Off road tip of the Month- Traction control

I’d like to start this month off-road tip out, by giving all our readers a scenario to look at:

We were on our 7th day of the Best South African Roadtrip ever and on our way to look at the incredible viewpoint at Oribi Gorge. As always to road leading to this viewpoint, was not in the best condition. There were patches of thick sand here and there. Being the tour guide, it was my job to go first. My wife Anne had joined me for the tour and was my pillion. We had done lots of off-road training together and were quite used to standing up together while driving off-road.

Oribi Gorge- a great stop off on the Best SA Roadtrip ever

As we were driving along we suddenly hit a patch of thick sand- we both stood up, looked up and I proceeded to open up. But  the engine, didn’t give me any traction, it started spluttering and dying and the front wheel dug into the ground, and my wife and I ended up below the heavy bike with my 5 tourists lifting it off me! Luckily we were not injured, but, my pride was very bruised!!

The thick sand that we ended up swimming in

So what went wrong???

I could not understand what had happened. My motorcycle was in a low gear (2nd) and with that Low speed/gear ratio – my motorcycle should have had traction power to pull off though the sand!

And then it occurred to me that I had not switched off my traction control, before I attempted to go off road. On the new R1200GS you can set your traction control to  “Normal, off road or deactivated” I had left my traction control on “Normal”

Most modern bikes come out standard with ABS Brakes and also (lately) with ASC (traction control) The Latest Model R1200GS even has ESA (Electronic Suspension Adjustment) which is great as you can adjust your suspension at the touch of a button to prepare your motorcycle for anything from mild gravel roads to Enduro type mountainous conditions.

On your left handle bar you will find the buttons
that control your ABS, ESA and ASC

The Traction control (ASC) does not at any time allow the rear wheel to spin faster than the front wheel, therefore when my front wheel was digging into the thick sand, the ASC control would not allow my back wheel to power the motorcycle out of there, instead it just cut off the engine! What a disaster

Most Bikers are aware that it is important to switch off your ABS when going off-road as, failure to do so, could me having NO BRAKES!  Abs does not allow your wheels to lock. When trying to stop on off-road conditions, your wheels sometimes actually have to lock, and ABS does not allow this to happen.

The problem is that not a lot of bikers know to switch off their traction control, or to adjust it to “off-road mode”

So here is my tip for April: When riding off-road you should adjust your traction control. Whatever you do don’t leave it on “Normal” either turn it off or adjust it to off-road.

Off-road mode is much more subtle than normal mode, but in any case you should be aware that the bike does come with traction control and there are implications involved

A lot of these “extras” such as ABS, ESA and ASC are brilliant for on-road riding conditions. I cannot praise ABS enough for its incredible stopping power on paved roads, but as GS owners, we have to be aware of the implications of all of these mechanisms while riding off road.

So go out, play on your motorcycle, try to feel the difference in the different modes of traction control and as I always recommend- enroll yourself in an offroad course, so that you know exactly how your motorcycle works, because next time, it may not be just my ego that is hurt!

 

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April Newsletter Links:
April News | Trip Report 2009 | April off road tip | Vic Falls Tour
World Superbike Tour May |