The Motorcycle Thread
- Thread starter Private Man
- Start date
polymath
Pelican
I cheated death today.
Was going around a corner at 80mph on my F800GS and I just couldn't keep the turn tight enough. I got on the brakes but the rear wheel started dancing a little so I could barely reduce my speed.
Drifted into the oncoming lane (two lane highway), then rounded the corner to see a Honda sedan headed right for my front wheel.
Luckily the guy driving the other car had a brain and swerved inwards, making enough room for me to go wide around him on the shoulder.
A question to the more experienced: how the fuck do you keep your line tight when you're rounding a corner fast? I feel like I always understeer.
Was going around a corner at 80mph on my F800GS and I just couldn't keep the turn tight enough. I got on the brakes but the rear wheel started dancing a little so I could barely reduce my speed.
Drifted into the oncoming lane (two lane highway), then rounded the corner to see a Honda sedan headed right for my front wheel.
Luckily the guy driving the other car had a brain and swerved inwards, making enough room for me to go wide around him on the shoulder.
A question to the more experienced: how the fuck do you keep your line tight when you're rounding a corner fast? I feel like I always understeer.
oilbreh
Woodpecker
polymath said:
Thats nuts. Maybe go to the track to get a better feel for your bike. Braking will force your bike upright and straight. You shouldnt be riding at a speed where you need to brake while turning. While turning you should be really pushing your weight out on the inside handle bar. It can be counter intuitive takes a while to really get use to it. Stay safe.
polymath said:
Please, please practice turning at lower speeds before you do that again.
Sounds like you don't understand countersteering.
Read up on countersteering and the traction circle: http://www.sportrider.com/sportbike-riding/riding-skills-series-traction-circle
If you have traction left in your tires to brake, you definitely have traction left to tighten your line by adding throttle and pressing harder on the inside bars.
I like to practice this effect by going into ~30mph corners without traffic around and adding throttle one time then braking the other time. You have to repeat this over and over to get use to the fact that more throttle makes you turn harder and more brake makes your bike stand up in a turn.
I've caught myself in corners wanting to grab a little brake to scrub the speed after I have already committed to the turn, and then switched to adding throttle instead.
Unless you're already dragging pegs, you've got room to go.
And like oilbreh stated, practice your body position.
This is a bad body position and reduces the tread available on the side of your tire. It is called being "crossed up":
This is the proper lean direction for a turn. Try to kiss the mirror on the inside of the corner while keeping at most half an ass cheek off the bike:
But don't be flying around corners at 80mph, or corners you can't see through at a high rate of speed. That is exactly how you die very quickly.
Leonard D Neubache said:philosophical_recovery said:
Trust is important since you have to have faith in your gear to remove that nagging doubt from your mind and focus on the road, but those motorcycle specific jeans would not be able to build brand names if the internet was full of road rash pics accompanied by shots of broken belt loops.
I had a pair back in the day and...
...I could hang my entire body weight off a single loop.
In fairness to the jeans, on blazing hot South Australian days they were safer than leather purely on concerns of heat-stroke.
I think the problem is actually my leather jacket. The pants attachment loop is weak and I don't trust it. The circumferential zipper is solid, however.
I just end up doing kevlar armored overpants. Fits a lot better than the jeans I've got and has CE armor.
polymath
Pelican
@philosophical_recovery
I had an a-ha moment when I read your post. Especially the throttle/brake physics. I never thought of it like that. I definitely had more traction to go, but I did not realize that I could tighten my line with the throttle. I'll practice this at more reasonable speeds.
Thanks for taking the time to write these tips.
I had an a-ha moment when I read your post. Especially the throttle/brake physics. I never thought of it like that. I definitely had more traction to go, but I did not realize that I could tighten my line with the throttle. I'll practice this at more reasonable speeds.
Thanks for taking the time to write these tips.
polymath said:
Glad to help!
Yeah these are things that you just have to overcome existing habits with.
It is really weird when you notice the bike lean over harder when applying throttle.
Practice it enough, and it'll become alarmingly obvious to you how "awkward" the bike feels while idling through a corner and not either braking at corner entry or applying throttle at corner exit.
The f800gs probably has a soft enough suspension that it forgives a lot of these things that would be almost painful on a sportbike. By forgiving, I mean remaining comfortable without punishing with a bad feel mid-corner. It's very hard to describe. But, with practice it will become clear what is happening and that almost always the answer is more throttle when it comes to corners.
