Comedian and celebrity Zizan Razak wanted to improve his riding.
He found it by riding motocross.
Where he was also trained by PETRONAS Cub Prix riders.
There are many different ways on how you can improve your riding skills. Whether you’re new to the two-wheel scene or a seasoned riding enthusiast with years of experience, there’s always something new to learn and one of the best ways to do so is riding off-road. With the help from Cub Prix Pengejar Impian riders, local celebrity Zizan Razak will be guided with some pro tips on how he too can master all roads by learning off-road.
There are many different ways on how you can improve your riding skills. Whether you’re new to the two-wheel scene or a seasoned riding enthusiast with years of experience, there’s always something new to learn and one of the best ways to do so is riding off-road. With the help from Cub Prix Pengejar Impian riders, local celebrity Zizan Razak will be guided with some pro tips on how he too can master all roads by learning off-road.
Training is key but training safely is where you’ll really shine. In the pro training video above, Zizan equipped himself with some protective gears before getting his motorsports adrenaline on with the Pengejar Impian riders. HOT TIP! If you want to get better on the road, the best way you can do so is by improving your riding skills off-road.
As usual, one of Malaysia’s funniest comedians sure made an impact with the riders with his funny antics but like the saying goes, “Fun + Learning = The Best Educational Experience”. You’ll learn better when things are more interesting and this video ticks all the boxes.
Why off-road? Well, riders will most likely panic when they get into unpredictable riding conditions (sand or water on the road that make things slippery) and when you ride off-road, it’s always unstable and you need to be able to master and control your motorcycle like a boss.
If you want to be the best, you got to train like the best and these are three tips that you’ll need to greatly improve on: BRAKING, ACCELERATING, and CORNERING.
These three riding aspects are pretty basic when you’re at the driving schools to get your license but riders like Zizan who want to take their skills to the next level can do so with these important tips to not just to become a better rider but safer as well. Want to ride like pro? It’s time to pay your fullest attention now, people!
TIP 1 – BRAKING
There are three things you’ll need to consider when you want to brake like a pro: body position, braking strength, and rear tyre.
NUMBER ONE! When braking, make sure that your upper body is upright while using your core muscles (near the stomach) and keep those arms relaxed (not straight and locked!).
NUMBER 2! Don’t brake too hard (especially the front) or you’ll end up locking the front tyre and losing grip. Always brake using both front and rear brakes. VERY IMPORTANT.
NUMBER 3! Brake enough but not hard enough to lift the rear tyre up. If it goes up, you’re braking too hard BUT don’t worry! Just release the front brake ever so slightly and the rear tyre will gently fall back to the ground and giving you more control.
TIP 2 – ACCELERATING
According to these Pengejar Impian riders, hard acceleration can be exciting (if you’re a stunt rider) BUT if you do it too hard and too soon, you might end up slower and with less control. Trust us, you don’t want that, people.
NUMBER 1! If you’re spinning the rear tyre, you’re losing traction as well as time and power delivery. Not good!
NUMBER 2! No wheelies! Getting the front wheel up is not only dangerous if you’re not used to it but if you want to be like a pro, make sure both wheels are on the ground at all times. Even MotoGP riders try not to wheelie to make sure they can accelerate hard without losing power.
TIP 3 – CORNERING
The final and arguably most important tip is getting your cornering done right. In most cases, controlling your bike through corners always have the same elements and some of you might’ve already been doing them without noticing.
NUMBER 1! Get your braking done BEFORE entering the corner. Braking and leaning your bike at the same time is not a good idea until you can master the basics of braking first.
NUMBER 2! Twist that throttle open AFTER the corner. Once you see that you’re about to reach the end of the curve, you can start accelerating safely and efficiently. Do it smoothly!
NUMBER 3! Don’t brake or accelerate too hard. Control and smooth flow are keys in becoming a pro rider. So, don’t stomp on that brake like an elephant and don’t twist that throttle open with lightning speed. Slow and steady, guys and gals.
