Six Safety Tips for Riding Your Off-Road Motorcycle
Off-road motorcycle trips are a fantastic way to explore the great outdoors. Also, they let you accomplish every feat you’ve wanted to achieve—from incredible speeds to challenging maneuvers. However, before you go all out, you’ll need to learn how to ride safely.
The experts at Interstate Cycles have created this guide to share some tips that you’ll want to follow while riding your off-road bike. Keep reading to learn more, then visit us in Lake City, FL, to look at our extensive inventory of off-road motorcycles for sale. We are happy to welcome our friends from Jacksonville and Gainesville.
1. Wear Proper Gear
The first safety tip that you’ll want to follow is protecting yourself. Regardless of whether you are an experienced rider or a newbie, you must wear proper gear during your off-road outings. Make sure you wear a riding jacket and pants, riding boots, a well-fitting helmet, gloves with a firm grip, and eye protection.
2. Prepare Your Bike
Next, you’ll want to ensure that your bike is ready for your trip. Start by adjusting your clutch lever for two-finger operation. This will make your responses faster and smoother as you’ll be able to operate the clutch without altering the grip on your bars. You’ll also want to protect your bike’s engine cases and upper fairing and install a sump guard if your model doesn’t have it.
3. Keep Your Eyes Up
Awareness of the path is key to your safety. That’s why you’ll want to keep your eyes up when you are riding a two-wheeler, especially when riding your off-road motorcycle. On the slick terrain, it’s easier for your bike to slide off the course. So, you’ll need to keep your eyes in the direction of travel and always maintain control of your path.
4. Manage Your Speed
Off-road riding is about thrill and excitement and hitting the track as fast as possible. However, as a beginner, you’ll want to anticipate challenging maneuvers before tearing the trail at high speeds. So, manage your pace, slow down ahead of time, and watch for places where you’ll need to throttle back.
5. Steer With Your Back Tire
If you find yourself in an area with poor traction, you’ll want to use your rear tire instead of the front one, as it can send your bike out from beneath you. To use your back tire, change the way you control your handlebars and avoid leaning forward to minimize the weight on your front tire.
6. Braking Practices
Finally, you’ll also want to practice your braking skills.
Unlike standard motorcycles, off-road bikes need you to rely mostly on your rear brake. If you brake too hard on the front tire when riding in the loose dirt, you may flip over your handlebars and injure yourself. So, go for the rear brake when stopping your bike and use the front ones only when going downhill.
Learning the ins and outs of riding an off-road motorcycle takes time and practice. So, be confident and keep trying—you’ll get better with every outing! If you need more ideas or are still in the market for a new off-road motorcycle, visit Interstate Cycles. We have an impressive collection of dirt bikes for sale, and our friendly team can suggest models for your budget. We’re in Lake City, FL, where we proudly serve those from Jacksonville and Gainesville, so stop by today.