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Off-road riding advice

5858 Views 52 Replies 28 Participants Last post by biggziff, Nov 12, 2013

dlm

Discussion Starter · Dec 31, 2012

For all the fellow Multistrada riders here; any tips, discussion, ideas, suggestions on off-road riding? I feel I can push it to the (my) limit on pavement but realized I know nothing about enduro style riding. I have ridden the occasional smooth dirt or gravel road but met my match on some fluffy sand. Lucky it only cost me a broken mirror.

I'd like to get input from experienced off-roaders regarding techniques for getting our moneys worth out of enduro mode. What is the secret of doing this successfully?

21 - 40 of 53 Posts

ten.98

· #21 · Jan 1, 2013

Don't let them get you down dlm, most ducati owners cringe at the thought of getting their pretty italian bikes a little dirty.

I've got a set of TKC80's on mine, with all the crash bars and bark busters they make for it to aide in the event of a get off and I will tell you that the multi will keep up with any twin in the dirt as long as you stay out of the deep sand or mud. The 17" front wheel is the only thing keeping me from taking it to moab and beyond. There's a guy on another board in the middle of riding his multi through baja.

Don't expect it to keep pace with any of the thumpers out there but it will more than hold it's weight with the bikes in its class.

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dlm

Discussion Starter · #22 · Jan 1, 2013

Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks.

w3ub

· #23 · Jan 1, 2013

What size TKC80s are you running? How did they perform on the road?
/Doug

dlm

Discussion Starter · #24 · Jan 1, 2013

Chuckracer said:
Off road motorcycling

This is exactly what I was looking for, thanks. I fully realize the MTS may only be capable of doing 25% of what a "real dirt bike" is capable of off-road. Just wanted to get some insights as to what was a reasonable expectation and how to get it.

ten.98

· #25 · Jan 1, 2013

w3ub said:
What size TKC80s are you running? How did they perform on the road?
/Doug

120/70 Front and 180/55 Rear.

They're a lot better on the road then you would think. Above 10mph you can't feel the knobs over the vibration of the engine. They do fine in corners as long as you don't try to drag a knee. I've had them up to 120mph and they kind of run into a wall there. Bike becomes very squirrelly above that speed, which being that the tires are only rated to 100mph i guess is probably at the end of their margin of safety.

They wear out quick on the street. Probably only get about 1000 miles out of them if you were to only ride on the pavement. I have a 2nd set of rims so I swap back and forth between my PR3's when I'm not heading out for the trails.

raebear

· #26 · Jan 1, 2013

Here is another-
https://www.bestrestproducts.com/p-341-how-to-ride-off-road-free-download.aspx

As was mentioned, ABS, and traction control- off, you will stand much more, steer with the rear wheel more, tires will make a world of difference and armor bits- everyone goes down in the dirt. Have fun

raebear

· #27 · Jan 1, 2013

ten.98 said:
Don't let them get you down dlm, most ducati owners cringe at the thought of getting their pretty italian bikes a little dirty.

I've got a set of TKC80's on mine, with all the crash bars and bark busters they make for it to aide in the event of a get off and I will tell you that the multi will keep up with any twin in the dirt as long as you stay out of the deep sand or mud. The 17" front wheel is the only thing keeping me from taking it to moab and beyond. There's a guy on another board in the middle of riding his multi through baja.

Don't expect it to keep pace with any of the thumpers out there but it will more than hold it's weight with the bikes in its class.

dang it man, I feel myself wanting a set of those, bad, looks wicked, what did it cost you to get the spare set of wheels and all set up for an easy swap? If ya don't mind me asking

dlm

Discussion Starter · #28 · Jan 1, 2013

raebear said:
Here is another-
https://www.bestrestproducts.com/p-341-how-to-ride-off-road-free-download.aspx

As was mentioned, ABS, and traction control- off, you will stand much more, steer with the rear wheel more, tires will make a world of difference and armor bits- everyone goes down in the dirt. Have fun

This looks great too. I knew I could tease some real info out of this group!

kma_jg

· #29 · Jan 1, 2013

raebear said:
Here is another-
https://www.bestrestproducts.com/p-341-how-to-ride-off-road-free-download.aspx

As was mentioned, ABS, and traction control- off, you will stand much more, steer with the rear wheel more, tires will make a world of difference and armor bits- everyone goes down in the dirt. Have fun

Very helpful. Thanks

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amullo

· #30 · Jan 1, 2013

Some bar risers might be a good idea.

Those tkcs look pretty good. I seem to recall that they make the front in an oversize? Might help in tougher spots

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dadridesagain

· #31 · Jan 2, 2013

This is an informative post. I've done some light offroading on my mulit, off trail even through some dry woods and up some small hills. Fortunately haven't dropped it. Might be for another thread, but what would folks recommend as an inexpensive second bike for real dirt riding, preferably with a headlight so it can be ridden 50-ish highway miles to the dirt and be light enough to pick up 10 times in an afternoon. I had an XL600 thumper in college that was a lot of fun, kinda heavy I recall.

dewtwo

· #32 · Jan 2, 2013

dadridesagain said:
This is an informative post. I've done some light offroading on my mulit, off trail even through some dry woods and up some small hills. Fortunately haven't dropped it. Might be for another thread, but what would folks recommend as an inexpensive second bike for real dirt riding, preferably with a headlight so it can be ridden 50-ish highway miles to the dirt and be light enough to pick up 10 times in an afternoon. I had an XL600 thumper in college that was a lot of fun, kinda heavy I recall.

I also gave up the bigger dual sports. Did the XL 600, ATK 605, KTM 690, and a dozen + big bore dirt bikes.
But for the last 3 yrs. I've been having a blast on my Yam. WR250R. Works just fine on the road once you have the gearing dialed.
And of course its a fine trail bike that requires a fraction the wrenching of those last four KTMs I owned.
Used cheap ones available everywhere.

