I'am on a gravel road. Have to ride a couple of miles to pavement every time i ride. What has worked for me is easy on the throttle,slow 20/25 mph,rear brake only. Try and stay on the beaten path. Sometimes this is not an option if the town has just graded the road to remove the washboard surface that develops over time especially on corners. If the road is graded it is tougher but very doable.Don't over think it,look where you want to go and don't have a death grip on the bars.I have came close to laying my bike down.I came off hard packed gravel onto loose gravel cause the town was grading my road. I was making a turn at a corner when this happened. I was turning left and my front wheel shot to the right about 2 feet.Scared the crap out of me but i kept my cool and didn't touch the brakes,kept my throttle on and made the corner.whew i thought ,still don't know how i made but i did.Just my 02 cents...
You're getting some good advice in here so I can't add much. Pay attention to the lay of the road and loosen your grip. Don't fight it, it will slide around a little, get scooted over from small ruts and big gravel, just go with it.
This !! Loosen those shoulders, get nervous and tense up only invites what you worry about. You tend to want to manhandle things when tense, like the open grating on bridges loosen up an go with it you'll do fine.
All secondary roads in Manitoba are gravel! I've had some experience riding on them all my life.
Depending on how deep the gravel is, how loose it is, how wet and what heavy farm equipment has been using the road since the last grade, it can more/less hazardous!
U really need to read the conditions and adjust accordingly
What u don't want to do (especially in deep, loose sht) is get the bars turned - even a slight amount! What happens is the turned front wheel begins to plow the loose rock! It will turn the wheel and you'll find yourself driving right off the road.
On the other hand and at a certain speed the bike will have a tendency to rise up - steering becomes very light!
Beware ruts made by implements - they'll kill u!
Beware of opposing traffic - flying (flying stuff and viz can go to zero)
Don't ride at night unless u really know the road.
The first time ur passenger experiences it she will sht her pants!
Last summer on our trip thru Montana, Idaho, etc..... we encountered several horrible stretches of pavement- roads under construction (more like De-Struction), that had signs warning motorcycles to turn back or find a detour.
That wasn't going to happen so we endured the horrible road surfaces- torn up asphalt mixed with gravel, plain gravel, you name it. For 10 miles stretches.
That was on the LImited with a passenger and luggage.
We made it by taking it easy, watching the road, and getting used to bouncing around all over the place.
If I can do it, anyone should be able to.
Relax, don't have a death grip on the handlebars, ride at a speed you are comfortable- for us it was 30 mph, sometimes lower. Stay off the front brake as much as you are able, and if you do use it go very easy.
It was amazing how exhausting a couple of those 10 miles stretches in a day were.
I ride about a quarter mile of dirt and gravel (mostly dirt with lots of clay mixed in and some gravel) anytime I ride. My driveway is also gravel at about a 5 degree incline. When the road is wet during any kind of thaw during the winter and rain from spring through fall, it can be treacherous as hell since the gravel n dirt pushers have no clue about road maintenance and drainage. Around here it's V-Dot.
I refer to the grader drivers as gravel and dirt pushers because that is all they know how to do, or so it seems. They seem to be about as dumb as they come. A properly maintained gravel and or dirt road will have a crown as well as proper drainage which will result in few potholes, ruts, and not have the washboard affect! There is a manual which obviously they have yet to read issued by US DOT publication ots15002 which outlines how they should be maintained and what causes the various deformities. They really need to read the manual (I have) https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/construction/pubs/ots15002.pdf
When I leave home, I generally don't exceed 15mph which means staying in 1st gear until I reach the paved road. I also tend to stay towards the edge of the road to avoid potholes (some of which could swallow a small vehicle) in some sections of the road. Returning home, I'll drop to 2nd gear being mindful of the pea gravel in the turn. Once on the dirt/gravel road, I'll still maintain 2nd gear but my speed will be about 15mph. Sometimes depending on how wet the road is, I'll pull off to the highest side (the road is actually sloped towards my property in that area) and determine the best route to enter my driveway. The end of my driveway is also now used as part of the ditch for drainage!
The key to riding on a /dirt/gravel road is no sudden moves along with limited braking and then only use the rear brake and maybe the clutch. Also relax, don't fight the bike, but do control it.
My bike is a 2010 Street Glide.
Excuse the mud on the bottom of my bike, I hadn't washed it after I changed out the stock SG rims to Ultra rims. BTW, I ride year round!
Last edited by Bonnie Storm; 04-05-2019 at 02:39 PM.
Reason: pictures
04-05-2019, 12:08 PM
