U turns :?

[rpg]

after having done my CBT on a moped, which was awful, i havee a question. Is it as awful doing a U turn on a motorbike like it was on a moped?
ta

[mchaggis]

Slow control is far easier on a motorcycle with gears and a clutch in my experience. Being able to balance the power with both the clutch and the rear brake is a big bonus.

It all comes down to a matter of practise at the end of the day however. Slow control isn't too difficult once you've got the hang of it, funnily enough, but it's a pain the arse to learn to start off with.
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[Chr!S]

Why are you finding u-turns so hard?

[rpg]

cos on a moped you have nothing to grip onto legwise, whereas on a motorbike you have the tank to grip onto.

[Chriss]

Dreaded U turn! I find the 'secret' is to give it loads of power, feather the back brake and just use the clutch to decide how fast you want to go.

Yeah, the bike may sound stupid, but at least I can do 'em.
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[michaelryland]

I also found the U turns the hardest thing on the CBT.
But now with gears its a lot easier. I recon because you can control small amounts of power delivery, whereas on the moped its quite hard to get the "bitting point" with little throttle.

[JonB]

I found U turns on the moped easier than I did the 125.
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[Dom_]

I find u turns prettry easy full stop. If your turning right, then move your body over to the left, it feel un-natural but it works!

[jimster]

Depends on the moped...my old 50cc moped was impossible to consistently do u-turns on without putting your foot down, because at low speeds it would jerk, pause, jerk, pause etc even though the throttle was constant.

On my CG125, they're dead easy because you use high throttle to get the bike going, but to stop it going too fast you feather the clutch and use the rear brake a little.

Just remember u-turn procedure:

Put bike in first gear and enter safety position (left foot down, right foot on rear brake, hands on handlebars, left hand pulling clutch in, right hand wrapped round the handlebar and not resting on the front brake) while positioned next to the kerb. If you want, you can have your left foot on the kerb before you start.
Don't indicate (at any point during the u-turn)
Look in front, look behind, look in front, look behind.
Then start off slowly in a straight line next to the kerb for a couple of bike lengths to get your balance.
Use light rear brake (don't use the front - this will make the bike overbalance), together with high revs and feathered clutch.
Then do a lifesaver over your right shoulder.
Look straight ahead again, then start to turn straight away!
Don't look down at the ground or at the kerb as the bike goes where you look. Keep your head and eyes up and look back down the road.
If you start to go too fast, pull the clutch in a little bit and gently press the rear brake, but don't drop the revs.
If you start to go too slow, let the clutch out a little bit and gently let go of the rear brake, but don't increase the revs.
Keep going at a steady walking pace, don't go so slow you risk overbalancing or so fast you risk overrunning the corner.
Then pull up on the left hand side approximately opposite where you started. You can put your left foot on the kerb if you need to, which gives you a few extra inches to play with (only time in the test you can do that and not fail...)

When turning the bike round in the road by hand - DON'T DROP IT!! Make sure you look both ways before moving off, and push the bike using the handlebars, so you can use the front brake if necessary.

And bingo! Test pass. (This approach was what I did yesterday, and it worked fine for me).

And just remember: the instructor can ask you to do a u-turn in roads as narrow as 6-7 paces wide. So make sure you practice in a variety of roads, down to the width mentioned above. Also, practice on roads with a gradient - the steeper the better, as if you're using too much brake/clutch feather/not enough revs you'll have problems going up or down hill, and you'll be able to work out more easily how to fix it.
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Current: Yamaha Diversion XJ900
Previous: Yamaha Diversion 600cc, Piaggio Zip 50cc, Honda CG125-W, Siamoto Caddy 50cc moped

[michaelryland]

Wooooooh Jimster, mini essay there.

Thats way better information than my moped CBT instructor gave me. He just said start at one kerb, then do a U turn and don't forget to do a life saver.

That's got to make it easier to do U turns now. Knowing that you should lean the other way and the other stuff, it does seem to make sense.

[The Old Geeza]

Superb reply, Jimster.

I recently failed my 125 Practical, but not on my U-Turn (although I only just managed to scrape through that aspect). I actually failed on a couple of stupid things which I'd never failed on during my training days.

But I sympathise with 'rpg' when he/she says there's nothing to grip to. Why is it that whenever I have to do a U-Turn I tense up so tightly that I could crush the tank into 50% of its capacity?

I just don't know why I do it. I just feel so nervous about losing balance that every single muscle in my body tenses up. I just don't seem to be able to get the hang of looking where I need to be at the end of the turn, rather than looking at where I'm actually going.

Got my re-test in 2 weeks time. I'm hopeful, but not confident!
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[jimster]

[steveh]

My bike U turns piss easy.. can do it full lock with no throttle..

dont mean to hyjack but would i fail a test for not using the clutch on the u turn? just using throttle as i can do them So much easyer without the clutch (bike doesnt jump)


Steve.
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[Wave2k]

dont think so steveh, i didnt and i used the front brake
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[Davo]

[rpg]

hi again, thanks that was excellent info from you all, thanks to Jimster for writing the "mini essay" for me-much appreciated mate thanks
regards
rob

[THCi]

[steveh]

in 1st gear if i set off slowly let the clutch all the way out using a bit of throttle then as its moving, roll the throttle off it will pull me along with no problems atall.

Not too sure what the tech side is to this, possibly a high tick over..

plus it has a low C'of'G wich helps, and also im not as big as you


Steve.
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Current : 06 Zx10r, 07 Wr450f SM, 74 850 norton commando, 63 bsa b40, 1962 Triton 650, 67 Triumph Tr6r, 1955 Triton 750, 1978 TY250E.

[THCi]

The last part is probably very true! and the low center of grav also helps all kinda handling really.
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[DanceLikeAMon...]

I was picking up a parcel on the bike just next to a test centre yesterday. There where cars and bikes with instructors and examiners everywhere. I came to a dead end and had to do a u-turn in front of them all.

I had my right leg sticking out at about 45 degrees for balance, wobbling like buggery, riding up onto the pavement because I took it far too fast... isn't it amazing how quickly you learn to forget how to do something properly.

Gave the spectators a nice wave as I flew past them.

[mchaggis]

Practising slow control in car parks, just manoeuvering around in general will help a fair deal. Practising U-turns in real situations is also very useful because you have to do them.

Use the clutch to control your speed, plenty of revs and the back brake to steady you. If you just use idle to go around in circles, you'll not be able to do a decent U-turn on the test, especially if you get a hill to do it on.
____________________
I must not be a troll...
Mmmm, Guinness
Discovering the delights of Hammerite and a 3/4" brush.