I’m a late-onset dirt bike enthusiast, just started at almost 40, and I’m so glad I found these videos! My 6 year old son and I will be running these drills to learn how to handle our new toys. Thank you!
I'm almost 61, retired trucker and have ridden street bikes for 40+ years. Bored in my peaceful retirement, I had a "Don't Die Wondering" moment and bought a Yamaha XT 250 that day. It has been VERY hard to get rid of my "Don't burn out the clutch!" mindset but like has been said: "Better late than never!" 😅
Top 10 drills: 0:30 - Static balance 1:50 - Clutch control 3:14 - Stepping on/off the machine from one side or the other 4:23 - On command balance 5:30 - Cone weave 6:58 - Full lock balance 8:20 - Target fixation 9:24 - Gate riding 10:30 - Getting unstuck 11:42 - Clutch up
Mr. Larsen, I took your suggestion to focus on static balance a year ago and it has significantly impacted my progress as a rider. Over the past 12 months, I've spent more time practicing on my bike in the garage than on the trails. To my surprise, I've managed to achieve a level of balance with my enduro bike on a hard floor that I previously thought unattainable. This skill has greatly contributed to my overall improvement as a rider. Hats off to you, sir!
This is great. Total beginner here, hardest part for me has been using the clutch. All the advice I see just gets interpreted in my head (and 40 years of driving manual transmission vehicles) as basically, ‘use and abuse that clutch.’ Its a big mental shift to treat a dirt bike clutch differently than much more delicate 4x4 and truck clutches. Very helpful
Dirt bike clutches are delicate lol bikes are way softer than cars or vans , won’t last nowhere near as long zx u get like 100 hours out most pitbikes and dirt bikes
I learnt in early days of riding that anyone can ride fast but the real skill is in these awesome slow drills whether on a trail bike or a road bike. I’m enjoying the theory content of this channel, and then seeing progress on some challenging trails near home 👍
My dude, you are awesome at explaining. Thank you! Its so great to hear a calm voice teaching some very beginnerfriendly stuff from a office, instead of rushed talking directly on a bike. This really helped a lot!
Best dirt bike training vid I've ever seen. Thank you for putting this out there. Wish I had access to it 50 years ago. I've never done these exact drills, but learned most of it just by riding (and crashing) a lot lol. Playing around on a trials bike helped me a lot with my balance over obstacles.
Oddly these are skills was not taught as a kid, I have started working on them now and as I help friends get into the sport this is where we start. I thank you and my friends do as well especially considering we are a bit older now. A good system starts with a great foundation, leads to good times. Thanks again from all of us. BC Canada
Dude your good. Just getting back into the sport at 43yrs old. Purchased 2 new bikes for my son and I. Very helpful and well explained training videos on this channel. Great work!
I actually learned to static balance on dirt without ever riding on dirt. I ride my dual sport on the street. Everytime I come to a light I try to static balance. Never could get it down. Then I went to ride off-road and decided to static balance and I could do it for minutes on end, I could remove one hand, one foot and could shift my weight to almost anywhere on the bike. It was really weird considering I could never static balance more than 2-5 seconds on the street.
Excellent video well thought out and to the point on every maneuver . Practicing static balance can be done daily in you garage, back yard daily the more you do it the easier it is to do moving slow. I have been winning slow races since the 80's using this trick/skill. Can also be used to pick your bike up off the ground
Brilliant summary of all the points from the series! It's helped my riding so much. Just hanging on for some more of your great tips!!!! In anticipation, from your fans in Cambodia.
All the information you're giving me on your video is outstanding especially because I ride alone in the dirt looking for more Adventure Riders to ride with in Bullhead City Arizona
Hey Rich your tips are awesome and actually work you're making me a better rider by the day I'm 50 and haven't been on a bike in 25 years but after I found you I bought one and have been following you and " practicing " with you I'm starting to get it back Thank you
I remember doing this sort of thing with a friend of mine at age 14. We just called all of it trials riding at the time back in the 70's. Fun Fact: I also did this on my GS1000 on occasion at age 17. Didn't always work out well, but it was very fun. One time I was coasting along as slow as possible in a parking lot while standing on the left foot peg without straddling the motorcycle. I came to a stop by pulling the front brake. It was great until it was not great. That is when the GS1000 slowly fell over on its right side. Boy that was embarrassing. 😀
Getting back on a Dirt Bike at 70 is a challenge!! I’ve ridden big scooters for decades, so learning clutch again is a trip! This video is AWESOME and I’ll practice every move until I get it. Thanks!!
Just rode a pitbike for the first time. Remembered seeing police doing clutch controls, and as a hidden blessing, this bike doesn't want to idle, so right at the start I'm learning clutch control! Came to learn how to stand on a bike correctly, and learned much more. Thanks Rich.
These riding tips are great. Can be useful in many situations and more than just off-road. Also makes me realize I should get back out and practice lol
I loved watching the part where you pull your inside foot off the peg to allow the bike to lean further while using your weight on the outside peg. It’s something I’ve always done and get weird looks and comments about. Didn’t know it was an actual technique. Question though. There was a lot of focus on lateral weight shift or placement and I noticed the trainee having some issues with balance as we all do and I was wondering if what you thought about incorporating longitudinal focus as well? I often or maybe almost always shift my upper body anywhere from a few degrees to a marginal amount forward or back away from the lateral line. In your opinion do you think this is counterproductive and I should stick twisting at the knee or keep with what works?
