Advice Time

[ital916]

Hey all thanks to those who came for the learner ride on Sat twas great I learnt lots, especially about cornering. Just two question. First when i got back from the ride my left wrist was killing me, is this from bad riding posture, i hold on with my knees and try take weight off my wrists. Two when doing open road riding i found on a lot of corners i would come in too fast and braking would feel unsteady, if coming in too hot/or at the right speed before a corner would a change down in gears be best if its a sharp corner? Sorry for the noob questions..all i can say is leaning the bike for the first time was awesome, scary but a goodie.

[Taz]

What are you riding?

[ital916]

My little beast is an RG150

[Taz]

My best advice to you would be to slow down to go faster. Work on being smooth and speed and control will follow. You always want to be in a gear that allows you to drive out of the corner and you want to have that gear selected before the apex of the turn.

[Macstar]

Wrist could be:

1. You're soft - need to strengthen your wrist muscles.
2. Clutch cable is a little stiff?
3. Clutch lever is too far out so you're having to reach too far and/or on the wrong angle.

Cornering

Dump speed before entry, shift down to a gear that will get you somewhere between a third to half of your rev range (i.e. 4-6000 rpm on a 12000rpm bike). On a FXR that would probably be around 5-7000 I think?????

When you can see the end of the corner and your exit point, open her up again giving it revs.

Don't brake immediately before a corner if poss and definitely not while your on a corner. (That's why you shift down a gear and use the engine to control your speed).

[Ixion]

Dump speed before entry, shift down to a gear that will get you somewhere between a third to half of your rev range (i.e. 4-6000 rpm on a 12000rpm bike). On a FXR that would probably be around 5-7000 I think?????

When you can see the end of the corner and your exit point, open her up again giving it revs.

Don't brake immediately before a corner if poss and definitely not while your on a corner. (That's why you shift down a gear and use the engine to control your speed).

He's riding a two smoker! Different rules. Riding a two stroke requires a different technique to a four stroke.

Youll need to keep the revs well up. Well up. No, more revs. More. Lots more. Essential thing is not to drop out of the power band in the corner. Cos it can be "interesting" hitting it on the way back up when cranked over.

And using the engine to control speed won't work either, cos there's no engine braking on a two smoker! (Well, bugger all, anyway)

On a two stroke y' can get away with changing up mid corner.

So on entry brake hard, bang the box down however many gears gets it up near redline. Then off the brakes hold steady revs until you can see the exit, then change up and on the throttle.

If you're going too fast and the corner tightens, trail braking on the rear brake works well on most two strokes. But at your stage of riding the odds are very great that if you think you're going too fast, just lean more. No, more than that. Further. Further. Lots more. Y' do know about counter steering, right?

On an RG150, with its lovely narrow tyres, I don't think it would be possible to lean too far. So the only limit is something scraping.

[ital916]

Yeah i do know about counter steering. I'll do lots of practice with leaning. Yeah i found as soon as revs dropped all power went away. Keep revs up and brake hard gotcha.

[HungusMaximist]

Grab yourself a full piece leather suit and hit track days You'll learn more about your bike there 1 day than all the riding you do in 1 month.

Other than that best thing you can do is immense yourself in knowledge (specifically 2 stroke bikes), bike mag/books, internet, forums, ride days... heaps of shit everywhere just be proactive.

Me and Klyong82 live just around your corner so we're happy to help ya out whenever we can.

[Squiggles]

Question: what gear do you / dont you have?

[bomma]

butt-less leather chaps, a "mr. slave" leather police hat and a sleeveless leather top which i never button up....oh and im workin on a porno director mo

EDIT: but seriously, take it easy, take your time and as mentioned above, control comes with learning to follow smooth lines.....hafnt had too much exp with 2-strokers though but from all the noise they make i gather that you should stay in high revs for more fun

[klyong82]

Hi D, you should follow me lean on every single bend or corner. You must be putting on your weight on your hands. Try to relax. you could also alter the position of your clutch lever to dip a little down might help to prevent spraining the wrist.

