Should I expect to be a little wobbly?

[markk21]

I have been riding for about a week now after getting my cbt. I'm loving it but one thing I notice is that I wobble a bit when moving in slow traffic. It's not on the level where it's dangerous but I obviously would rather not be doing it. Would this be expected or do I simply need to get up to a better standard? I'm riding round on the roads as well as practising hill starts, slow riding etc. in places such as quiet car parks and roads. I have noticed that it seems that I struggle more when I purposely practice say the hill starts for example but when I do one on the road in traffic, I do okay (apart from when I was in Macclesfield the other day and stalled it on a steep hill and made a tit of myself because I couldn't find neutral). Do you have any tips on how I can improve?

Thanks!

[hedgehugger]

Simply practice.
More you ride, less you'll wobble.

When I was first riding on my CBT I'd make a point of practising 'something', be it gears, slow riding, u-turns, roundabouts, hill starts etc.
Once you get one of those to a ,mostly, respectable, proficiency, it is something less that your brain has to think about.

[Pete.]

[Rogerborg]

Light bike, narrow tyres = wobblier. Small engine with minimal inertia = easy to stall. Nothing to fret about, you're doing everything right.

When you get on to a bigger bike you'll be amazed how much easier it gets.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[gdj444]

My instructor many years ago urged me to slip the clutch more at slower speeds, he said he had hardly ever had to replace a clutch in the many years he had taught, once I started using a few more revs and slipping the clutch at slower speeds it all became a little more controlled.

Jonesy

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

[MC]

Grip the tank with your knees, I was wobbly in slow moving traffic until I started doing this. Also think about how you stop, sometimes putting both feet down can make you wobble more when pulling away than just one.

Also we all ride differently, but I wouldn't ride the rear brake. You wear them out surprisingly quickly doing that.
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Yamaha MT-03 '08 (crashed)
Honda XR-125L '04

[pinkyfloyd]

Pretty much agree with Pete too. Give the engine something to work with and slip the clutch, you will have learnt slow control as part of your CBT. Get the engine buzzing it will make slow riding and moving away a lot more stable.
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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.

[CaNsA]

Keep your head up, and facing the direction you want to go.
Look ahead, not at the bit of road directly in front of you.
Relax your shoulders.

Watch these vidz.
https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=286410

[Uncle fester]

Pete.'s advice is what I do....and the clutch slippage thing.... it's almost de rigueur with a big cc twin. Also make yourself look further ahead. i.e head up.
As for not getting into neutral. First check the amount of slack in your chain.[/quote]

When you say check slack in the chain does this make it hard to find neutral? My varadero is a bugger for finding neutral.
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Tomorrows another day .just as we'll at my age

[markk21]

Great advice! Thanks very much for the help guys.

Roger - yeah I wondered about whether some thing would be easier with a more powerful bike. It does get a bit annoying at times when I have to change up so quickly when riding at slow speeds although I am trying to keep the revs down until first service.

HT - yeah that's the one. I can't remember if it was at the
lights or at the roundabout. It was rush hour and I was trying to get to Knutsford and went the wrong way at the roundabout and ended up in Wilmslow eventually!

[markk21]

I went out on my bike before and tried to put into practice your advice and it really helped. I felt a lot more confident and was much more steady at lights, roundabouts etc.. Thanks again guys!

[ADSrox0r]

It's pretty much the same as riding a horse, use more knees and arse and your grip on the reins slackens automatically and she responds in a more relaxed manner.
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Current bikes: '08 VFR 800 VTEC(yo) , '07 ZZR1400 Winter hack: '95 Aprilia 650 Pegaso Currently lusting after: RC30

[matto]

For slow speed control the best thing is to slip the clutch as mentioned above but use the rear brake (and only the rear brake) to control speed. It keeps the drive train/chain under tension thus making slow speed control very smooth.

A slack chain and just clutch control can make for very jerky progress, so can using the front brake to bring yourself to a stop as you load the forks which then release upwards as you arrive at a stop.

Also as mentioned above a slack chain can cause all sorts of gearbox annoyances, difficulty in getting neutral, dropping out of gear, false neutrals etc, Honda's seem to be quite picky about chain tension.

[Pete.]

I never slip the clutch for slow speed riding on my Bandit. Most bikes will move at pretty-much walking pace on idle, if I have to go slower than that I just pull the clutch in and roll to a stop. I think that clutch-slipping is just adding a new complication for a novice rider.
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[Wonko The Sane]

[Stobo91]

[Wonko The Sane]

Check your bikes handbook on adjusting your chain, too tight and you can damage components. There should be an amount of slack to allow suspension movement - on my bike it's 3cm when the bike is on its centre stand - it'll be different on yours!

When setting off don't rush too much to get your foot up, don't leave it too long but don't panic about it.

My 125 I could come to an almost stop on it after commuting daily on it for 6 months with my feet up and set off again smoothly, it's taken 1.5 years to get to that point on my current bike, if I change bikes I'll need to re-learn for that bike
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Looking to pass your CBT / Bike tests in Bury Lancashire? try www.focusridertraining.co.uk Would recommend.
They're also on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Focus-Rider-Training/196832923734251

[matto]

[markk21]

Thanks for the extra advice. I haven't tried slipping the clutch yet but will give it a go.


Today I bought some lighter gloves as I had very thick winter gloves and I was sweating in them and the gloves and my hands stunk. As the new gloves are much lighter they are much more comfortable to wear but what was such a pleasant surprise was how much easier it is to ride with them. The whole feel is better and I find it much easier to use the clutch and the front brake now. I feel more confident riding with the new gloves and as a result my whole overall riding is much more smooth

[Stobo91]

[Pete.]