SO i found out today that the FJ is not a very good bike to ride if you want to ride on dirt/ any kind of loose road. Now dont get me wrong, i wasnt trying to ride the bike on dirt but recently after the floods we had in my city they started doing roadworks
Now on the only road i can take home they cut up both lanes! made the surface flat and laid down a very thin layer of that loose gravel/ dry tar. SO yesterday I nearly wiped on the FJ because literally the moment my first tyre started on the devils surface the bike wobbled violently and throughout the time i thought the front tyr would slip out, i couldnt accelerate or brake at all or even lean or turn at all. It was quite a worrying experience as I already saw somebody on the very side of the road also on a bike that had had an accident. Luckily the road surface was only 100meters long but I really dont know what to do for next time i go down this road?? it is a downhill which also has a slight curve to it. anyb ody know how to approach a situation like this? should i just stop the bike and wlak it over the loose surface?
Theres no fun in having to freewheel down a road where you could wipeout at any second alstho i can say if the fj had wheels any smaller than what they do i would have probably wiped instantly
Really?
(http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu159/rktmanfj/gallery2F20065FFall5FRally2C5FEast5.jpg)
Randy T
Indy
She does OK, definitely not a dirtbike, but relax, keep a loose grip on the bars, and don't make any sudden moves. Weight the pegs, don't just be a lump on the seat.... :drinks:
I rode dirtbikes the 1st 10 years, or so, of my riding life, started at ~10 years old. It may seem easier to me than to someone that has no experience on dirt....
It's just heavy. Run a gear tall and be smooth and you'll have no problems. Need a lot of practice and skill to make it easier, and there will still be pucker moments. But hell, there's pucker moments on pavement too.
Just be careful and don't use too much front brake in the dirt/gravel. Rear is better under those conditions.
DavidR.
Quote from: SlowOldGuy on July 23, 2011, 03:55:04 PM
Just be careful and don't use too much front brake in the dirt/gravel. Rear is better under those conditions.
DavidR.
David-
Uh, your rear brakes' lawyer called, it's filing a palimony suit.... :blum2:
I'm curious, are you an 'ass man' or a 'chest man'? If the former, it sort of explains the following. What did you say, you replace rear brake pads over fronts ~3:1?
This amazed me, when I read it. The front adds so much more braking power. I know BOTH are valuable, but I use the rear 1) in a panic stop or 2) when I'm hot through the twisties, and the bike needs to be settled or 3) to hold the bike on a hill when my hands are off the bars or 4) on rain/ snow/ ice/ gravel-to your point above.
But otherwise, my right foot stays on the peg. I know others use it more, and I'm really not trying to re-start that debate, but to be replacing backs to fronts 3:1, really surprised me. For what it's worth, I do both front and back pads at the same time, and the fronts are always more worn than the rears.
Dan
The bike did not start to wobble violently.
YOU made it wobble.
Yes, you.
Your inputs into the steering made it wobble.
You are hanging onto the bars with a rigid death grip, your whole body petrified into a frozen lump of misery.
You need to consciously relax your grip and stay loose, the bike wants to stay upright and your panic reactions are fighting against it.
Don't "Freewheel", the bike wants to stay upright as long as power is going to the rear wheel,you need to find the balance point between your clutch and rear brake to do slow manoeuvres and don't tense up,the trick is to NOT transmit these forces to the handlebars.
100 meters of dirt road should not present a barrier to you.
The other day me and a couple of mates were screaming through the twisties when low and behold I found myself on gravel going very fast approaching a near 90 deg dirt corner. I guess the dirt bike instincts just kick in.
You could try strapping some steel onto your feet and just put a foot down and give it heaps, oldschool dirt track style. If you do go down this avenue try and aim your roostertail at the people who put you in this predicament in the fist place.
FINALLY... some rear brakers.... :blum1:
Quote from: Klavdy on July 23, 2011, 08:36:54 PM
The bike did not start to wobble violently.
YOU made it wobble.
Yes, you.
Your inputs into the steering made it wobble.
Excepting bigass potholes or washboard sections common to gravel, I totally agree.
As far as front vs rear braking, both have their uses in various conditions and situations, both are valuable, and knowing how to use them independently as well as together is invaluable. So pad wear depends a bit on the riding you do, ya?
Quote from: andyb on July 24, 2011, 08:28:06 AM
Excepting bigass potholes or washboard sections common to gravel, I totally agree.
