Hello all,

Riding since 1998. Have two bikes: R 80 GS Basic (1996) and XT600E (2003).
Done a south Europe and Balkan trip in 2009 for one month and 9000 kms. Afterwards stopped riding as was working out of country for 7 years. Now back home and started riding. GS was staying at the garage of my friend in İstanbul. Brought it back to home by riding which was almost 1500 kms in 3 days.
During the ride, I faced heavy rain, wind, gravel roads with small and big stones.

May be because of not riding in the past 7 years I felt I was scared from all these kind of conditions. Was not a pro or well trained rider before. Always feeling scared when I face these kind of riding conditions. And also scared of curvy roads. I start to get scared and hold hard the handlebar. And this behaviour start to restrict the easy riding.

So my problem is the fear of riding in rain, gravel roads, roads with stones, mud, sand and curvy roads.

I had not much scare 7-8 years ago when I was riding my bike daily and was younger of course.

May be it is time for a training?

Please share your experiences, fear and advice to solve it !

Thanks

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"where the traveller goes, nobody knows ! "

take it easy, don't ride beyond your limits,
(check out video on the 'tube)

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...g+in+the+rain+

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...ng+in+the+dirt

AND RELAX....

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kicka,kicka,cough, sputter, kicka,kicka, cough, sputter, bwbwbwbwbw....she running fiine today

There is nothing like a nice curvey road to bring a smile to my face. I don't have to travel fast along it - it is the flow and swing as you change from one corner to the other that does it for me.

Not riding for 7 year and coming back? I don't know. Might be best to use a sealed road with flowing curves and little traffic and use it for a slow trip. You do need to relax and let the bike do its thing, fighting the bike will not result in a safer ride nor force the bike to do what you want. It is like sitting in a chair - you relax into the chair not hold yourself to some shape you want, same with the bike.

Rather than wasting time viewing 100 UTube videos ... maybe better to edit down to the ones that are specifically relevant to OP (Samy) most in the links I'm sure you never bothered to view and haven't a clue.

Blanket UTubes may not help, but one or two GOOD ONES might. Or ... if you actually went through a similar "fearful" period yourself, you might offer help and suggestions that worked for you?

Hey Samy! No worries ... it will all come back to you. But your idea of training is, IMO, spot on. 7 years is a very long lay off from riding. So of course riding feels unnatural, like you're starting over.

You are, basically. So important to use good technique so you do not develop BAD HABITS. I would suggest a "Track School" course. Yes, it's on a race track but is VERY helpful in getting your confidence back. I had a very bad crash and was scared to death after two years no riding. The Track Schools really helped me! Take NOVICE school. Some provide bikes or you can use your own.

I tutored old guys getting back into dirt bike riding. Like you, they were pretty fearful. Good news for you is you own two EXCELLENT motorcycles to re-learn riding on!

For off road I would most certainly favor your XT600. Great off road, perfect for gravel, mud and even wet pavement. The GS is also good but for learning dirt and wet ... the XT is better.

One question I had was ... How were the tires on your bikes? Had bikes been in storage all this time? ... and not ridden in 7 years? Tires get old and dry out, become very rigid and ride like crap. Dangerous.

Tire pressures are also very important, especially on wet roads. Off road too!

Fresh tires run at correct pressures are critical to the "Feel" of the bike and modern tires will stick incredibly well in the rain ... if you know how to ride!

The Death Grip you describe is ... NOT GOOD. You will crash if you continue to do this. Relax!! ... And don't forget to Breath! Stay loose! Deep Breaths! ... and MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL ... Look where you want to go ... and you will go there.


Rain riding is easy once you get accustom to it and learn a few simple rules regards traction, vision, stopping and cornering. Delicate application of both brakes and power are important. With good tires ... you will amazed how SAFE you are riding in rain.

Most dangerous part would be VISION and the SPRAY from trucks and cars. Keeping shield clean and UN FOGGED also critical. Bit of air flow a must.

