From: G-S on
bikerbetty wrote:
> "PostmanPat" <postman64pat(a)yahoo.com.au> wrote in message
> news:003e856f-e395-4d91-810e-6c0f5a7a3470(a)v12g2000prb.googlegroups.com...
> On May 12, 6:50 pm,
> YnRAaHVtYmxldG93bi5vcmc=(a)REGISTERED_USER_usenet.com.au (BT Humble)
> wrote:
>> PostmanPat wrote:
>>> Heheheh...
>>> *Attempts to run away,hampered by his more-recently-acquired
>>> swollen,multicoloured foot*
>>> I certainly can't recommend slamming a Transalpsworth of weight on it.
>>> My Wedgetail Outriders should be arriving shortly...
>>> Postman Pat the Crippled (my levers are fine though)
>> TransTankSlap?
>>
>> BTH
>>
>> --
>> Posted atwww.usenet.com.au
>
> Nope.
> Slope,dwarf,tall bike.
> A lot of the damage was from straining to hold the bike upright with
> just my toes,then it was all downhill--literally...(on my foot)
> _Then_ the woman behind drove her 4WD into the bike--luckily she
> stopped when a chain adjuster punched a hole through her bumper--no
> more damage to the TA apart from the drop.
> I don't _think_ she helped nudge me over first,but who knows?
> Haven't enjoyed kickstarting the CT hundreds of times each day at work
> and putting it onto the centrestand--in hindsight,i should've taken
> four days off instead (then I could've gone for a ride...)
>
> Incompetent Shortarse Pat
>
> Awwww, poor Pat - I feel your pain. Oh, actually, that's MY pain.... yours
> is over there behind the couch.
>
> betty
>
>

No that's my pain... his is in the driveway near th 4x4 ;-)


G-S
From: Knobdoodle on
"bikerbetty" <bikerbettyatgmaildotcom> wrote:
> I've been reading this thread conscientiously, and taking in everything
> people have said about riding on gravel, and you know what? It seems there
> are so many dfferent opinions about the best approach that I am going to
> just take my own bloody advice and avoid gravel altogether - a policy that
> has served me well over the years.
>
My advice is; if you don't know what to do, try to do nothing.
Don't speed up, don't brake, don't lean over, don't do ANYTHING!
Just try to ride as straight a line as possible at as constant a speed as
you feel save with, and try to stay in the tyre-tracks and out of the big
drifts and big holes.
If you have to turn, try and make it as wide an arc as you can and if you
have to accelerate or brake try and do it as smoothly as you can (I'm a big
fan of squeezing the back brake as I throttle-on to keep the bike steady and
stop it jerking or porpoising during the change from braking to accelerating
[and vice versa by holding on the throttle slightly as I brake]. Most people
think this is stupid but it makes me happy.)


--
Clem
(http://xkcd.com/621/)


From: CrazyCam on
Peter wrote:

<snip>

> Maybe you would have remembered if you had a drink of my award quality
> coffee.

OK, sorry.... I am hopeless with names of people. :-(

>> The big, deep gravel patches were, basically, off line.
>>
>> The line was, admittedly, at times, very rutted and uncomfortable, but
>> it wasn't actually all that loose with gravel.
>>
>
>
> Betty's Bend had deep gravel on the outside of a left hand turn and deep
> corrugations on the inside. I found Betty somewhere in the middle to
> outside. Relevance?

The corrugated bits tend to have relatively good grip, but are
uncomfortable, so, for folk with limited experience of riding on dirt,
and a road bike, I'd recommend going slowly over the corrugations.

The smoother looking line, on the outside, tends to be loose, and
deepening gravel on that road. If you happen to have a suitable bike,
and knowledge, it is perfectly possible to ride in the gravel, and, if
you are doing that, the "gass it up" principle does apply.

>>> You have to ride for the conditions and the motorcycle and also how
>>> you are feeling........
>>> Your point?
>> You just managed to explain it.... just add in "and to your level of
>> experience".
>>
> I think this thread has proven experiance is not that relevant.
> Betty and I have been riding the same amount of time give or take a few
> weeks. Last year we had around the same amount of accidents.

Oh, do you mean to equate experience with the number of times you have
fallen off?

> You have repectfully more life experiance than me and I am guessing more
> K's on two wheels.

:-) Elegantly put!

I have been riding for quite a long time now, and have covered quite a
long distance over the years, in all sorts of circumstances.