At the end of the day, even Zizan Razak managed to surprise the Cub Prix riders with how fast he’s able to learn and understand all the pro tips given to him. When you listen to tips from pro riders that are this good, anyone can become a pro rider. Even you!
Remember to always watch the video to get all the tips for FREE and become a better rider, not just on the streets, but also circuits, dirt tracks, and everywhere else. Anyone can be a Pengejar Impian but with these tips, you’ll get there safer and faster. Learn from the best and you’ll become the best!
Learning leads to better understanding of our own riding techniques and motorcycle.
Everybody makes mistake. Marc Marquez, Valentino Rossi, Fabio Quartararo certainly do it. So, do you and me. But it’s learning from those mistakes that’ll make us better riders.
But it’s what we do about those mistakes that make us better riders, regardless if we’re the 8-time world champion or the daily commuter. It’s this learning process that gets me up every morning to search for something new to discover. In fact, it’s what’s driven me still love motorcycles for the past 31 years.
You see, traffic conditions tomorrow may not be the same as today’s. Certain drivers could be crankier on Mondays, mellower in the middle of the week, reckless on Fridays, and relaxed to the stage of negligence during the weekend. Or you know that they couldn’t see you in their side mirrors on rainy days.
These are some of the things we need to learn as bikers – in the interest of safety. If you critique the way you ride on a constant basis by asking yourself questions, it will make you a better rider. Start asking yourself, “Why did I almost overshoot that corner?” or “How come the rear tyre wants to skid all the time,” or “Why do I have so many close calls every time I ride?” Well, you won’t become a better rider automatically. We don’t live in the Matrix where we could download skills into our brains. But asking those questions is the first step in encouraging you to learn more on how to ride better and safer.
To illustrate, we asked Cal Crutchlow a question during the Malaysian MotoGP last year. “Don’t you riders get scared after crashing so much?” He was with GP legend Randy Mamola at the time, and both of them answered, “It’s scarier when you don’t know why you crashed. We need to learn why we crashed so we can ride better and get better results.”
Cal certainly crashed a lot, but Marquez crashed even more as he pushed to discover the limits all the time.
Photo credit Autosport.com
We’re not telling you to crash to learn. Instead, do evaluate your riding and get some advice. But, get advice from who have gone through formal training for that advice. Do NOT get advice from a buddy just because rides faster than you. Instead, if rides faster than you BECAUSE he had attended advance riding classes, he’s the one you go to for riding advice.
Better yet, sign up for advance riding classes. There are a number of good ones in Malaysia. Google them.
The biggest problem with Malaysians generally, is their laziness to read and perform some research. My late father would bring me to the public library. I spent large chunks of my salary to buy books and magazines when I began working – all because I wanted to know more about bikes and how to ride them properly.
Today, you can get all these for free by tapping out the keywords in Google or YouTube. And yet, some people are still too lazy to even search. So, these people would make the same mistakes on and on, for example using slick tyres on public roads, using components that are of no benefit, or even using the wrong engine oil.
Training at Most Fun Gym
However, there are a number of books you should own for reference at any time such as Keith Code’s Twist of the Wrist Vol. 2; or Nick Ienatsch’s Sport Riding Techniques: How to Develop Real World Skills for Speed, Safety and Confidence on the Street and Track; or Lee Park’s Total Control. Even the Dummies’ Guide to Motorcycles isn’t bad. It’s important to start somewhere.
Another enemy of bikers is their ego which their bodies can’t cash (to borrow a line from Top Gun, but not paraphrasing). There’ve been so many times that we’ve met riders who took our advice as criticism, instead of something positive. There’s no place for ego in motorcycling. Ego gets you killed.
So, learn. Being a smarter rider is one of the fun parts of motorcycling.
“Foreman” Oh Kah Beng answers a good question about tyre wear in this edition of TechTOC with “Foreman” Oh.
It goes without saying that your bike is only as good as the tyres it wears. Tyre wear must be kept an eye on at all times.
