It’s What We Do

This entry is part 23 of 24 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #11

With all the high-powered technology being applied to motorcycles we’re starting to lose sight of some of the very fundamentals of tuning a bike and preparing a rider.

There seems to be an expectation, especially among adventure riders, that money will get us through. If enough is spent on traction control, electronic suspension adjustment, anti-lock brakes, GPS, heated grips, programmable ignitions and an expensive collection of apparel and dietary supplements, a lot of adventure riders assume they’re doing their best to ensure a finish.

There’s no doubt the kind of technology that alters a bike’s power delivery or suspension characteristics at the touch of a button gives a rider a greatly increased chance of coping with whatever challenges a ride presents. But the technology can’t replace the skill needed to negotiate slippery clay, rock steps and deep sand, or to manage exhaustion, fatigue, pain and the myriad of other challenges and obstacleswe face every time we go riding. Fitness and developing riding skills are the only answers for the rider, and a good understanding of how a bike works, including its electronics, is a necessity for getting a bike through seriously tough going.

But back to the fundamentals.

A rider’s first response to an error light on digital instrument cluster shouldn’t be to reach for a Sat phone to make a call for roadside assistance. A basic knowledge of how the bike works will at least make it possible to track down a possible fault, and “A rider’s first response to an error light on digital instrument cluster shouldn’t be to reach for a Sat phone to make a call for roadside assistance.”

perhaps even bodgy something up to get to the next town. It’s getting tougher as we allow the bike and its electronics to govern how we ride, but an adventure rider should still be able to at least work through the basics of fuel, spark and compression. The laws of physics haven’t changed.

And I never hear of anyone setting the ride height and static sag on their suspension any more.

To get the best from a bike’s suspension, the static sag and ride height need to fall within the manufacturer’s parameters. It’s usually a two-man job to measure, and it’s an easy one, but very few people do it.

If the suspension on your bike can’t be set so those two measurements meet up, it means you have the wrong springs for your weight or load. From there, nothing is going to be good. No amount of electronic adjustment can compensate, and even the most expensive suspension components rely on the correct sag and ride height to work at their best. That’s why adventure bikes have big preload adjusters.

Preload is the adjustment we need to set those parameters.

The point I’m trying to make is, no matter how incredibly complex our bikes are these days, and how much technology is doing for us, the fundamentals still apply. The riders who understand the basics of their bikes and riding techniques are the ones who’ll cope with problems and finish rides.

If you really want to improve your riding, do some exercise and learn how your bike works. I don’t mean read the manual and learn which buttons to push to make adjustments. I mean learn what those adjustments are doing, and what you’re trying to achieve with those changes.

If you’re really keen, get yourself a ‘practice bike’. Look for a 1970s or 1980s trailbike. The cheaper the purchase, the more you’ll learn. Grab some tools, insulation tape, zip ties and wire and spend a few hours in a grassy paddock doing figure eights and trying to keep the bike running. You may possibly discover the fun in fundamentals, and I guarantee you’ll end up a far better rider.

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