Many use some sort of Anti-Fog product on inside of face shield. With time and experience you will get better at this part. But if you can't see ... PULL OFF THE ROAD NOW! Sometimes rain is simply TOO strong to ride in. PULL OFF. Stop!


For dirt riding I would take a course to start. Amazing just how much you can learn ... and quickly. Like rain riding, this is not very hard if you put to use what you are taught and develop good technique EARLY in your training ... and practice a lot.

Samy, if you genuinely fear these conditions you should ask yourself if riding a bike is what you want to be doing.

On the other hand, if it is just a little trepidation as a result of a 7 year lay off, then don't overstretch yourself. Try to think back to when you were riding before and work out what it was you really enjoyed about riding a bike and try and find rides that recreate all the good bits.

A few friends have given up riding bikes in their 60s just because they feel that they ride too slowly and find themselves thinking 'what if' as they approach a situation. As a result I only rarely ride with other bikes these days and even when I do I go at my own pace.

Me too, and I am all the better off for it - essentially, motorcycling is a thoroughly selfish activity.

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Dave

My wife used to hate dirt roads, we then spent a two week holiday on mainly dirt roads, at the end of the two weeks I only ever ate her dust.

I got back into motorcycle after about 30 year break at first I wasn't sure if I had a death wish or not. For me it got much much better with time. I read as much as I could about good safe ridding technique and I would practice slow speed ridding figure 8's and how slowly I could ride in a straight line. I think practice is the key even visualisation helps. I am also know learning to ride dirtbikes which has gone from fear to love.

Over the years, a couple of times I've had a scare on a bike, and thought, 'Do I really want to keep doing this?'

I find the best fix is to get up early on a weekend or holiday morning, get out on the road when there's not much traffic, start off on a long ride, and after the first few minutes I always find the answer is 'yes'.

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Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250

it will come to you, give it some time. You are now scared of things which are the most fun in motorcycle riding. You need to ride regularly, I had also bigger brake in riding some time ago and when I resume riding, before each session I had to go to bathroom it's stress, normal thing, same happens before battle during war. You body prepares to fight.

As the guys say, practice is key to gaining confidence. If you can, find a place to ride the XT on the dirt unloaded with no pressure for speed and time. A useful technique is to STAND UP. Although this seems counter-intuitive it achieves several things: your legs can act as shock absorbers over big bumps to cushion your spine; by allowing the bike to move under you it's easier to control any slides or movements without throwing you off balance; and you can move your body weight forward or backward if you want to get more grip on the front or rear. In very soft sand or mud you want the front light so it doesn't dig in and the back heavy so it'll drive. On loose gravel you want the front heavy so it grips and the back light so if anything slides it's that one, which is easier to control than a front wheel slide.

Most of the time you won't need any special techniques though, especially on a fully loaded bike, and just riding at a pace you're comfortable with and picking your way across rough ground how it feels right will be fine.

Does anyone near you do MX bike and track hire or off road events? I did the BMW off road event many years ago. While an insane cost, having someone giving advice and riding a bike you can just hand back to keys to if you break it is a better way to learn that trying to teach yourself. When the instructor says it can be done and three other pupils just followed him, you know you are right to do it they way you were told and follow.

Andy

Pity no Andy... Some bikers who like to show their bikes and riding suits.
Others just street bikes.And very few enduro and nearly zero cross or off-roaders... (((

As all others say I need to train myself with no stress...

During daily ride I have no stress at all. In mentioned riding situation I feel disturbed and alarmed and feel fear ...

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"where the traveller goes, nobody knows ! "

All very good advice! Standing is key! You can even steer the bike with your feet while standing.

Another very important element riding off road is VISION. SO important to look out WAY AHEAD, not down at your front wheel. Look at least 30 meters out ahead ... stand up ... and take deep breaths. It works.

Some how looking out ahead works magic. Everything becomes easier.