Many riders spin the rear wheel.
This if fine, if you enjoy it.
But it can tiring, and even work against you,
if you are stuck on a log, rock ledge, wet tree roots or in a deep hole.
We have all seen guys stuck on these obstacles
and trying to wheelspin their way out, but usually just digging a deeper hole.
We will look at a few easy ways to get traction in these situations.
And make the motorbike do all the work,
instead of wasting your energy and making the track even more impassable.
It's surprising how quickly you can use up all your energy trying to manhandle
the motorbike past an obstacle, instead of taking a moment to think it through,
then pick the best way to make the motorbike do the work.
First, a quick refresher on traction. Lets watch top extreme enduro rider,
Ben Hemingway, in an extreme hill climb event.
Traction is a combination of many techniques such as weighting and deweighting over uneven ground,
body to the rear but coming forward on steep slopes, precise throttle control and controlled
dropping of the clutch when needed, paddling with one or both legs in the toughest bits, slipping
Stuck?
Roll back for a runup.
This seems so obvious but we often forget.
When stuck, often the easiest solution is roll back a little bit, then use that run up,
instead of wasting energy pushing the motorbike over with your legs.
Stuck?
Rock the motorbike out.
No runup available?
A great technique is simply rocking the motorbike out.
Use little bits of throttle and clutch to rock the motorbike forward and backwards
against the obstacle, then give a final controlled 'drop of the clutch' to get over.
Remember to keep your weight on the seat, or on the footpegs if standing.
The brilliant thing about rocking the motorbike through is the motorbike does
all the work, and you aren't wheel spinning and wrecking the track.
It's usually a good idea to look down first and
make sure there aren't any rocks or other obstacles your rear wheel will spin on.
This uphill rut is perfect for this technique as
there are various tree roots and ledges to get stuck on.
Stuck? Bounce on the motorbike.
If you can't rock the motorbike through, another option to get over small obstacles,
especially on steep hills, is to bounce on the seat just as you take off.
As you can see on these trials motorbikes, as you bounce the rear tyre flattens out
and creates a bigger tyres patch for a split second of extra traction.
You can also do this from a standing position by bouncing on the footpeg.
Stuck? A controlled 'drop' of the clutch.
In some situations, a controlled drop of the clutch and weighting
the motorbike will give you enough traction to get over an obstacle.
Going from a seated to a standing position puts extra weight on the back wheel for extra traction.
For more details, we've covered this in two training vids already.
Stuck?
Just pull the motorbike through.
There are times we just opt to pull the motorbike through,
instead of digging unnecessary holes or trenches in the track.
The tradition seems to be grab and pull the upper
fork, but we've found rolling the front tyre is often an easier way.
If you do a lot of technical terrain,
it can also be handy to put some tug straps on your motorbike too.
As mentioned earlier, traction involves a pile of
different techniques, see our links to our training vids for the key skills.