Riding Motorcycles on Gravel: Find the Real Road Less Traveled.

I pulled over to the side of the road and dropped my kick stand. The weight of the motorcycle settled easily onto the asphalt. I leaned forward to rest my weight on the fuel tank, peering at the side road that meandered off to my right and up a mountain.

I usually don't spend much time stopping to think about which way I should go when I'm riding motorcycles, but this time was different. I really, really wanted to go up that side road. I had spotted it on a map a few days before - barely noticeable, switchback after switchback, the entire way up a mountain. It looked like it was one of those roads that you'd talk about with your buddies for a few weeks afterwards.

The reason for my moment of consideration was that this thin little beauty of a road was gravel, and I was riding my eight hundred pound Harley Davidson.

If you tend to shy away from gravel roads when riding, you are missing a whole new world of possibilities. Some of the most incredible places that I've found have been off some old gravel road that rarely sees a car, much less a motorcycle.

It's worth learning to be comfortable navigating a motorcycle on a gravel road.

I have a history with gravel roads and motorcycles. I grew up riding dirt bikes on gravel roads in Missouri. When I finally got my first road bike, there were two miles of gravel road between the house and the first paved road. I guess you could say my experience riding street bikes on gravel was a baptism by fire.

I've grown to become comfortable on gravel, whether it's on a dirt bike, sport bike, or an eight hundred pound Harley Davidson Road King.

What follows are a few pointers that I've picked up over the years riding gravel roads and a variety of bikes (including my current Harley Davidson Road King).

Note: If you're looking for tips on how to flat-foot through a gravel corner going 40 miles per hour, this article will be disappointing. I'm not going to cover some of the techniques used by the more "gravel and dirt oriented" dirt bike and dual-sport bike crowd. :)

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