Basic ATV Riding Techniques
Even the most professional powersports riders in the world were once beginners who had no idea how to operate an ATV. If you find yourself at the beginning end of the spectrum, it can be helpful to know some basic techniques to help make learning to ride your ATV easier and safer.
S&N MotorSports in Port Charlotte is your Florida ATV dealer. Below, you’ll find some helpful riding techniques that will let you master riding your ATV in no time.
1. Understand Your Machine
Before you hop astride your ATV and twist the throttle, browse the owner’s manual to make sure you understand where every part is on your machine and how all the controls operate. Sure, ATVs are not the most complex vehicles, but they’re different enough from cars and motorcycles that it’s good to cement your understanding of them.
2. Adopt the Correct Riding Posture
When riding an ATV, you’ll benefit from maintaining a straight-line riding posture. Keep your head and eyes up so you can always look ahead. Relax your shoulders and bend your elbows slightly away from your body. Clamp both hands on the handlebars and tuck your knees in towards the gas tank. Place your feet on the footrests and point your toes straight ahead.
In order to navigate twists and turns, you’re going to need to shift your body weight, so adopting a loose but steady posture on your ATV will help you with this.
3. Master Starting & Stopping
While riding in a straight line isn’t the most exciting thing you can do with an ATV, you’re going to need to know how to do that before you can turn. Set up some markers about 100’ from a starting point in your practice area, then ride your ATV towards them in a low gear. Use both the front and rear brakes to slowly and smoothly bring your ATV to a stop with the front tires on the markers.
If you have a manual transmission, you will want to practice shifting gears next; if you have an automatic transmission, you can start to speed up a little bit as you ride this practice route a few more times.
4. Turn, Turn, Turn
Turning is one of the more challenging parts of riding an ATV, but it’s also a crucial skill since you’re not going to find many long, straight stretches at an off-roading park or winding nature trail. In order to turn, you’ll want to shift your body weight to the inside of the turn (the direction in which you’re turning) while tilting your handlebars in that direction. Keep shifting your body weight as you complete the turn. If you feel the ATV begin to tip, lean further and reduce the throttle.
5. Attempting Inclines
Many ATV courses and riding areas are going to be hilly and you can’t attempt every single hill on your ATV. Some hills will simply be too steep to scale without flipping the entire vehicle over. Once you’ve determined whether a hill can be scaled, shift your ATV into a lower gear and speed up to give yourself momentum as you approach the incline, moving your body forward or standing up to place more body weight over the front wheels. If you can’t see what is on the other side of a hill, slow down until you can.
Ready to take a look at some models? Visit our dealership in Port Charlotte, FL, to check out our wide selection of new and used ATVs for sale. S&N MotorSports proudly serves our customers coming from Fort Myers, FL.