"These tracks are very hard turn around on". You can waste a lot of energy and
time trying to u-turn your dirt bike. Let's look at some ways to make it easier,
especially in hard terrain and tight tracks.
First a quick refresher from our basic u-turns video.
The rear wheel spin. Just lean the bike over against your leg, feed in clutch and spin
that rear wheel around. It's easy but there are plenty of options that don't rip up the track too.
Sidestand u-turn. The sidestand technique
is only recommended for bikes with a very strong sidestand.
Pivot turn. A good pivot turn
can spin the bike around in less than its own length, but it can be hard for shorter
riders. It can be tough for tall riders too. You need to pull the front up as quickly as
possible with the bike barely moving. The usual problem is if the bike does build up speed you
are trying to wrench a moving bike around, instead of pivoting a nearly stationary bike.
Combined wheelspin and pivot turn. You can combine the rear wheel spin and
pivot turn for a faster u-turn that can be easier for shorter riders as the front wheel doesn't come
up too high. Lean the bike over against your leg. Compress the front forks then as they rebound,
drop the clutch and pull the bars in the desired direction. You should be
able to keep the bike firmly against your inside leg as it spins around. Practice
this on a very loose surface like gravel to prevent the bike launching away from you.
Mini u-turns are great in rough terrain or for shorter riders. Instead of a 180 degree turn,
make a series of smaller turns. You can also do a series of very small pivot turns by weighting
the forks then releasing the clutch very quickly for a brief instant. Done correctly,
the bike will barely move forward which is very useful in rocky terrain.
Save energy. Make the bike do the work by riding up slopes and rolling the bike back.
Think outside the box and use obstacles to help turn the bike around. In some cases you may be
able to get the front wheel along the obstacle. You can bounce the front wheel off rocks, logs,
steep banks or rock faces to help turn that front wheel around. You can do this on the
move in a trials-style floater turn, use the obstacle to make pivot turns easier,
or for short riders, just hop off the back then ease the bike into a u-turn.
Front wheel hops. On a steep hill climb, you can just
hop the front wheel around. This will be easier with small amounts of throttle and a quick slip of
the clutch. If it is very steep, you can pull the bike into a vertical position and spin it around.
The vertical pivot turn. This leads into the vertical pivot turn,
a cool technique for the taller riders in very tight spots. Compress the front
forks, then apply a very quick bit of clutch and throttle to lift the front wheel very quickly.
The trick is to have almost forward speed so you can hold the bike vertically then pivot
it around to the desired direction. And it might look ridiculous, but walking the bike
like this can sometimes get you through very deep ruts to avoid the footpegs digging in.
If a tight trail has a steep wall, the vertical pivot turn becomes easier.
Simply do a normal pivot turn then rest the front wheel against the wall. It is
usually easier if you stall the engine as this prevents the bike from rolling
backwards. Don't start too close to the wall, or use too much throttle.
Rear wheel hops. The rear rear wheel
hop is an advanced trials technique that looks great but in reality is not an essential skill.
It's rare to see even Graham Jarvis using this in an extreme enduro. We have done a training
vid on this if you are interested. However, on very steep slopes you can apply the front brake,
and push on the handlebars to bounce the rear wheel around. Once the rear
wheel is in the air, push your body against the bike to swing it around.
PIvot turns over logs. We've already covered this,
in a tight spot you can actually use a log to do a u-turn if needed.
U-turns on hills.
A lot of the techniques covered will help you turn around on the hill,
but if you have room we have covered the basic technique of turning right in an existing video.
So there you go guys, 10 different ways to do u-turns. You don't need to learn them all,
but it's certainly handy to have know a few of these for those tough sections out there.