The episode uses “rider skills toolbox” as a framework: instead of treating the dab as a panic reaction, you should think of it as one technique among many for staying balanced and controlling the motorcycle. It emphasizes skill selection—choosing the right recovery method before you reach a true last resort.
Smart Performance Center is the training organization Clinton Smout works with. In this segment, they’re the source of the riding-skill advice being shared.
Here, “balance” means keeping the bike steady and controlled. The episode suggests you can get better at it with practice instead of just reacting at the last moment.
The GMC Yukon is a large SUV that’s meant to carry several people and lots of stuff. For a long trip, it can help you bring gear and supplies with you instead of making multiple stops or traveling light. That’s likely why it’s mentioned in a story about a week-long riding trip.
Car
Honda XR650
Honda’s XR650 is a tough, off-road-friendly motorcycle that’s meant for dirt roads and trails. The host mentions it as one of the older bikes they had on the trip.
A carburetor is the part that mixes fuel with air so the engine can run. If a bike has been sitting, dirt can collect in the tank and then get pulled into the carburetor, making it run badly.
An electrical short is when wires or connections accidentally connect in the wrong way. That can make the bike act up—like stalling—because the electrical system isn’t behaving normally.
A kill switch is the switch you use to turn the bike off fast. In this story, the host opened it up to check whether it was causing the stalling problem.
A wire harness is the motorcycle’s main bundle of wires that connects all the electrical parts. They inspected it closely because a hidden wiring problem can cause weird stalling behavior.
A relay is like an electrically controlled switch. It can turn certain circuits on or off, so if a relay is faulty or wired oddly, it can make the bike shut down at the wrong time.
Tire irons are the tools you use to help remove and install a motorcycle tire on the rim. They give you leverage so you can get the tire bead over the edge of the wheel.
Here, “lube” means a slippery substance used when mounting the tire. It helps the tire’s edge (bead) move and seal properly on the rim when you inflate it.
Wedges are little blocks used to hold the tire in place while you’re mounting it. They make it easier to get the tire edge onto the rim without fighting it.
The bead seats when the tire’s edge snaps into place on the rim. That’s when the tire seals correctly, and people often hear a little pop when it happens.
Concept
power of the DAB
“DAB” means quickly putting a foot down to steady the bike when you’re going very slow. The point is that doing it on purpose helps you catch balance instead of panicking.
Counterweighting means moving your body weight the opposite way the bike is falling. At slow speeds, that body shift can keep the motorcycle from tipping over.
Threshold braking means braking as hard as you can without the tires losing grip completely. The goal is to stop quickly while still keeping control of the bike.
A stoppie is when you brake hard enough that the front wheel stays down and the back wheel lifts up. It’s a balance trick that has to be done carefully so you don’t go over the handlebars.
Car
WR 250 Yamaha
The Yamaha WR 250 is a small, lightweight bike designed for dirt and trail riding. Here it’s the bike the rider used while practicing a stoppie.
A skid plate is a protective plate under the bike that helps prevent damage if you hit the ground or rocks. It’s like armor for the bottom of the motorcycle.
Slow-speed riding is when you’re going slowly enough that the bike doesn’t “stay up” as easily. That’s why balance and body position matter a lot more at low speeds.
Term
peg waiting
Peg waiting is a technique where you use your feet/pegs to help you time your weight shifts. It helps the bike feel steadier when you’re doing slow, tricky moves.
A throttle lock is a gadget that keeps your throttle at the same setting. Instead of constantly holding your hand in one position, you can set it and relax your grip for a while.
This means the device does a similar job to cruise control. If your motorcycle doesn’t have cruise control from the factory, a throttle lock can help you keep things steady for longer.
Overland Expo Mountain West is an overlanding/adventure-riding event that includes classes, demonstrations, and hands-on training. In this segment, it’s presented as a weekend activity with practical motorcycle skills.
An “ADV skills area” is a special area at the event where adventure riders practice useful skills. Think hands-on training instead of just watching demos.
This is learning how to change a motorcycle tire when you’re out on the road, not in a garage. It matters on long trips because flats can happen anywhere, and you need to be able to handle it yourself.
Roadside repairs are things you can fix on the spot if your bike has a problem while you’re out riding. The goal is to handle common issues without needing a shop right away.
Handlebar turning just means turning the handlebars to steer the bike. The key idea here is that at low speeds, steering can upset your balance, so you need smooth, controlled movements.
Peg steering is a way of turning using your feet on the foot pegs and shifting your body, not just twisting the handlebars. Riders use it to help the bike stay balanced when moving slowly.
Body shifting means moving your weight on the bike on purpose. When you steer at slow speeds, your balance changes, so riders use body position to stay stable and keep the bike tracking where they want.
Speed changing just means adjusting how fast you’re going. On rough or slippery trails, changing speed slightly can help the bike stay under you instead of getting wobbly.
Loose terrain means the ground isn’t solid and the tires can slip more easily. Dirt, gravel, and sand can make the bike feel unstable, so you have to be careful with speed and throttle.
Big wheel spin happens when the tire starts spinning but the bike doesn’t move forward as much. It usually means the surface is slippery and the extra throttle is overpowering the tire’s grip.
Motorcycle trials is a riding style where you go slowly and carefully over obstacles. The host is saying the “foot out” position is a balance trick riders use in that kind of riding.
Term
V
The “V” is a way to visualize where your body should be relative to the bike during a turn. It’s about balancing your weight so the bike doesn’t tip over.
The front axle is the part that supports the front wheel. The host is saying that shifting your weight toward that front area helps the front tire grip the road better.
Traction means how well the tires can grip the ground. The host is saying that shifting weight helps the front tire get more grip so the bike doesn’t slide.
A "foot dab" is when you quickly touch your boot to the ground to stop your bike from tipping over. It’s a quick stabilizing move to help you get the bike back under control.
The "side stand" is the kickstand that holds the bike up on the ground. The point here is that if the bike is still leaning like it’s on the stand, it can be harder to move off smoothly.
It’s a training method instructors use to help beginners start moving on a motorcycle. The idea is to set your feet and body up in a safe, repeatable way while you get the clutch working and start rolling.
The clutch is the lever you use to smoothly start the bike moving. It helps you connect the engine to the wheels so you can roll away without stalling.
