Want to become a better street rider? Hit the dirt.

Did you ever watch a MotoGP or World Superbikes race and notice how racers slide the rear tire out as they enter a turn so they can target the front wheel toward the exit and get on the gas earlier? Well, there is a 99.9% chance that you will never do that. But if you have a few hours under your belt on a dirt bike, there is a 99.9% chance that you will. That is because while riding a street bike is about all traction, pretty much all the time, dirt biking isn’t.

But every once in a while as you’re just settling in for a nice ride on your <<insert your bike here>>, almost always unintentionally, the tires WILL lose some traction, or the brakes WILL lock up, or the bike WILL go all squirrely over the metal grates of a bridge. The first time this happens, you will likely have one of those adrenalin shot moments as your biochemistry’s self-preservation function kicks in. There is a way to mitigate that millisecond or two of fear: get on a dirt bike and condition your mind and body for what a lack of control feels like.

If you are reading this, chances are you’re already a rider – maybe even a very experienced one. But whether a nube on a Rebel or a crusty on a Road King, spending some time on the dirt will almost certainly raise the level of your street game. Here are some reasons why.

1. Learning to Crash– It will come as no surprise that crashing on a street bike almost inevitably hurts. Even if your skin and bones are in tact, a small spill adds up to a big bill. One simple departure from pavement to gravel on some mountain twisties converted my pristine Ducati into a ragged trackbike rebuild in the blink of an eye. A dirt bike on the other hand is designed to crash and being clad in the armor of a gladiator from head to toe tends to make you a bit more resilient as well. The point is that no one WANTS to crash. But in any risky activity, it helps to be prepared for the worst and the best way to accomplish this is to experience it. After you’ve fallen off a few times and brushed yourself off, you’ll be mumbling ‘I got this’ inside your helmet in no time.
2. Learning to Feel– Riding a motorcycle is not a linear experience between inputs and outputs – there are a number of unpredictable variables in play all the time that will catch you off guard. As Mike Tyson once said, ‘everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.’ When you think about the myriad inputs involved in riding – clutching, braking, traction, engine revs, gear selection, throttle, lean angle, etc – it’s amazing we can keep the thing upright at all. Riding in the dirt allows you the ability to exaggerate these actions and their reactions so you can begin to ‘feel’ that relationship. This harmony between human and machine translates directly to your street riding relationship until, with enough hours, you and your bike become one.
3. Learning to Read– Riding a twisty mountain road is a beautiful thing and unless you’re in the business of getting your knee down, chances are each successive corner will be quite similar to the last: there likely won’t be a mug bog, a gully, some low branches, a jump or a stream in your path so you can usually relax a bit. When you begin to gain confidence on a dirt bike and start to pick up your pace, you’ll begin to notice that relaxation is not part of the deal. Information is coming at you hot and heavy and only the brakes will stem the flow. This skill of reading the terrain, managing inputs to the bike and handling its reaction to them is an enormously valuable asset on the street.
4. Learning your Limits– GP racers must be at 99.9% of their own and their bikes limits all the time if they want to win. I would suggest that most people operate at under 75% of their street bikes’ full performance capabilities and that’s a good thing since modern sport bikes possess much more power than race bikes of 20 years ago. We like to know we are riding a street-legal race bike even though we have zero intention of getting our knee down on the Nürburgring. When you ride a dirtbike on some open terrain, you are free to get closer to 90% + of your bike’s potential. With practice and the confidence that comes with it, sliding on maximum braking, climbing hills at full throttle or using every inch of fork travel as you launch your bike over the next jump will become second nature. Once you have experienced 95% on a dirt bike, hitting 80% on your street bike won’t seem quite as unnerving.
5. Learning to Ride – As mentioned at the outset, most of those who read this are already accomplished riders. But if you are not, or are mentoring someone just getting into this crazy world we live in, the dirt is quite simply the best place to learn how to ride a motorcycle. In addition to the skill-building points mentioned in the last 4 bullets, learning to ride on the dirt is not only insanely fun, but it is inherently much, much safer than taking straight to the street. Dirt is softer, you are much better armored up, the speeds are a fraction of street speeds and going off line and hitting some bushes is a lot less painful than hitting a car, a tree or some other object that will win the impact war.

Of course, the best-case scenario is that you live in the best of both worlds and, like me, have street bikes AND dirt bikes in the garage. But if hard choices come with hard constraints, find some way – beg, borrow or steal – to get some dirt bike hours under your belt. In addition to looking totally awesome in the gear, you will quickly discover that there was a much better rider inside of you just fighting to get out.