There are two main types of bars, braced and unbraced. Braced (eg. Renthals) are usually cheaper and a thinner gauge than braceless (eg. Pro Tapers). The cross bar & main beam of your handlebars should form a direct line with your forks when you look down from

above. Dont have them positioned so that they obstruct your legs & knees whilst you are riding. Having wide bars that are in line with your forks makes it easier to adopt the ‘elbows up’ riding style.

Advice on positioning depends on style and preference. As a rule however you should be able to operate all hand/foot controls whilst sitting as far back on the rear mudguard as possible. This unusual position simulates being unsettled at high speed. Being able to reach controls is vital to staying on!!!

Your lever mounts should not be tightened fully so that they rotate if you crash, rather than snap.

Freeplay on your clutch & brake levers should be about 5-10mm. This avoids ‘riding’ the clutch & helps prevent arm pump.

Grips must be glued and lock wired on to avoid them slipping during a ride.

Many people use grips with no pattern on the top side to avoid blisters, ‘Donuts also help this’. Replace grips when worn.

See ‘Levers’ section.

Finding a comfortable and effective position to suit you should be found by small adjustments each ride.

Running tyre pressures too high/low increases the risk of punctures and reduce grip/handling to unacceptable levels.  You should run about 11-14 psi  in both your front & rear tyres. On a wet day,

drop pressures to 11psi. On a hard/rocky track keep your pressures at 14psi.

Off-road riding contains a lot of bumps so you need to have your suspension set up correctly.

You need to set your suspension so that it sags a certain amount when you sit on it. On a full-sized Motocross or Enduro bike the bike should sag 25mm under it’s own weight & 95mm when you sit on it. Use a measurement between the rear axle bolt & the seat bolt to see if your sag is correct.

The amount of the top of the forks poking out of the top fork mount affects

the bike handling. Having a lot of the fork showing means the front of your bike is lowered which makes the bike turn more quickly, but be more unstable at high speeds over rough ground. Having the top of the fork level with the top fork holder raises the front of the bike,

making it more stable, but turning slower.

The angle of your foot-peg is vital to riding well. Foot pegs sag down on the

outside after a lot of use. The footpegs need to sit up higher on the outside when viewed from the front or behind. To do this, take your foot-peg off & put a dab of weld on the bottom inside of the peg. Having your footpegs tilted up helps glue your knees to the seat/tank junction, which fast riders do.