A foot peg is the small platform where you put your foot on the motorcycle. Beginners use it to steady themselves while they learn how to start and move.
Trials riding is a type of motorcycle riding where you try to get through obstacles carefully. Instead of racing fast, you focus on staying balanced and not making errors. Riders often go through short “sections” with things like hills and logs.
Observed trials is trials riding where someone watches you closely and scores what you do. You ride a specific obstacle course section, and mistakes like putting a foot down get counted. It’s not just about getting through—it’s about how cleanly you do it.
Term
terrain is in a section
In observed trials, the route is split into small challenge areas called sections. Each section has obstacles like a hill or a log, and you try to get through it cleanly. The rules and scoring apply to each section separately.
In trials riding, a “minder” is the person who watches you and keeps score. They stand near the obstacle section and look for mistakes. When you dab, they record it so you know how many errors you made.
In this context, leverage means how much your position helps you control the bike. If you’re too close, you can’t push or catch it as effectively; if you’re farther, you can apply more helpful force.
Lean angle just means how much the bike is tilted. More tilt means the bike is closer to tipping over, so your foot dab and body position have to match that situation.
A locked knee means your leg is straight and firm. The idea is to keep your leg stiff enough to support the bike when you dab, not loose like it could collapse.
Term
upper body
Your upper body position matters because it helps you balance the bike. The speaker is saying to move your body in a coordinated way with the dab so the bike comes back upright.
Term
hips
Your hips are a big part of how you shift your weight. Moving them the right way helps you keep the bike from falling and helps you bring it back upright.
They’re using a simple analogy: think about kicking a soccer ball to show the direction your foot should move. The goal is to get your foot out of the way so the bike doesn’t hit your leg.
Cyclops Adventure Sports is a company that makes aftermarket lights for adventure bikes. The host is saying their lights are designed to be both brighter and tougher for riding on rough roads.
“Full flex blinkers” are turn signals made to bend when they get hit. That way they’re less likely to break the first time you brush a branch or obstacle off-road.
Running lights are lights that are on whenever you’re riding, not just when you signal. Here, the same units can provide white visibility lights too.
Term
red running and then brake lights
On the back, these lights can act like normal red lights while you ride, and then brighten when you brake. That makes it easier for drivers behind you to understand what you’re doing.
Auxiliary lights are extra lights you add to your bike beyond the main headlight. They help you see farther or better, especially on dark roads or trails.
LED headlight bulbs are aftermarket replacements that use LED technology to make the headlight brighter. The goal is better visibility at night compared with older bulb types.
“CAN bus ready” means the accessory is made to plug into the bike’s computer network. That helps avoid electrical problems like warning lights or blinking that can happen with simpler aftermarket parts.
IMS Products makes aftermarket parts for dirt and adventure bikes. In this segment, they’re mentioned for their foot pegs that help you control the bike better off-road.
“Painted lines” are the markings on a parking lot that you can use like a track. Riding along them helps you practice staying steady and controlled at slow speeds.
Term
two fingers
Using “two fingers” means you pull the clutch lever with just a couple fingers. It can make it easier to control the clutch smoothly when you’re going very slowly.
This means quickly twisting the throttle open and then closing it. Doing that abruptly can make the bike lurch or feel unstable, particularly when riding slowly.
Term
creative V
“Creative V” sounds like a specific coaching nickname for a body-position trick. Here it’s describing how you move your weight when the bike leans so you can stay balanced.
A tank bag is a bag strapped onto the motorcycle’s fuel tank for carrying gear. It can also act like a handy surface to brace against when riding gets rough or visibility drops.
A “dab” is a quick foot-down move to keep the motorcycle from tipping over. It’s a common off-road trick when the bike starts to slide or fall, like in soft sand.
LIVE
A DAB is a last resort.
Now, you've probably dabbed before, most of us have.
The bike starts to go, the foot comes out, maybe it works, but that's often an instinctive
dab, maybe even a panic dab, and that's not really what it should be.
A DAB should be a tool in your rider skills toolbox, and according to Clinton Smout from
Smart Performance Center, it's not just poking a foot at the ground.
There's more to it than that.
But before you go to the last resort, there's other ways to keep the bike underneath you
to stay on top and stay balanced, and Clinton says that balance is something that we can improve.
Today on Rider Skills, the power of the DAB.
I'm Jim Martin, this is Adventure Rider Radio.
Stay with us, we get a good one for you.
Clinton Smout and you're listening to Adventure Rider Radio.
And Green Chilli Adventure Gear offers American made heavy duty luggage systems for all types
of motorcycles.
You can turn any dry bag into luggage using their strapping system.
And of course, Green Chilli Adventure Gear is tested in extreme weather and terrain to
withstand the abuse that Adventure Riding gives it.
Tough, reliable gear, GreenChilliADV.com.
Now for another Adventure Rider Radio Rider Skills.
Rider Skills is a program we developed here at Adventure Rider Radio designed to give
you tools that can improve your riding skills both on and off road.
Now, of course, these segments are not meant to be a substitute for professional training.
These are ideas and concepts that should you choose to try them, you're doing so at your own risk.
Today, we've got Clinton Smout back again from the Smart Performance Center in Ontario, Canada.
Clinton's been teaching for decades.
He's trained well over 130,000 plus students.
He's a certified BMW instructor and is the owner and founder of the Smart Performance Center.
Clinton, welcome back.
Hello, Jim. How are things with you?
Very good. And you're just back to work, aren't you?
You've been on vacation, haven't you?
Well, yes, a working holiday.
Yeah, right. I like to call it.
And what was that?
We did a trip up to the Alaska Yukon for seven days of riding.
So I was away for about 10 days.
But we cheat, if you remember, we put our bikes on a big truck.
I think there's 19 bikes.
We fly to the destination, unload.
I get there early with Clint, the leader.
And we check over all the bikes, make sure everything's safe.
Then all the participants arrive and then off we go.
It's all motels.
It's very civilized.
And we do three days in Alaska and the rest of the week is in the Yukon.
My job is the fella at the back.
So I carry a lot of tools with me because I'm not just working on my bike.
There's quite a variety of bikes, including
vintage Honda XR650, which I've had those bikes 20 years ago and they're
30 years ago. They're fantastic machine.
But this one had had a troubled life.
And you can agree or not, I think he may have brought it.
A nice fellow named John.
