Roundabouts

[joninety]

I have recently got a bike after many years of not riding and am pretty nervous back on the road! I am finding my self plotting my route so that I dont encounter tight inner town round abouts....any tips please! I seem to be wobbling around them watching cars and doing everything wrong. Oh I did the Coro loop and was passed by cars on a nuber of occasions (blush).

[Ocean1]

What's the bike?

There's no secret, just get used to working with the clutch in what the books call the "friction zone" and practice. Get yourself onto a big grass area, bung a couple of markers on the ground and start doing slow figure eights. Move the markers closer and practice some more.

Once you've discovered that there's no real limit to how slow you can ride you'll be away.

[joninety]

I have a1998 Ducati SS 400. Thanks for the suggestion...its a goody!! Learning to control it without having to worry about what everyone else is doing is good advise.

[Gremlin]

You're probably lacking in confidence, which makes you nervous. Bikes are an intelligent breed and copy what you're feeling. If you're nervous, the bike is generally nervous, and vice versa.

As Ocean says, find somewhere quiet to practise control of the bike. Once you have that down, you can add in the complexities of traffic.

[madandy]

I think you need to do a basic handling test.:baby:
Ride right ride safe course etc.:cool:
Round a bouts should be easy for a motorcycle license holder.:banana:

[Maha]

Bus Timetable?....:niceone:

[mossy1200]

400ss takes a while to get good at riding.
Bars arnt very wide so a bit harder at slow speeds.
Just ride it more on quieter streets and it will just happen.

[Waipukbiker]

One of the earliest skills that need to be learnt with trials riding is to be able to turn the bike on full lock without using your feet on the ground, I realize that on trials and trail bikes you can stand up but its still a throttle/clutch/balance skill and have got their place with road bikes too, Its these skills that can very helpfull when doing things like a "U" turn on a street. wider bars are certainly an advantage here but its just a matter of practise.

Remember the bike will always want to go where you look(unless the laws of physics or gravity have taken over) its the same as always looking ahead to the exit or as far as you can see around a corner and the bike will automatically set itself up to go there, try it in a roundabout. If you are genuinely wobbling a bit then maybe you are going a bit slow but this of course may be because of the traffic congestion (Im glad I live and work in the country)
I will also endorse the suggestion of a back to basics type riding course (Cost permitting)

Whatever you do, ride safe and enjoy. Remember, NEVER EVER let yourself be forced out of your own comfort zone.

Cheers

[Subike]

Agree 100% with Ocean.
A couple of cones, and empty car park and figure 8's.
1.25 coke bottles full of water work fine.
If its a nice sunny warm day, then an even better surface in my opinion is grass, getting use to that slight slipperiness, teaches you how to handle that sensation you encounter with road film on wet round-a-bouts, will save your ass at least once in the future for sure.

[hellokitty]

I used to have an issue with right turns at roundabouts. I am lucky that there is a 10 minute route in my neighbourhood that involves 5 roundabouts in a very large ride around the block. Anytime I got a new bike, I would do that route a few times.
If you are really nervous, stop, look carefully, then enter the roundabout - the worst thing to do when you are nervous, is to muck about, not sure if you have time to pull out, and panic. Nothing worse than being halfway through am intersection (or whatever) and thinking "shit, I don't have the time/speed/distance available".

[Maha]

Agree 100% with Ocean.
A couple of cones, and empty car park and figure 8's.
1.25 coke bottles full of water work fine.
If its a nice sunny warm day, then an even better surface in my opinion is grass, getting use to that slight slipperiness, teaches you how to handle that sensation you encounter with road film on wet round-a-bouts, will save your ass at least once in the future for sure.

People are good also, they tend to move about a bit, but that all helps with the assertiveness.

[joninety]

Thankyou!! I have had the steering lock adjusted which was apparently ridiculous....this has made quite a difference ! I will do the cones in a paddock practice- sure makes sense to me. I think I can avoid the bus ticket option from here in!

[Ocean1]

Thankyou!! I have had the steering lock adjusted which was apparently ridiculous....this has made quite a difference !

Interesting. I was aware that at least some Ducatis had adjustable stops, never knew why. I take it someone had adjusted them to significantly restrict available steering angle?

I've had bikes with severely limited steerage, it can catch you out from time to time.

[neels]

I've seen this teaching my kids to drive/ride, learning to control the machine is one part of it, the other is making a decision about what you are going to do before you have to do it.

Decide as early as possible what you're going to do and if you're stopping stop if you're going get on with it, should be no coasting/hesitating/wobbling involved.

[joninety]

Yes -a previous owner had a very interesting riding position... along with the steering , the bars were at the angle of hedge clippers! Some adjustments here and there have made it a much more logical ride. Thanks heaps for your comments and interest.

[Banditbandit]

Also ... out on the road being in the right gear is hugely important. I have watched many riders look very woobly and uncertain in corners .. and have noticed that many of these riders do not change down for corners ...

It's the engine spinning that keeps the bike upright (don't ask me the physics... ) so having good engine speed is important for handling . and changing down for the corners is important ... (not all corners ... but you will get the hang of which gear to be in through experience)

Sounds like you've got the bike set up for you now ... the rest is just practice and experience ..

[TanyaG]

What's the bike?

There's no secret, just get used to working with the clutch in what the books call the "friction zone" and practice. Get yourself onto a big grass area, bung a couple of markers on the ground and start doing slow figure eights. Move the markers closer and practice some more.

Once you've discovered that there's no real limit to how slow you can ride you'll be away.

This is great advice, but me personally, I would not go on grass, just hit a car park or open area and start doing the figure eight, you will get it, its just overcoming the fear, trusting your bike and your riding skill.

[Disco Dan]

I was always a fan of Chalk.

Head down to an empty carpark with some chalk. Draw a line from rim to rim across your front and back tires. Then mark out a large course with chalk - once you have done a few figure 8's etc go take a look at your tires - it is a huge confidence booster to see that you have no chalk on your tires... you will surprise yourself at how much your leaning it over at such a slow speed.

Some types of road cones can be quite dangerous if you hit them at low speed - the 'marker' type that are low with a hole in the middle will very easily get trapped under your front/rear and cause a slide. Actual cones however give far more incentive to miss them in the first place! But chalk - chalk gives you more confidence quicker as you can just ride over it at the last minute if you stuff it up (and still keep on the bike).

[joninety]

Thanks so much every one! I am getting out on my bike every weekend. After a ride I try and go back into town to do some roundabouts...I am so much happier with eveything now and am really enjoying this agricultural sounding bike! A good incentive to keep it up right is the cost of spare parts for this model ( am I right in assuming there were not many imported?). It has a real personality thats for sure.

[Brooke]

I agree with madandy. My father in law rode bike for years and has just got back into it after along time off the bike. He did a return riders day at taupo (on the track so a good controlled environment without the worry of cars etc) and also another training day at Hamilton tech (they have another on coming up on the 15th of December I think). I did a training day at taupo on Sunday and got a lot of it. They had a slow riding part too with cones etc. was only $50 so well worth it.

[tamarillo]

remember that at slow speed tight turns you will lean bike deep in direction you want to go and you will lean out other way. Always look where you want to go, slip clutch or small back brake to go slow:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9MVY8swO5M

http://www.ridemyown.com/articles/riding/BTB-slowspeed.shtml
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cms0bkNj7A

training course essential! and practice. It is scary when out with older experienced riders who many cannot do a foot up u turn!