Racing

400 Tips & Tricks | Part 20

Key Advice Every Rider Should Know

By Pete Peterson and The Dirt Rider Staff

November 9, 2016

The June 2016 issue marked Dirt Rider's 400th issue, and to mark the milestone we put together 400 tips that might save the day, or just make the day go easier. We thought we'd show them to you again online, ten at a time, to help instill the wisdom into your brain so when the time comes you hear an expert bit of advice in your head.

Note: Tips that came from a specific source will have an attribute listed. Tips with no attribute have been pulled from Dirt Rider's extensive library of content, including back issues of the magazine, dirtrider.com, and The Total Dirt Rider Manual. Enjoy!

400 Tips & Tricks | Part 20Dirt Rider

Buy spare levers before you need them.
After you wash your bike, blow everything off with air. New bikes have a lot of electronics, and water in the connectors is not good.
When you take a good part off your bike to replace it with an aftermarket unit, label it with a Sharpie with your bike's year and model.
Dragging the front brake in a rutted turn helps the fork stay compressed and also helps the tire turn sharp and stay low against the rut wall.
Two-stroke hard to start? Check your reeds, which can crack or chip at the corners.
The best mod for improving lap times is a set of good, fresh tires.
Use your trail pack at home. Change a tire with your trail pack to confirm you have all you need for a trailside repair.
If a boot buckle won't close, wipe a little spit on the pin.
Going to fully rebuild a wheel? Rims are not directly over the hub on all bikes. Lay the wheel on the ground and measure from the ground to the rim on both sides before you disassemble the wheel.
Use anti-seize on your brake pad pin's threads.