My Battle Wings are funky in the dirt and great on the road.
A lot of it though is ...YOU.
Apple and Oranges here but for comparison I watched some BMW GS boys doing the English trials at a rally some had Knobby tires too and a bloke on an old /2 with the panniers on and stock tires was besting a lot of them.
Remember, a few years ago there were not any paved roads and no purpose made knobbies. Folks just rode what they had all over Aus and the US like no big deal.
Arguably the more dirt oriented tires will make you feel more secure in the dirt but will have a shorter life on the pavement.

As those in the know have said its all about confidence,tyre pressures, practice and more practice.The more dirt you do the easier it all becomes.
Having said that,all my big whooops moments have all been from plain old lack of concentration when at cruising speed on the dirt,add concentrate to the list
I cant add anything to the Strom tyre debate as the Wee is still running stock.Dunlop 606s are amazing on the KLRs,at the right pressure they can be run anywhere.Anyone have them on a Wee ?
Cheers, Macca

Thanks guys. I truly appreciate all the feedback.

It seems my failed stunt in the forest came down to option 3 - I'm a crap rider.

Luckily the crash bars spared a lot of damage. I also have a fork brace but I gotta say that after putting it on I couldnt really notice too much difference.

Yep, practice is the key and maybe its time to fork out some sheckles and do a riders course. And I'll probably start by purchasing the off road DVD.

Thanks again.

Fess

The Strom is OK on smooth dirt but is a pig on loose gravel, a steering dampener is your best insurance on loose and deep gravel it will also control the tankslappers when the front bottoms on the corrugations. Stand up and keep a steady speed to stop it ploughing, roll off the power gently avoid sudden braking and downchanges. I've just got back from a 3000km 5 day jaunt around the Brindebellas and the NSW and Vic high country, drop dead beautiful but would have been a lot better on the dirt on a more appropriate bike.

When you're seated there is one combined cog (Centre of Gravity) but when you stand there are now TWO cogs: one is you, and obviously that's higher 'coz you is standing, the other is the bike's which is now much lower coz all your weight is on the pegs. It will change how the bike behaves.

Plus you're decoupled etc (what PT said).

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Steve C
Gold Coast Riders (Rides & events SE QLD, plus stuff about camping etc)
Gravel Riders Club Old farts off-road
Yer ears & yer teef They're the only ones yer got

Yeah. There are 2 CG' s, and they combine to form one for the combination of bike and rider. (Add a top box and luggage and now you have 5 CG's to combine.)
When you stand up your cg rises, and so does the combined CG.

Of course it changes how the bike behaves because you can move your CG left or right to compensate for the bike's movements.

It's not because the CG is lower. It isn't.

Trust me, I'm a rigging engineer and I do these calcs daily for heavy crane lifts that are made up of different combined parts.

It's the same reason "weighting the pegs' when cornering has almost no effect on the bike, and it's just the fractional shift in the rider's body (but more likely their arms) that affects the bikes direction.

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'10 Vee Adv
Multiple Farkles :
Stebel Horn with Screaming Banshee,Gorilla Alarm, Madstadt Bracket, RichlandRick's fork brace, accessory shelf and mirror extenders, PCV (Get one from b.layton@svracingparts.com) You'll wish you had sooner!, Twin 12v outlets, Twisted Throttle and PC8 Fuse Blocks, Admore Light Bar, GPS and Contour Camera Ram Mount, Bark Busters, 8k HIDS & an Omni-Cruise Throttle Lock.

Sorry but that is rubbish.
There is only one centre of gravity. You can only have ONE centre of anything.
The centre of gravity changes depending on the load of the bike and the position of the rider but there is only and always will be only ONE.

Dammit! Wrong again.

I had heard people say standing on the pegs lowered your cog and I could never figure that out. Thought the theory of TWO was the answer.

I stand corrected.

Weighting the pegs is another bugger to figure. The theory seems to be to weight the outside peg as you corner, but initially weighting a peg seems to pull the bike toward the weighted side. So, I've figured that to initiate the turn I weight the inside peg, then shift to the outside peg once the cornering is underway. This is all secondary to countersteering which is really what changes direction.

As craneguys suggests, it's got to be a combination of things such as the shift in body position and/or arm movement.

__________________
Steve C
Gold Coast Riders (Rides & events SE QLD, plus stuff about camping etc)
Gravel Riders Club Old farts off-road
Yer ears & yer teef They're the only ones yer got

Weighting the outside peg comes from Trials. Without resorting to diagrams imagine a bike viewed from behind turning left and leaning to the left. Now imagine the riders feet location. His (or her) right foot is more or less directly on top on the wheels if you draw a vertical line from the contact patch of the rear tyre. His (or her) left foot is inside the tyre not above it. Weighting the right foot whilst turning left will put more weight more directly above on the tyres therefore increasing traction.
Simplistic but the best I can do without pictures.

Edit:
This is not Trials but it's the best Dr Google through at me to illustrate the concept. Which foot would place more weight on the tyres? (BTW from the attitude of the rider which foot do you think is weighted)

It's been years since I did dirt but I found that standing on the pegs and let the bike wander around under me was something I got used to.
Sitting on the bike just won't let the bike do what the terrain wants it it do.
I tried to refresh the techniques on a 17 mile stretch of dirt road recently. Even tried squirting around corners using the throttle. Man, am I out of practice. Fun though.
What the pro's do is really amazing.