@polymath - Give this video a watch, it will help explain what you should do in a corner. Ignore the fact that the acting and story line are cheesy. The info in the movie is incredibly helpful.
My ride got stolen.
I've been pissed off quite a bit about it.
I'd beat the fucker senseless if I knew who it was.
I've been pissed off quite a bit about it.
I'd beat the fucker senseless if I knew who it was.
Can anyone comment on what the best bike to start on would be? I've read "start on a 600" and at the same time "600s will easily kill you if you're starting out." I'm very interested in bikes and want to get one, but am unsure which to start with. I want something that won't bore me to tears 3 weeks after I get it, but I'm also a realist, and I'm not going to get a litre bike until I've put in tens of thousands of miles.
TheFinalEpic said:
Get a used 250 or 300 that you won't be afraid to experiment threshold braking on.
Then move on to something else.
Being polygamous with bikes in the long run is the way to go.
Having 100+hp on tap and shit reflexes WILL kill you. If you don't make mistakes on something smaller and more forgiving, best of luck to you. You can do it, but it's not recommended.
Mig Picante
Woodpecker
Get a 250 or 300 and ride it hard for a year or two. A Honda VTR 250 or a Ninja 300 will do fine.
It's better to ride a slow bike fast than ride a fast bike slow.
It's better to ride a slow bike fast than ride a fast bike slow.
Thanks boys, I was thinking a ninja 300 or Yamaha R3 might be a good place to start.
TheFinalEpic said:
I've been riding for two years now, never so much as touched a motorcycle before that. Bought a used 2011 CBR250R after taking a two-day MSF training course and immediately fell in love. It's light and nimble and in hindsight was perfect for just starting out. I absolutely agree a cheap 250 or 300 is the way to go.
At this point I'm considering upgrading to a 600 (need more juice for when I've got a girl on the back), but I really do love the CBR, and when it's just me (a smaller guy weighing about 150 lbs) I have such a blast that I'll probably hold onto it until I have a major windfall and can easily afford to trade up.
Mig Picante said:
Couldn't agree more. A 600 would've terrified me as a beginner.
Also, if you're pushing your limits and learning as you go, chances are you drop the bike a few times or slide out as you're learning how to handle tighter curves. So don't invest too much into the first bike, and definitely don't buy new.
Also, consider getting some frame sliders installed. I can't tell you how many times they saved my bike during the first few weeks:
And of course, plan on investing at LEAST $200 into a decent helmet, preferably in addition to a jacket, gloves, and pants/boots as well. Go into riding assuming you'll crash eventually (prepare for the worst but hope for the best) and you'll be in a much better position if/when it happens.
Well... now something else has caught my eye. An after talking with a friend who has made the switch from rockets to cruisers, I am highly considering making the jump myself.
Well..... now my other buddy says this is a sportster and those are for women..... (I don't know shit about cruisers)
Well..... now my other buddy says this is a sportster and those are for women..... (I don't know shit about cruisers)
Cr33pin - I had a Harley sportser 1200
DON'T GET IT.
All my friend made fun of me, and called it a girls bike, also I got it because I didn't think I could handle anything bigger, I was wrong.
You'll get sick of it - I traded mine in for a Harley Dyna a little under a year.
You'll get sick of the small gas tank, the power is ok, but nothing compared to to their dyna and bagger line.
If anything start with the Harley Dyna Street Bob or Harley Dyna Low Rider for starters.
If you want suggestions, I'll be more than happy to help you shop around for Harleys.
Fun fact: I layed down a an R6 years ago, thankfully just road rash.
DON'T GET IT.
All my friend made fun of me, and called it a girls bike, also I got it because I didn't think I could handle anything bigger, I was wrong.
You'll get sick of it - I traded mine in for a Harley Dyna a little under a year.
You'll get sick of the small gas tank, the power is ok, but nothing compared to to their dyna and bagger line.
If anything start with the Harley Dyna Street Bob or Harley Dyna Low Rider for starters.
If you want suggestions, I'll be more than happy to help you shop around for Harleys.
Fun fact: I layed down a an R6 years ago, thankfully just road rash.
Cr33pin said:By this time next week I should own this
It will be my 4th crotch rocket.. I've owned 2 CBRs and a GSXR
I tried the R1 before I got my Ninja but man, I really liked the seating position on the Ninja better. I felt perched ontop of the R1 like some kind of bird. Not sure about the R6s, but they look sweet. The R1s also have that awesome crossplane sound.
