Sportbike turning circle?

**Maki** · 19th March 2009, 15:40

I just went from a ninja 250 to a supersport 600. One big difference I have noticed is that there is no way I can make a U turn on the 600cc in the same amount of space as I could on the Ninja. Am I doing something wrong or is a big turning circle simply a fact of life on a supersport?

**CookMySock** · 19th March 2009, 16:09

In a conventional U turn to the right, slide your ass to the left and twist to the right, so you have mostly the underside of your right thigh on the riders seat. (practice with bike on stand first.) edit: try and poke your left knee into a fairing somewhere to steady yourself.

While you are moving along the left side of the road, get seated this way (yes while you are moving) and then clear the traffic behind and in front of you, and then look at a spot on the ground on your right-hand side about one meter out from your rear wheel, and then countersteer into a right-hand turn. Keep you eye on this spot and magically you will do a U turn in very little space at all.

Now its quite disconcerting putting your eyes back there, so practice some tight loops in a carpark first. Get seated sideways, and then turn in to the right and tighten the turn more and more until it is at full lock, and then continue looping while you look further and further back towards your rear wheel. Remember if you are full lock, you can stop the bike tipping inwards by putting more weight outwards, or adding a tiny blip of power.

See if that helps. I did a U turn on my 650 the other day doing this, and was shocked to find myself in the wrong lane.

Steve

**Subike** · 19th March 2009, 16:13

longer wheel base will mean a larger turning circle.
you will also notice the difference when riding your favorite twisties on the 600 after the 250, most larger road bikes have trouble turning as quick as their smaller 250 cousins,
Im sure someone will shoot me down on this.
After a while, you will find you will turn the bigger bike just as well as you did the 250, just takes time, practice and confidence.

**eelracing** · 19th March 2009, 16:17

Tighter steering locks on sports bikes to keep slappers in hand.But u-turns are made easier by leaning your body away from the inside of the turn and pushing the bike down(motocross style)ie the opposite of hanging off roadracer like.
Practice makes perfect and its good to learn throttle/clutch/steering control too.

**carbonhed** · 19th March 2009, 16:30

Originally Posted by Maki

Am I doing something wrong or is a big turning circle simply a fact of life on a supersport?

The Daytona's the same. Tiny steering lock big turning circle... and it tries to pinch your thumbs between the grip and the tank... freaks me out.

How's the R6 going... been over any interesting roads yet?

Looking forward to seeing it in all its glory.

**Maki** · 19th March 2009, 16:40

It's going very well thanks. I have not had much time to go out riding though, I have been working a lot these days. I have to pay for it somehow...

**discotex** · 19th March 2009, 17:08

How tight are you trying to get? I rarely need to use full lock to do a u-turn on my 600rr.

As already mentioned the secret is to lean outwards instead of the normal inwards. Basically keep your body upright and push the bike down like a dirt bike.

**Maki** · 19th March 2009, 17:24

U turn on a road about 6 metres wide. I could do it on the 250. Not a chance on the 600...

**Gubb** · 19th March 2009, 17:28

I think the Street Triple has the worst turning circle of all time. It's worse than my car.

**cheshirecat** · 19th March 2009, 18:04

The above and make sure the thing is warmed up a bit before hand - took me a while on the VFR - tiny things like not letting the tank bag reduce the clearance when least expected!

**Marmoot** · 19th March 2009, 18:34

Originally Posted by discotex

As already mentioned the secret is to lean outwards instead of the normal inwards. Basically keep your body upright and push the bike down like a dirt bike.

That's the trick, but you must have slow-speed confidence.
Slip the clutch to control your speed, and always keep the rpm above idle to avoid stall (which can be disastrous).

Failing that, you can learn from Rick Nasty's few alternative tricks

**discotex** · 19th March 2009, 19:03

Originally Posted by Maki

U turn on a road about 6 metres wide. I could do it on the 250. Not a chance on the 600...

Yep that's totally possible on an R6 with a little practice. Just need to learn the trick.

**robo555** · 19th March 2009, 21:31

When I practiced my U-turns in a carpark on my Scorpio, I can do it between the lines of two side by side car park. In normal situations it takes about 2.5 carparks.