How To: Prepare for mud riding
MotoOnline.com.au looks at ways to prepare for riding dirt bikes in wet conditions.
Sliding around in the mud and rain with your buddies is often good fun, but sometimes your bike doesn’t enjoy it quite as much. Don’t panic, though! Here are a few easy steps you can do to your your ride to ensure it makes it through the rain and mud better than ever before.
Foam Treatment
If its looking like its going to be a muddy ride – especially if it’s clay or another sticky surface – take a trip to the local rubber store and buy some light, airy foam. It can be cable tied in places where mud tends to build up, as a great deal of the mud will simply bounce off the foam. Between the frame and both gear lever and brake pedals is a commonly used place, as well as around the engine and radiators, which can help stop heat build up.
Slotting foam in a variety of sections on the bike helps deflect the mud, as you can see on this CDR Rockstar Energy Yamaha.
Seal It Off
If you’re going to be encountering a lot of water and deep puddles, it doesn’t hurt to try your best to seal off any obvious ways for water to enter your intake. A wet air filter can cause your bike to start missing and running incorrectly, or at worst it can actually suck water into the engine and cause bigger issues. A roll of duct tape is all that is needed to cover any airbox vents or other spots where water could easily get through.
Sealing off pieces of your ride with tape is an easy fix, demonstrated here on a JDR Motorsports KTM.
Guard Your Paws
There is nothing worse than slippery, muddy grips and hands. A set of handguards are an easy item to fit before a ride, and will stop a lot of roost hitting your hands and grips, and will also often save your grip landing in the mud when you inevitably take a little digger. On the subject of muddy hands, keep a rag tucked in your pants, it will be a saviour if you put a hand in the mud and need to clean them off before you get moving again.
Handguards work wonders when aiming to keep the mud off your grips and hands.
Get A Grip
If possible, a set of soft terrain or mud tires will be invaluable. It may seem a little over the top for your Average Joe, but keeping a set in the shed and whacking them on if you know you’re going to be tackling a sloppy weekend won’t seem so silly when you’re roosting past you’re mates as they slip and slide on their standard hoops.
A mud tyre is an obvious addition to help you drive ahead in the mud, as this Rockstar Motul Suzuki tyre proves before Brisbane Super X.
Shine It Up
Using a silicone-based spray on all plastics is another great idea, especially under the fenders and similar places that commonly build with mud. It will stop mud sticking as easily as it otherwise would, and it makes the mud heaps easier to hose off when it comes time to wash your muddy steed.
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