12 Multistrada
08 WR250R

BR Yankee

· #33 · Jan 2, 2013

Alot of people have great things to say about KLR's and XR's but if you want light and road worthy you might want to look at the CRF250L or the KLX250S

raebear

· #34 · Jan 2, 2013

I'd go for an older 2 stroke KTM EXC and make it street legal, bullet proof, (oh wait I have one) KLXs are good as well, Old gen XR's are heavy but indestructible, WR's good as well

Hap Hazard

· #35 · Jan 3, 2013

The original post was a request for tips to improve his off road riding of the Multi. It quickly evolved into a review of dirt bikes and why the Multi ain't one. The suitability of the Multi off road is a subject for a new thread. Meanwhile to the original question.

Handling big Trailies off road requires a different skill set than riding a 250cc over the same terrain. There are countless books that help but there are schools specific for this type riding.

RawHyde Training just north of Los Angeles specializes in training for BMWs 1200GS. This 2 1/2 day school is excellent. The instructors are amazing riders and coaches. It's a bit pricey but the amenities are first class. Includes room, gourmet meals, adult beverages, etc. The ranch offers a great variety of terrain to test whatever skills you want. Rent bikes are available. My suggestion would be to use one of their bikes. First you will see what these big bikes can do and second, if you can do it on the very heavy GS you can do it on the Multi.

Another option is the Jimmy Lewis Off Road school near Las Vegas. Jimmy is famous for his exploits In the Dakar and Baja 1000. Quite simply the best rider I've seen. He puts his students on small bikes. 450cc KTMs in our case, and teaches them as if they were on 1200s. This lets you concentrate on the learning without having to contend with 600 lbs of out of balance Moto. Most of the instruction is done on a large dry lake bed. Learning front and rear wheel skids is safe and easy in this controlled environment. The second day ends with several hours of single track and remote jeep roads. It is considerably cheaper than RawHyde but offers almost no amenities. Except for lunch you are on your own for meals and room.

Hope this helps.

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oalvarez

· #36 · Jan 3, 2013

Hap Hazard said:
The original post was a request for tips to improve his off road riding of the Multi. It quickly evolved into a review of dirt bikes and why the Multi ain't one. The suitability of the Multi off road is a subject for a new thread. Meanwhile to the original question.
.

I like your style

(ps: the GS is heavier than the MTS12s but I wouldn't refer to it as being "very heavy"

)

Hap Hazard

· #37 · Jan 4, 2013

oalvarez said:
I like your style

(ps: the GS is heavier than the MTS12s but I wouldn't refer to it as being "very heavy" )

Oalvarez,

You're right, very heavy is a relative term. If you are 68, and the bike is lieing on your ankle, it is very heavy.

Hap

16774

· #38 · May 1, 2013

I ses this subject in two ways: dirt roads and off roads. I have no intention of riding across fields or between trees and over logs etc but I do want to travel down unsealed roads - of which there are a lot of them in Australia.

I put TKC80s on and have the Altrider bars etc and have done quite a few unsealed roads already and it handles OK. I'm not interested in doing high speeds on rough roads, but I do like to explore.

BTW, I did a BMW offroad course with the Multi on the Scorpions and it worked well, although the instructors were a bit up themselves because I wasn't on a BMW or kitted out in the latest BMW clothing. I had traction control and ABS still on and learned a lot about braking, riding positions, down hill speed management etc. Several of the BMW owners came to grief by not listening to the instructors. At one point they took us through a deep muddy area and the Multi handled it well with good throttle control to keep the momentum up. I was actually impressed by it's ability to work it's way through many types of unsealed roads.

What I have seen though, is that a lot of BMW/KTM riders think they are quick on gravel roads but when it comes down to it, they crap themselves and go rigid with fear. I went for a run recently where a BMW rider told me how quick he was on dirt after seeing my TKCs. I let him go ahead and he crumbled at the first sign of dirt. Then he had all sorts of excuses why he couldn't keep up - and I wasn't going that quick!

If you plan your route and take it easy, think about the road conditions and ride accordingly, the Multi is capable of dealing with most surfaces - even with the Scorpions.

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AllaHat

· #39 · May 1, 2013

just did Tasmania

myself and a budy just rode around Tasmania over 4 days, the initial 120 mile of it was dirt. I was very impressed with the way my 2012 Multi in Enduro mode performed. The roads consisted of soft dirt, coregated and hard rain soaked roads.

I thought I had bad fuel as the bike was farting and carying on once we got off the blacktop, specially when we got into the real soft stuff, turns out it was only the DTC kicking in, so play with it. I left it on as it helped to prevent me power sliding corners... a good thing on a 25K bike!

I also left the ABS on, turns out it helped me from not being driven into a cliff wall when a stupid tourist bitch ran me off the track, she was turning left, I was turning right , she took the corner wide so as not to drop her fat arse end over the edge - in doing so she ran me right off the track, I pulled up about a foot away from the coner wall after riding down a bloody big ditch.... I could have strangled the F***** idiot women!

Take it easy, play with the DTC until your comfy with things.. drop tyre pressure down a few psi too. Soften ya suspension somewhat and go for it.. safe travels.

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Jbone

· #40 · Oct 10, 2013

Jimmy boy said:
... Any bike that weighs 400 lbs plus,is really only good on fire roads,not "real" dirt bike riding.

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Jimmy...my KTM 990 ADV is pushing 460lbs dry. I might be careful on statements like that... I can keep up with my MX buddies in the tight stuff just fine and I am not a great off road rider.....just sayin'

21 - 40 of 53 Posts

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