Absolutely ridiculous!!

[JodieWodie]

I could, and suppose CAN do U-Turns.
I can.

Why then, with my instructor last night could I not do them !!!
I put my foot down...too much throttle, too much clutch, not enough clutch, ridiculous!

I know we all have bad days and good but last night was just a joke.

I am going to the industrial estate tonight to practice.
The instructor told me to hold revs steady and work the clutch...sounds easy....MUST do this !!!!!!

(A woman I know failed her test last week as she put her foot down....she walked off ! Didn't want to carry on !!
Am a tad nervous now...)

That and my emergency stops...I tend to jam the rear brake on, instead of a lot of front and tap the back. I KNOW what I should be doing...it is just getting it fluent I guess.

Bum on bike time !!
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Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow"

[Rory]

Yep, practice U turns, LOOK WHERE YOU WANT TO GO, keep the revs steady and slip the clutch and use your back brake just a little to control your speed.

Stopping - Apply front and back together and progressively squeeze harder. Don't savagely jam on the brakes. You can practice this in conjunction with U-turns if it's safe to do so - rapid stop from 30mph, U-turn, back down the road for another stop, repeat.
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My Old CBR400RR | Bike Oil FAQ | Petrol FAQ

[JodieWodie]

Thanks Rory !

U-turns - I tend to look at the bike ..or straight ahead, which I KNOW is wrong !!

Look where you want to go ! is all my instructor says to me haha

The emergency braking is getting trickier..on my CBT, no problem, now it is harder !!

Go figure !!
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Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow"

[McJamweasel]

Once you can master looking up and where you want to go and not at the floor you'll find that it gets a lot easier.

As for the emergency stop - try practising with NO rear brake at all, then once you get that sorted re introduce the rear brake. Also, try and work up how fast you stop, begin fairly gently.
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BCF: Be yourself, just don't be an arse.

[Jaz]

As for failing your test on a U-Turn it depends on the severity of it.

All through my DAS I was told.. foot down = fail.

On my test I just lightly dabed the ground (due to dodgy throttle control at the time) and did the rest of the test thinking I had failed.

Almost dropped dead when he told me I'd passed though I did get 3 minors for that.

[mrchips]

For a U turn I was told the following by my instructor

Look behind
Into first
Look behind
Look behind
Slip the clutch
Just as you enter the turn apply rear brake and look over your shoulder

[Spiral]

When doing a u-turn sometimes i would put my feet out to give me a better balance and as long as they are not down on the ground it still counts.

When you get better with the balance you won't even need to put them out!

Also emergencey stop ? are you stopping to quickly jodie or locking a wheel or taking to long to stop?
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[ProXimaCore]

My instructor said you don't have to even bother with the rear brake on the emergency stop. The examiner can't see if you did it or not anyway. My NSR rear brake was awful so when I did it on their bike i was always hitting it too hard. So I just didn't bother.

As for U turns. Where you look is where you go. Always got told that one too. If you're on a bigger bike then you probably would be better not using the throttle for it at all. More than likely will need to give it some on a 125 though.
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Honda NSR125R -> Suzuki GSXR400R GK76a -> Kawasaki ZX636 B1H -> Honda CBR400RR NC29 -> Nothing

[divuk83]

I was paranoid about U turns, all my practice ones were on really thin streets. When it came to my test the road I did it on was as wide as a runway lucky or what!

Anyway, Just look at where you want to end up, do not look at the kerb. Gentle with the throttle, you wont fall off even if you go really slowly. The only thing that will make you fall is using your brakes or sudden use of the throttle. Good Luck.

Dave

[izzi81]

as others have already said, look where you want to go. I always found that the hardest part, and have discovered with my new bike I seem to have picked up the bad habit again of *not* looking where I'm going, but fixating on the road just ahead or - worse - the kerb I'm trying to avoid! I remember my instructor standing at the side of the road and constantly yelling at me to look at him and not at the kerb, I found it so difficult to do.
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[Frost]

[TheShaggyDA]

Also keep an eye on your chain adjustment - if it's drooping like a tart's knickers, you'll be pogoing as you keep taking up the slack.
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Current: CB500 Previous: CB100N, CB250RS, XJ900F, GT550, GPZ750R/1000RX, AJS M16, R100RT, Enfield Bullet

[i:6e3bfc7581]But still I fear and still I dare not laugh at the madman...[/i:6e3bfc7581]

[JodieWodie]

[Zen Dog]

When I was practising my u-turns on the training school bike i ended up going so slowly the bike just fell over. The instructor told me to look where i wanted to go, but also to lean the bike over 45 degrees, while keeping myself bolt upright.

That way, the bike turns much better, and the rider gets to keep their pride intact.

PS. Using the rear brake and not the front, and using variable clutch with constant throttle helps as well.
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Current - '94 VFR750FR (Dead), '00 VFR800FI, '11 600 Hornet - Previous - '11 CBF125, '10 Street Triple R, '92 MZ ETZ301, '05 TTR250, NSR125R, KMX125, "Honda" Win
My bike trip around S.E. Asia 2010/2011

[Shade_BW]

they are a bugger

day before my test i screwed them up completely, so went out that night to practice on the girlfriends bike.

You have bad days, but you will get better. Lots of practice helps.

I found i was worrying a lot about the kerb, big mental block, so practice where there isn't a kerb. In a car-park for example.

Once you know you can do it, then go back and try it on the road.

And once you've passed your test, you won't have to worry about them ever again, because you can choose not to do them

Shade
Don't remember if I do them or not now.
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[Frost]

no one ever does a proper U turn after their test, they turn in someones drive, or do a wide U turn.

[Annabella]

I definately found, relaxing and not concentrating helped with my U turns. That being said, I failed on my U turn first test attempt - I put my foot down

As for emergency stops, I always used my back brake far too much. To get over this I practised stopping with just the front brake by placing my toes on the peg rather than nervously over the brake lever
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[Munday]

I failed my first test because I put my foot down on a U-turn - silly me
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Bikes: Honda CBR250R | Honda ST70

[ShortR6]

The most useful bit of information for me from my instructor was, As you start the turn pull the clutch in, kill the throtle and lean the bike in to the turn and as you feel the bike tip over bring the revs back up and in-gage the clutch. When done correctly 2/3 of the turn is completed in the first half of the road giving you ample room and time to find you finishing spot.

This really helped for me but everyone is different and requires different instruction.

Andy
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Short but not sweet.

[Trunecka]

[dibbster]

My instructor had me doing figure of eights round two tight cones to help improve my slow speed bike control which helped improve my u-turns. Could turn the CG on a sixpence not at that level with the RF, but to be honest once you have done your test you don't bother u-turning 'properly' all the time.
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