So, how would you teach someone to ride a geared bike?

[map]

As per title.
I'll be trying to teach someone how to ride a 125 (it's the old '85 CG).
However. she's not ridden a geared bike before.
All other attempts either have her releasing the clutch too quickly without also appying revs and stalling. Once she did racing off down the road, scaring herself and then stalled (private road officer).

I've been trying to get her to balance the bike on the clutch biting point first. However, this is still difficult.

No point in moving to gears until the bike is at least able to move forward.

I'm racking my brains how I did it and coming up with nothing

So, any pointers and advice appreciated.
Thanks
____________________
...and the whirlwind is in the thorn trees, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks...
Gibbs, what did Duckie look like when he was younger?

[CptBlack]

Put it on the centre stand (leaning forward!) to get used to the clutch biting point

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

Whilst teaching my daughter i got her to freewheel down a hill and asked to pull in the clutch as she braked. Same again in gear and a little throttle. A slight downhill helped with clutch control in the first half hour. After that i taught her where to look. i.e not too close. Then i showed her how to pick up a 250


Pat
____________________
Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[ThoughtContro...]

Do what they did (or should have done) on your CBT.

You'll have to get her used to the biting point before you let her toddle off down any private road. If it was me I'd let her get used to JUST playing with the throttle at low revs, so she can get used to how much twist she needs to not stall and what the engine will sound like.

Then let her play with just the clutch (no revs), slowly releasing it till she can properly feel the biting point, notice the sound of the drop in revs and then pulling it back in. Once she's got used to where the BP is and is fairly confident of those, then get here used to synching the two together, till she can start off without a stall 8 out of 10 times. Let her go small distances, wheel the bike round and do it again till it becomes second nature.

Make sure the clutch is properly adjusted on the bike. My first CBT attempt was a nightmare as the clutch on the bike didnt bite until almost fully out. She'll get it in the end, all you need is patience, time and encouragement. Once the clutch/gears control is sorted the rest should be easy enough.

I do hope your private road is well away from any coppers. You dont wanna get royally rogered by a ten foot pole up the bum trying to help her out.
____________________
Prize cunt
--
"In a world of universal deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act" - George Orwell

[DrDonnyBrago]

get her to keep the throttle steady at a point where the revs are quite a bit higher than you would normally use to pull away, tell her the engine will sound loud as it is 3 feet away and there is no sound insulation, plus bikes like to be revved more than cars so don't worry about it.

To start, some slow stuff - get her to control her speed using the clutch rather than the throttle.

If she keeps that throttle position steady and slowly slips the clutch in then it is only one thing to think about, rather than trying to get the clutch and throttle right at the same time. The biggest issue I had was not revving it enough when pulling away, losing the revs as it engaged and stalling - not worrying about over revving it helped.

When she is moving, get her to pull the clutch before the brake, introduce leaving the clutch out during emergency stops at a later date.

Ultimately though it is just practice.

HTH

[CptBlack]

Possibly turn the idle up really high so she doesn't have to think about throttle

[Paxovasa]

Trial an error.

Just be patient and give her plenty of encouragement
____________________
Suzuki GSF600 K3 (in the fastest colour, black).

[Misc]

Get them to ride the bike with the biting point only & no throttle just clutch. Not sure if a 125 would move quick enough to be able to ride it on the biting point but that should get them used to where the clutch engages (or is it disengages lol)

On the test i was taught to do the throttle + clutch at the same time, got there in the end but i reckon it'd of learned quicker if i spent more time on just the clutch.

[map]

[The Artist]

[truslack]

Last time I taught someone to ride on the H100 I watched them wheelie or stall a few times, they eventually got bored of having to kickstart the bike and that pushed them to learn to set off properly
____________________
Current: Suzuki RG 125 Gamma, Honda H100, Triumph Tiger 800XC, Suzuki SV650 (minitwin)

[HD]

As others have said learn the biting point first. I know bikes and cars that dont need any throttle whatsoever to pull away. Just let the clucth out reeeaaaallllyyyy slowly (10 seconds) until its all the way out. Hopefully it wont stall and will just roll at idling revs. Then if she gets that either apply the throttle after she aint using the clutch or apply the throttle from a standstill. At least she will be used to the biting point.

It might be an idea if you give it a go first as I said some bikes I know do it, not all!

G'luck
____________________
Rusty '02 Vito Camper + CBR600F3

[pinkyfloyd]

Combination of trial and error and get her to go through the movements off the bike. i.e Sitting on a bus or car, when the driver changes gear get her to run through the movements "throttle off, Clutch in, change gear, clutch out and throttle on."

That way the movements become second nature and its just a case of practicing on the bike
____________________
illuminateTHEmind wrote: I am just more evolved than most of you guys... this allows me to pick of things quickly which would have normally taken the common man years to master
Hockeystorm65:.well there are childish arguments...there are very childish arguments.....there are really stupid childish arguments and now there are......Pinkfloyd arguments!
Teflon-Mike:I think I agree with just about all Pinky has said.

[spetom]

Teach him/her the first two golden rules of biking.

Or what in my opinion should be the first two golden basic beginner rules of biking, although the usage of number 1 changes as you get more experienced.



1) Always keep the clutch in when you are stationary!! If you don't know you're in gear always keep the clutch in!! When you're starting the bike always keep the clutch in. If you panic or lose control remember left hand clutch in!!

