Teaching to ride - Help

[Jimmy B]

Hi all, I am teaching a young bloke to ride his 2 smoker and seeking some feedback because its been years since I learnt and I don’t want to miss anything.

To recap on our session last Saturday in a carpark:

• Figure of 8’s
• Ovals in both directions
• Slalom around imaginary cones
• Gear changes from 1st into 2nd and back to 1st
• Hill start using rear brake to hold bike
• Keeping your head up and looking at where you want to ride
• Straight line braking from about 40 kph in second gear, using front brake only
• Controlling your takeoff with your clutch rather than the accelerator i.e. set revs and engage smoothly in a controlled fashion without stalling

If he is starting to get comfortable with this I would like him to now focus on the following:

• While performing figure 8’s practise using his indicator, like you would if you were riding on the road and about to turn; don’t forget to turn them off once you have completed your turn.

• The figure 8’s and ovals we are doing is to help you get use to manoeuvring the bike at slow speed, it is harder to perform these over a smaller area.

I would like him to think about doing these 2 exercises over about 20 feet i.e. close to full steering lock on the bike, slowly and without putting his feet down. He will notice the bike is hard to balance or a bit wobbly but have reminded him to stick with it and he will feel more natural.

• When he is performing straight line braking I want him to think about his rear vision mirror and quick glance into it before he brakes. This will simulate the road where another motorist maybe following too closely. Maybe do the first few from about 20 kph and in first gear to get the feel of riding without looking forwards.

• His braking looked OK to me for a starter but now I want him to think about stopping distance i.e. how much distance will it take for me to stop comfortably. To do this pick a point where you will start braking and have a look at where you stop. Do this a few times to make sure this distance is consistent from the same speed. Then pick a point where you want to stop and see if you can stop on or slightly before that point.

• Once he has that sorted and it feels natural try to reduce that distance without locking the front wheel. Remember 2 fingers and progressive pressure on the brake lever.

Well that about the size of it for now, what do you guys think, missed anything?

Cheers Andy.

[crashe]

Excellent....... well done.
You are doing a fantastic job...



Now start to work him up throu the gears now....
Get him out onto a quiet street to go up and down that... over and over.
Also showing/demonstrating what you want, also helps them to understand certain manouvers you want them to do.

Since he is on a two smoker..... teach him to 'cover the clutch' at all times.
Ixion will come in and explain the reason why........


When you think the time is right, get him over to the 'Wednesday Mentor night rides' and from that you to will also learn what else to show him.

Another good thing for him to do is the 'Ride Right Ride Safe' course.

[hazard02]

Practice straight line braking using both brakes aswell. Its one of the things I was asked to do during my learner's test.

[Jimmy B]

Thanks Crashe,

yep Ive been over the clutch bizo but more to keep the bike in usable power range than stopping purposes, If there is any other reason I surely would like to hear it

Yep will get him along to those, main thing is to get him to a point where he can sit his learners before we can go too much further

Cheers again

Andy

[Disco Dan]

Good stuff mate, heres a link

[Jimmy B]

Practice straight line braking using both brakes aswell. Its one of the things I was asked to do during my learner's test.

Thanks mate, thought Id do one at a time ie master front only then get to the back for both, tiddler bike though must have a 2kgs on the rear tyre during a reasonable stop, still will get there

Cheers

[Jimmy B]

Good stuff mate, heres a link

Cheers DD

Gotta go see you folks tommorrow

[kiwifruit]

good on you Andy
sounds like he is lucky to have such a good teacher

[cowboyz]

sounds like you have the riding of the bike thing covered nicely, good job.

Another thing I like to do is teach road awareness. Teach things like when going through intersections and cars are waiting to cross your path keep one eye on their front wheel to see if it moves. Planning route A and B and being able to commit to the best option using judgement. Stuff like this sounds like it is more for after the learners licence stage but learning road awareness from the get go is valuable for all riders.
Ride with 2 mottos in mind.

1. Never ride faster than your guardian angel can fly.
2. Even if you are in the right - it still hurts.

[vamr]

I would imagine apart from "this is the clutch and these are your brakes" tuition would be best achieved after some saddle time on the chaps behalf.

But once again, what would I know

[White trash]

Wheelies! For fucks sake don't forget to teach him them!

[Jimmy B]

Thanks again Guys,

All good stuff, one of the reasons I like K.B is folks like yourselves giving good advice. Helps me, helps my mate.

Keep it coming, any tips are good. I will send him a link to this post so he can ask qustions of the wider group.

Maybe, and although its a wee way off before we hit the road, we could think about riding strategy as it relates to city commuting. I have a set of rules that I ride by built up over the years so that when a scenario goes down, its more expected than a surprise.

For example, going down bus lanes is fine when the traffic is next to stationary but it exposes the following:

Danger is less likely to be directly in front, it will be to my immediate left and more importantly to my right where cages will bolt out of a side street and turn across my path.

To protect myself I do this:

I constantly scan left looking for traffic to turn across my path and those I see I make eye contact or will use my horn if they are looking away. Glance at their wheels, I can see them creeping forward which is an early warning - Nice one Cowboyz

I constantly scan right as above paying attention to side roads and right turning traffic

If I can't see to my right because it is obscured my a stationery vehicle eg Truck SUV etc I will literally stop and sneak a peak, often the stationary vehichle is making a gap for another right turning vehicle that cant see me. I look for the gaps to my right and prepare to stop before I pass the gap.

Once the traffic moves to a good speed (hardly ever) then I merge out of the bus lane and join the flow.

What else do you guys do to keep yourselves safe?

Andy

[Jimmy B]

Wheelies! For fucks sake don't forget to teach him them!

Great point mate, he'll be clutchin up that RG like a pro in about 6 months. Gotto master the mingin patch first

[The Stranger:Me]

• While performing figure 8’s practise using his indicator, like you would if you were riding on the road and about to turn; don’t forget to turn them off once you have completed your turn.

• The figure 8’s and ovals we are doing is to help you get use to manoeuvring the bike at slow speed, it is harder to perform these over a smaller area.

I would like him to think about doing these 2 exercises over about 20 feet i.e. close to full steering lock on the bike, slowly and without putting his feet down. He will notice the bike is hard to balance or a bit wobbly but have reminded him to stick with it and he will feel more natural.

Key elements for low speed work are.
Consistent throttle - don't upset front/rear balance. Equally as important at high speeds too.
Looking where you want to be.
Get your weight down on the pegs.
If you want to pull tight low speed turns - weight the outside peg.

[Jimmy B]

Key elements for low speed work are.
Consistent throttle - don't upset front/rear balance.
Looking where you want to be.
Get your weight down on the pegs.
If you want to pull tight low speed turns - weight the outside peg.

Nice one Noel, great advice and thanks. Its that sort of stuff that I think I do instinctively yet find it a bit hard to put into words, hence this post. I am really enjoying this challenge and want this Guy to have the basics absolutey nailed before he gets on the road and have the base to develop into a damn good rider over time.