Cruisers and gravel roads

[vito]

Riding with my new GPS device has given me the confidence to turn onto smaller roads that I have never ridden before, knowing that even if I get really lost I can always hit the "Go Home" button and find my way back. But it has also led me to end up on some really squirrely gravel roads. I am finding that my cruiser, especially when riding two up, does not like these roads very much. I wonder if is the tires that I have on my bike but riding gravel roads is not something that I plan to do if I can avoid them. I might miss some interesting rides but the feeling of instability on gravel and dirt is not my idea of a fun ride.

[MmeMagpie]

That's just motorcycles on gravel, dude. Ride slow and mark it on your mental map as a road to avoid in the future

[ceemes]

That's just motorcycles on gravel, dude. Ride slow and mark it on your mental map as a road to avoid in the future

[sapaul]

How often do you do it ? Most guys that get out of their comfort zone get all stiff and tense and that just makes the problem worse, and I hear you about the 2 up thing. When I did Namibia 2 up with The Goose, fully loaded, I hit some real powdery stuff that I had never ridden on before. I had to make a conscious effort to relax. Once I got my head right, everything was fine.

[MmeMagpie]

I rode all sorts of hellish roads by accident in Georgia because it's impossible to judge a road surface from a satellite image. The worst were the roads that were covered in 3" or so of tired, old, powdery dirt. Not only did I blow all manner of nastiness out of my nose later (and I probably could have cultivated potatoes in my ears), it was mushy and super slick feeling under the tires.

[dr_bar]

Yup, gotta loosen up and relax, let the bike find it's own way and slow down...

[IntoTheWind]

Your tires have a lot to do with it. Most (if not all) MC road tires are nothing more than racing slicks with just enough grooving, on them, to make them street legal. Rely mostly on friction to counter the forces of gravity ... compound material of the tire. Look at off road - dirt bike - tires, you'll get the idea. Still, gravel roads are not the best place for the big road bikes.

We have a lot of logging roads here, with pot holes that would swallow a small car. On the better logging roads there is always some jackass coming at you at 50+, in one of those big 4x4 trucks. This means your gonna get a face full of rocks and dust during the dry weather and mud and rocks during the wet weather.

There are enough paved roads, I don't need to hit gravel. The oil and gravel is a different thing. I never know where or when this is going to happen.

[perrypogue]

I wasn't expecting the 'Road Work Ahead' to mean 12 miles of gravel road...but there I was with no option but to ride the gravel. I just slowed down but still ran at about 40 mph and the bike never scared me.

[Ram]

Don't fear the gravel, not many of us go looking for it but you never know what might be around the next corner. The more you ride the better you comfort zone will expand.

[jmillheiser]

I think its low center of gravity bikes in general. There is a reason why dirt bikes have a high center of gravity.

The wrecked sportster I came across a couple of months ago is probably good testament that harleys dont belong on dirt (dirt track bikes excepted of course). I was coming back to my car after a hike and saw a pretty new sporty 1200 on its side and the rider walking around with a nice cut on his lip and some rash on his arm (thankfully he had a helmet on), he was trying to turn his sportster around on a dirt road and gave it a little too much throttle and lowsided it hard.