I have not ridden my dirt bike much this summer. Then I decided it was time to get back on and ride faster than I did in the spring. Going faster is not something you just do by giving the dirt bike more gas. I wanted to get fast as quickly as possible.
How do you get faster on a dirt bike?
| Tip or Technique | What you should know |
| Know the terrain you will ride | Allows you to have proper bike setup & technique |
| Know how to balance the dirt bike | Increases confidence and improves overall skills |
| Physical Fitness | Cuts your weight making you faster |
| Avoid First Gear | Allows for faster starts and avoids wheel spin |
| Walk the Track | Reduces surprises |
| Peg weighting in flat turns | This gives more traction to get through the corner faster |
Ok, you saw the table, but want to know more about each of the tips. Know that I am not a professional by any means, but going fast on a dirt bike is something that will always be fun to me.
Before we start, you need to know something. While researching drills online, I found the number one article for how to ride a dirt bike fast lacking important elements to help the average rider.
The Terrain Or Track Affects How Fast You Ride A Dirt Bike
The track you ride will determine how “fast” you go. There are many kinds of tracks so we will cover the big ones here.
Motocross
We have all seen advertisements for Supercross races When they come to our local cities. The high-flying fast-paced action, it’s hard to pass up.
One key to going fast on a motocross track involves having rhythm going over the jumps. This is not something that comes quickly but by practicing and spending a lot of time on the bike.
While watching these high-flying riders, you probably feel like they’re going as fast as the bikes can. This is not necessarily the case. Many times when they are racing in a large arena or dome, they use the mid gears most on the motorcycle. Specifically second and third.
Indoor Motocross
One key to understanding how to go fast on a motocross track involves knowing how the make the track. Perhaps if you have been to one of the indoor SuperCross races, you saw the bulldozers and tractors working in between races to keep the track in shape. These are the same instruments used to create the track.
The tracks designers have rhythm in mind to create the highflying action. If you ride like most of us, knowing how to use rhythm to get over two sets of doubles or a triple jump seems almost impossible. Taking the jumps one at a time or even two and then one (assuming you are going over a triple) significantly slows down your riding.
Outdoor Motocross
When you take motocross riding outside bikes move a lot faster. The range of gears used when an outside track moves from 2nd and 3rd, to 2nd 3rd 4th and sometimes 5th. The riders move at a higher rate of speed.
The tracks also incorporate the natural topography of the land. Riders face uphill jumps, blind corners, and fall aways. This is not without the influence of man though. Bulldozers and the speciality equipment already discussed are used to mold the landscape for outdoor motocross.
Again, we come back to the point of rhythm. The jumps, turns, berms, and whoops still require a good sense of rhythm.
What does it mean to have rhythm?
Think of it in the same way you keep a beat to your favorite music. It flows. When your claps are out of rhythm, things feel awkward. Your clapping feels forced.
The same principle applies to motocross tracks. Each one has a rhythm to it. Get it wrong, and you’re going slow or worse, you wreck. In fact, take a second to search YouTube for “SuperCross wrecks.” Some videos will show things not involving a bad rhythm, but pay attention to the single bike accidents. Most of the time, you’ll see the rider gas it, put on the brakes, or otherwise did something out of rhythm with the track.
You can also look at searching “best motocross comebacks.” You will see the same thing but get a better idea of what it means to be in rhythm with the track. One rider will do fine and then someone will come up and pass. The passing rider has “gotten into the groove.”
Enduro
Now we take the riding to the off the motocross track and into the woods and other areas where you may not have thought to ride.
Enduro riding differs from motocross in a few ways:
- The track is not as formalized with jumps, whoops, and planned berms in the corners.
- Riding on an enduro track keeps the riders in a single file line and passing is not as rapid.
- Seeing the whole course does not happen on an enduro track because it usually runs through a elements blocking the view of the rest of the track. Whereas with a supercross track, the whole thing can fit into a dome or arena. I need to note though, we will not view an outdoor track in its entirety.
- The enduro course will move naturally with the terrain and does not get influenced in the same way motocross does with tractors and bulldozers to build jumps.
- Enduro tracks cover a large area and many miles. There are a few exceptions to this like the Romaniacs Protolog, but this comes a day before the riders head out into the countryside and woods.
- Many of the world’s best enduro riders come from a trials riding background
Going fast here differs from going fast on a motocross track. You do not need the same sense of rhythm. Rather, you need to be loose and adapting to the surroundings.
You may go flat out in top gear through a pasture and then you may have several miles of technical riding through the woods in first and second gear.
The technical riding really slows you down, so knowing how to use the bike to maneuver itself will help you a lot. Specifically, having a great throttle and clutch control. Here is a video that shows a drill to develop your throttle and clutch control by the Dirt Bike Channel on YouTube.
Note the one finger on the clutch technique.
If you have read my other posts, you may know that I have been riding for over 30 years. I want to become a better rider and changing 30 years of a four finger clutch pole is very difficult.
The video is correct about the advantages of the 1 finger pull. When I get it correct, the bike does amazing things. The point is, changing your habit if you have been riding for a while will take lots of practice and time.
