1) Dirt bikes help you develop a better “feel” for a motorcycle.
Driven by feedback from the clutch, brakes, tires, RPMs, lean angle and gear shifting your senses become overwhelmed. With all of these inputs its much easier to feel where the braking limit is, how much the rear tire can slide out and where the friction zone of the clutch is. Once you master using your senses as a guide to riding a motorcycle you have become “one” with your motorcycle.
2) Dirt Bikes are made to crash
I always tell people, it’s not” if you’re going to crash” or even “when you’re going to crash” it’s how many times are you going to hit the ground every time you get on the bike. For the most part you are falling into dirt or tumbling through bush at low speeds vs. falling on the pavement at high speeds and getting run over by a car. Want to explore new techniques or test your abilities to control a motorcycle? Do it on a dirt bike first, the consequences are much more forgiving.
Dirt bikes may crash easier, but you should still wear your gear
3) You can explore the limits of the tire and brakes
When forcing a machine to go fast, it is unavoidable to break the limit at least at some point. When we break the limit, our initial instinct is to panic because we have just suddenly lost control of the rear tire while going 120mph through a turn. So what riding in the dirt will do is give you a plan of action when you get yourself into this situation. Instead of panicking, you can stay calm and make minor adjustments to help you avoid the crash. You can stay calm because your dirt bike has put you in this situation 100 times before.
4) Dirt is a good place to start developing good visual habits
While riding through the woods, you regularly are traveling through different terrains. You will learn how to read the road naturally as you ride. In a matter of a short span, you could run into potholes, loose dirt, bumps, trees, rocks, animals and more out on the trails. Riding on the dirt will teach you how to scan the area ahead and create a course of action for each obstacle.
5) Many famous racers including MotoGP, Moto America, and World Superbike started out as flat track racers
Just to throw some names out there, Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez, Alex Marquez and Colin Edwards all started their racing careers on the flat track. Through flat tracking, they have been able to develop superior throttle control, braking and body position skills that quickly brought them to the top level of MotoGP.
Marc Marquez Racing Flat Track
Throttle control at its finest