I decided to stick local this morning instead of hitting the state highways. I was exploring some of the little farm roads just outside of town. About a mile off the highway the road I was on turned to gravel. I have never ridden on anything accept smooth highway. It was a little unnerving to feel the bike moving around beneath me at first. I cautiously moved the bike around a little to get a feel for how it would react. I was very nervous about using the brakes so I kept the speed very low 30-35 mph on the straights and walking pace around the four or five 90 degree corners. It turned back into pavement after about five miles.
Any tips or tricks to riding on loose surfaces?
I don't like not feeling confident in my abilities but this was completely new to me.
Obligatory pic because all threads are useless without pics.
ddavidv
PowerDork
10/5/14 6:28 a.m.
Practice makes perfect.
Tires matter a lot. My V-Strom is nearly useless on gravel with the Anakees it's shod with. The knobbier the tire, the better grip you'll have, but of course you won't be putting Kendas on your sportster-thing. Throttle applications have to be smooth, and I tend to use the rear brake a lot more to avoid having the front wheel 'wash out' on me. You can pretty much ride anything anywhere if you're attentive enough, but like I said...practice and getting a feel for what the bike is doing is really the only solution.
If you feel confident riding that there you are doing it wrong 
. When I worked on the farm and hit the gravel road my spidey senses were tingling, don't make any sudden moves.
A narrow tire like yours and the sportsters in general do much better on dirt/gravel. You should try it on a fully loaded FLHT. Phun. Anyway, slow, only use your back brake. Hang on to the handlebars tight.
Once up in Idaho heading for the coast, the map showed a shortcut that would cut at least a hundred miles off. I asked where the road was at a gas stop and they told me and mentioned that there was about 20 miles of dirt, but it was well maintained. I was on my FLHT and Dr.L was on her 883, which we just bought about 1K miles before and still on that trip. We thought, why not? Just went slow. It had to be the most beautiful stretch of forest I've ever been through. All old growth. Huge trees. Well worth the dirt road.
Don't try to "steer" the bike just kind of aim it and keep it under you. Set up for turns early. Don't get all rigid on the bars, stay loose and let it float. Keep your weight on the pegs.
"That" wasn't gravel, 3 or 4 inches of fresh spread gravel is really exciting! Sort of a cross between swimming and skating...
If the bike is wandering in ruts or deeper gravel and freaking you out - stand up on the pegs so the bike can "float" and you can push it around by planting your weight on one foot or the other and moving your weight around independent of the weight of the cycle in the same way you would on a BMX bike. This might not be so easy with the position of your bars so try it on dry blacktop first to get a feel for modulating the throttle while standing. Bumps in dirt can cause you to gas it and launch the thing out from under yourself if you don't expect it. Keep the speed up above a crawl (like 15mph not 100 ;) ) - it's counter intuitive but there is more grip in dirt with a little bit of speed than going really slow.
EDIT: disclaimer I am no off-road expert. My experience is limited to "improved" dirt and gravel roads that are passable by cars and this is what works for me to not face plant. I have not yet got the balls to take a 500+ lb motorcycle up a logging trail.
Put more weight towards the rear of the bike, hold the grips loosely, and TRUST your bike. Some practice on a bicycle would help as well. That,s my 2 cents.
I definitely plan on going back to get more experience. It sounds like I did mostly the right things. I didn't try to fight it when it wiggled. Didn't tense up and kept my elbows high. With barley any suspension travel it really got to hopping around on the washboard areas, and bottoming out.
