Sport tires on gravel road | GTAMotorcycle.com

Sport tires on gravel road

arogal

arogal

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I am going up to Huntsville this week and my fiancés parents live at the top of a fairly steep hill. Unfortunately the road going up the hill is gravel so they have traction in the winter. I have Bridgestone s20 evo tires on my bike. Will I have enough traction with these tires to make it up/down the hill slowly? Only ever brought the bike on pavement.
Lotta good riding up there, but if this is a concern I'll have to take the car
 
Should have no issues, just go a little slower you may see tracks in the road where car tires wear down the gravel follow that. Use more of your back brake then front for slowing down. Avoid potholes obviously. The bike will wander if the gravel is heavy/deep dont worry about it, let the bike wander a bit. Take your time.

Angel GTs on my KTM Super Duke GT, go on gravel often due to living up north and not all roads are paved. Also have a Vstrom, I take both bikes on the same roads.
 
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It all depends on the slope of the hill and your skill.

I ride rocky and gravel roads on Pilot Road 4's and it slips and slides a bit, but makes it up hills just fine even though I have little gravel skill.

Going uphill, stay in 1st gear, get a little bit of momentum and keep on the throttle smooth and steady. Look well ahead, so you take the smoothest line up the hill. Keep your arms relaxed and allow the bike to move around a little bit.

Going downhill is usually a bit more of a challenge for me. If it's really steep, I'll keep my feet out to balance me and just lightly get the bike moving in the friction zone (or just use gravity) while keeping a light & smooth pressure on the front brake. If it's not dangerously steep, then my feet are on the pegs and I'll just drag the rear brake all the way down the hill.

I say go for it!
 
Standing on the pegs lowers your centre of gravity and makes things a little easier, you can make small steering adjustments easily with weighting the pegs this way too. If you have a usually aggressive riding position on your bike bend your knees a little more when you do this. Depending on the gradient of the hill you might need to lean forward or backward to adjust the weight over the front and rear tires as well.
 
Personally I'd say no front brake at all on the way down. You lock it up and your going down pretty much 100%. Going up smooth constant throttle don't try to accelerate, set a speed on the flat road before it and just cruise up.

Like mentioned the bike bike will wander a bit. Let it do it's thing.
 
Do it!!! Just don't panic if things get a little loose. Light input and adjustments. Take your time.
 
At low speed, you will have no problems. At higher speeds street 5ires start to float around. The only time street tires have been completely useless for me is in mud on trails up near maynooth and in heavy snow, the rest of the time they had more than enough traction to get where I wanted to go safely.
 
arogal said:
Thanks guys! I'm Gunna give it a shot and let you know how I make out!
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Also, beware of grass! It may look inviting, trust me its not! lol. Lots of good tips here.
 
Pretty much repeating what everyone's said: Make a bit of momentum on the way up, steady throttle, look ahead, let the bike move a little.

On the way down, STAY AWAY FROM THE FRONT BRAKE, trail with the rear brake, go relatively slow and let gravity take you to the bottom of the hill.


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also, keep your weight shifted to the front of the seat as much as possible. It will help you steer the bike better (vs shifting your weight further back).

if the hill is steep and gravel is deep, go slow and keep your feet out to help steady yourself.

no front brake on gravel. use the rear brake and ride any slide. Fight the slide too hard and you'll over-correct and risk going down.
 
BusaBob said:
also, keep your weight shifted to the front of the seat as much as possible. It will help you steer the bike better (vs shifting your weight further back).

if the hill is steep and gravel is deep, go slow and keep your feet out to help steady yourself.

no front brake on gravel. use the rear brake and ride any slide. Fight the slide too hard and you'll over-correct and risk going down.
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You're kidding right?
If the gravel is deep or loose (not likely on a maintained road) shift weight rearward OFF the front and maintain a light grip on the bars while maintaining control. Dangling your feet, instead of having them on the pegs reduces your balance and control.

The guy's probably gone up and down the hill a dozen times by now.
 
And watch your line...if there's big dips (like say a wash from the rain) STAY THE F AWAY hahaha. You don't want your front suspension bottoming out...trust me.

Might not have tons of gravel experience but i've done a few fire roads up north (Muskokas, Highlands) a few times and love riding them.

Film it and post the video on the forum when youre back :p
 
I recently started riding old snowmobile trails out near where I live. It's a blast but some of them are old rail beds which vary from flat and hard packed, to reasonably thick and large diameter gravel sections. Getting used to the bike weaving through the gravel is interesting, I think it's getting used to the sensation that your bike is stable even if it's not tracking a straight line as long as you're balanced and throttle/brake inputs are gradual. Also....as is the case with nearly everything...more throttle is always good.
 
xrljoel said:
You're kidding right?
If the gravel is deep or loose (not likely on a maintained road) shift weight rearward OFF the front and maintain a light grip on the bars while maintaining control. Dangling your feet, instead of having them on the pegs reduces your balance and control.

The guy's probably gone up and down the hill a dozen times by now.
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absolutely.
the suggestion of having the feet off the pegs was just for when he's going slow up or down a steep gravel incline to help prevent the bike from going over onto its side.

When riding dirt/gravel, you want your weight shifted towards the front of the bike to improve control of the front wheel and steering
 
BusaBob said:
absolutely.
the suggestion of having the feet off the pegs was just for when he's going slow up or down a steep gravel incline to help prevent the bike from going over onto its side.

When riding dirt/gravel, you want your weight shifted towards the front of the bike to improve control of the front wheel and steering
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Shifting your weight forward will cause your front end to dig in and plow into loose gravel/dirt. Watch guys racing in sand, weight as far back as possible, brake early, gas through the corner, all to prevent the front from plowing and causing you to crash.
 
here is what you do, make sure to toss it sideways coming out the last corner with the tire spinning to get up the hill lmao this a a great thread.

sit and ride normal
stay in the right side car tire track, if you are in the left car tire track you may have to cross the gravel build up between tire tracks for on coming traffic - no...
don't go too slow, keep some momentum going, don't worry about the bike moving around a little bit. stay in the tire tracks.
avoid using the front brake in the gravel until you are practiced.
All these have been mentioned by other posters. You'll be ok. without a passenger until you're comfortable.
 
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