Top 5 Beginner Off-Road Riding Mistakes w/Josh Knight

[Music] [Music] thanks for joining me my name is josh knight and i've been riding dirt bikes for the past 20 years i frequently get asked what are some of the most common mistakes beginners make when riding off-road terrain so in this video we're going to be covering the top five beginner off-road riding mistakes mistake number one braking too late one of the most common mistakes i see beginner riders make is initiating the braking process too late when entering an obstacle or turn when riding off-road terrain there are a whole host of different obstacles that require us to slow down these may include corners rocks downhills or logs no matter what the obstacle is we need to do our best to look far ahead and recognize the obstacle as early as possible this will allow us to proactively initiate the breaking process early rather than reactively start breaking when it's too late let's discuss the reason why it's so important to break early and then we'll share a few tips on how to start practicing this when navigating through a tricky obstacle we always want to be going our desired speed and in the proper body position when we break early we allow ourselves time to correctly judge our speed and set up for the obstacle with correct technique when we break too late we often begin navigating the obstacle at the speed we were going when we got there rather than at the speed we want to after practicing this technique you will notice your ability to correctly discern the proper speed to navigate different obstacles will increase this is because you are proactively making this decision each time you enter a new obstacle when we break too late we lose this ability to decide and are forced to maneuver through the obstacle at whatever speed we're going at the time with practice you will start to increase the speed at which you can hit different obstacles to practice this start by breaking too much before an obstacle i know this may sound counter-intuitive to going fast but trust me this is one of the best ways to practice this technique exaggerate your braking and really slow down before a turn or other obstacle now gradually work up to your desired speed as you practice incrementally increasing your speed you will soon be able to hit obstacles faster by braking early you will increase your overall speed maneuver obstacles in the proper body position and improve your control of the motorcycle mistake number two sitting on downhills many beginner off-road riders struggle determining which areas they need to stand up and which areas they need to sit down here's a general rule i like to follow always stand up unless you are accelerating out of a corner or ascending a prolonged uphill you can pause the video and read that back through if you need to now one of the biggest mistakes i see beginning riders make is when breaking this rule by sitting down on a downhill no matter how long or steep a downhill section may be you should always be in the standing position this technique has many different benefits however here are two of the most important benefits to standing up on a downhill number one is this will allow your upper body to move independently from your legs and the motorcycle when a small impact occurs that slightly disrupts your balance you will be able to quickly respond and maintain your balance when in the standing position if you are sitting you become connected with the bike wherever the bike goes you go the second benefit is increased braking control and power now it's always beneficial to increase your braking power whenever possible however it's particularly useful when navigating downhills by standing up you will be able to apply more weight towards the rear of the motorcycle and increase your braking power you will also be able to improve the feedback and sensitivity of your rear tire to make adjustments accordingly mistake number three spinning when stuck frequently when riding off-road terrain we encounter obstacles that are so technical they cause us to get stuck now there is a proper way to get unstuck and a few mistakes beginner riders often commit the biggest mistake i see occur when getting stuck is attempting to aggressively spin the tire and apply more throttle to get unstuck this is useless and accomplishes nothing when our tire is spinning we aren't getting any traction your only goal when attempting to get unstuck is to find as much traction as possible try rocking the bike back and forth to see if there are different areas that grab a little bit more traction try pushing forward on the bike and apply a mild amount of throttle attempting to maintain as much traction as possible sit down when you're stuck to apply more weight to the rear tire in an attempt to increase traction one of my favorite tricks is to sit down really hard while simultaneously applying a sudden burst of throttle this is a sort of a hard enduro technique the combination of increased pressure on the rear tire and throttle will often be just enough to get you unstuck do everything you can to avoid spinning and focus on attempting different techniques to find traction mistake number four unnecessary dabbing dabbing when riding off-road terrain commonly refers to removing your feet from the foot pegs and touching the ground with your foot there are some instances where dabbing is necessary to avoid crashing or tipping over however frequently i see riders dab or remove their feet from the pegs when it's completely unnecessary often when riding we encounter different obstacles that cause us to disrupt our balance in the same instance we feel our balance shift we will often feel a sudden urge to remove our feet from the foot pegs to protect ourselves from tipping over analyzing this sequence of events can help us break bad habits and develop improved technique first let's go over some of the consequences of dabbing and the benefits of maintaining our feet on the pegs often when we remove our feet from the foot pegs we are then required to sit anytime we are sitting we decrease our body's mobility and natural suspension take for example a long rock section if we dab and remove our feet at the beginning of the section we will often fall into the sitting position and because we are already in the middle of the rock section we often won't be able to return to the standing position until we have completed the entire section by keeping our feet on the pegs we increase our balance control and use our body's natural suspension the best way to practice eliminating unnecessary dabbing is to recognize when it is occurring in our own riding personally i often recognize dozens and dozens of small obstacles on each ride that slightly disturb my balance often i feel the urge to remove my foot as a safety measure however i try my best to practice refraining from taking my foot off the peg for as long as possible often you will be able to recover your balance and continue down the trail without ever removing your feet mistake number five incorrect attack position riding motorcycles is physically demanding and involves a lot of different techniques there is a proper way to ride a motorcycle i commonly refer to this proper riding position as the attack position the purpose of the attack position is to utilize our body's full range of motion this will improve our control consistency speed and safety when riding there are a few basic components to the attack position many riders fail to understand the purpose of the attack position and properly execute this technique myself included let's go over a few of the key components to the attack position and then we'll cover some common mistakes begin by unlocking your hips and pushing your butt back similar to sitting in a chair ride on the balls of your feet point your toes slightly inward and squeeze the bike with your ankles and knees keep your elbows up lean forward and look far ahead a common mistake i see beginner riders make is not pushing their hips far enough back the purpose of pushing your butt back and unlocking your hips is to allow your lower half to move independently from your upper half a good test is to observe where your knees are in relation to your toes looking at the rider from the side if your knees are in front of your toes you are not back far enough always keep your knees parallel with your toes or behind your toes many riders fail to ride on the balls of their feet personally this has been one of my biggest riding flaws and is a technique i have been working on for years analyze the wear marks on the bottom of your boots do your best to ride on the balls of your feet imagine you are a basketball player jumping to retrieve a rebound instead of landing on your toes try landing on your heels or your arches notice how much harsher the impact is when you eliminate the use of your toes our bodies naturally spring from the ball and toe area of the foot those are our five beginner off-road rider mistakes for the past 20 years i've been riding and racing dirt bikes and we recently just put together a complete online course teaching everything we've learned in our experience if you're interested in learning more or content just like this please feel free to visit us at ridewiththenights.com if you have any questions drop them in the comments below subscribe to the rocky mountain youtube channel and thanks for watching [Music] you

Channel: Rocky Mountain ATV MC

Views: 62,763

Rating: 4.9631338 out of 5

Keywords: Rocky Mountain ATV/MC, rmatv, rmatvmc, rockymountainatv, dirt bike, motorcycle, off road, top 5, Top 5 Beginner Off-Road Riding Mistakes w/Josh Knight, josh knight, riding tips, dirt bike tips, dirt bike skills, dirt bike techniques, hard enduro training, ride with the knights, motocross practice, off-road riding, pro rider motorcycle training, technique, common mistakes, cornering, dirt bike cornering, dirt bike cornering tips, braking tips, motocross tips for beginners, motocross

Id: AViIZrtgBWM

Length: 9min 14sec (554 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 18 2021