Thinking and knowing there was a brand new Kovey 450 rally as a spare bike.
So we managed to get his bike through the first day of riding.
And then sadly, he ran out of gas.
And when we do that, if you have a carburetor, any dirt at the bottom
of your tank that's been sitting there forever gets sucked into the carburetor.
So we had to take the car off and clean it with very basic tools.
And so we got one day out of it.
And then this bike, it developed the most bizarre thing.
It worked great going straight or turning left.
So if you turn right, it stalled.
It was an electrical short of some kind.
And I could not find the short.
I mean, hours of effort.
You know, I took the kill switch apart, checked every fitting.
I cut the sheath off the entire wire harness and I couldn't find anything wrong.
So it did the trip in the back of the sweep truck and John got a brand new
Kovey rally 450 to ride, which, you know, he didn't mind that.
But I guess not.
So you sure you didn't see a relay in there somewhere with some sort of switch
he could switch on to kill the bike?
I don't know what it is.
You're going to have to give me that new bike to ride.
That's right.
So it worked out really well for John.
But that meant if anyone else had had, you know, an issue, there was a fellow
that had a crash and the bike was a little bent up and had an oil leak.
So that took me hours to fix because otherwise that guy's riding in the truck
because the spare bike was already gone.
So there was a lot of I think I did five tires, 34 participants on the tour.
And then, you know, we're on the Dempster.
I'm not going to walk by or drive by a guy in the side of the road.
So these two fellows were frustrated.
They're very close to this hotel we use on the Dempster highway.
And that's a rough road.
And they had a flat tire.
They actually ran over a bolt.
So the tire smoked.
Yeah.
And they they had tools, but they had little short tire irons, you know,
the length of the pencil.
And I can't use those.
There's no leverage.
So they were really struggling putting the tire back on after they put a new tube in it.
And so I pulled over and said, hang on, guys, I've got I've got some tools
and I use that magic lube I love to lube up the tire.
And I put it on with my hands and then closed it with the big levers.
And they were just astounded.
Where did you get those levers?
Lube makes all the difference.
I mean, levers do too, but lube makes all the difference.
Did that tire that you said they hit the bolt,
did that blow out or just leak air?
It ripped.
Yeah, there was a little rip in it, but it punctured the tube and he had a spare tube with him.
Did it go out faster?
Was it a blowout?
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah, definitely.
He didn't crash luckily.
But when I pulled up, you know, the tires lying over and it's side,
he only had a side stand, no center stand.
So I was telling him tricks that we've talked about.
You could have used a strap, tie it to your buddy's bike, whatever.
But we got it fixed.
But one other fellow and at this rally they host in Dawson City.
He'd driven up from Texas and his tire was absolutely bald.
There was just knobs on the edges.
So I guess it would have been OK, cornering.
But and he goes, I don't understand it.
I've used this tire before and they've lasted a lot longer.
And then I thought his bike was so loaded up with camping gear and the kitchen sink.
I said, I think this might be a problem, but we carry spare tires with us.
New tires just in case some of the participants have trouble.
So I got a brand new tire TKC 80 and put it on.
And he was so happy because not only did I throw it on, we sold him the tire at the cost.
Oh, wow. So he there that could have been worth five or six times the cost.
Yeah. So he managed to get back.
But it was funny, his buddies are all standing around saying,
well, you'll never do it without tire irons.
And of course, that lube, I was determined if my fingers had broken, I would have put it on.
And then it was like three uses of the tire iron because I use wedges to keep the tire down on the rim.
And it's easy to close that way to get the tire under to keep the tire.
Yeah. So it was so funny.
And then with that loop, you know how a tire pops when you inflate it?
When the bead seats on each side usually hear a pop pop.
Well, that lube is so great.
It didn't pop because of the lube.
But one of his friends is saying, well, it can't be properly,
you know, fitted to the bead because I never heard it pop.
I'm like, trust me, that's it's perfect.
He's ready to go.
Well, what we're talking about today is the power of the DAB balance recovery and counterweighting.
All of this has to do with slow speed riding, right?
Yes. That's what we're dealing with this stuff.
At speed, the bike balances itself.
I saw a video not long ago of a guy in a racetrack.
And I wish I knew who it was now because some people will probably recognize this.
Although I think it's happened many times.
He almost high sides.
He gets flicked off the bike, but holds onto the handlebars.
The bike's going down the track.
He's off to the side skidding along.
He manages to compose himself and pull himself back on the bike.
Save it. And this was quite a drag, too.
I mean, he went on for some time, pulls himself back onto the bike and keeps riding.
Like just a spectacular save.
Right. Yeah.
But my point is, though, if the bike really needed us for balance at that point,
to that speed, the bike would have fallen over.
Right. So slow speed is the time where we have to work the hardest at maintaining balance.
Correct. Yes.
Another analogy or another story is related to me.
A police officer told me that he saw a rider be cut off.
He literally jumped up in the air at about 30 miles an hour, 50 kilometers.
He jumped up to get off the bike and was subsequently injured,
his ankle when he landed, but otherwise unhurt.
The bike went perfectly straight for a long, long time.
The car that cut him off had cleared the intersection.
So this riderless bike's going straight down the road until it lost momentum
and then slowly leaned over and fell on the curb and the grass at the side of the road.
Very good damage.
But that gyro of our wheels turning once we get and I don't know what the speed is,
but for me, it seems below 10 kilometers an hour, six miles an hour.
The rider has to be the balance input because it will wobble and fall.
OK, so let's start talking about balance.
Actually, let's start talking about our own personal balance and how our balance,
our ability to balance can be improved through practice, much like we do with the
other skills that we practice for riding a motorcycle.
I know when I was young, I used to think that, you know,
some people had balance and some people didn't and you're sort of stuck with that.
And of course, I realized over the years that you can improve your balance.
Now, I know some people may be naturally better balanced than others.
That may be very possible, but you can improve your balance.
And I'll give you an example to illustrate this point.
I watched a video of you doing a stoppie.
I think it was on you were on a Husqvarna.
Oh, yes. OK. My point is, though, I mean, you didn't do that stoppie
on your first day out riding a bike.
Oh, that takes an incredible amount of balance.
You had to learn the craft of getting that bike up on that front wheel
and balancing it. Yeah.
That's something that you worked at, you learned and you achieved the skill for.
You've heard the story of how I learned that, though.
