Roundabouts

[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/ri...lowspeed.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!