QUESTION:
How do I know when is the right time to change my tyres? Manufacturers say when the threads are worn to certain depth but my friends say I could use them until they look like racing tyres. Out of curiosity, how does one check the wear on racing tyres?
Ahmad Sukri – Johor Bahru
ANSWER:
On street tyres, there are small “TWI” prints embossed on the outer edges of the thread surface to specify the locations of the respective “thread wear indicator.” Now, move your sight directly across the width of the tyre from the TWI print and you should spot a little “knob” which protrudes inside the tyre’s groove. If the surrounding tyre threads have worn down to this knob, it is time to replace the tyre. Allowing the tyre to wear beyond that indicator isn’t a good idea as there isn’t enough groove depth to evacuate water. This is considering normal wear.
As for a slick racing tyre, the wear indicators are signified by visible pin holes from left to right across the tyre.
There are other factors that you should also consider such as age of the tires (5 years from time of manufacture), signs of abnormal wear (one side worn more than the other), signs of heavy damage (parts of the thread peel off, for example), already patched too many times, obvious signs of deterioration such as cracks.
Just one word of advice, please remember to check your tyre pressure at least once a week. This is the time when you may pick up on the condition of the tyres, also.
Keep sending in your questions to me at TechTOC with Foreman Oh to stand the chance of receiving a complimentary session at Most Fun Gym.
Please visit the TOC Automotive College Facebook page or their campus (map below) or call call (+603) 7960 8833 for more information. Likewise, you can find more information about the TOC Bina Bakat Program here, or email info@toc.edu.my. Please click on this link for further information on the TOC Superbike Technician Course.
Here Foreman Oh gives his answer on what causes it and how to remedy it.
The question for TechTOC with Foreman Oh Kah Beng today is about squealing disc brakes, something that none of us like. What could be the cause and what would be the solution? TOC Automotive College Motorsports Consultant and Most Fun Gym Principal Instructor, Foreman Oh Kah Beng answers.
QUESTION:
My brakes are always squealing when I apply them. I have tried cleaning them but it still happens.
— TAN SUAN HOR, Melaka, Kawasaki ER-6n
ANSWER:
May I assume that you clean your brakes (disc brakes?) with commercially available brake cleaner solutions? You may try to do so if you are not already. Spray onto the discs directly and wipe off the residue. Be careful to not spray onto painted areas such as the rims and leave it on!
Cleaning brake discs – Courtesy of rideapart.com
However, if you have already done so and they still squeak, the discs are most probably “glazed.” Sand and dirt picked up during rain storms will get trapped between the brake pads and discs. Then as you brake, enough heat is generated to embed the sand and dirt into the discs. This is glazing. As such, you need to either “skim” the discs if they are within their wear tolerance or replace them altogether if they are not. There are workshops who provide this service.
Glazed brake disc
Other conditions that can cause brake squeal are worn pads, broken securing clip (which holds the pads in place at the back of caliper), pads with insufficient insulation or insulation shims, and no surface cut (which is common on motorcycle brake discs).
Parts of brake pads
Hence, you may also try different brake pad compounds. Those with high metallic content (usually those marked “FOR RACING”) will scour the discs and squeal. Keep an ear out when a racing superbike comes to a stop in the pits.
Keep sending in your questions to me at TechTOC with Foreman Oh to stand the chance of receiving a complimentary session at Most Fun Gym.
Please visit the TOC Automotive College Facebook page or their campus (map below) or call call (+603) 7960 8833 for more information. Likewise, you can find more information about the TOC Bina Bakat Program here, or email info@toc.edu.my. Please click on this link for further information on the TOC Superbike Technician Course.
Our new column, TechTOC with Foreman Oh seeks to assist you with your technical questions or issues with your motorcycle.
The winning question earns the sender a complimentary session at Most Fun Gym (MFG) worth RM300.
Prizes are also available for 2nd and 3rd placed questions.