[Chrislost]

yknow how your holding the bars wit a death grip? take both hands off and practice every hill you go down steering the bike by leaning(same as what you do on a bmx)

you can also find a gravely carpark and practice sliding the rear end.

[carbacca]

Question: what gear do you / dont you have?

he has the whole nine yards as far as gear goes, even the little hi vis vest. good on ya mate

yeah i got the whole sort wrist thing when i first started. even a short ride would make my wrist feel like jelly. it only took a few weeks to get over it though. like someone said dont death grip the bars, but use your torso to keep yourself upright

leaning- yeah looks like you had heaps to go, esp on that little rocket of yours but it will take a while to slowly push your limits of what you feel comfortable

cornering- slow in fast out. just take it easy until you know what your bike can do.

do the RRRS course if you can, it costs bugger all and is a goldmine of information and skills. actually i would be keen on doing it again, i did it 6 months ago when i was pretty much at your stage, i am sure theres more info i can soak up from there

[motorbyclist]

ok, this is where learning on a 2 stroke has it's disadvantages - you can't rely on the engine to control your speed - but on the bonus side you do learn alot about working the clutch/engine/brakes to get the most from your bike.

to corner well on the 2 stroke, you may have to slip the clutch a bit to keep it in the power band if you can't find the right gear (do not try for atleast another month please). a four stroke, especially ones with a Vtwin (or v-4), will have a wide rev range of usable power, and you can use the 4 stroke engine to slow the bike quite considerably to the point where a downshift can cause the rear to slide (giving a nice squiggly and wobbly line into a corner)


as for cornering, looking at your riding you have alot of room to lean over. just make sure though that once you've found the bike's limits that you are never doing more than 80% unless you know the road well or are following someone who knows the road, cause often corners will get nasty half way through. i think you learnt a bit about that on saturday eh?
make sure you're looking where you want to go. if you look at the tree/post/ditch, you will end up there. to get the last bit of performance from your bike you need to "steer with your head" and look where you want to go, being the exit of the corner, and then smooth and fast lines will happen naturally. i suspect on that dodgy corner on saturday you were both going too fast for your skill, and panicked. do not panic, ever. it only leads to avoidable mistakes.


but in general, make sure to wipe off all your speed before the corner, and only nail it on the exit to a corner, after the apex. gentle braking in a corner is ok, but braking makes the bike heavy and hard to steer. (remember that next time you need to avoid rear ending someone too - swerve first then brake)

i can show you (i believe i told you on saturday) about moving/using your body to corner. very handy trick, saved me and the viffer twice today, shame about my pegs/boot though


and finally, never blame the bike: sure the wheel locked up, and that annoying thing your bike does happened and the chain is too loose and it dropped into neutral, but as a rider you're incharge and it's your responsibility.
likewise, i can get my 18 year old 400cc bike to beat most guys on their brand new 600 and 1000cc sportbikes - sure they could beat me in a drag, but a bit of smart gear changes, top notch leaning and general thrashing of the engine gives a better overall result

so remember; your performance is always 90% rider and 10% bike

EDIT: oh, and sore wrists are standard on sportbikes (among "other" things). all i can say is if you ride more it won't be so bad, but softening the clutch will help alot. i've been riding for 5 years now (3 on the road) and even now i still get sore wrists after 3-4 hours (and right now after a coro loop on the viffer, i've got sore neck, knees, wrist, lower back, and my left ring finger is a bit numb with pins and needles)

[motorbyclist]

Two when doing open road riding i found on a lot of corners i would come in too fast and braking would feel unsteady,

might put that down to a wheel slipping or the fact you've3 been riding barely a week

if coming in too hot/or at the right speed before a corner would a change down in gears be best if its a sharp corner?

yes and no

yes: you will be in the power band for the duration/exit of the corner, and for a 4 stroke the engine brake is invaluable (and more effective at higher rpm)

no: as mentioned earlier, if you aren't smooth a 4 stroke may slide giving a wobble, but you're on a 2 stroke so i dunno bout that one