In this situation you need a tire digging through the leaves and pass the top level of loose gravel. Why did the tires scare me? The road leading up to the bridges were loose gravel covered in wet recently fallen leaves. The other part was because my riding skills were not polished. Mind you, these tires were new with less than 500 miles on them. On the ride I mentioned earlier, I had a few scares partly because of the tires on the motorcycle. These tires perform poorly when taken off-road. While we do not have to agree, we are all on the same page knowing cruiser tires belong on the road. Selecting An Off-road Tire For Your Cruiser Know that you may need to brush up on them before you get there.

What is the surface of the trail, or road you will ride? Riding in mud, gravel, and sand all require different skills.

When riding earlier in the day, know the ground will take longer to dry since the sun will not be shining on it.

Was there coverage on the roads or trees along the side of the road? This plays an important role when riding off-road covered in shadows or leaves in the fall.

If you have ridden the same general area but on pavement, take time to recall what the elevation change was like.

Pull up a topographical map and see what the elevation changes look like.

When you think you might have a chance of going off-road study the landscape using the following points: I am still cleaning from my unexpected trip off-road. Search the web for Harley or cruiser off-road and you will find stories, pictures, and videos of highly modified motorcycles.įor the average rider, taking your cruiser off-road brings lots of surprises, scratches, and dents.

The point is, they do not design cruisers for off-road or spending much time off the pavement without lots of modification. The biggest challenge was not being able to stand up to shift weight around on the bike for better traction. The ride required adapting my dirt bike skills I learned as a kid for the cruiser. I wanted to get to two bridges in particular and had to navigate the steep hills to see them. What I did not expect was the pavement to end abruptly and to lose the nice riding surface. I expect to encounter loose gravel on the shoulder, rough roads, no shoulders, and pothole lots and lots of potholes. One of my favorite rides involves visiting covered bridges.

Where do you plan on riding your motorcycle cruiser? My first real encounter came by accident. How Terrain Affects Taking Your Cruiser Off-road Before you take your cruiser off-road, consider the following. Just how far you can take a cruiser off-road depends on many factors, and the skill level of the rider. Cruiser motorcycles will have a hard time navigating single track trails and riding in the woods, sand, and mud. The rider will be most comfortable and safer on dirt roads, compact gravel roads, and fire roads. Now I wonder how far off-road you can take a cruiser motorcycle.Ĭan you ride a motorcycle cruiser off-road? Yes, you can ride a motorcycle cruiser off-road. I never thought my motorcycle cruiser would travel off-road for many miles. Last fall I took a ride on my Harley that went from the pavement to off-road riding on gravel and dirt roads.

Best on off road motorcycle