Learning to ride at any sort of speed with crook hips has become a big challenge as nothing comes naturally any more. My body doesn't work like it should (hips, knees, lower back) & I have no "fluid movement". Everything has to be considered & is therefore slow, ie: transition form sitting to standing & vice versa, plus I can't throw a leg over anything bigger than an XR75, so need to find rocks or stumps to get on & off the bike in the bush. All the little "jerks & perks" that come with riding a dirt bike frick'n hurt as well! It's a big learning curve but I still have 6 months to go before I can get a hip fix so it's "suck it up princess" for me, coz siting on the couch is just not an option.
I also learnt today that a Michelin MS3 (mid soft) front tyre is the absolute WRONG tyre for dry, hard, rocky bush. I tried it a t 10, 12 & 14 psi but it's a game of Russian roulette at every corner! On the other hand I discovered that an RHK intermediate rear (sort of a Pirelli 32 copy) is a damn good tyre for $70 RRP. After an hour of thrashing on a 250 2T with a clutch abusing rider, I expected it to be destroyed but you can hardly tell it's been used. Having said all that I think I'll stick to what I know best, Bridgestone X30 intermediates, they are good pretty much in every terrain.
Never too old to learn something & if you want to learn something new, ask someone old.
K