My driveway is a half mile gravel road.

Hey, I recently picked up an 07 vfr after a 9 year hiatus. Had almost 20 years of experience on street bikes, but always on pavement.

Now, every ride starts and ends with the half mile of gravel road. Obviously, I take it really slow til I reach the pavement.

I'm running new PR2's.

I have no idea whether I should begin each ride by stopping at the pavement and inspecting the tires for a few minutes, or just take off.

What say ye?

Thx.

 

For a point of reference, last summer, I rode my 03 VFR to Deadhorse Alaska on Bridgestone Battlax BT-023s. If you don't know, the Dalton Highway from Fairbanks to Deadhorse has plenty of gravel, and chipseal, and mud. The tires had approximately 10000 kms (front) and 2500 kms (rear) on them when I started the Dalton. The Dalton is around 1600 kms round trip (a lot of that, including gravel parts, was ridden at highway speeds) and I have since put an additional 5500 kms on the same tires. I've never had a problem with the tires after riding on gravel.

I wouldn't worry too much about the condition of the tires after a half mile of gravel. Just make sure you don't spin the back wheel on the gravel and take it easy on the pavement for a mile or so to let the dust and small rocks wear off.

One more thing: I don't know how comfortable you are riding on gravel or if you have ever ridden a dirt bike, but they are very similar. To stay in control you have to squeeze your knees into the gas tank and guide the bike with your core, not your hands.

 

Another good tip is be careful with front brake application on gravel. Lots of gravel and lots of front brake pressure usually ends with lots of scratched fairing parts and a lot of cursing and swearing.

 

Sound like me this pass weekend ..........:mad2:

 

I've learned that Ducati's, Dunlop Q2's, gravel and rear brakes do not mix! I would definitely take it easy on the first few miles after the gravel road. You might want to take the fairings off every now and then to clean out the rocks that will get thrown from the front wheel.

 

I'd at least stop and dig the pebbles out of the tires so as not to fling 'em back on the lower fairing. Perhaps put some clear 3M on the lower parts of the front fairing. Don't ride it after a rain, mud, rrrgh. Hope your enjoying the VFR!!

 

Very good advice from everyone. I fer sure would not even have my fingers on that front brake lever....nice and slooow...you dont want to chip the shit outa your paint

 

I'm in the same boat, but not quite as long. I just ride slow for a little bit longer, then go.

 

The road to my house is unpaved for the first mile and a half. Sometimes it is deep gravel and sometimes it is dried mud ruts. I don't take the bike out when it's sloppy muddy. I have never had a problem with tire damage on any of my bikes. I do try and take it easy when hitting the hard top because of the coating of dust I know is all over my tires. During maintenance, I take special care of the chain and the air filter for obvious reasons.

 

Thanks for the comment about tire damage Jim. This was my main concern.

My road is just like yours - sometimes fully graveled, sometimes hard-pack with minor rutting and sparse gravel.

Fortunately, there is almost zero traffic, so the air filter doesn't even know the road is dirt. What seems to be catching most of the dust is the rear wheel. So obviously the chain is getting dusted. My plan: go way slow to keep the dust down, and clean the chain a lot. If I win the lottery, I'll pave the road.

Thanks to all for the tips and advice.

I have 8 years on dirt, therefore aware of the hazards of washing out the front or dropping the rear.

DCS

 

I have never been a huge dirt rider but I have had to learn: 1) stay loose. 2) avoid the front brake. 3) use the throttle to straighten up a bad line 4) and keep the weight back over the rear. I always try to pick out the best line following the car tire tracks and avoiding the piles of deep loose rock.

The only problem I had with my road was a cosmetic one. I had just brought the bike home. I turned onto my road and I was being so careful when I hit a section at 20mph that was like a washboard. It gave the bike a series of jarring hammer hits. When I pulled in at the house I noticed a huge crack in the tail cover just aft of the tank. I was just sick. Of course I can't keep anything nice. My bikes are always filthy with road dust. What can I say?

 

I know what you mean about keeping stuff clean.

I've lived in high desert for the last 20 yrs or so, which made me a fair weather rider. I just didn't ride in wet weather, mainly because it was never wet. I learned that it was surprisingly easy to keep a garaged, covered bike clean and pretty, always road ready.

Now, if I clean this bike, it gets a light coat of dust on the lower half before I ever hit the road.

Oh well. I'm just glad to be riding again.

later...

DCS

 

I was out riding and pulled into a gas station to tank up. After filling I motored over to a group of riders to kick tires and talk bikes. A guy on a ST1300 kept looking at my bike. Finally he said "you rode that down a dirt road?" "Yep" I said. "If I didn't ride it on the dirt I wouldn't ever be able to get home." All the time he kept saying "You ride THAT (my VFR) on a dirt road" like it was some kind of miracle. I remember riding with a bunch of buddies, many years ago, in Colorado. We took a shortcut to Cotopaxi that contained about 6 miles of dirt road. I was on my BMW then and was completely terrified. I think you have to just do it to get used to it.