Wear Depends.
I fixed it.
Dan,
It's basically the way I ride. I avoid heavy braking. Going back to The Pace article, I try to not touch my brakes (front or rear) during normal riding. I don't run up on curves with so much speed that I need to scrub a lot off. I prefer to sneak up on them and have my entry speed set well before I get there.
I know that probably sounds like a boring way to ride, but when done properly it is a safe and very enjoyable ride. And it's not necessarily slow (check out some of my UTube vids, Slowoldguy1). All I'm giving up is excessive straightaway speed, which is usually where you get a ticket.
I also don't downshift very often. That's what I love the most about the FJ, shifting is optional when you're surfing that big fat torque curve. Downshifting is just a poor substitute for rear brake. It also means you're (not you specifically) probably riding too fast.
I will admit that my braking skills are probably not as sharp as they could (should) be just because I don't use them that often. At least that's the way it is around here. I do brake more when I'm on twistier roads, such as NC or Ark. It always takes some time for me to get used to that. Like I said previously, using the rear brake is probably a holdover from growing up riding on dirt, which also explains that embarassing moment when Jeff saw me put a foot down in a corner on the Dragon many years ago. :-)
DavidR.
Okay so I tried again to go down the hill, this time with a little more confidence. Keep in mind there have been heavy rains yet again and the loose gravel is now sort of like clotted mud and slush, it has increased in amount but now approaching at a slightly slower speed knowing what to expect i had a little wheel spin on entry but the clutch and some good balance quickly solved that. I loosened my grip on the bars and although the bars vibrated quite violently the bike felt a lot less like it was going to wipe. the cars infront of me were also a lot further ahead so that relieved the pressure of having to force a break. Unfortunately gravity fulled me down the hill at a higher speed than i would have liked but with the back break slightly pulled the bike was still pushing itself rather than freewheeling like last time. I made a sort of and understatement in that the layer of gravel was quite thin as it is actually quite thick after seeing someone else push their car through it in the morning. Truth be told I have very little experience on dirt other than what i got off my 125 road bike but the dirt was fairly solid and easy to manouver on at speeds not very life threatening. Road works have said the road will be fixed by the end of this week (if the rain decides to hold up) although atleast I know the FJ isnt so bad on non tar-surface surfaces. on a good note, while pulling off from the petrol station earlier (bearing in mind every surface is kak wet i nearly spun out with the FJ while entering the road from the pavement but the bike very easily and effortlessly corrected itself so with that I feel very confident that the bike will keep up straight on most surfaces given the right amount of control.
Maybe you need to learn that unlike with a 125, the FJ throttle is not to be used as an ON / OFF switch.
Try gently feeding the throttle on instead of just whacking it wide fucking open, especially on less than perfect surfaces.
While the FJ will never be a good enduro or motocross bike (too heavy), it isn't bad on dirt and gravel roads at all.
YOU need to be smooth and progressive in your application of throttle, clutch, brakes, and steering. The FJ will do just fine. Also, use engine braking to help slow you down on hills.
One last hint for you -- Keep your feet on the pegs, and maybe even raise your bum off the seat slightly so all your weight is on the pegs. This LOWERS the bike/rider CoG and will make it more stable.
Cheers,
Arnie
It's just a matter of input, feedback, and input. :)
A good set of knobies and I'd make my own road. :biggrin:
(http://i742.photobucket.com/albums/xx68/ThumbusterMoto/KelsoValleyRide025.jpg)
(http://i742.photobucket.com/albums/xx68/ThumbusterMoto/KelsoValleyRide036.jpg)
Average 30-40 mph on this particular stretch. Of course I was on my way back and had a feel for the road by this time.
(http://i742.photobucket.com/albums/xx68/ThumbusterMoto/KelsoValleyRide026.jpg)
(http://i742.photobucket.com/albums/xx68/ThumbusterMoto/KelsoValleyRide033.jpg)
Quote from: Arnie on July 25, 2011, 11:18:40 AM
...
One last hint for you -- Keep your feet on the pegs, and maybe even raise your bum off the seat slightly so all your weight is on the pegs. This LOWERS the bike/rider CoG and will make it more stable.
Cheers,
Arnie
This is a biggie.. your inclination may be to sit on the seat so you can put your feet down in a hurry, but much better to lower COG by weighting pegs.
