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Wear protective clothing which includes: earplugs, sunglasses, helmet with visor or goggles, riding suit, gloves, kidney belt, back protector, boots. |
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Deactivate ABS brake system on dirt roads. |
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Ride only as fast and as far as you can see. |
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Always be on the lookout for wild animals as well as domestic animals. Slow down if animals are next to the roadside. A major cause of accidents is the sudden appearance of wild animals in the road. Where the road is narrow and visibility is poor, ride slowly. |
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Slow down if you are nearing a farmhouse or settlement. Danger of hitting animals and people. |
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Follow at a safe distance. Keep a proper dust gap. On dirt roads it is not pleasant to ride in another rider’s dust, so stay well clear at the back. |
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Keep headlights on .All riders put lights on dim except for the last rider who keeps lights on bright. The front rider will then be able to stay in touch with the last rider. By so doing nobody will get lost. |
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When riding on gravel roads always try to follow the hard tracks on the road. The loose gravel strips in between can make handling difficult. |
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If you want to cross from one “lane” to the other, stand up, accelerate and cross quickly from one lane to another. |
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When cornering on gravel roads, slow down before the corner, keep the body upright and lean the bike into the corner, accelerate slightly; look at the exit of the corner. Don’t look right in front of you. |
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If the bike starts to swerve from side to side, stand up and accelerate slightly. |
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Be careful for the inside of corners on gravel roads loose gravel builds up on the inside where you can lose traction. Try to stay in the middle of the road. |
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Never slow down in a corner, the bike will lose grip. Always slow down before entering a corner. |
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Look out for sand patches. Slow down before the sand, try to follow the smoothest track, stand up and accelerate, try to lean back a bit and look ahead of you (where you want to go). Use momentum to get through sand patches. |
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If you have to stop in sand, stand up lean backwards and use the back brakes. |
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If sand is very thick walk the bike through slowly. This could be necessary when crossing dry river beds which are common in Namibia. |
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When braking on gravel, use much more back brake than front brake. In case of a quick stop, stand up, look in front of you, brake hard with back brakes and then apply front brakes until just before locking. The idea is to brake as hard as you can, but avoid locking of brakes. |
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If you need to pass a vehicle on dirt roads, take your time and pass when you can see in front of the vehicle. Don’t pass when you have to ride blind through a dust cloud caused by the vehicle in front of you. |
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When you feel a sudden swerving of the bike,or any different feel, stop because you might have a flat tyre. |
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Lower tire pressure on dirt. On firm gravel deflate tires to half the pressure that you will use on tar roads. In thick sand deflate pressure to a quarter of pressure used on tar. |
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On dirt roads steering is done more with shifting the body weight on the bike and by doing so leaning the bike as well as using the throttle. When cornering or when in a difficult situation stand up and put the weight on the foot pegs, which will lean the bike easier. |
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Keep wheels perpendicular to the road surface. If riding on a slope lean the bike down slope to get wheels at 90 degrees with the surface. The whole bike can now slide down slope without slipping from underneath you. |
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When riding down a steep downhill section, start slowly and use the engine in low gear to stop the bike. Apply back brakes gently if necessary. Lean your body weight to the back. |
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When riding in very hot weather cover up properly to protect yourself against hot wind blowing over the body. Close all ventilation holes of your suit and helmet and protect your neck with a scarf. Hot air with temperatures higher than body temperature will increase core temp. When constantly having contact with the skin. This could easily lead to overheating and heat exhaustion. |
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Drink enough fluids while riding and make sure you drink before you get thirsty. If you are thirsty you have lost too much fluids already. This will lead to poor concentration, weakness and ultimately to heat exhaustion. You won’t be able to enjoy the ride unless you are well hydrated. |
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Ride on the left hand side of the road and pass on the right side of the road. Speed limits are : 120km per hour on tar roads, 60-80 km per hour on gravel roads and 60 km per hour in towns. |
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Observe road signs and react accordingly. |
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Watch out for road works ahead. Slow down and look out for sand skirting and soft sand caused by scrapers. |
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Don’t overtake a rider who stands up to ride because he can't see you in his rear view mirrors. |