Scramble
Scrambles cover similar aspects of an enduro race but there are a few key differences.
- Riders all start in a single class. With enduro riding, the race has riders start one at a time or in small groups covering many classes. The multi class approach with enduro racing allows people to compete with similar skills.
- Scrambles cover a broad range of riding conditions. Specifically, you see races in the desert. To my knowledge there are no enduro races over the desert.
- The terrain is more open than what you find with enduro riding. Even though scrambles can have technical riding in tight places, you find it a much lower percentage of the course than you do the enduro race.
Going fast for a scramble means having a bike geared properly for the large open spaces and you are able to stand on the bike at high speeds for long a duration. This takes a high level of physical fitness.
Scramble races can last for hours. If you are a weekend warrior, your riding sessions may be 45 minutes or more. Staying in shape will make you fast. Specifically, make sure your core and lower body will be strong with lots of endurance.
Like enduro riding, making sure you keep the technical riding skills sharp also helps you be fast.
Trials Riding
Trials riding is perhaps best explained by going slow means going fast. On the surface, it makes little sense unless you already know what trials riding is. If you do not, imagine all the tough stuff you see kids riding BMX bikes on and over in the street. Now think about trying it on a motorcycle.
Balance is the key here. You never know what you will ride over. You always stand as these bikes do not have a seat.
You can have rocky, rutted hill climbs or difficult obstacles to ride over. Slowing down helps keep you from making mistakes taking more time.
Know How To Balance The Bike
Balancing the bike seems simple enough, we already talked about how important it is to going fast on different riding terrains.
This simple act can improve your speed in a few ways:
- The most obvious is your skill set will improve through repetition.
- You create muscle memory. When the bike goes in a direction you do not want it to go, Boom. You will make it change course without thinking about it.
- Improved confidence. You will feel more confident in knowing how you and the bike will react in different situations.
How Riding Your Dirt Bike Slow Makes You Go Fast
Riding slowly is the best way to learn the balance on your dirt bike. Because these bikes have higher centers of gravity they fall over easily as slow speeds (under 5 mph.)
Riding them slowly forces the rider to become present to focus on what the motorcycle is doing and how their body position affects the input of the bike.
As I just mentioned, ride slowly for a long enough duration and you improve your riding skills making you faster, no matter what kind of dirt bike riding you do. Here are a few drills to help you improve your balance.
Static Balancing
With the motorcycle off, you will try standing on it as long as you can without putting a foot down. You cannot use the kickstand or have the bike sitting on a stand either. This would be cheating.
To practice your static balance:
- Find a wide open area to practice. At least make sure you have several feet around you in case you fall or drop the dirt bike.
- Turn the handlebars so they bump up against the stops on the right or left side. This completely depends on whatever is most comfortable.
Pro-Tip: As you become comfortable with this drill make sure you practice with turning the bars the other way as well. This will make turning the bike both ways is comfortable for you.
- Wedge the front wheel, with the bars fully turned, against an object or make a divot in the ground for it to rest. This will help you as you learn to statically balance the bike.
- Get on the dirt bike and squeeze the front brake to keep the bike from moving.
- Bring one of your feet up and place it on the peg.
- Slowly bring your remaining foot up to place the peg and move to a standing position. Do not become discouraged if things are not going well. This is a tough drill to master. You will only be able to do it for a half a second or less to start.
As time passes, you will get better at this drill. If you use the pro-tip, you will be turning both ways and comfortable. Naturally, we have a tendency to favor a right or left turn. Most riders favor turning left.
Do not be afraid of using your feet as counter balances either. This will come as you get better.
Full Lock Turns
Once you get better at the static balancing, try working on full lock turns. This starts putting that practice time to use.
First, make sure you gear up properly, with boots, helmets and the works. Even though you will ride slow, you will still drop and crash the bike at the beginning.
Start off by standing on the dirt bike and riding in a large circle. Keep one finger covering the front brake and one finger covering the clutch. While this is a good practice no matter what style of riding you do, it is often a hard habit to develop for people who have ridden more than a few years.
Covering each of the levers allows for quick adjustments.
As you become more comfortable start making the circles smaller and smaller. Eventually, you want to make full lock turns. This should not be too uncomfortable since you completed the static balancing drill with similar bar positioning. The feeling of standing on the bike with the handlebars turned should not be awkward either.
Even Tighter Turns
You can even make the full lock turn even smaller with a few adjustments. The first way to make the circles even small is by adjusting the bump stops on your front end. We locate them on the top or lower triple clamp near the steering neck.
When you run these in, the bars can turn even further. The key here is to not get carried away. While we want tight turns, keep the stops at a level appropriate for your style of riding.
Second, know the full lock turn has you and the bike standing in an almost straight up and down position. This key to understanding how to make your turn even tighter without adjusting the bump stops uses basic physics.
If we lean the motorcycle in the turn’s direction, it changes the tire positioning and contact patch. In effect, it allows the motorcycle to turn in a tighter circle. Doing this slowly takes a large amount of skill and should not be attempted until you master the full lock turn standing straight up and down on the dirt bike.
For those of you who can turn the dirt bike full lock while riding slowly, the more you lean the bike the tighter it will turn.
