Slow speed manoeuvres
Discussion
Has anyone got any tips for slow speed manoeuvres? I’ve got a course at work coming up and am required to practice u turns and figure of eights.
I really struggled with this during my DAS, so a little worried! Thankfully I’ve got a similar sized bike to practice on!
Anyone able to share any tips/useful YouTube videos?
I really struggled with this during my DAS, so a little worried! Thankfully I’ve got a similar sized bike to practice on!
Anyone able to share any tips/useful YouTube videos?
Two things that's have helped me massively with this to be able to ride large adventure bikes confidently are...
1. Think about body position to keep centre of gravity over the bike as it leans. I.e. move your upper body to the outside of the turn a little. It's amazing how even a subtle amount of movement eradicates the sense the bike want's to fall over.
2. The single biggest improvement I've ever made to slow speed manoeuvring, but the hardest to convince others of, is 2 finger clutching.
It gives massively more feel and confidence in the bite point, that 4 fingers simply masks.
Yes it takes some getting used to as it wasn't what you were originally taught, and it takes a little more strength, which will build, but it really, really works! All my bikes, no matter what size now have short clutch levers
1. Think about body position to keep centre of gravity over the bike as it leans. I.e. move your upper body to the outside of the turn a little. It's amazing how even a subtle amount of movement eradicates the sense the bike want's to fall over.
2. The single biggest improvement I've ever made to slow speed manoeuvring, but the hardest to convince others of, is 2 finger clutching.
It gives massively more feel and confidence in the bite point, that 4 fingers simply masks.
Yes it takes some getting used to as it wasn't what you were originally taught, and it takes a little more strength, which will build, but it really, really works! All my bikes, no matter what size now have short clutch levers
Just did an IAM slow riding day a couple of weeks ago and the phrase "keep tension in the drivetrain" was key.
Few revs to prevent stalling, clutch slipping to provide drive, rear brake applied to control speed.
Add to that the advice above about looking where you want to be and counterweighting the bike and you'll be fine.
Few revs to prevent stalling, clutch slipping to provide drive, rear brake applied to control speed.
Add to that the advice above about looking where you want to be and counterweighting the bike and you'll be fine.
Herr Schnell said:
Just did an IAM slow riding day a couple of weeks ago
Few revs to prevent stalling, clutch slipping to provide drive, rear brake applied to control speed.
.
I did the same a few years ago - I thought it was a fun afternoonFew revs to prevent stalling, clutch slipping to provide drive, rear brake applied to control speed.
.
Using the rear brake rather than the clutch / revs was the top tip for me
Herr Schnell said:
Just did an IAM slow riding day a couple of weeks ago and the phrase "keep tension in the drivetrain" was key.
Few revs to prevent stalling, clutch slipping to provide drive, rear brake applied to control speed.
Add to that the advice above about looking where you want to be and counterweighting the bike and you'll be fine.
Agree with all this - my DAS instructor (15+ years ago) used the phrase "driving the engine against the rear brake" which amounts to the same as this "tension". I've always found it useful. Few revs to prevent stalling, clutch slipping to provide drive, rear brake applied to control speed.
Add to that the advice above about looking where you want to be and counterweighting the bike and you'll be fine.
As said above, particularly on the U turn get your head whipped right round to where you want to end up as soon as possible in the manoeuvre.
Pushing down on the left foot peg to counterbalance the bike made a big difference for me - just make sure you're pushing down harder on the left peg than you are on the brake!
The other thing was turning the bars quickly as you start the manoeuvre. I found I had a tendency to turn the bars gently as I worried about keeping the bike stable, meaning I often ran out of road to complete the turn. Getting the confidence to crank the bars over as soon I started moving meant I could turn the bike as quickly as possible making the manouevre much easier.
The other thing was turning the bars quickly as you start the manoeuvre. I found I had a tendency to turn the bars gently as I worried about keeping the bike stable, meaning I often ran out of road to complete the turn. Getting the confidence to crank the bars over as soon I started moving meant I could turn the bike as quickly as possible making the manouevre much easier.