It was at a week long camp for kids who race motocross.
And the lead instructor, Lino, he taught us that if I can pass you
and then get on the brakes really hard, I'm going to get to the corner in front of you.
And so he taught threshold braking with front brake.
And what you do is kind of a push up on the handlebars.
And hammer the front brake in and the back wheel will come up.
Well, I'd never done that before.
You know, I was supposed to be there helping teach the novice racers,
but I was hooked on that.
I did it everywhere until on my own school.
I went up a hill quite quickly and my students were I thought way behind me.
And I thought at the top of the hill, you know, that'd be a nice.
I'm going to do one of those stoppie things.
Like I had a WR 250 Yamaha.
So I grabbed the brake, put it up in the air at the exact same time.
The second rider who was right behind me and I didn't realize smashed into the skid plate.
You know, I went over the bars, my bike's on top of me.
Then he and his bike were on top of me and totally my fault.
Like if he'd been hurt, I would have felt terrible, but there's no damage, no injuries.
But yeah.
So your, your point of view saw me do a wonderful stoppie on a Husqvarna.
There was outtakes, Jim.
I'm sure there was.
I was wondering when you were learning that, how many times you went over, like,
how much damage, how much carnage is there in learning to do that?
Yeah, you have to remember to let go of the brake once it gets up on its nose
because it'll come right over if you don't.
Yeah, you've got to be pretty not confident, comfortable,
because most people's reaction when you get into something like that
is just grip tighter.
We've talked about this before.
Yes.
You get on the front brakes, the back end starts to lift up.
What do you do?
You panic and you pull in tighter.
And of course, that's the end of you.
Yeah, you'll feel a little tap on the back of your helmet.
Right.
So can you walk us through how to do this on our adventure bike?
Yeah, I wish I could.
There are people I've seen at its pavement usually, so fantastic traction.
But they'll stand up great big GSA up on its nose, like way beyond my skill.
And I'd be scared of crashing it because it's it's expensive.
Oh, big time dirt bikes crash.
Great. Yeah.
But it's expensive and it's heavy.
And of course, your potential for being injured, of course, much, much higher.
Exactly.
So I wanted to talk a bit about learning that sort of a macro level for balance.
My example is and I've said it before, when I watch you move bikes around,
for instance, because you move them every day, you're always dealing with them.
There is a grace and a balance that you have.
I would say confidence, but that makes it sound like an arrogance thing.
But it's not so much confidence.
Like, you know where the bike is, you know, the balance point of the bike,
regardless of the bike into two, and you stay within that as you're maneuvering it.
And that's not something you were born with.
That's something you've learned to do.
Yeah, I'm I would say I can do it.
But I was visiting my son who works in a BMW dealership in Toronto.
And he had to move some bikes around.
And, you know, I watched the kid grow up at the school I work at.
And I thought, holy crap, how does he do that?
So he was in front of the headlight facing the bike.
He picked it, picked it up off the side stand
and just holding the handlebars and walked it backwards, very confidently
in their showroom and eased it in between two other bikes that were already parked there.
Right.
You know, he didn't put the side stand up so he just elevated it.
But as he turned, he slid it into the last spot and just let go and walked away.
And I think, wow, I can't do that.
I couldn't do that.
That's the other spot I see it as a dealership.
Because I guess they're moving the bikes in and out every day, often with dealerships.
Full time.
Take them out from the inside.
They put them out and at the end of the day, they're taking them back in.
That's right.
And that moving around makes them so graceful.
That's what showed your son something that he couldn't even learn at your school.
But also he's on flat, hard ground where your school is all dirt there.
So it makes a difference.
But he's obviously developed that intimate connection with the balance point of the motorcycle.
Yeah.
So I was thinking about these indicators, recognizing that balance point, because
recognizing that balance point, what you described, your son just did at the dealership.
That will help you when you actually get on the bike, because the better we are,
the more we learn that balance point that improves skill is going to affect how we ride at slow speeds.
Correct?
Yes.
Big time.
So maybe right before we get into talking about all the different maneuvers, balance, recovery and
counterweighting that we're going to do.
Can you list all the ways?
This is a skill test for you, Clinton.
Can you list all the methods that we use?
Would you call the methods that we use?
Yeah.
Okay.
I think the method is good.
List all the methods that we use to balance, recovery and counterweight.
Yeah.
If I think of it, you could break it down into peg waiting, steering the bike, your body shifting on the
bike, accelerating.
And the last two would be either just before a dab, hanging your boot out will help.
Or the actual dab, your foot touches temporarily.
Oh, when you say hang your boot out, it's kind of like what you see like in a trials thing where they're
bounced the bike.
Yes.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
So I noticed you listed the dab at the end.
Why is it at the end?
Well, just before you crash, sometimes the dab will save you.
It's just a little push off, gets the bike back up, regains the balance and you continue.
So it's our last resort sort of thing that we can do.
Okay.
Yes.
Well, let's just go through these before we get into the dab, before we talk about the
dab, because I really want to talk about that.
So let's just go through them one at a time and maybe just give a, like a very quick description
of what we're talking about here.
Just take one at a time.
Yeah.
So peg steering works best if you're standing up on the bike.
So you've got a good perch hanging onto the bars loosely, two fingers over the clutch, your
boots, you're in kind of a position where your feet aren't flat.
It's more your balls, your feet are on the pegs.
And what we've taught works so good.
People's eyes open.
They can't believe it.
When standing up on a slow moving motorcycle or a fast one, if you lean weight into your
left boot by moving your knee cap forward, kind of like downhill skiing, the motorcycle
will turn to the left.
Leaning on the right peg, it'll turn to the right.
It's funny when you're used to doing that, of course, it seems so obvious, but just as
you're explaining it there, I'm thinking, I can imagine this could be sort of a tough
concept for somebody when they're first learning to ride in dirt.
Oh yeah.
They're questioning this guy's an idiot.
What's he talking about?
I'm standing on the pegs.
How can I wait one?
And yeah.
Yeah.
So stage one of that practice is we ask them to take their right foot completely off the
peg.
So now all of their weight is concentrated on the left foot peg and the bike turns.
Right.
And then after a little while, we say, OK, if you're watching the races in the Dakar,
people are not taking their boot off the peg to stand and turn.
So you can move your knee cap forward and that concentrates the weight on one foot or the other.
