Looks like Mark is your Nemesis!! It is Red vs Blue! haha.
Very nice pics, it looks like you guys had a real fun time. Im looking forward to going to a bike meet soon... I love mingling and talking motorcycles.
2008 BMW K1200S
2003 Z1000 - For Sale
1979 KZ650B - Work in progress
2005 Ducati SS 1000DS - sold :'(
1994 VFR750 Interceptor - sold
1984 VF700F Interceptor - sold
2004 Hyosung GV250 - sold
yep, i had fun... but eventhough, i didn't feel i did better.
mark did say i got better since he said he spent less time waiting for me down below this time around.
lots of hairpin turns on mulholland viewpoint. i really need to gain confidence in leaning or else i'll never be able to be fast on sharp corners and faster on other corners.
Sevulturus wrote:Lots of nice pics, my fav is that modded Ducati, ooooooooo. Sure looks sexy.
As for corners, just try to take them a little faster each time. And make sure you look as far around them as possible.
some of my problems...
when im in the turn, i find myself quite often not using the throttle so im scared to lean lower. since i know w/o engine pushing the rear wheel, i'll drop, right?
i think my mistake is going in too fast. either that or i didn't take a good line so i have a bad position and can't use more throttle.
i think im looking through the turn, but maybe not good enough.
GAH! i have so many problems regarding cornering!
oh well, since he said i improved, im satisfied ...for now.
No, it's speed that holds you up, suddenly changing speeds can make you fall... I've coasted through a fair number of corners myself for whatever reason. As long as you don't do something to reduce your speed while leaned over you should be okay. It's tough to explain, but it'll make sense if you try it carefully. Keep in mind, you need to enter at a fair speed.
I'm not doing a very good job of explaining this, but if you keep a little power on the back wheel and look around the corner and just push your inside arm out you'll go right around the corner.
Of course I'm generalizing from a single example here, but everyone does that. At least I do.
Sevulturus wrote:No, it's speed that holds you up, suddenly changing speeds can make you fall... I've coasted through a fair number of corners myself for whatever reason. As long as you don't do something to reduce your speed while leaned over you should be okay. It's tough to explain, but it'll make sense if you try it carefully. Keep in mind, you need to enter at a fair speed.
I'm not doing a very good job of explaining this, but if you keep a little power on the back wheel and look around the corner and just push your inside arm out you'll go right around the corner.
thanks, but it's scary to practice there since sometimes i'll encounter riders that are just too agressive and they even pass you on corners while here i am experimenting on which lines i can manage better.
i don't mind if they pass me on straights but entering corners when im preparing to take a line and on the corners itself. that's just not good.
but thankfully on the 2 times that i've been there. i don't see these super agressive riders a lot. but it still worries me.
There are two things that tend to cause new riders to want to keep their bikes vertical:
bullet They are afraid, based on a previous dump caused by a combination of slow-speed turn and the application of brakes.
bullet They are afraid, based on a concern that their engines will die in a slow speed turn and result in a dump.
(See the Tip titled Dumping A Bike Is No Sin.)
Engine's die if they are cold and not properly choked or if setup with idle too slow. Thus, you do not practice slow speed turns with a cold bike. The rider must 'know' that their engines will continue to run without having to 'race' them. Otherwise, they focus on throttle action rather than balance during their turns.
One trick I have learned that tends to loosen up fears of leaving the vertical for newbies is to have them experience 'low center of gravity' - first with their imaginations, then in real life. That is, I have them imagine a broomstick with a bowling ball fastened on one end. I ask them to imagine holding that broomstick with one end on the ground and the end with the bowling ball on it straight into the air. I ask them to tell me how far they would allow the top of the broomstick to move away from vertical. They understand instantly that you need to keep that broomstick standing virtually straight up or it will fall. Then I ask them the same question with the only difference being that the bowling ball end is on the ground. Clearly the top of the stick can wander very far indeed from being straight up without fear of losing control of it. This is the 'power' of having a low center of gravity.
[This article represents parking lot practice exercises I put together for some friends before I became an MSF Instructor. I never 'taught' motorcycle riding to anyone except friends other than as an MSF Instructor.]
Then I have them drive their bikes while standing on their pegs rather than sitting in the saddle. I ask them to 'weave a little' but not to allow their heads to move at all. The bikes are moved left and right under them, but manage a relatively straight line. There is not the slightest possibility that they will fall. Clearly the center of gravity must be very low for this to be true and they see that. I ask them to make a few more laps, keeping their heads 'straight up', but this time sitting in their saddles.
While most of us enjoy leaning with our bikes when we make turns, I have found that a newbie can be encouraged to lean their bikes more easily if you show them that they can do so without they themselves having to lean. Thus, after I have them 'weave a little' while keeping their heads in the same place, I have them make a turn leaning only their bikes. Keeping their heads absolutely vertical so that they 'see the horizon the same way all the time'. This is almost nonsense, but it does seem to work for some. After a few laps they are amazed at how far they have managed to lean their bikes without moving their heads from vertical. I have them practice this until they are able to 'push the bike away from them until their arms are straight.' It gets easier over time.
Now, as to how to get them to lean their bikes and make sweet turns - In a parking lot I have them sit on their bikes (engine running) at a dead stop and then turn their handlebars all the way to their stops in both directions. I insist that from either extreme they can drive away from where they are. To begin with, they are to slip their clutches and walk the bikes out of their positions. This is most intimidating, but proves to be easy enough with effort. I have them practice this in both directions.
Then I challenge them: "OK, that is a simple exercise for you to do each time you come to this parking lot. Full stop, handlebars turned in either direction to their full stop position, then drive out of it. Oh, and for your personal score, see how fast you can get your feet onto the pegs." Before they know it they are leaning their bikes instantly, feet up on their pegs, from a dead stop and they can make any corner they ever come to.
Please! You must explain to them that they will drop their bikes if they ever hit the brakes doing this!!! That slow speed turning and brakes do not mix well. That is why I teach them that a slow speed dump is nothing to be afraid of first.
Finally, I show them some VCR footage of motorcycle racing. I point out how the rider keeps his head vertical and that if the bike is moving 20 MPH or more you can SAFELY lean it until the pegs touch the ground!! That you must get into your head that if you think it cannot lean any farther then THAT is the time that you should lean it a bit farther and to roll on a bit more gas (not less!!!!).
In all of the practice I misdirect their minds away from their brakes. I constantly tell them that slow speed control is a function of the left hand, not the right. I make them play with their friction-zones using the clutch to see how slowly they can drive in a straight line! I tell them, over and over, that if you are leaning a bike (meaning you are turning) you MUST NOT USE YOUR BRAKE or you will dump it. (I remind you that this is SLOW SPEED advice.) That to stop you must straighten the bike out FIRST! (This is ANY SPEED advice.) Anyway, these lessons all conspire to demonstrate that they are capable of controlling a bike at slow speeds better than they imagined. And they soon take corners like a pro. Leaning becomes 'fun' and 'normal'.
Of course I'm generalizing from a single example here, but everyone does that. At least I do.
That stretch of Mulholland is a hell of a road . Don't try to keep up with other people .
My suggestion is on week days when you can go for a ride up that way by your self and really familiarize your self with all the turns and grades .
BOth up to the Rock Shop and down from there as well
It's called practice , practice , practice .
Kind regards, Wizzard
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, throughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming --- ' WOW, WHAT A RIDE!!!! ' " - Author Unknown