We have been featuring the TechTOC with Foreman Oh column for a couple of weeks now and we’ve received a few interesting questions. Please click here for the first and here for the second column.
We’ve received many enquiries from our readers and followers in the past and although we attempted to answer every question, we couldn’t answer all due to our heavy schedule and time constraints.
But we now have “Foreman” Oh Kah Beng, also known as “KB” among his friends and “Sifu” by his students (us included).
We’ve featured KB and his current Most Fun Gym (MFG) motocross school extensively, as we discovered that riding in the dirt has immensely improved our riding skills. Please click on the link below about MFG.
As we’ve also written before, KB was the very first Malaysian GP rider, who raced on classic race bikes such as the two-stroke TZ750 against other GP greats such as Wayne Gardner and Ron Haslam. And won. Please click on the link below to read more about KB.
To refresh, KB has now been appointed as the Motorsports Consultant at the TOC Automotive College (TOC) due to his racing, wrenching and coaching background.
Not only that, the riders and even the mechanics of the TOC-HKM Toyo MSBK team are undergoing MX training at MFG in order to upgrade their skills.
So, since TOC and KB are providing motorcycle-based training, who better to answer your questions than the legendary Foreman Oh Kah Beng himself.
But it gets better, because in the interest of training more riders the fundamentals of handling a motorcycle:
The winning question receives a complimentary training session at MFG, coached by KB himself. Don’t worry about the motorcycle and equipment, as MFG will loan you the appropriate riding gear from head to toe and put you on the bike corresponding to your skill level. The package is worth RM300. Yes, absolutely free!
The 2nd-placed question will win you 2 tickets to the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK).
The 3rd-placed question will earn you a coveted Most Fun Gym t-shirt.
Please send in your questions now (PM us at https://www.facebook.com/BikesRepublic/), but please be specific about the issue(s) you are facing, and include your full name and your city of residence. So, start typing!
TOC HKMTOYO Racing Team leads the Superbike standings.
The team is formed through the TOC Technical College and HKMToyo Racing Team.
Round 1 of the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship marked the first outing for the team.
The TOC HKMTOYO Racing Team was recently constituted, concurrently with the launch of TOC Automotive College’s (TOC) Motorcycle Technician Training course. (Please click here for our coverage.)
As TOC believes that technical training does not only involve repairing vehicles, as motorsports is seen as the ultimate way for the school to impart knowledge and training to their students in a fun way to face the challenges associated with racing. As such, they have also a racing division called School of Motorsports. This division has spawned four-wheeled racing champions in the past and it is only natural that they extend it to two-wheeled motorsports as well.
Headed by Team Principal Mohd. Najuib Alias, HKMTOYO Racing Team is the defending MSBK champion from 2017. The team had also worked with MARA for industrial training in the past thus the tie-up with TOC Automotive College for the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship makes sense, if not inevitable.
The newly formed team combines the technical skills, knowledge and experience of the HKMTOYO Racing Team and personnel from TOC. TOC had also secured the services of Malaysian GP legend and current MX trainer at Most Fun Gym “Foreman” Oh Kah Beng as the Motosports Director to supervise the team and provide MX training.
Four riders are contracted to the team for the Superbike and Superstock classes.
In the Superbike category, Ramdan Rosli raced in the FIM CEV Moto2 Championship in Spain. He was also a wildcard rider in the World Moto2 championship between 2014 to 2016. He rides the BMW S 1000 RR.
The second rider is Muhammad Jamalul Tarmizi, riding the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R.
As for the Superstock category, Amirul Hafiq Azmi and Nasarudin Mat Yop are the riders.
In Race 1 of the Superbike class, Ramdan took it easy at start of the wet race, falling behind Rajini Krishnan of Team RACR and Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman of Chia Motor PJ. Soon, he was able to find his rhythm and started stalking the second-place man, and eventually passing Azlan Shah with 4 laps remaining to finish 2nd.