Make sure you practice this drill in both directions, turning to the left and to the right.
Figure 8s
After you start making progress with the full lock turns, try a combination of tight figure 8s.
You make one a full lock turn in one direction and then add a full lock turn in the opposite direction.
Like the full lock turns, start off making large figure 8s and slowly work on making them smaller and smaller until you’re at a full lock.
Pro-Tip: Looking through the turn to where you want to go is key to making the small figure 8s and full lock turns. The bike will go where you look. Again this takes practice to master but worth the effort. This also increases your riding safety.
Being Physically Fit Helps You Ride Dirt Bikes Faster
At this point in my life, you might say I am a middle-aged fat guy with a desk job who is trying to relive the glory days of my youth. To a certain extent, you are correct, but I also really love riding motorcycles and hope it gives the bonding experience with my daughter than I had with my dad.
My point is simple. Even fat guys can ride, but you need to work on getting your body into some kind of riding shape. I am not here to talk about how to shave off another second from your lap time. The professional riders can tackle this topic.
I want to help weekend riders like myself get to the point riding is fun and done for longer periods of time.
Why get physically fit?
- If you are just getting back into riding, your body is getting large amounts of stress it is not use too. Being in shape helps your body handle this increased stress.
- You handle the bike better. There is less weight to through around and frankly makes riding easier.
- Your rides or track time will increase if you’re in shape. Ride time when you are new or just getting back into riding dirt bikes is usually short. This means less time with your loved ones on the track or trails.
- Do not get winded as easily. Remember when you were a kid, and you rode your bike as fast as you could or ran as fast as you could. That sucking wind feeling afterward hurt. Riding dirt bikes while being out of shape gives you the same feeling. You’re not as fast when you’re sucking wind.
The best way being in shape helps you ride fast is by cutting the weight. If there is less of you, there is less weight on the bike which means going faster. Simple and easy.
Ways to improve your fitness
Here are the ways I try to improve my fitness.
- Make it a habit to get to the gym 5 times per week. Too hard? Try 4, but get to the gym.
- Eat better. As a middle-aged male, I am finding this as the hardest and best way to help get into shape. I love food and my body does not react the same now like it did when I was 20. When I eat well, the workouts are more effective.
- I enjoy riding mountain bikes. Not only is this great exercise, but it also allows me to practice my bike handling skills at a slower pace. This will make you faster.
- Get as much seat time as you can on the dirt bike. If you are a backyard rider, regularly practice these drills.
Learning Proper Shifting Patterns Can Help Make You Fast On A Dirt Bike
There is nothing worse than missing a gear whilel racing around on the track or in your backyard. It is embarrassing, and it makes you slow. Here are two things to you do to ride your dirt bike faster using shifting patterns.
Avoid First Gear
For motocross riders, starting in second gear could mean getting to the first turn in the lead. You avoid getting roosted which hurts, less likely to get into an accident, and do not waste time shifting from first to second.
For enduro riding, you can see increased traction on slippery terrain or hills. The dirt bike’s torque does the work. Using first gear in the same situations could mean having the back tire spinning.
Plan Your Route To Help You Ride A Dirt Bike Fast
Have you ever noticed how much time you spend looking right in front of the bike or front wheel? Chances are it is too much. Try scanning the grounds in front of you to plan your routes through turns, ruts, and over jumps.
One key experience can tell you if you do not scan the horizon enough. How often are you surprise be features on the track like rocks, jumps, ruts, and roots? Not scanning the horizon limits your ability to react.
The higher your speed the more important it is to scan what is in front of you. Remember my suggestion earlier about looking through the turn to where you want to go? This is an example of planning your route and scanning your horizon.
Walk The Track Or Trail Before Your Ride
Besides scanning your horizon, try walking the track or trail. This applies more to motocross and trials riding since the courses are small. Walking miles of a scramble or enduro track is not practical.
Similarly to scanning the horizon, this first hand look allows you to see the course up close to plan your routes.
Weight The Outside Peg
At some point, you will come across a flat turn. In that case, here is a technique that will make you faster on a dirt bike.
Flat turns seem easy enough to navigate when you ride slow, but when you want to go fast, they become harder to navigate. Put a berm or banking into the same corner and you become much faster through the turn.
The average rider does not use this technique. Most even have fears about taking a flat turn quickly. Here are a few of the fears,
- The dirt bike will slide easily.
- Fear the back-end will wash out.
- Not getting enough traction.
If you weight the outside peg as you turn the contact patch of the tires gets enhanced. You should do this once you are already in the corner.
Doing it before the corner messes things up. The motorcycle will want to go toward the weighted peg.
Once you weight the outside peg, make sure you sit upright and vertical. This position puts more body weight above the motorcycle. If you lean at the same angle of the dirt bike, physics will not help you increase traction.
In fact, leaning at the same angle as the bike could exert forces on the tire making it want to push or wash out.
By weighting the outside peg, you use physics to your advantage by increasing the tires contact patch and friction. More friction means you can apply more throttle or apply it sooner in the turn making you ride through the turn faster.
That wraps up this article so get out there and ride!