Essential skills...

[XP@]

Being able to walk around your bike in either direction without it being on the stand. Also be able to touch the ground with one hand whilst holding the bike with the other. (start on grass first).

Being able to ride on gravel / off road, when you are comfortable with dirt, normal roads are easy, even when they are govered in c**p!

[vifferman]

Being able to walk around your bike in either direction without it being on the stand. Also be able to touch the ground with one hand whilst holding the bike with the other. (start on grass first).

Being able to ride on gravel / off road, when you are comfortable with dirt, normal roads are easy, even when they are govered in c**p!

Good points, Sir!
I'd forgotten about stuff like this. And stopping on a hill then swapping which foot's on the ground, so you can select neutral or first (because you didn't change all the way down )
Riding standing on the pegs. Or the seat, if the floodwater's really high...

[retro asian]

Braking in a corner is a very valuable skill...but make sure you have someone knowledgeable teach you how to do this (otherwise it may hurt).


With practising anything, take it at your own pace, start easy and try to improve in small steps.

[magicmonkey]

Braking in a corner is a very valuable skill...but make sure you have someone knowledgeable teach you how to do this (otherwise it may hurt).


With practising anything, take it at your own pace, start easy and try to improve in small steps.

I've done this a few times already, which is probably quite a bad thing! I tend to try and be as upright as possible, using the front brake and then either fully release or hold very, very gently onto the front brakes as I go into the corner. Usually only happens if I've decided my entry speed is a bit high and needs some scrubbing off and I've never had to use it in panic although I do worry about what will happen when I do, highsiders look pretty uncomfortable to me and I understand that braking too hard in a corner is the perfect way to set one up!

Is that more or less the technique I should be using for braking in a corner or am I increasing my chances of becoming a statistic at the moment?

[magicmonkey]

Being able to walk around your bike in either direction without it being on the stand. Also be able to touch the ground with one hand whilst holding the bike with the other. (start on grass first).

I'm afraid I haven't a clue what you mean here!

Being able to ride on gravel / off road, when you are comfortable with dirt, normal roads are easy, even when they are govered in c**p!

Yeah, I wouldn't mind some time on a gravel track, I am a bit afraid of wrecking my bike though so I haven't tried it yet...

[magicmonkey]

You'll need skills with riding on crappy surfaces for that too.

Joy!

It's like checking out a hot chick without your woman noticing: your attention's where it should be, while sneaking a surreptitious glance that's enough to take in critical details without it being obvious you're looking.
On a bike, even when you have to do more than just glance briefly away from your intended path, you still have your mental focus there. If the glance takes in something critical, the mental focus changes.

lol, loving the analogy! Unfortunately I'm never that subtle, chicks always seem to notice me perving

No, it's not that so much as absorbing the shock with your legs. Plus if you're clever, you can actually bounce down on the suspension at the right time so the rebound floats the bike over the pothole. (Don't be tempted to wheelie over it - that forces the rear wheel into it. You'd be better doing a combo wheelie/stoppie to avoid it altogether!)

Fair enough, I tend to go bolt upright and clamp my knees to the tank, seems like that's not really in keeping with the spirit of your advice there, somthing I can try out next time I come up on that nasty pothole

It's a piece of piss, especially changing up; all that's needed is a momentary change of revs coupled with a bit of lever pressure; the box is essentially a constant mesh one, so not much is required to engage the next gear. On race/drag bikes, it's accomplished with an automatic momentary ignition cutout triggerd by a microswitch on the gear lever or by the ECU itself.
You may well be doing what amounts to clutchless changes anyway if you're changing gear fast and not pulling the clutch lever all the way in.

I assume it's a downwards change of revs we're talking about here when shifting up, are you talking about completely closing the throttle and then re-opening it is just lowering the rev count briefly?

I'm pretty sure I'm pulling the clutch in all the way every time I shift, I could be wrong about that though as I've not really paid any attention to the mechanics of shifting for a while

A lt of this 'stuff' is about repetition (of the right actions) to build up patterns in your brain (like a musician and 'finger memory'), so that eventually, the riding is a right-hemisphere, unconscious action, and your rational brain (left hemisphere) has time to do other stuff, like evaluating what the heck is going on around you.

yup, I'm well aware of the repetition part of learning, it's my favorite excuse for getting on the bike

[XP@]

It is all about being comfortable with your bike. A gn is small and light so it is quite easy to manage when you are not sat on it but as you progress to bigger (and more expensive) bikes you don't want to drop them in the garage, carpark, traffic lights. Mirrors break and ego's get bruised.

There are times when you find yourself at the wrong side of your bike with the side stand up, not good if it is a 280kg BMW. Other times and the grass is too soft for your stand. To get round these minor issues you need to be able to keep your bike upright whilst doing other stuff. As you have probably guessed by now your bike will not stand up all by itself!

The excersise:
With your bike on some grass put the side stand up. Then walk all the way around your bike clockwise without letting it fall over. Try the same anti-clockwise. Once you are comfortable walking round your bike both ways try touching the ground whilst holding the bike up. Further up the ante by doing it on the pavement in full bike gear.

I'm afraid I haven't a clue what you mean here!
Yeah, I wouldn't mind some time on a gravel track, I am a bit afraid of wrecking my bike though so I haven't tried it yet...

See the gravel thread http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...d.php?t=109796
It is better to approach this one on your terms (go out and find some) rather than coming across some roadworks and having to learn fast.
Best if you can borrow a mates adventure bike, but your GN would cope fine :-)

[retro asian]

I've done this a few times already, which is probably quite a bad thing! I tend to try and be as upright as possible, using the front brake and then either fully release or hold very, very gently onto the front brakes as I go into the corner. Usually only happens if I've decided my entry speed is a bit high and needs some scrubbing off and I've never had to use it in panic although I do worry about what will happen when I do, highsiders look pretty uncomfortable to me and I understand that braking too hard in a corner is the perfect way to set one up!