There are (at least) a couple of US based YouTube channels that are run by ex bike cops turned riding instructors. A lot of what they do appears to be teaching people how to handle 400+ kilo Harleys confidently at low speed.
https://youtu.be/HO_r4B1BhcI
Post-test instruction in the UK seems to be entirely aimed at on-road skills. Is that impression correct, or are there companies that also teach riding around cones in a car park?
https://youtu.be/HO_r4B1BhcI
Post-test instruction in the UK seems to be entirely aimed at on-road skills. Is that impression correct, or are there companies that also teach riding around cones in a car park?
gareth_r said:
There are (at least) a couple of US based YouTube channels that are run by ex bike cops turned riding instructors. A lot of what they do appears to be teaching people how to handle 400+ kilo Harleys confidently at low speed.
https://youtu.be/HO_r4B1BhcI
Post-test instruction in the UK seems to be entirely aimed at on-road skills. Is that impression correct, or are there companies that also teach riding around cones in a car park?
See the i2imca courses recommended on other thread www.i2imca.co.uk, they start off with reminding you of the basics before moving onto things like getting your knee down ...which makes sense, if you cant do a figure of 8 with feet up then unlikely you can do a figure of eight with no hands whilst getting your knee down either https://youtu.be/HO_r4B1BhcI
Post-test instruction in the UK seems to be entirely aimed at on-road skills. Is that impression correct, or are there companies that also teach riding around cones in a car park?
Great courses, always improved some aspect of riding on them :
https://www.youtube.com/@i2ioffice/videos
Edited by bogie on Monday 15th May 15:53
Does anyone else not get the "turn in a road without putting your foot down" on a bike manoeuvre as part of the bike test ?!
Modern sports bikes with stiff dampers are a pig to turn at slow speed anyway and you would be lucky to be able to turn 180 degrees on some streets. Besides, so what if you do happen to have to put our foot down? hardly the end of the world or a dangerous manoeuvre is it?
This was the part of the test I feared the most as my instructor drummed into me that you would fail instantly if your foot went down which I think puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on what is essentially a move you rarely need to do in practice.
Modern sports bikes with stiff dampers are a pig to turn at slow speed anyway and you would be lucky to be able to turn 180 degrees on some streets. Besides, so what if you do happen to have to put our foot down? hardly the end of the world or a dangerous manoeuvre is it?
This was the part of the test I feared the most as my instructor drummed into me that you would fail instantly if your foot went down which I think puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on what is essentially a move you rarely need to do in practice.
bogie said:
gareth_r said:
There are (at least) a couple of US based YouTube channels that are run by ex bike cops turned riding instructors. A lot of what they do appears to be teaching people how to handle 400+ kilo Harleys confidently at low speed.
https://youtu.be/HO_r4B1BhcI
Post-test instruction in the UK seems to be entirely aimed at on-road skills. Is that impression correct, or are there companies that also teach riding around cones in a car park?
See the i2imca courses recommended on other thread www.i2imca.co.uk, they start off with reminding you of the basics before moving onto things like getting your knee down ...which makes sense, if you cant do a figure of 8 with feet up then unlikely you can do a figure of eight with no hands whilst getting your knee down either https://youtu.be/HO_r4B1BhcI
Post-test instruction in the UK seems to be entirely aimed at on-road skills. Is that impression correct, or are there companies that also teach riding around cones in a car park?
Great courses, always improved some aspect of riding on them :
https://www.youtube.com/@i2ioffice/videos
STe_rsv4 said:
Does anyone else not get the "turn in a road without putting your foot down" on a bike manoeuvre as part of the bike test ?!
Modern sports bikes with stiff dampers are a pig to turn at slow speed anyway and you would be lucky to be able to turn 180 degrees on some streets. Besides, so what if you do happen to have to put our foot down? hardly the end of the world or a dangerous manoeuvre is it?
This was the part of the test I feared the most as my instructor drummed into me that you would fail instantly if your foot went down which I think puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on what is essentially a move you rarely need to do in practice.
100% agree. It's a pointless part of the test. Does any biker who has passed their test actually do such turns without foot/feet down? Modern sports bikes with stiff dampers are a pig to turn at slow speed anyway and you would be lucky to be able to turn 180 degrees on some streets. Besides, so what if you do happen to have to put our foot down? hardly the end of the world or a dangerous manoeuvre is it?
This was the part of the test I feared the most as my instructor drummed into me that you would fail instantly if your foot went down which I think puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on what is essentially a move you rarely need to do in practice.
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