Muhammad Jamalul rode a steady race to finish 5th, for a tally of two TOC HKMTOYO bikes in the Top 5.
As for Race 2, Ramdan had started strong and was in a three-way battle among Rajini and Azlan Shah. However, Rajini crashed at the start of Lap 3, leaving the two other riders to fight it out. Unfortunately, Ramdan had started to slow from that point with brake problems and allowing Azlan Shah to ride away 2 seconds faster per lap.
As for Muhammad Jamalul, he went one better this time and came home in fourth.
“There was no front brake. The lever came all the way back to the handle grip,” lamented Ramdan. “The only I could make it work was to hold the lever back slightly but I still didn’t have full braking power.”
That was amazing feat considering the monumental challenge.
In the Superstock category, Amirul Hafiz Azmi finished in 5th in Race 1 but forced to retire in Race 2, while his teammate Nasarudin May Yusop picked up 3rd in Race 2.
The TOC HKMTOYO Racing Team now leads the riders’ and teams’ championship in the Superbike Category of the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) as the series heads into the Ramadhan and Hari Raya Puasa break.
All riders should learn motocross and dirt riding.
Dirt riding trains each rider the very core basics of motorcycle control.
We train extensively at Most Fun Gym (MFG), operated by Malaysian motorcycle legend, “Foreman” Oh Kah Beng.
Scenario 1:
20km outside Chiang Mai under the blazing sun, I started to feel groggy. I knew I should’ve avoided the heavy lunch, but how could one possibly resist authentic Thai food in Thailand herself?
Coming to a three-way junction, the bikes ahead turned right. Seeing it as an exciting opportunity to invigorate myself, I took a wider line into the corner without backing off. But as I soon as I flicked the Ducati Monster 821 in, the rear wheel kicked out to left, and sliding like a supermoto!
Chopping the throttle now would be a disaster because the if rear tyre suddenly regained traction, it’d pitch me over the bike in a high side.
Through MX training, I just kept the throttle pinned as I pushed on the ride side of the handlebar while pushing my left leg into the footpeg to lift the bike up slightly off its present lean angle. In a split second the engine power tapered off and both tyres tracked back in line.
Later that night, the Ducati bigwig in charge of the event proclaimed in both happiness and relief, “Best of all, we didn’t have any crash during the trip!”
Scenario 2:
A few months later I was riding in South Africa in the GIVI Wilderness Adventure.
We crossed an offroad section on the third day. A few participants had asked the marshals if the section was going to be tough, but they were confidently assured, “Nah, it’s a hard-packed dirt road so it’s super easy. Just relax and have fun. We’ll clear it in 30 minutes tops.”
Unfortunately, that hard-packed dirt road had become entirely different since the last time they recced it. It was now covered in ankle-deep sand!
I was right behind the Indonesian journalist when he dropped his bike in less than 1 km onto the trail when his front tyre hit a deep sand groove. Reacting immediately to the situation, courtesy of MX training, I stood up on the footpegs, relaxed my arms and just kept giving gas, instead of backing off.
Among the 15 participants, only the four marshals and I didn’t hit the ground on that day. The rest had dropped it at least once; one guy dropped it fifteen times and another suffered a broken ankle.
In the end, it took the convoy three-and-half hours to clear the section.
The above two scenarios were the most memorable so far in my 30-year riding experience, not to mention many more smaller ones on an almost daily basis.
I had met “Foreman” Oh Kah Beng (OKB) during the final round of the Malaysian Supermoto Championship at the end of 2014. During our conversation, he invited me to learn from him at his then fledgling motocross school, Most Fun Gym. Please click on the link below to learn more about “Foreman” Oh.
Since then, I had discovered a change in my riding. I no longer panic or freeze on the bike whenever I saw dirt, water and oil on the road. Apart from that, his offroad training had allowed me to break through my personal riding limit which had plateaued at a very low level. Needless to say, I am more comfortable with riding and enjoy it so much better now, not the least of being able to go a little bit faster than I could in 30 years.
