There are a lot of reasons to explain why many people are addicted to off-road riding. In fact, it is not only so fun and challenging but also helps the riders to train more advanced riding skills on the street. However, this is a dangerous sport, requiring a much higher level of risks and alertness. Any blink of an eye of losing focus can bring the riders into a tough situation. You should only get started when you have certain experiences and skills in street riding.

At the very beginning, the riders much learn well how to survive mud, hills, rocks and other obstacles on the way. In this post, we will discuss some techniques and skills that help you get a hold on your next riding.

Here are the 10 Tips to Follow when Riding Off Road

1. Keep Your Speed Under Control

It is very dangerous for you to go with a fast speed that is over your ability or conditions. Even though it might easy for you to keep your control hand checked on the street, doing it off-road is another story. Controlling speed on craggy paths is hard, but it is not impossible. To do it, you may want to slow down the speed, observe the situation, stay alert to make sure the gravity, slip, slide and so on will not speed you up and drive you out of control.

2. Stay ​Focused & Keep Calm

When people feel tired or scared, they tend to let their eyes look down in order to restrain them from looking the situation ahead. If you are riding off-road, looking down will limit your vision; hence, you are unable to observe the possible obstacles that suddenly occur. In worse cases when incidents happen, losing your nerves can make you even more scared and crashed. Always keep your eyes alerted will help you to control the situation better and stay more focused.

3. Use Momentum

When you get into a surface with little grip, the traction will be limited, the momentum is one of the effective supporters that you must trust on. As mentioned before, keep up your vision to observe the situation coming and get the gas on before you get into it.

4. Believe​ In Yourself

If you don’t believe in yourself, you may lower the chance of achievement. That is much true in riding off-road. You will not likely to overcome it successfully if you are hesitant or too scared. Keep in your mind that nothing is impossible, so bring it on!

However, remember that success can’t be achieved overnight. Before getting yourself in off-road challenges, you should be aware of your preliminary riding skills. Start with the basics and build up slowly – which will help to boost your confidence and ability deliberately

5. Know When to Stand & Sit

It is not like riding on the road where you always sit down and enjoy the ride. Riding off-road requires you to move frequently, mostly in standing position. If you do not know when to sit down and stand up, you are not likely ready for an off-road riding. When the bike gets into bumps, you should stand up so that your legs will absorb the impact better. On the other hand, when it comes to corner, especially with berms, it is better for you to sit down

6. Define the Center

​It is vital for you to find the center where you locate your body’s mass when you are riding. It will create the best condition for you to control fluid and maneuverability. You can do it by simply sitting forward and standing, looking for your belly when it is positioned towards the steering stem.

7. Bend Arms Accordingly​

When you ride off-road, you could not avoid the bike moving to every direction frequently. The handlebars must be held tightly in order to hold a firm control of the bike. If you want to do it precisely, bending your arms is a good choice. It will help the motorbike to move forward while your hands still adjust the brakes and throttle reliably and securely.

8. Learn to Counter-lean

In fact, counter-lean is something too hard for most of the beginners. They need to spend the long hard time to get through it. The key is, not to lean so much on the motorbike because it is most likely that you lose balance and let the bike slip out. You must keep yourself stable while the bike leans to turn a narrow corner, hence the load pressing is kept vertically, and the tires are held firmly on the terrain.

9. Utilize the Clutch​

You must know when and how to utilize the clutch to achieve a precise and under-control ride. On the one hand, if you are accelerating on a rocky, muddy surface, it is no time for you to do anything with clutch lever. So, forget it. On the other hand, you can also use clutches to handle your riding. By slipping the clutch, you are ensured to avoid surplus shifting.

​10. Control Both Front & Rear Brakes

It is very important for you to know how to use the rear brake on muddy terrain. You must mostly hinge on the rear brake in such kind of terrain. It is still fine to slide the rear tire, but with the front, it could be troublesome.

​When descending steep and rocky hills, it is highly recommended to use both brakes. You need to learn how and when to utilize the front brake thoroughly and use it when necessary.

11. Learn Helpful Tricks​

It is essential for you to learn to wheelie because it can help you to avoid falling into trees, rocks. Learning how to jump and loft also supports you the same way sometimes to get over obstacles.

If you are new to off-road riding, you should practice and remember these techniques to make sure you have a good and safe riding. Riding off-road is different from street riding somehow, but you can apply some of these techniques for both