Motorman's Tips & Tricks

I'm just back from Bike Week at Daytona.  I was there for the entire ten days performing my rider skills show at the Harley-Davidson demo site.  Being at that location gave me plenty of time to observe the riders test riding the demo bikes.  I must say, quite a few of them could use a refresher on their skills, or lack of same.  The riders had to take their demo bike and make a left hand turn which was two lanes wide.  They then had to make a right hand turn to get out onto the street.  I couldn't believe how many riders had to actually stop the motorcycle, duck walk it to the left until the bike was facing straight ahead, then ride straight for 100 feet or so, then stop the bike at the right hand turn and again, duck walk the bike around the turn until it was facing straight ahead. 

To avoid all that nonsense, I'll offer my "Back to the Basics" article from some years ago.
______________________________

Back to the Basics
     The first thing you must master is head and eyes.  What this means exactly, is that wherever you look, that's where the bike will go.  The reason the phrase head and eyes is used is that if you turn your head to the right, but your eyes look straight ahead, the technique WILL NOT work.  Both your head and eyes must turn in the direction you want the bike to go.  Never look down unless you want to go down.  Head and eyes does take practice to become second nature.  The good news is that you can practice this technique every time you are on your motorcycle.  Simply pulling out of your driveway, for instance, if you are turning to the right, turn your head and eyes to the right, look down the road where you want the motorcycle to go and you'll immediately notice you will be making a much tighter turn than normal.  When you stop at a stop sign and are about to make a left hand turn, turn your head and eyes to the left, avoid looking at the curb or the center line of the road and focus on where you want the bike to end up, and you will find you will never drift toward the curb or the center line of the road.  You can even practice this technique on a bicycle by making U-turns on the street in front of your own home.        

      The second technique you must learn is how to use the friction zone.  The friction zone is the area on the clutch between fully open and fully closed.  In other words, as you let the clutch out and the bike starts to move, you're entering the friction zone.  An easy way to become accustomed to riding the bike in the friction zone is to practice the slow race.  That is simply going as slow as you possibly can without releasing the clutch completely

    The third technique is the proper use of the rear or controlling brake.  With the motorcycle in the friction zone, keep your foot on the rear brake and feather it as the bike starts to move.  By doing this, you are making the motorcycle think it's going faster than it is.  When you apply power and keep your foot on the rear brake, it keeps the motorcycle from falling over at low speeds, which is where most people have a problem.  I've never heard of anyone having problems balancing their motorcycle at 50 or 60 mph.  If you don't use these techniques at 5 or 10mph, the motorcycle feels clumsy and wants to fall over on its side.  AVOID using the front brake at all costs when the handlebars are turned at low speeds, as applying the front brake at 5 or 10 mph with the handle bars turned even slightly will pull you to the ground like a magnet.  Of course, once above parking lot speeds, you must use the front brake as well as the rear brake, as 70% of your braking power comes from the front brake.
 
      Avoid dragging your feet along the ground, as this tends to upset the balance of the motorcycle, and of course, if your feet are dragging on the ground, you cannot have your foot on the brake.  As soon as you start to move your bike from a complete stop, both feet should automatically come up to the floorboards or pegs and your right foot should be applying light pressure to the rear brake.  Once you master these three simple techniques, you will be amazed at the tight maneuvers your bike can perform.
__________________________________________________________________ 

For more tips, tricks and techniques, order my new Ride Like a Pro V DVD.  You can order online via my website, www.ridelikeapro.com or call toll free, 866-868-7433.