So.
The back country discovery routes offer some incredible riding opportunities, but some
of the most exciting routes can be difficult to ride.
And this is where Emmaus Moto Tours comes in.
Emmaus Moto Tours specializes in the back country discovery routes.
It's owned and operated by a very enthusiastic adventure rider and guide named John Sirbassi.
John is on every trip that Emmaus Moto Tours runs.
Every single trip.
The owner, John is the lead guide, while Jim is the sweep rider.
Now, the reason that John is on every ride really is steeped in his reason for starting
Emmaus Moto Tours to begin with.
It's to share his passion for these places along the back country discovery routes and
the ride itself.
Emmaus runs with small groups of up to 10 motorcycles.
And John says their detailed planning is what makes riding the back country discovery
routes easier and more fun.
Emmaus Moto Tours.com.
That's E M M A U S Moto Tours.com.
And tell me you heard him here on adventure rider radio.
Emmaus Moto Tours.com.
So last summer I was on a loaner bike, nice bike, brand new, plenty to like about it.
But within minutes on the highway, I was missing one thing, my Atlas throttle lock.
That's when it hit me how much I actually use it.
Not because I'm doing huge freeway or highway miles every day, but because any time the
road opens up, it gives my throttle hand a break.
And once you get used to that, you really notice it when it's gone.
The Atlas throttle lock holds your throttle position with the push of a button.
And what I like about it most is just how natural it feels.
Thumb on, thumb off.
If you need a little more or less throttle, you just twist and it holds the new position.
Atlas calls it a cruise control alternative.
And that's exactly what it is for bikes that don't come with a cruise control.
It installs a minutes, fits on most bikes.
And it's one of the few things that I would want to move from bike to bike.
Atlas Moto.com is the website.
Anytime you deal with them, throw in this, you heard them here on adventure rider radio.
Atlas Moto.com.
Overland Expo Mountain West is coming up this August 21st through 23rd at the ranch
in Loveland, Colorado.
You can go for the day, but really this is the type of thing you want to make a weekend out of.
Ride there, camp there.
When the sun goes down, you're still there immersed in it, talking with people who are
actually doing it.
They've got classes, demonstrations, the motorcycle village, moto camping, ADV rider classes and workshops.
They have an ADV skills area.
So they do practical sessions on things like motorcycle maintenance, roadside repairs,
tire changing in the field.
That's important.
That's the real value of something like this is hands on.
You know, you get to see the vendors, talk to them right there, ask questions,
see what other people are doing.
Overland Expo Mountain West, August 21st through 23rd, Loveland, Colorado.
Get trained, get outfitted, get inspired, get going.
Overland Expo.com.
And make sure when you're dealing with them, make sure you tell them you heard them here
at adventure rider radio.
Overland Expo.com.
OK.
Well, what's the next one?
A steering.
So in a balanced sense, if you can turn and put emphasis on handlebar turning, this is
an addition or an alternative to peg steering.
At slow speeds, turning, obviously, balance will rear its head because you're putting
the bike out of balance because you and the biker now leaning to the left, let's say,
in our left turn.
And you've got to compensate, which leads into the third thing we wanted to talk about
was the body shifting.
So steering will affect balance big time.
Yeah, steering will even even in a straight line, though, right?
Because you think about riding a bicycle, you go along with a bicycle.
If people are going really slow, as we see them, we go in the bars back and forth.
Yeah.
So there's little steering inputs that you'll do with some experience.
You'll do it subconsciously.
And that way, when it as a big steering input change, that's more of a conceptual thing
you're thinking, but OK, I've got to push on my right hand to get the bike to turn left
here at slow speeds.
But in a straight line, a lot of that's done subconsciously.
Just intuitively.
It's funny because you do that with a bicycle.
If you think back to learning to ride a bicycle, you didn't really have to be told which way
to turn the bars to balance.
It was automatic.
You just learned it instantly.
It's an interesting thing that the human brain picks that up automatically.
The next one you said was body.
That's when we use a lot in dirt.
Oh, especially off-road.
So if you watch the police who are performing their parking lot maneuvers, there's like
500 pylons and they're whipping through them without touching the pylons.
They're very stiff and upright on the bike.
You don't see them counterbalancing or leaning, but that's dry 100% traction
pavement with brand new tires.
Now you take that rider and that bike off-road into gravel or a little bit of grass or sand.
When you turn hard to the left, the front wheel wants to wash out because it loses
traction with a steering input.
It wants to wipe out and it drifts to the right, which means the bike falls over towards
the left and the rider has to either crash or put their left boot down in that dab.
We'll talk about later.
So the terrain under our tires has a huge effect on balance.
And subsequently we've got to shift our body to compensate, which is a new skill for a
street rider coming into off-road.
Now, the next one you said was, I think, did you say acceleration or speed change?
Speed changing.
So with balancing, sometimes you can give it a shot of throttle when it feels like it's
going to fall over, perhaps in a turn or just loose terrain and the bike's wobbling.
It feels like it's going to fall down.
If you can give it a shot, there's that old sticker on dirt bikes.
If you remember Jim, if in doubt, gas it out.
You know the, yeah, gas it out.
And sometimes that has relevance.
You can give it a little shot of throttle and acceleration will save the lack of balance
that whatever you were doing or on was created.
So yeah, speed can help.
Right.
It's funny because that saying makes it sound like it's something for an unskilled person
to use and what my thought, and you correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm thinking that's
something you should use as a skilled rider, not as an unskilled rider.
Does that make sense?
Because, because I think you can get yourself in real trouble.
Yeah.
And it's got to be used in moderation.
Like there's a point to where giving it a lot of throttle becomes a dumb idea.
Like you, if you give it too much gas, that could create big wheel spin.
Or if you're going too fast, that may make the problem worse, but we're talking
about the blips of throttle in saving a fall, for instance.
Now, the last one, last method you talked about was hanging your foot out like a trials thing.
Yeah.
So if you're turning left and it feels like the bike is going to fall over, hang your
butt off to the right.
You're creating that V we've talked about before.
So the bike leaning over is the left side of the letter V.
You and your body are the right side.
So the foot out is even accentuate your body mass going the other side even more.
Now, I'm not talking about, if you watch motocross racing or scrambles, it's often
called in Britain, they're going in towards a corner.
They will move their butt right up on the front of the gas tank, like near the front
of the seat.