This is not just a case of overpromising. Many have attended his school and came away as better riders. A great example was his nephew, Oh Jin Seng (JS), the son of Sunny Oh.
Although JS had been riding a BMW R 1200 GS for some time, he had not done much offroading. But he registered to participate in the BMW GS Trophy Malaysian Qualifier earlier this year anyway. JS started training with OKB in order to prepare for that prestigious event, and came away scoring the second highest number of points on the first day.
Apart from training, it’s also the place we headed to as soon as we received adventure of dirt bikes to review.
So, is dirt training really that good? Or more accurately, important for every rider? And why is it important?
The answer to the first question is the reason multi-time world champions such as Marc Marquez, Valentino Rossi and almost the entire MotoGP field train in the dirt during their free time.
It’s true that road- or track-based training also teaches the fundamentals, the core basics of riding a motorcycle, but dirt forces the rider to learn in a low-traction environment where the bike slides around all the time.
There are five basic points of total motorcycle control: Throttle control, steering, braking, vision and body control. All these individual skills need to come together as one skill set to allow you to ride better. Let’s analyze how dirt training could benefit those skills.
THROTTLE CONTROL
As we highlighted in an earlier article, throttle control affects the weight distribution, hence the tyres’ traction.
When you accelerate, the rider and motorcycle’s combined mass transfers to the rear wheel. Conversely, when you brake, that mass transfers to the front. Correct throttle control seeks to bring these two extremes to being as equal as possible when you’re leaned over in a corner, providing you optimum traction.
OKB instructing Sep on how to control the throttle
In a low grip environment on the dirt track, that forces you to control the throttle with more finesse instead of treating it as an on/off switch. Steady throttle manipulation is the ultimate goal in this exercise.
It also teaches you another very crucial aspect: What do you do with the throttle when the tyres start to slide?
Our first Survival Instinct (as Keith Code calls it) is to kill the throttle, to just chop it. It may not be something you choose to do, but your built-in instinct may react by thinking you’re going too fast and forces your hand to subconsciously slam shut the throttle or even grabbing the brake.
It’s not that bad if this happens in the dirt as you slide out due to the much lower speed, but on the road or track, it could very well you to overshoot the corner. Why? Because weight is transferred abruptly to the front wheel causing the bike to stand up while being leaned over. When a bike is straight up, the only way forward is straight ahead.
In a worst-case scenario, chopping the throttle when tyres slide (especially the rear) causes the tyre to slide even more, as all the weight has gone to the front. In extreme cases, an abrupt resumption of traction will send you over the high side.
This is one main cause to the spate of big bike crashes: Chopping the gas or over-braking in a corner.
With repeated training, dirt riding will teach your instincts to either roll out of the throttle smoothly or even to actually accelerate when the tyres slide. Doing so means you are in control of the slide, instead of the slide controlling of you.
It looks pretty cool too!
STEERING
Another common cause of crashes on the road is steering, or rather, ineffective steering.
It’s a normal reaction – another Survival Instinct.
You charged into a corner only to find self-doubt whether the bike will continue to steer through the corner. It’s usually caused by being surprised by a suspicious-looking patch on the road. You instinctively tense up and chop the throttle. The bike reacts by standing up and overshoots.
In the dirt, you’d be surprised that a bike could actually continue to steer even when it’s sliding, due to momentum. From this, you tie it in to throttle control.
How does this translate to road riding?
You lean your body into a corner on the streets. Coming up to a slippery patch, all you need to do is to keep your upper body leaned in, while you push on the outside handlebar (remember countersteering?) to reduce the bike’s lean angle. Since your upper bodyweight is displaced off the bike, your bike will still track through on your chosen line despite the reduction in lean angle.
This technique is very noticeable when racers accelerate out of corners.
Marc Marquez exiting a corner
Your Survival Instincts will soon learn to quiet down when this happens, allowing you to get around the corner with confidence and safety.