>>> ------------------------------
>>> When in doubt throttle out describes to me....
>>>
>>> Throttle can give more traction.
>>> Throttle can give more control.
>>> Throttle is fun.
>>> ***On the way in and through leave enough room for throttle out.***
>>> ------------------------------

BTW, is that a cut'n'paste from Keith Code?

>> What is the quote about something to do with "for ever complex problem
>> there is a nice simple answer, which is almost inevitably wrong" ?
>>
> and teaching new tricks......

I think you'd find I'm not too bad at teaching new tricks.... and
learning some, too. ;-)

>
>> I suppose, with knowledge like that, you work for the RTA.
>>
>>
>
> Ok, now I know you are joking.

Fair enough! I was being a bit unkind there.

regards,
CrazyCam
From: BT Humble on
bikerbetty wrote:
> "PostmanPat" <postman64pat(a)yahoo.com.au> wrote
>>
>> Incompetent Shortarse Pat
>
> Awwww, poor Pat - I feel your pain. Oh, actually, that's MY pain.... yours
> is over there behind the couch.

Would you two cripples like some time alone?


BTH

--
Posted at www.usenet.com.au
From: Marty H on
On May 15, 10:23 pm, "bikerbetty" <bikerbettyatgmaildotcom> wrote:
> "Knobdoodle" <knobdoo...(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:mzqHn.24904$pv.9450(a)news-server.bigpond.net.au...
>
>
>
> > "bikerbetty" <bikerbettyatgmaildotcom> wrote:
> >> I've been reading this thread conscientiously, and taking in everything
> >> people have said about riding on gravel, and you know what? It seems
> >> there are so many dfferent opinions about the best approach that I am
> >> going to just take my own bloody advice and avoid gravel altogether - a
> >> policy that has served me well over the years.
>
> > My advice is; if you don't know what to do, try to do nothing.
> > Don't speed up, don't brake, don't lean over, don't do ANYTHING!
> > Just try to ride as straight a line as possible at as constant a speed as
> > you feel save with, and try to stay in the tyre-tracks and out of the big
> > drifts and big holes.
> > If you have to turn, try and make it as wide an arc as you can and if you
> > have to accelerate or brake try and do it as smoothly as you can (I'm a
> > big fan of squeezing the back brake as I throttle-on to keep the bike
> > steady and stop it jerking or porpoising during the change from braking to
> > accelerating [and vice versa by holding on the throttle slightly as I
> > brake]. Most people think this is stupid but it makes me happy.)
>
> > --
> > Clem
> > (http://xkcd.com/621/)
>
> That does sound somewhat like MY strategy as well. Basically - be bloody
> careful! Being the chickenshit that I am on dirt, and not really having a
> clue, I've taken on board a few handy hints from ppl like Lemmiwinks, and I
> always remember the cardinal rule, the Prime Directive - DON'T TOUCH THE
> FRONT BRAKE!

I am so glad I saw the light and got a real bike with real tyres...

I hammer the front brake

but seriously...

I did an 2 day ADV course a few weeks back and one of the exercisers
was riding on dirt, and locking the front brake and continue on riding
with the front brake locked, we did this for about 15 mins, out of the
14 riders no one dropped it, this was simply to prove that locking the
front brake on the dirt wont bring you down, also to practise in the
event of a front where lock up.

With the use of counter balancing, I can brake no problems into a dirt
corner, sure the tyres do help, but having the weight back and to the
opposite side does alot of the work

I know this doesn't mean anything to most here because most people
here are riding road bikes with road tyres and riding them on dirt is
a completely different discipline that riding a dirt style bike with
aggressive tyres

but it is amazing what a bit of proper training will do

even with a Dakar winning motorcycle with knobbies, riding it like a
road bike on the dirt road will bring you unstuck, learning to ride on
the dirt properly on any style of motorcycle will bring better
results. The biggest difference IMHO between riding on the road and
the dirt is where you position your weight on the bike, in some cases
it is the opposite.

with the skills I learnt in the course, I could quite confidently ride
any bike better on dirt than before the course, of course some bikes
better than others.

I did well over 500kms of dirt coming and going to BTs last WE and
never had a problem with traction and I do not put that down to the
bike or tyres, I put it down to the training I did a few weeks before
hand.

BTW, here is a pic of someone counter balancing and setting up for a
corner
http://www.tbam.com.au/images/stories/articles/editorsblog/2010Blogs/TenereFrance/fq7c2784webbody.jpg

staying off the dirt is one option, being taught the ride it is
another, learning from a newsgroup IMHO is not, just too much info
that is going in different directions (including mine)

mh