Finally got round to it

[Rico]

(it was a choice between thread necromancy or quoting myself, so here we are)

[Shaane]

Good Luck with that mate Hope it all works out for you

[Rico]

Well, the three hours flew by. I'm back in one piece - and so's the training centre's bike. Wahoo, I didn't drop it. Stalled it about 5 times, mind...

My main problem is clutch control when pulling away. Sometimes I get it right, but much of the time I'm over-revving, opening the clutch too quickly and jerking away. Because of that, all my junctions are nervous ones, but overall the trainer seemed pleased.

I managed one or two U-turns, and put my right foot down on a couple of others. When I get the speed and clutch just right, it's a doddle, but too often I'm struggling to find the bite point so I can ride the clutch. Then I end up closing the throttle, losing speed and it's a no hoper.

When turning into a junction, would you normally go down as low as first (assuming you haven't had to stop), or do it in second?

Happy with it overall, but I reckon I should get a 125 and practice my co-ordination. I'm not due out on the bigger bike for another fortnight, now. The bike was a Honda CBF500 ABS. Was great to open it up on the dual carriageway. I can imagine what my workmate means when he says his Hornet's a bit of a beast after that - and I'm scared by what the race replicas must be like!

[konsoli]

First of all, Good luck with your test

Now for a little advice on U-turns:
Most people suck at U-turns because they don't have enough speed then they have to put their foot down.

I've done loads of U-turns myself when I've seen a friend, gone down a wrong street or anything. I find them easy now.

It's a simple case of keeping up your speed so you can lean enough to complete the turn.

If you give it more welly with the speed (not too much..maybe 10-15mph), then it's much easier to complete.

Practice on a bike before your test (outside of lessons so you can practice a lot), in a car park. Until you're very confident. It'll just come to you, like one moment you can't do them, next minute you can do them every time because you've learnt the skills to do it.

Good luck with your test, bike and u-turn woes.[/list]

[ChrisC]

[ChrisC]

[konsoli]

[colin1]

id agree with chrisC , 5mph, walking pace

I also think its important to use the clutch to control the speed rather than the throttle

much smoother
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[ChrisC]

[Rico]

Thanks for the tip - I'll try it on a closed throttle next time. Annoyingly two weeks away, as I feel I'd benefit more from trying again sooner.

[stinkwheel]

Well, noone has mentioned the rear brake on their U-turns yet. This is important. The turn isn't as important as the ability to ride the bike dead-slow. If you can do that, the turn is just a logical progression.

So, how I do it on my bigger bikes is to give the engine some revs (not a huge amount but you want the engine buzzing under you) and slip the clutch as if you were moving away from a junction.

As you start to move away, instead of letting the clutch all the way out, hold it where it is. The bike will start to move away but you don't want it going that fast. Ignore the clutch and throttle, leave them where they're at with a few revs and the clutch slipping. Control your speed by dragging the rear brake by varying amounts.

When you set off for the turn, start going into a straight line in your 'slow riding mode'. Once you're feeling steady in a straight line, look round to where you want to go and make the turn maintaining the same speed.

Remember a motrorcycle clutch is multi-plate and sitting in a bath of oil, it's not like your car clutch with a single dry plate, you would have to give it a huge amount of abuse to burn it out so slip the fucker like mad. Hell, it's not even your bike .

I usually leave it in second when manouvering round junctions unless I'm going so slowly it starts to snatch. I go down to first in heavy traffic and move into that 'slow riding mode'.

Incidentally, examiners have a hardon for controlled slow riding. You do this well, they'll overlook the odd wee thing.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[ChrisC]