BRAKING
Brakes are often misused, treated no differently from a light switch i.e. ON/OFF. It should not be so unless you’re coming to a stop.
As we’ve mentioned earlier, applying hard braking in the middle of a corner will force your bike to stand up and head to the outside of the corner.
You need to learn that brakes are used to set your target speed when approaching a corner or rolling up to a traffic jam. But most of all, how do you react with the brakes when your bike slides around.
Again, without proper conditioning, our Survival Instincts will subconsciously cause your hand to chop the throttle and grab the brakes.
Dirt training teaches you to apply the brakes progressively (braking from soft to hard), and more importantly, to stay off the brakes when sliding. What if the bike is heading up the berm of going wide? Learn to apply the rear brake to tighten your line.
Apart from that, you’d learn on how to “feel the tyres” when you brake in low traction conditions. This means you’d discover how the tyres feel like depending on how much you brake in different conditions. This is most useful on the streets especially when it rains or if you encounter sand or oil in a corner.
OKB said it best, “Your senses will become finely tuned and you will know what’s the true limit. Not knowing your limits will either cause you to lose confidence and ride with fear, or riding too fast when it’s not safe to do so.”
VISION
As we mentioned before, you go where you look. Yes, we know that many of us know this very important law but what about when the tyres suddenly break traction?
Again, the untrained Survival Instinct will cause you to 1) Tense up with panic; 2) Chop the gas; 3) Jab the brakes; 4) Bike stands up and you don’t know how to steer; 5) Your vision tunnels down and is locked on where the bike is headed, instead of where it should be heading; and 6) Kablooie! (Crash.)
Dirt riding trains you to focus your vision on where you want to go regardless of what the tyres are doing. Your bike may be sliding and buckling around like a wild horse but your throttle control, steering, and braking actions WILL submit themselves to where you look.
The rider is Ahirine Aminuddin, as she trains for an MX race. See how she looks through the corner
Keith Code said in his video, “Whatever great skills you have is only as good as your visual skills.”
BODY CONTROL
You’ve may have noticed above that we kept mentioning about what bad will come by if the body tenses up when the tyres lose traction.
You must always remember to allow your bike to carry out its duties, including when it slides. A sliding or skidding tyre doesn’t mean that your next of kin can claim your insurance thereafter. No, what it means is that the tyres and bike are “hunting” for a stable position. Your job as the rider is to allow that to happen by not being tense.
Tied in with throttle control, steering, and vision it means that you are using those control inputs to assist the bike instead of wrestling with it.
Braking with a tense body is also unproductive as your senses will be fooled into thinking you’ve reached yours or the bike’s limits, when there’s actually much more to go. Tensing up will likewise undermine your ability to steer while braking. This is another common cause of motorcycle crashes.
Besides that, being tense will result in the bike transferring all the loads and bumps from the road to you. It will tire you out quickly.
Watch the motocross and supercross riders on TV and see just how relaxed their bodies are despite being trashed around like rodeo riders, and that’s exactly what dirt riding trains you to do.
OTHER BENEFITS
You will become a better skilled rider not only in terms of speed, but more importantly, how you take charge when critical situations arise. As a direct consequence of this, you are more confident and confidence breeds enjoyment. You will also see your riding breaking through to a new, higher level.
Another great aspect of dirt riding means you are truly exercising the majority of your muscles while doing what you love best: Riding. That’s why OKB’s school is called Most Fun Gym. Ask how much weight OKB’s apprentice, Ryan, lost by training in MX.
One last note. Learning motocross doesn’t mean you have to ride like a motocross pro. At MFG, you can learn at your own pace and you don’t have to jump if you don’t want to. You don’t have to ride fast to learn either. You’re there to learn how to ride a motorcycle that’s “not gripping” so that you may ride will full confidence on the road or track.
As for me, I’m truly thankful for OKB’s persistence in training me. It’s saved my skin and limbs many times over.
Please click on the link below for more details of Most Fun Gym (MFG).