Then/or...

-Only release the clutch if you know you're not in gear, check to make sure you are in gear by rolling the bike back and forward.

-Only release the clutch slowly at the beginning, do not over Rev the engine. Even if you think you are in neutral

(The reasoning for this is the amount of inexperienced & experienced bikers who revving their bike forget they are in gear and release the clutch, and the bike goes airborne. This is usually a huge fuck up on bigger bikes. Quick clutch release has caused so so many bike take offs!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgAkKrIimcc



2) Keep your hands and feet away from the sprocket! Never ever run the engine when you are doing mechanical maintenance on it despite what everyone says. Keep your hands and feet away from the sprocket and chain!

(The reasoning for this is obvious but to the novice)

[nokiakeys]

Everyones given their thoughts, so I thought I'll add mine.

Get her to listen to the engine mainly.

Put the bike in 1st and keep clutch in.
While it's in, start to rev the engine at a steady pace, then slowly let go of the clutch while listening to the engine and feeling the bike ready to go I.E. the biting point

That will tell her when she needs more power to move off. When she starts to move off a bit pull the clutch in and repeat previous steps a couple times until shes happy with the biting point.

Then bobs your uncle she can move a geared bike... hopefully

[Sam_Y_93]

Its trial and error as others have said. Does she have a car? if not then she wont be used to the clutch control. I would tell her to sit with the bike in gear releasing it to the BP and bringing it back in, once she knows where it is then get her to apply a little throttle whilst finding the biting point.

You could also show her some videos on youtube or something, found this helped me when I taught my self https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdySkge4aKM
____________________
Bikes Past: Yamaha Aerox (sold) Yamaha R125 (written off)
Bikes Current: Honda VFR 400 (awaiting restoration) Honda CB600f F-4
Theory passed July 21st Mod1 passed August 3rd Mod 2 passed 26th August

[JP7]

The piece of advice that stuck most in my mind was this: car drivers never want to ride or slip the clutch because they're told it's a bad thing. On a bike it works better if you do ride the clutch.

Once I'd grasped that concept, I was well away. Hope that helps.

[stinkwheel]

I taught my girlfriend the basics on my H100 on the local airfield.

Got her to use the back brake first. Pushing her along and coming to a halt using it. This give confidence in the initial stages while riding slowly. If it all goes wrong or you feel out of control, stop using the back brake, worry about the rest later.

Once she was happy with that, I got her to play with the throttle and clutch while holding the back brake on so she could feel the bike pulling against it.

Once she had the feel of that, I got her to slowly let the back brake off as she felt it pulling, ride forwards a few feet, close the throttle, stop it again using the back brake and repeat. Pretty much had her balancing the clutch, throttle and back brake within the first 5 minutes (she's a smart lass)

Sounds a bit arse backwards but this is putting the groundwork down for the slow riding you need to do your test manouvers. I also know so many people whose first bike riding experience was wheelying an H100 into a chainlink fence on their CBT. To me it's logical to teach someone how to stop before you teach them how to go.

Then we did ride off, change into second, stop, change into first, ride away, change into second, stop....

Once she was confident she could stop under control and change gear, I got her to build up the speed a bit and start using both brakes to stop in the same way as before.

She pretty much did the rest on her own having got the hang of it.
____________________
“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.

[Tonka]

[ThoughtContro...]

[Glenben92]

[Rowey]

I taught my brother a while back.

Put the front wheel about a metre from a brick wall, then got him to let the clutch out to the biting point untill he bumped into it. Had him do that for a few minutes. Pushing it back then bumping the wall.

Eventually I got him further back and told him to let the clutch out and paddle the bike forwards then clutch in and brake before hitting the wall. Again did this for a little while.

Then further back, let the clutch out fully, feet still out, dragging on the ground, and clutch in, braking before the wall.

Once I was happy with that I let him go around a car park.
____________________
ZX6R C6F.
Never argue with an idiot. They'll only bring you down to their level, and beat you with experience.

[LordShaftesbu...]

[rob_scott92]

[Glenben92]

This is all quite interesting as since getting my first ever geared bike (never previously ridden a geared bike in my life) in may I've only ever stalled twice. and neither of them were trying to pull away. both times were sitting talking to people for so long that i fogot i was in gear/on the bike/bike was running, then just letting go of the clutch and thinking "eh, what the fu.. ahh yes, i'm on a bike"

as far as actually beginning to ride, i knew the theory behind it (clutch use and gear positions etc.) and i just sort of got on and... did it. up the back lane to 3rd gear, back down the box and did a 3 point turn (its a tight lane) then the same back. repeated this 2 or 3 times then went for a ride around some empty streets to get used to signalling and turning along WITH the clutch use, then i was out riding properly and confidently within about 20 minutes of first getting on the bike. My riding has always been smooth and i've never had trouble with riding the clutch or choosing the wrong gear or slow control or anything like that.

I'm now wondering if i'm just naturally good with these things or if it's been something in my upbringing that i've missed. I have always had a quite complex understanding of engine mechanics and general physics, i wonder if it's the knowing exactly WHAT the clutch does and HOW it works that helps?
____________________
57 Huoniao HN125-8 - , 97 Kawasaki GPZ500S -
99 Yamaha FZS 600 -
Mod 2 Passed - 01/10/2010