What are some good riding techniques?

Speed control

Che - Fri Jan 21 06:22:29 2000

The key thing here is to slow down before you start turning. While you are still going straight, get the bike slowed down to a speed you feel comfortable going around the corner at. Now, let off of the brakes (especially the front!), and as you start to make your turn you need to also gradually accelerate too! Increasing your speed slightly throughout the turn will add stability to your bike. If you slow down while you turn, the bike's dynamics get worse, not better.

Looking through the curve

HJ - Sat Jan 22 16:36:33 2000

Look where you want to go. That would either be the exit of the curve/turn, or as far up as you can see if it's a blind curve. If you stare at the guardrail, curb or divider lines because you are worried about hitting or crossing them, strange and bad things happens. a) your subconscious mind seems to fight you and go towards what you are looking at but trying to avoid; b) you scare yourself; and c) you won't see what's coming up ahead, e.g. debris in the road, curve tightening, oncoming car, etc.

Countersteering

VFR Pilot - Fri Jan 21 00:53:09 2000

A motorcycle is turned by leaning it in one direction or the other and then maintaining the lean by steering the front wheel into the curve until the forces of gravity and inertia balance out. Exactly how far you lean and how far you turn the front wheel are determined by both the radius of the corner and how fast you're moving. (Anybody who can ride a bicycle can do the above without even thinking about it. The hard part is using words to describe something that most of us do instinctively.) Which brings us to countersteering, which is how we all get into corners, but is a technique that almost nobody ever actually practices.

To see countersteering at work, simply proceed down a straight -and traffic free- stretch of road and shift your weight a bit to the right; then steer ever so gently to the LEFT....Yikes! The bike suddenly tried to turn right, didn't it! In fact, if you neglected the part about steering left ever so gently, you probably scared the s--- out of yourself. So now you know how we get into corners: We overbalance the bike and steer it out from under us at the same time; only steering into the corner once the lean angle has been established. The trick is to do this quickly, precisely, consistently, and, above all, smoothly. And the way we gain that ability is to practise it over and over and over again until it happens without thinking.

But start out by practicing and thinking about what you're doing at the same time, preferably in an empty parking lot. Set up a slow wide turn, and practice tightening it by steering slightly to the outside to drop more of your weight on the inside of the corner; you will find that you can then steer further to the inside and turn more tightly. (And you'd better know how to tighten up a corner before you get into a decreasing radius curve on a two lane highway at a high rate of knots. You would have a limited future as a hood ornament.) Things like weighting the footpegs and hanging off the bike to maintain a better contact patch are techniques that must wait until you can get into and out of corners consistently, safely, and again, smoothly, every time.

Scraping Pegs

Duke - Tue Apr 25 13:43:15 2000

On our last trip to Deal's Gap I touched down both pegs once each without the feelers (the feelers are missing from my pegs). You really have to have faith in the bike that it will stay under you, but it will, as long as you have the correct tire pressure and are on dry, clean pavement. Try making circles in an empty parking lot at about 10-15 MPH, much like Leon suggests. Keep making the circle tighter to gain confidence - and eventually it won't go over any further...scraaaape.

Dealing with crosswinds

VFR Pilot - Tue May 2 19:57:49 2000

Motorcycles in general, and cowled sportbikes in particular, are subject to weaving in crosswinds. (I've ridden in gusting 65mph winds that were blowing directly across the road, and it's no fun at all.) When the wind gusts it forces you in the direction that it's blowing, so you naturally must lean into it to prevent being blown into the next lane. Then the gust will abruptly let up, and the bike will suddenly dart in the direction that you were leaning, tracing a weaving path that makes a slobbering drunk look like the picture of sobriety (I thought that I was worried that day until I realized that the cagers around me were looking panic-stricken and getting just as far away from me as they could...).

But there are several things that can help:

1. Stick your windward knee out, effectively making yourself asymmetrical to the wind. Basically, when you get hit by a gust, your leg scoops some of it up, so the wind pulls you in at the same time it pushes you away... it cuts the effect substantially.

2. Slow down. At lower speeds crosswinds have less effect. What I found downright dangerous at 70mph proved to be controllable, though exciting, at 50.