Something else that helps a lot is lower your tire pressure. May not be worth it if you're only doing a mile or so, but if its really freaking you out - dropping your tire pressure to around 20-ish makes a world of difference. I carry a little pump that plugs into my elec vest harness just for this reason - so I can tighten back up when back to the hard road.
Okay i missed the part about the applying more pressure on the foot pegs but made it fine yesterday apart from the pothole that was covered with water :mad: luckily it didnt destabalise me too much but with the road being wet it is quite annoying having to adjust and perdict all the time. I have also heard that part about lessening the tyre pressure but for such a short distance in a temp situation I would rather bear it
heres a picture of one of the roads that have been blocked thatnks to the rains and hail
(http://fjowners.com/gallery/2/1788_26_07_11_2_13_58.jpeg)
For shits I will take a picture of the road I am talking about when I go home tonight. It is quite funny though everytime I have passed it for the past few days I have seen some sort of accident on it. As a random piece of information the road/highway is actuallt notoriously known for accidents, I have seen many happen infront of me, get there a few minutes after it has happened and I myself had quite a big one on it..
Anybody else got roads/ streets/ highways like that?
Yes, most of the worlds roads are unpaved.
NA this is a normal tar road with very few potholes or damage etc (well until the rains came down) the people who ride it are just very negligent
So they (the municipality) have finally dome some work to the road only to make it worse. now the surface is rocket with a little loose debri here and there, but what they have done is they have cultivated the road much like putting furrows in a field so the road is now groovy and smooth (grooves are wide enough roll a marble down) but when i saw a car sliding down even with its breaks over the VERY smooth surface i decided stuff that I will wlak thye bike down the pavement with the pidestrians. oh and good news is they say they will be finished within a week. the FJ may very well be able to handle the road with an experienced rider but I personally do not feel I am ready as a rider to try on the new surface. So it looks like more car park practising for me :crazy:
"the FJ may very well be able to handle the road with an experienced rider but I personally do not feel I am ready as a rider to try on the new surface. So it looks like more car park practising for me "
Thats good thinking, take good care of your FJ and in time it will take great care of you.
Eric M
Really?
ama hillclimb Wisconsin rapids 2010 Mike Bronk yamaha (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8vxKJN4Cbs#ws)
Custom Yamaha Hillclimb Bike (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bSd4vXUdhA#ws)
After seeing a new friend of mine taking his FJ on some really crappy roads I do infact believe the FJ is capable, although its big bulk just means it has some extra attention to detail required. So I decided to try the FJ on a rather earthly road using some of the tips I have been given and must say I actually appreciated the ride (comparing to my 125 commuter when I went bush bashing through fields) the FJ is more comfortable but very heavy and not as easy to lug around on soft surfaces as it is on nice asphelt
Here in NZ most secondary highways contain streches of gravel, one of the most fun was this one http://www.newzealand.com/int/article/forgotten-world-highway/ (http://www.newzealand.com/int/article/forgotten-world-highway/) it's paradise for 2 wheels.. 150km of corners.. with about 15km oif gravel smack in the middle.. :good2:
Here's a few of the best bits..
FJ1200 keeping up with SV1000 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMaLQu9yWEg#)
Forgotten Highway 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vV5mQc2dNw#)
Wow! That road looks like a bunch of admittedly fun, though I think my syspension plays apart in why I havent taken on those kinds of roads...
It kinda reminds me of the nurburgring(on a racing game) although a slightly more relaxed version of it, still seems like a great place to spen a sunday afternoon.
As for the vid posted by Skyfive, is that a scrambler with an FJ engine it :shok:
That is a "hillclimber", An MX frame with extended swingarm and an FJ engine. They go uphill very fast...... There are several race series, the Eastern US version and the Western US version. The western version is more difficult, they actually have turns they have to negotiate, The easterners just go straight.....
Take a look..... http://www.nahahillclimb.org/ (http://www.nahahillclimb.org/)
tmkaos, awesome vids, lived in Nelson through the 70s, Whangamoas, Rai Saddle, Spooners Range, Hope Saddle and the only Takaka Hill, all within an hour of home. Grew up on bikes on those roads as well as the forest tracks on dirt bikes. Once did Nelson town centre to Ria Valley and back in 53 minutes, 72 miles over the Whangamoa and Rai Saddles! (with de-icing gravel on some corners) Hitting 100 mph on straights and having everything locked up into 30 mph corners and pegs scrapping, awesome. Thanks, you have brought back some wonderful memories.
Cheers, Dazza