Yeah.
And if they're turning to the right, you'll see, see their right leg and boot come out
level with the front axle of the bike.
They're not putting their leg out in case they wipe out.
That's a broken ankle or a knee injury.
What they're doing is just putting weight on the front axle to give the front tire
better bite, better traction.
Right.
What's dangerous is a rider who thinks that putting their foot out hovering above the
ground is a smart thing to do in case the bike falls.
But what we've actually created is an unbalanced situation because your leg and
boots 40, 50, 60 pounds, depending on your body mass.
Now it's hanging off the side of the bike.
That's not balance.
And if you do lose traction with the front or rear wheel and the bike tips over when
you're traveling at kind of any kind of speed above 15 kilometers an hour, when you
put your boot down, the rest of the bike in your body keeps going, doesn't it?
So that abrupt movement can cause ankle, knee, leg damage.
So hanging the leg out is not in case we're about to crash.
It's to balance the bike.
So I'm talking about your boot elevated well above the ground and you throw your leg
out and that's an additional counterweighting method.
So just to be clear, because usually use that example of a dirt race, somebody who's a
motocross racer or something putting their foot forward, the example that you're talking
about the times that we would use this, this method of using our foot is very slow speeds
and it's off to the side.
You're not talking about putting it in front.
No, off to the side.
Actually, yeah, great explanation.
So why did you like to me when you're saying that I'm thinking, well, isn't this body?
Isn't this using your body?
Why did you list that separately?
Well, it's just before the dab.
That's because that was the last point I was going to expound on is the foot out may help.
But then if the bike starts to fall over, putting a foot down, it might be the opposite foot.
A quick dab with your boot and it pushes the bike back up.
That may save the rider from falling.
OK, so let's let's break down this dab.
The first thing I wanted to ask you about the dab was, I think a lot of people
understand the concept of a dab, but what is a real dab?
Like, can you explain?
I know you started to write there, but can you explain when you use it and what it would feel like?
You don't have to go into how to do it or too much, but I just want to explain what the
perfect dab would look like, I guess, is what I'm after.
It's when you put your foot down and the bike doesn't crash.
That's perfect and you don't hurt your foot.
Right. But it's putting it down and holding it down.
No, it's a quick push off.
So it'd be like you're about to fall into a wall and you put your hand out on the wall
and push against the wall and it pushes your body mass back up right.
And you can balance again.
Now, on our motorcycles, a hand dab, you're already crashed.
You're not going to save that.
So this is what comes if the foot dab didn't actually work, then you might find something.
Which is probably a bad thing to do because you can end up with a broken wrist.
Or clavicle, the collar bone.
In any sport, running, snowboarding, skiing, football, soccer, when we fall, instinctively,
we want to protect our face.
Now, if you've seen a close up in me, Jim, you can see I failed at this measurably.
But we put our hand out instinctively to keep our head, which is really bad if it
suffers a big injury.
The collar bone will, you know, what's that six weeks and you're back riding or whatever
you wanted to do.
But that's the most common bone broke in the body because of that impact.
It literally breaks your fall, but breaks the bone.
So the foot dab is you're riding and you've lost balance.
The bike is falling to the left.
So your left boot comes out, not so much to hold the bike up.
A good dab is just traction for a second.
And with your leg and ankle and foot, you push back to the right, standing the bike back up.
So you save the crash by dabbing.
And it's kind of the last resort.
I would say that's a good dab.
A bad dab is people that are moving off.
They're sitting on their bike, but they don't really have fantastic clutch,
throttle, balance control.
So as the bike still kind of leaning over where the side stand used to be down,
they've got their side stand up.
It's not leaned properly.
And as they move off, they dabbed their boots six times before the clutches out and
it's upright.
That's a bad habit to get into.
That's a bad dab.
Yeah, I hadn't thought about that because the dab that you first described,
that's a distinct method to try and save something the last minute.
But the other one is almost like a panic thing where you don't even
understand you're doing it.
Yeah, you don't have the balance yet.
Where we see it a lot is when we're teaching, we call it the Roy Rogers start.
So your bike is on your right.
You're standing on the ground on the left.
It's running.
It's in first gear.
You got the clutch in a good way to get on.
If you're not really tall is put your left boot on the left foot peg,
like it's a stirrup on a horse saddle.
Then as you slowly let out the clutch and you have to be standing very close
to your bike, not a meter away.
As you let out the clutch, you simply move your right foot up in the air.
And the first couple of meters of travel, you're dangling your right leg on the left
side of the motorcycle.
Your only foot on the bike is your left.
Then you smoothly simply swing your leg around the seat over the seat and put
your foot on the right peg and then off you go.
And when people are learning this, what they'll often do is with their right foot,
they're not committed to lifting it up.
They're a little nervous.
So they'll do five dabs until the clutch engages enough that they think,
okay, now I can lift my leg up.
So that's a little sign of I'm not completely confident in how to do this yet.
But with encouragement and practice, we get it.
So it's no dab at all.
As soon as that right boot comes up, the clutch is engaging.
The bike pulls away and they swing their leg over.
So those aren't good dabs either.
That's a nervousness, balanced dab.
When you were describing the dab, I thought about paddling.
And for anybody who's done much paddling, you can probably relate to this.
Like for instance, either kayaking or canoeing.
If you were to start to go over, it's particularly if you're in rough water.
If you were to start to go over, you can use, which is basically the same thing
as this, a dab.
What you do is you have your paddle flat to the water and you do a fast slap.
So you're pushing down on the paddle, but not enough to, you don't slowly submerge
it. You're doing a fast slap and then a hip correct with the boat.
And you're saving yourself.
And it's the exact same thing as the dab, as a motorcycle dab.
I just thought of this as you were explaining it.
Yeah.
So anybody who's paddled, you can relate to it in that way.
What I wanted to ask you about the dab, it's okay.
So you described when we would use it, when should we not use it?
And what sort of precautions should we have in even thinking about dabbing?
Maybe you should start there with the precautions.
Yeah.
Things that can go wrong.
Well, the danger is even with a good boot on, when you're dabbing and the
bike is leaned over about to crash quite a bit, think of the weight.
It's your body mass on your ankle and your motorcycles leaning over.
So that can be enough to cause ankle damage or knee damage.
Or if the bike wipes out anyway, where's your foot?