3. Find a moving wind-break. Following a tractor-trailer rig can help, but not if you have to tuck right in behind him to get any benefit. This will depend on the angle and speed of the wind. (do not get right alongside one and try to stay there! These guys often can't see you and will change lanes right on top of you with no warning. They also occasionally blow right over in high crosswinds... Not a good time to be on the downwind side unless you've always wanted to be a waffle.)

4. Watch the upwind side of the road ahead of you. Billboards, parked trucks, cuts, and stands of trees will cause the crosswind to suddenly stop and you to suddenly zig. If you know that it's about to happen, it's much easier to cope with.

 5. If you absolutely must ride in a heavy crosswind, take a short break every twenty minutes or so. Your concentration will need a rest.

Maximum lean angles

VFR Pilot - Tue Jun 20 15:58:17 2000

If your tire pressures are correct and the tires are in good shape you can safely lean a Ninja 250 over until the peg feelers start to scrape. It's not a good idea to go much further than that, as the centerstand will drag at really high lean angles, and can lever the rear tire right off of the ground; introducing the words "low side" and "road rash" into your vocabulary (avoid this).

While the 250 won't generate modern levels of cornering force due to its narrow tires and outdated stock suspension components, it will certainly get into and out of corners faster than most other sportbikes, and has no bad habits to speak of. Altogether, you couldn't pick a better bike on which to learn cornering techniques.

Entering a turn too fast

Leon - Mon Jun 4 15:15:37 2001

I've heard of a lot of things to do when trying to recover:

1. Use the rear brake to tighten up the line a little bit. It feels right to me, but the real racer guys say this is not the answer because if the rear wheel breaks loose the rear end will go wide and cause you to crash.

2. Reduce throttle and use both brakes to slow slightly realizing that most of the traction is being used for turning. It will slow you down, but uses additional traction.

3. Lean to the inside and continue to apply the throttle, leaning in will cause the bike to straighten up giving more ground clearance so hard parts don't scrape, takes lots of courage to go faster when your brain already says you're going too fast.

4. Straighten up, brake in a straight line to scrub off speed, then release the brakes and turn in tighter. Requires some room to run wider than you're already going. I don't know the right answer, but it looks to me like practice should be done before you have to do it in traffic. I've used all of the above at different times and under different conditions. Your mileage may vary, trained rider on closed course, don't try this at home, etc.

Dragging a knee

VFR Pilot - Mon Sep 17 22:09:55 2001

There's almost no way to safely drag a knee on the street; much less so on a 250.

• If you're leaned over enough to get your knee down you've generally left no traction reserve available with which to change your line or brake when something unexpected pops up. And it will. (Which brings up the second form of traction: the kind used on broken bones.)

• Unless you are hanging completely off of the bike, a street stock Ninja 250 will generally drag hard parts, such as the centerstand, before you get far enough over to reach the ground with your knee. If you drag those parts hard enough they will neatly lever the rear tire off of the ground, introducing you to the term "lowside".

• The guys who race 250's do get knees down on the track, but their bikes have been modified, with stiffer suspensions, better tires, removed center stands, etc. If you're curious, there are racers here and on the other Ninja board who can answer your questions in detail.

Best answer: Ya wanna learn racing techniques, get a bike that's set up for the same and get yourself to a good track school. Once you've been fast on a track you'll never want to go back to the street; there simply isn't any comparison in terms of either fun or safety.

In the Rain – Basic Differences

SteveS - Fri Aug 4 10:27:59 2000

Learning to ride in the rain is just like learning to ride. It just takes a little time to get accustomed to it. I believe a lot of the traction 'lost' in the rain is actually psychological. Commuters (who get stuck in the rain regularly) are usually quite comfortable in the rain.

Things to definitely watch out for:

• greatly increased stopping distance (do not want to risk a lockup, obviously).

• road oils rising to surface (when rain first starts).

• puddles in the slow lanes (near the gutters)

• reduced visibility (watchout for the cages)

• hypothermia (cold weather/long trips)

• Replace tires timely (should be done regardless of rain)

Pick a rainy Saturday and go to an empty parking lot... practice turning, leaning, (very) slow (rear wheel) skids.