Controlled decents

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Armed with my new found confidence and knowldedge in tackling ruts I felt fully prepared for absolutely anything the lake district could throw at me.......

Even this!
55b008da-4884-45f2-85d3-9e354410f86d_zps7a149e08.jpg


The Old Coach Road provided some rather nice "training slopes" for me to have a go at.

After some perseverance and a little bit of walking the bike down the really bad bits...I managed to figure out that if I grip the tank tightly with my knees to bare all my body weight (stood up), leaving the arms relaxed and by gently pulsing the front and back brakes gently, quickly and concurrently I was managing to keep control of the decent speed and steer through the wash out ruts and pick a line (looking up and planning the route)....aside from catching a few large rocks which stopped me dead and had me off (since I was going slow).

It actually seemed to work quite well...as did the heed bars which made picking the bike up solo much easier!

Is that pretty much what I should be doing? Since if your gripping the tank tightly its then more difficult to steer the bike through the pegs and counter weight on tighter turns.
 
Crouch as best you can and keep your arse as far back as possible over the rear

Use engine braking with a bit of back brake and the odd bit of front at times

Leave the gripping the tank, that's for uphill

Keep loose & let the bike have it's head a bit, whilst still going where you want it to, difficult to explain
 
If it's really steep turn the engine off and use the clutch as your brake, if that makes sense.
 
JohnnyBoxer said:
Keep loose & let the bike have it's head a bit, whilst still going where you want it to, difficult to explain
Click to expand...

I think I know what you mean, you often cant pick an exact line, so rather than fight the bike you let it go where it wants to go in some places to then steer it in others so you go in the general direction you want to go, does that sound about right?
 
Stood up and weight back as far as possible.

If you are not certain what is coming up stop before going over the top and take a look first. :confused:

Go over the top as slowly as possible in first gear. Use engine braking to control the speed and if you are happy with the speed then there is no need to use the brakes. If you want to go faster then use engine braking in a higher gear. :aidan

If it is too fast with engine braking then use the front brake as well as engine braking. With experience you will learn to feel when the front wheel is starting to lock up.

Don't bother with the rear brake which will lock up the rear wheel and cause the engine to stall.

You should be able to travel at a speed where you can stop at any part of the slope. :rob

I don't think that you can beat doing the BMW ORS with Simon Pavey if you want to learn how to do it properly. :bow

You will be taught how to stop safely on a very steep ascent and turn the bike around and go back down again.:eek:

You need to learn the correct technique and then practise, practise, practise. After a while you will easily out brake the latest BMW off road ABS.
 
Smug said:
If it is too fast with engine braking then use the front brake as well as engine braking. With experience you will learn to feel when the front wheel is starting to lock up.
Click to expand...

Oh really? I agree with you to a point but you can't take any offroad course too literally, know matter how good they are .... GS's are not renowned for a very low first gear
So when the front's about to lock up?

You say don't use the back?...... Bollox, it doesn't matter too much if it locks

You say travel at a speed where you can stop at any part of the slope? Bollox, pick a point ahead where there's more grip to lose any excess speed :D
 
Timolgra said:
Oh really? I agree with you to a point but you can't take any offroad course too literally, know matter how good they are .... GS's are not renowned for a very low first gear
So when the front's about to lock up?

You say don't use the back?...... Bollox, it doesn't matter too much if it locks

You say travel at a speed where you can stop at any part of the slope? Bollox, pick a point ahead where there's more grip to lose any excess speed :D
Click to expand...

Only saying what I learnt on the BMWORS course level 1. You might be surprised at how much engine braking there is on a wc GS despite the high first gear.

On a steep descent the front brake is definitely the one that is going to stop you. When you carry out a steep descent in a controlled manner you can load the front tyre to the point where you can feel and hear the front start to lock up and then you just let it off again slightly. Clutch in of course.

The back brake is a waste of time and a distraction because it will lock up the rear wheel very easily possibly causing the engine to stall or the back end to start sliding round, with very little slowing effect.

I did not say travel at a speed where you can stop at any part of the slope? I said You should be able to travel at a speed where you can stop at any part of the slope?
 
Smug said:
Only saying what I learnt on the BMWORS course level 1.
Click to expand...

With all due respect to the course, like I said, don't take it all too literally...... I've seen plenty of 'BMWORS-only' riders standing up in their twat suits soon as there's a bit of dust on the road :D ....
 
Fair enough ........:D

Why don't you explain to Blueranger how it should be done.....
 
Smug said:
Why don't you explain to Blueranger how it should be done.....
Click to expand...

Because it's not something you explain on the internet ...... every fecker disagrees with you :D:beerjug:
 
blueranger said:
Thats a first....someone witholding an opinion! You heretic you!
Click to expand...

Alright then try this, one of several techniques taught by the Geraint Jones Enduro school for very steep decents.....

Sit as far up the tank as possible.
Use your heel to operate the rear brake (because that's the only way you can reach it)
Lock the rear brake as and when
Now you have a load of weight over the front to use more front brake.

So you can see why not to take any course too literally and use a mix of techniques :D
 
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