It's not on the peg anymore.
It's under the bike because it was in the ground.
So yeah, definitely be very cautious when to use the dab.
And what you'll see if you watch trials riding, observed trials is the
terrain is in a section.
It might be go up a hill, turn, go over a log, come down the hill.
It would take you less than a minute to ride that section.
And in trials, there's a minder.
So that's a person standing there with a closed fist and they're
watching acutely your maneuvering through the section.
A dab illustrates a lack of confidence and balance.
And every time you dab, the minder, the person watching and scoring you
will put one digit up, one finger.
That represents one dab.
Every trials rider who dabs is frustrated and they're thinking to themselves,
you know what, I didn't really need to do that.
I could have saved it without that dab.
And so dabs are, should be that last resort and be very careful doing it on
big, heavy bikes because of the inherent danger of the bike falling on our leg.
When you do a dab, when you put your foot down at some point, is there a position
that you would say that is best for your foot?
Like, and one thing I'm thinking about is distance from the bike, because the
closer you are to the bike, the less leverage you have, the farther away
you are from the bike, the more leverage you have.
Yes.
And depending on the lean angle of the bike, that the reason you're dabbing is
because that bike's falling over to the right, let's say.
So your right boot may come out, push down with almost not a locked knee,
but you need your muscles in your leg stiff.
It can't be spaghetti like.
And as it touches, you kind of, kind of build your energy in a push off.
A dab is just a short time touch of the ground in a firm push off upwards,
coupled with your hands on the handlebar, moving the upper body and your hips to the left.
So coupled with your right boot on the ground, you should be able to stand
the bike up to the left and save it so you don't crash.
And at this point, we want to be also aware of, since we're in that position
where we're going to do this dab, that there's potential for the bike going down.
So we want to be able to pull our foot out of the way.
Yes, if you can.
Because once it gets past the dab doesn't save you.
Kick a soccer ball is what we tell little kids.
We'd much rather the bike hit the ground rather than hit your leg and then the ground.
Do you automatically do that?
Do you put your foot forward rather than back when you're when you're trying
to pull your foot out away from the bike?
Out to the side, I think forward into the side is that kick.
Right.
See and be seen.
That's Cyclops Adventure Sports.
But what I like about Cyclops is that they don't just make your bike brighter.
They make it tougher and smarter as well.
Take their tough light, full flex blinkers, for instance.
These are turn signal replacements built for adventure bikes.
They're mounted on the spring loaded flexible stock.
So instead of snapping off the first time your bike hits something or a branch
smacks against them, they bend and spring right back.
That alone makes sense.
But they do more than just flash as signals up front.
They become white running lights.
And in the rear, they add red running and then brake lights as well to your
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One of the first things I change on a motorcycle is the foot pegs.
Because when you stand up off road, the connection between your boot and the bike
matters, the leverage, the control, IMS products, foot pegs, give you that leverage
and control and a larger platform that makes them just feel better all round riding.
It's a simple mod, but the difference is absolutely huge.
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OK, so the times that and all this is at slow speed, you're talking about.
Yes.
Like, is there terrain where we want to be really careful?
I mean, like, yes, talk about that.
Well, it won't be much help in mud because your boots just going to slide out.
And you'll do you'll do the splits, Jim, that you didn't know you could do.
Like a gymnast.
It might not recover from.
Yeah.
So a dangerous dab is in heavy, rocky area, you know, big enough boulders
because that's an ankle injury.
If it does fall over or you kind of get in amongst the boulders as you dab,
but your body and bike keeps going and your boot gets trapped behind the boulder.
That can be very serious.
Yeah.
Sand, the boot has to move through the sand.
It usually moves.
If you're putting your right foot down, it continues moving once it touches
the surface of the sand.
It continues moving to the right before you get into the more denser part of the
sand, maybe a few inches below the top.
And that can cause the splits as well.
And the bike may lean over even more.
So terrain does have an impact on how successful your dab will be or not.
So, OK, the dab is a last resort.
If I find myself using it a lot, does that tell me anything?
Do I need to work harder on the rest of my skills?
Yes.
You know, try tennis.
Don't give it up at that point.
I'm not about to say that.
Yeah.
We've sometimes thought it, but yeah.
But it just as the just in trials, a dab is often illustrated of poor balance
and control and confidence.
Confidence is huge in this.
There's some psychology to it.
So if you try really hard not to dab, maybe it was with a shot of throttle
and let the clutch out that stands the bike up, then you don't have to dab.
But that comes with experience.
It takes a little nerve to be counterintuitive because who would think,
you know, I'm about to fall.
Oh, give it more gas.
Yeah.
That's insane if you were thinking of it.
But it really works sometimes.
So more of a novice person in slow speed, you know, balanced challenges will
struggle more about giving it a shot of gas.
They're probably more likely to dab more often than an experienced rider.
Okay.
Well, this has been great.
I love talking about this kind of stuff because I find it helps me understand
things better.
Yeah.
The more I know about the background and how things work, I feel like I
understand the systems better and I know what I need to work on.
So if there was one thing that we could work on as far as our balance goes,
right at the very basic level, what would you point us to?
To practice attaining better balance.
Yeah.
I'd say to work on balance, not so much the dab, of course.
Move off on pavement first.
This is kind of a homeworky thing.
Try, if there's painted lines in a parking lot, try to ride on the painted
lines as long as it's not wet or place a board in a field or in a parking lot and
try to ride the little board.
If you go through it fast, it's much easier.
So challenge yourself, go as slow as possible, utilizing riding the clutch
with two fingers, drop your speed down, and that makes balance a lot harder.
Then try turns, big circles and make them tighter and tighter.
And the secret there that we've talked about before is three key things.
Ride the clutch to control the speed and first gear.
Because if the clutch is out, first gear is the hardest to ride smoothly, isn't it?
It's very choppy on and off the throttle, especially big bikes.
So if you take that snap away from the throttle by pulling the clutch in a little
and you're not going to hurt the clutch as long as it's not revving highly.
Step number two, you've got to get your eyes looking in the direction you want to go.
So turns are harder to balance than straight line.
So when turning, turn your head.
If you're in your car, you're looking through either a driver or passenger door
window, doesn't matter what part of the world you're on.
So your chin is almost on your shoulder, looking in the direction that you wanted to go.
And step number three is what we've addressed earlier, creative V.
