I am from a city so I rarely ever ride on any terrain besides asphalt. Tomorrow I will be riding to my girlfriends house for the first time and her driveway is on a kinda steep downwards slope and it's a damn mess of gravel and dirt. What should I do? Go down the gravel or take the grass next to it? What makes for the least chance of a tip over ( which would be very embarrassing ).

I would think gravel. As normally there is a packed surface underneath, so if you start to slide then you have a chance to grip still. Grass on the other hand, if you start to slide you tend to keep going. This would just be my thought.
More so than anything i'd think speed control is more important than surface. Never reach a speed where you will have to brake sharply or quickly.

but that's just me  , i'm sure there is someone with more/better experience at that choice than me. 

Try not to grab the front brake on the gravel. Try to go slow and use rear brake.

+1

Also, put more weight on pegs, butt off seat... allows bike more freedom to adapt to conditions.

Definitely the gravel. I lowsided my last motorcycle on grass, and that was level, nevermind an actual slope. Sport bike tires have zero traction on grass. Just keep a steady pace when going up and down the slope, and make sure not to stop halfway.

Quote from: Twisted on July 08, 2011, 03:36:53 AM
Try not to grab the front brake on the gravel. Try to go slow and use rear brake.

^^^ Bingo!
Sear that into your brain!

No joke, that was THE reason for my wipe from a lil bit of gravel a few months ago.

I was slowing down to pull into a parking lot and didnt see the bit of gravel I hit.
Was using the front brake and the Second I hit the gravel... Whoosh! there goes the front end sideways and the rest with it down to the ground!

Also, when you get up the driveway and park it, make sure you put something solid under the kickstand so it doesn't sink into the gravel, causing the bike to fall. Crushed beer can, plank, just something to increase the surface area of the kickstand.

As this is your first time, you'll be nervous as all heck and the tendency will be to death grip the bars. Well, don't.

You can stand on the pegs as mentioned. But if that feels weird to you, grip the tank with your legs and be loose everywhere else - and - let the bike make its own little corrections on the dirt, as it will. You'll be fine.

Michael

There's definitely more traction on gravel, but it'd hurt a lot less to fall on grass 

I would definitely choose gravel over grass.
let us know how you did.

As I approached the driveway, my instincts just kicked in. I slowed down to like ten mph and I chose the gravel. When I got to the bottom I used only the rear brake. +1 successful park job. And I looked like a badass to my girlfriend. Thanks for the advice guys!