Wheels Guru

Training, Travels, Racing – Motorcycles and Cars

How To Ride Dirt Bikes In Mud?

Enduro riders like Graham Jarvis and Jonny Walker fly through mud so we’ve compiled the extreme enduro techniques they have adapted from trials riding. Cross training applies trials techniques to improve your traction and dirt bike skills for riding through mud, clay and wet slippery rocks!

dirt-riding-in-the-mud

Riding In Mud

Muddy conditions can be fun or terrifying, as the wheels are slipping more than they grip and the rear wheel wants to overtake the front wheel. Hopefully these tips will reduce your chances of taking a mud bath.

Your basic skills are very handy when both wheels are sliding around in mud. These enduro training vids cover many dirt riding skills and dirt bike techniques for improved off road riding. Cross training applies trials to enduro techniques.

Body Positioning

As with riding in soft sand or rocks, stand on the pegs. Body positioning and weighting are key skills in trials, and watching top trials riders is great. A key part of moves like this is the use of body positioning and weighting – choosing when to exert pressure on the pegs and when to de-weight or lift the bike up.

Gearing & Clutch Slipping

Apply throttle carefully to keep traction in mud. The growing interest in extreme enduro has seen a resurgence in trials riding riding internationally, and many dirt riders are now joining trials clubs to improve their overall skills for basic dirt riding or hard enduro events and endurocross.

Momentum

Momentum is your best friend in mud. As your skills improve, increase your speed and you should find traction improves in mud. Losing traction is not good in trials riding and riders work hard to ensure their tyres don’t slip. Wheelspin and slides look great but in many cases for enduro riding but it simply means you are losing full control of your dirt bike in mud. The top extreme enduro riders will only lose traction deliberately in a small number of cases. Maintaining traction in mud is a critical skill in cross training if you want to improve how your ride your dirt bike.