If the bike is leaning to the left, you got to hang your body off to the right.
So if you're seated, both cheeks of your butt are off the seat to the higher side of the motorcycle.
Because the lower side is leaning to the left.
If you're standing, shift your hips, shoulders, eyes in the direction you're going
and you hang off the bike.
And that will really help you in loose terrain, maintain balance.
Well, Clinton, that was great fun.
Thank you very much.
But before you go, I want to ask you one last question, because you said you've been
an instructor for something like 40 years.
So can you tell me when was the last time you dabbed?
Oh, my goodness.
Up in the Yukon.
How long have I been home a week?
So probably seven days ago, we were warned by riders coming south.
One guy with a cast on.
Oh, he's.
Yeah, he broke his wrist in a sandy section on this road called the Dempster Highway.
It's a fantastic scenic vistas of mountains and lakes and animals in the far north of Canada.
And I've done it, well, I guess six times up and six times back.
So this is my seventh time up.
And this guy was in a truck being carried back down.
He got a rough, I say a cast.
It was bandaged all up.
And his bike was on the back of some guy's truck.
And we pulled over for a little rest.
They stopped and he said, guys, 30 kilometers south of our destination, Eagle Plains, is
a big sandy section.
And he said, that's where I crashed.
And there's lots of people crashing.
We learned later that the proprietor of this little motel called Eagle Plains had called
in not one, not two, but three air ambulances to rescue injured riders in the past two weeks.
Wow.
And this section, I don't know why the sand was created.
I've never experienced it before.
But we warned all of the people that were with us.
Some had already gone through and we, they related later how they didn't see it.
They didn't notice sand is always a lighter color than darker gravel.
And they all wobbled, tank slapped, but managed to get through without crashing.
And so very lucky.
Now, as I approached the kilometer 30, a big truck was coming south with a pup on the back.
So they're like 80 feet long.
It hadn't rained in quite a while.
So the dust, I pull over and put my head down on my tank bag.
I can't stand riding through dust if I can't see.
And I did a video and I timed it.
It took eight seconds for the dust to settle enough that I could see anything in front of me.
So when I took back off, I was right in this sand.
So I lit the bike up.
I think I was in third gear accelerating up and I'm the last person in the group.
And I hit that sand and it was about a foot deep, very soft.
And my front end went steering, went to the left hard.
And at that speed, I dabbed, stopped it falling.
The bike stood back up.
I hit the throttle, powered through it and it went on my way to.
So that was the last time I dabbed.
And you save seven days ago.
It worked. I saved it.
I didn't want to get injured or drop my bike.
So thanks so much, Clinton.
That was great. I really appreciate it.
My pleasure. All the best.
Jim, take care.
Now, there's just one thing that Clinton said that I want to go back and underline
before we wrap up, because it's easy to think of the dab as just putting your foot down.
But what Clinton is describing is really a combination move.
Your foot goes down quickly, touches the ground for just a moment.
And in that moment, you use your leg, your body, your hips, your arms
and the handlebars to bring the bike back underneath you.
The foot isn't doing all the work.
It gives you a brief brace and you use that brace to flick the bike back upright.
Now, it's very much like the paddle brace that I mentioned earlier.
If you just lean on a paddle in the water, obviously it sinks.
But if you slap the flat of the paddle quickly against the surface of the water,
it gives you a momentary brace and then you use your hips to flick the boat back underneath you.
The motorcycle dab works in a similar way.
The boot gives you that momentary brace, but the recovery comes from what you do with that
using your body and the bars to bring that bike back underneath you.
That was Clinton Smout from the Smart Performance Centre in Ontario, Canada.
Now, we've got some photographs of Clinton as well as a link to his website.
His website is smartperformancecenter.ca.
They offer all kinds of motorcycle and ATV tours and training at their facility.
It is a world class facility set in an amazing place to ride.
Hills, trails, it's really, really special.
SmartperformanceCenter.ca.
This episode was brought to you in part by Green Chili Adventure Gear at GreenChiliADV.com.
Best rest products at CyclePump.com.
Anytime you're dealing with these companies or anything you hear on Adventure Rider Radio,
let them know you heard them here.
And this show is built on a model of advertising and listener support.
The combination of the two, we'd really appreciate it if you go to adventureriderradio.com and click on support.
Well, that wraps up another episode of Adventure Rider Radio.
Special thanks to our producer, Elizabeth Martin, and you.
Thank you very much for being a part of the show.
We really hope you enjoyed it as much as we did making it.
Now, if you like what we're doing here and like what we've been doing for over 12 years now,
think about it over 12 years.
I'm really kind of shocked when I hear myself say that.
But it's been over 12 years of doing this and over 10 years of doing raw.
Maybe a little more than that for raw.
I can't really say that.
Raw, maybe a little more than that for raw.
I can't remember now.
In any case, we've never missed an episode.
We are here for you to bring you entertainment and information and things that are that will
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All of that sort of stuff is what we strive for.
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It can be any amount.
Think of what you spend on incidentals.
What you get for those things like a cup of coffee or people eat many donuts nowadays.
I'm not really sure.
But in any case, and then think of what you get from adventure ride radio and raw that we do each month.
And, and, you know, well, it's up to you.
I would really appreciate it if you would check it out.
Anyway, time to get out there and ride your bike.
If you can, my name is Jim Martin.
Again, thank you for listening and I will talk to you next week.
Hi, I'm Jess.
And I'm Greg from Go Roughly and you're listening to Adventure Rider Radio.
About this episode
Clinton Smout (Smart Performance Center) breaks down why the “dab” should be a last resort and how better balance and counterweighting can prevent panic foot-outs during slow-speed riding. Using real-world tour stories—fixing flats with proper levers and tire lube, and troubleshooting bike issues—he sets up the core idea: at low speeds the rider must actively supply balance input. He argues balance is trainable, then ties it to learning advanced maneuvers like stoppies through practice, not talent.
Balance on a motorcycle is often treated like something a rider either has or does not have, but low-speed motorcycle balance is a skill that can be learned, practiced, and refined. Clinton Smout from SMART Performance Centre and host, Jim Martin, examine what happens when the bike slows down, how riders manage balance through steering, peg weighting, body position, acceleration, and foot placement, and what putting a foot down can reveal about motorcycle control, confidence, and riding skill.
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