I hit some pretty nasty trails and it exposed all my weaknesses. I can rip sand and do basic off road. Bit big logs, winding uphill/downhill turns and rocks/mud require solid balance and clutch work. For anyone struggling, I can recommend doing these in some grass or dirt with normal shoes. Once you’ve got it all down, add in boots. I’d never recommend trails without boots because it’s just dangerous. I’m definitely gonna order some cones so I can start practicing these.
Same here man! Been on quads my whole life then changed to dirtbike at 33 years old. I do fine on it but the first really technical trails I encountered were humbling. I'll be practicing some of these techniques first chance I get!
If i ever win the lottery I will hire this guy full time for two years too be my trainer. I’ll pay whatever he asks for and throw an additional 20 percent on top of that. That is how much I appreciate this guy and all his riding tips. Also he seems like a genuinely good guy.
i just went out for my first ride on dirt on my new honda 300l in some socal mountain fire trails that have washed out really bad. i killed my battery stalling a lot (thankfully off road fire dept was 5 minutes away). i fell down a hill side and tried to keep the bike from falling with my arms fully extended up and hurt my shoulder a little. all in all i got about 30 miles both ways and dropped my bike probably like 10 times. by the end of the day i was good to get from a to z on some really tough trails but my biggest piece of advice is dont do like me. ride with some friends before you go straight to difficult trails, i was lucky i didnt hurt myself more than i did. luckily i found and experience rider to go out with me next weekend to help with my bad habbits.
I love your videos. I hear you, work on the basics. I am practicing. I do do have a request for a future video series. I'd like to see a series on applying hard enduro skills to heavier dual sports or list adventure bikes. I ride a DRZ 400. Can you tailor advice to me and all the others like me who want to be able to take the really advanced trails without becoming a world champion or getting a lighter dirt bike. I don't care about speed. I just want to get to the other side. I get it, it mostly comes down to practice but any tips for the hard stuff someone riding a bike that weighs 320 lbs (more when loaded).
Rich, do you have a flick where you briefly speak about tuning your suspension on the bike? From what I gather in these exercises one needs the simplest settings like no rebound nor compression limitation, and preload set rather stiff, right?
I'd put clutch control over static balance personally because even if you're not doing hard enduro-esque stuff clutch control is valuable everywhere even on the road
I use to ride when i was a teenagerxl, but stopped after my bike blew up, my daughter was born and i couldnt afford to get it fixed. After ten years i was finally able to focus myself and save money, now i got a used bike. Its a yamaha 250x but its the indian not the arrow. Thank rich, i plan on practicing these techniques every chance i get.
Great and valuable information. I recently watched a clip that demonstrated (claimed) that the "future of 2 wheel transportation lies with 'feet forward' bikes". For one, that makes for a much longer bike and keeps your legs at almost the same level as your butt. I would like to see anyone with such a feet forward contraption attempt what I just saw here. It would be fun to watch.
There are Clutch Levers with adjustable attach points for the clutch cable. Also on 24mx there is a EasyClutch that decreases the power you need to pull the clutch
I bought a dirt bike a while back after not being on a dirt bike since my middle teens. We're talking a 45 year interval. I wasn't sure, which bike to buy, it was going to be a YZ but a 250 or a 450. I made the mistake of riding up to dealer on a BMW S1000RR. The sales dude said if I could ride the RR, I could ride the YZ450FX, WRONG! The bike rides me. I've been behind it and intimidated by since the 1st ride (an experience in and of itself, but that is another story). I have been watching the IRC Tire Guy since last summer but not riding the dirt bike very much but playing with the static balance ideas on my road bicycle. Track stands at stop lights are easy these days. Today, I tried the track stand stuff on the dirt bike. The change in my ability to control my YZ monster is nothing short of incredible. I'm a ski instructor and when a student goes from unstable balancing to pro level, in one go there is nothing like the feeling for, both student and I, of accomplishment. After about an hour of nothing but static balance drills, I can do slow turns in my drive way and not feel like the bike is ready to fly off to oblivion. I still don't get the single blip but I'm working on it. Chapeau to Rich, for the simple and clear instruction.
great lessons....where to even get a riding coach for these drills? is this a normal service riders offer? Im still trying to decide on a bike... was looking at a new ktm 350xcf, but, i haven't had much input from anyone, just my own research.. seems like a more aggressive bike, but cant i just putt around with it and do drills? hehe
🤙gracias rich🤙I just bought a beta 300 at 57 years old, my husqvarna fe250 4-stroke was slowing me down, I needed the push of the 2-stroke.It's never too late to learn, since I don't smoke, I don't drink and I don't fuck, I dedicate more time to motorbike😁
It's a small point made at 6:22, but the idea of getting your outside knee out has been super helpful for me on tight, slow speed turns. I've had people tell me to drive the outside knee into the tank as your body comes around to the outside. Nope. Do the opposite -- get your outside knee out. It really does help with getting more counterbalance weight to the outside. Thanks for all of it, Rich!
I have a question about the clutch control really enjoy the gate riding but is there a way of making the clutch leaver lighter to pull as after a while my hand cramps up Im riding a yz250 2stroke Thanks for the great videos keep up the good work
