn for a bit even after I shut off the engine. I imagine it's in fairly bad shape after 5 years of use.
As a few of you know already from my previous posts, I'm prone to buying parts. So anyway, I snuck my wife's bathroom scale down to the garage and my 09 280 Eco weighs in at 160lbs. This is ready to ride with about 2/3 of the gas tank full. From what I understand reading random internet threads, this is about 8lbs heavier than a 09 pro gassed up. Firstly, can anyone verify this.? Ok, so I know the fork stanchions are steel vs alum so a couple 2 or 3 pounds there. Also the header pipe is a bit heavier not being titanium. Where do you think the other 5 lbs is at? I'm considering upgrading over the next year rather than buying a new bike. I like the oval section frame better than the new tube style, that and it's much easier to buy parts here without the wife giving me grief rather than have a new bike show up in the garage.
I do think it's interesting that Honda has the same thing going on in two sports. Bou in trials, and Marquez in moto gp, both clearly a step above the competition. Do you think it's just Honda making sure they get the best riders or is there some synergy that Honda provides to help them get where they are? Marquez was good before but ,he was not "of another world" until he hooked up with Honda. I haven't followed trials long enough to know what Bou was doing pre Honda.
I just discovered I do indeed get mav tv on charter and looking forward to some X trials. Funny the charter availability searc function on charters web page told me it was unavailable. I guess you can't believe everything you read online
Ok thanks, longer lines and obstacles right after full lock turns it is. Im not sure if taping would be appreciated by other people in the area. I would hate to upset the teenagers that party in the parking lot and throw their beer bottles all over the place.
Btw, looks are deceiving. It is actually very muddy right now and quite slippery. I need a fender lift kit!
Ok, this os off topic but in the interest of not creating too many threads...
The developers in the area were kind enough to create a perfect trials practice area in my back yard. Take a look at the photo below. There is a moderate hill with 10" to 20" rocks evenly spaced. As always its steeoer than it looks. Ive been practicing doing lines up and down. Basically i pick one rock to go over on the way up, then try to turn around and descend without dabbing. Looking for ideas on how to better use this area to simulate an actual competition line.
Ok, watched the RY video again. I think i need to just get better at getting the rear up. It seems so effortless and slow watching him. Its gotta be my timing which makes it feel harder which makes me think i need to go faster. Old habits die hard. Going to go out again today with renewed focus! Ill try to get some video which should help me see where im going wrong.
Ok, thanks guys. I managed to get a couple small pivots but is taking way more effort than it should. Im sure there is some little thing that im doing wrong. Ill keep at it
I'm getting ready to go out in a bit and need some inspiration. I've got to the point I can lift the rear wheel consistently by compressing the suspension, applying front brake on rebound, then pushing the bars down and about the front wheel. I'm having trouble getting the back to get any kind of lateral movement though. Tips please!
Has Enduro Or Trial Riding Helped?
in Trials Training And Technique
Posted
Track days are huge fun! The downside is it's incredibly hazardous and very expensive. Part of the reason I started trials was to keep myself distracted from track riding and it's doing a good job so far. So if gaining speed on the dirt to get up hills is what your after I would recommend finding somewhere with a bunch of good hills and spend a day failing. Mx or enduro has been good for this. To me going fast on the trials feels awful. The way the suspension is setup is not lending itself well to speed. On the mx bike, pinned in 3rd gear approaching a sandy hill climb is a normal occurrence. Then by the time you hit the top you are in first searching for traction to make the last bit. It teaches you how important momentum is. Also hills can be scary. The same concept applies.. Learn how to fail a climb gracefully and then you won't be afraid to try a hill that is possibly too difficult. For me I'm finding going down steep stuff on the trials to be a bit daunting. More so than the mx bike. I suspect my forks are not setup properly so that is on my list of things to do. I guess I should take my own advice and learn how to fall down some hills:)