Brammo Owners Forum
General => Off Topic => Topic started by: Xaero on October 02, 2012, 09:08:32 AM
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I just had a friend who hit gravel spot on pavement with his Shadow and lost it. He is ok (he bailed off when he knew there was trouble) but the bike itself went flipping down the road and took a lot of damage. He wasn't going to fast and was turning into an apartment complex.
If a dual sport had hit something like the above would the same happen?
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It is hard to tell. The rider has more to do with the bike handling safely on gravel than does the design of the bike - in my opinion. In any case, the biggest factor when riding over gravel, after the rider's experience and skill, is the tread on the tires. Aggressive tread really helps. Unfortunately, there are very few (if any) aggressive tread design tires in sizes that will fit a cruiser.
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I live on a gravel road an ride a Suzuki Vstrom and sometimes my wife's Suzuki C50 cruiser. I pretty much fly on the road with the Vstrom, but need to be more careful on the cruiser. Other than tire tread, the biggest difference is the ability to stand up on the Vstrom putting my weight lower on the bike. That said, I still would probably have issues if I hit gravel on top of pavement that I didn't see coming.
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Gravel on pavement is actually worse than gravel roads. Loose rock on pavement acts like ball bearings. It doesn't have anywhere to compress so it rolls, with your tire on top. Going straight over it isn't too bad, but trying to lean when it happens is a recipe for an accident.