Is that more or less the technique I should be using for braking in a corner or am I increasing my chances of becoming a statistic at the moment?

Learn what happens to your bike from the front brake and the back brake, ie one straightens you up, one leans you more. Both brakes have to be applied smoothly (i.e. not slammed on) in a corner. Just do it carefully, try it at low speeds first... just like in the BHS test... it's not dangerous if you are very sensible about how you do it. Get a mentor to join/watch you.

[XRVrider]

I found little technical things helped a lot to my skills, like, full lock circles where you play the clutch and revs to do circles, with the steering turned full lock each way, well one way for a few turns then the other and see if you can keep the bike on full lock. Theres a tendency to straighten up when your balance isnt so good. Stand up and keep the centre of gravity low first if you can, then sit and do it. This will help a great deal for U turns and parking and with throttle and clutch control in general. They taught us that when I first got my license many years ago and went to a skills course.

Good luck with everything and all and the practice, it may save your life.

[LBD]

Hill starts?
Identifying appropriate lines when cornering?

or bigger stuff like improving cornering technique.

+1

Practice watching two cars in front as well as the immediate....

Riding in strong cross wind...using counter steering.

[Ms Piggy]

Oh - and kudos to you for wanting to do this right - that's the first step, and very commendable.

Yep - well done this man for working hard on learning to ride. Ummmm...not sure if anyone has mentioned this but anticipating hazards (never assuming that a gap means you can go there cos there might be a car heading there too!) and looking further ahead in the traffic (like noticing that 6 or 7 carsa head the brakes are going on), looking for escape routes rather than slamming on the brakes (that's one i need to practice!). Keep up the good work!

[MSTRS:Me]

I assume it's a downwards change of revs we're talking about here when shifting up, are you talking about completely closing the throttle and then re-opening it is just lowering the rev count briefly?

I wouldn't worry about clutchless shifting just yet.
But if you insist, this is how/why it works...
When you are rolling, there are 3 types of throttle setting. Closed = decelerating. Part-open = maintain speed. Open = accelerating. However, even part-open is still a mild state of acceleration - to offset the friction forces that are trying to slow you down. Your gearbox is in constant-mesh, meaning whatever the throttle does, there is pressure on the face of one gear cog teeth against the teeth of the one it is touching. There is a small amount of play in the mesh, so if you change from accel to decel, the pressure on the geartooth faces changes from one side to the other. Momentary backing off the throttle, or pulling in the clutch, achieves this 'unloading', and allows the cogs to move into the next gear up.
Most people don't clutchless downshift, but it is a reverse of the above...if you are slowing down, your throttle will be closed, but you need to apply a momentary slight acceleration to unload the gearbox...etc.

[magicmonkey]

I cleaned the chain this morning and then headed out for a ride along a well known road (kerosene splash on the rear tire, cleaned it off but wanted to take it gentle just in case) I tried out clutchless upshifting which worked fine, bit of a jolt when the gear caught though so I'll need some practice at matching the revs, not a big deal as I've driven vintage cars with no sync'mesh before now and the idea is pretty much the same by the sounds of it, just need to get more practice in (yay, another excuse to ride!)

tried standing up on the pegs over a couple of speed bumps etc. (well, not actually standing up but raising my arse off the seat a bit) It does seem a bit more stable but it puts my arms in an odd position for the controls, again, something i'll have to get used to by the looks of things.

I think I'm going to head out onto SH1 later on today as the weather is decent and I've only had the bike up to 100 once before, I'd like to get my confidence up a bit and it'd be good to go on a proper long ride rather than the scenic backroads I've been riding so far.

If I'm feeling really adventurous I might even try and find a gravel track somewhere

XP@ - I decided not to try and walk around the bike earlier, I did think about it for a bit and then decided to leave it for a while. I'll crack on with it when I can park up somewhere grassy and nice though (maybe after removing the indicators and mirrors )

[Felix52]

Good - now trying parking in awkward sloping carparks; that tests more'n one skill. First you have to work out which is the best place to park, then manouevre your bike into the park, so that it (a) won't fall over, and (b) is possible to get out of again.

I recommend doing a bit of this while you have a nice light learner's bike (especially living in Wellington!). I got caught out the other day, parking at the mortgage broker's (of all places...).

Mistake #1 (small) - tried to park with the sidestand on the uphill side, couldn't get it down (and it wouldn't have held the bike there anyway).

Mistake #2 (bigger) - looked for a better place to put the bike, and ended up pointing downhill with nowhere to go. My little Scorpio had made me a bit lazy, it was light enough that you can haul it backwards up some pretty steep stuff, but I couldn't get the bigger bike moving at all. Luckily the broker knows bikes and could see I was stuck (and that my way out would have been up on the pegs and through his flower garden ) so gave me a hand.

[magicmonkey]

I recommend doing a bit of this while you have a nice light learner's bike (especially living in Wellington!). I got caught out the other day, parking at the mortgage broker's (of all places...).

Mistake #1 (small) - tried to park with the sidestand on the uphill side, couldn't get it down (and it wouldn't have held the bike there anyway).

Mistake #2 (bigger) - looked for a better place to put the bike, and ended up pointing downhill with nowhere to go. My little Scorpio had made me a bit lazy, it was light enough that you can haul it backwards up some pretty steep stuff, but I couldn't get the bigger bike moving at all. Luckily the broker knows bikes and could see I was stuck (and that my way out would have been up on the pegs and through his flower garden ) so gave me a hand.

Yeah, the GN is light enough for me to pull it back up some pretty steep slopes, especially considering how non-muscular I am!