So, I'm 2 months into riding, and still working on this (not that I do it on a regular basis). But I did hit up some empty parking lots and after getting a lot of boot down when I freaked about dropping, I finally started getting the hang of it. Found some islands and just did slow tight circles in both directions, also weaved around the columns in an empty parking garage, lol. Started getting really good at slow maneuvers.

Then I went on the street and almost dropped or ran up a curb like 3 times on U-turns that *required* me to go wider than what I was practicing! :mad:
Got psyched out I guess. I know I was fixated on the curb on one occasion, and I just got the bike too far over on another one.

The weird thing is, it comes and goes. I've pulled beautiful, tight, confident U-turns before without even thinking about it. It's so frustrating.

Anyone have any advice/tips/experience/sympathy? lol

I think I'm OK at them, but I gotta say that it's not something I spend much time working on. I enjoy watching the motor-cops competition where they heel over the largest of their bikes (RT's, ST13's, etc), at great angles at slow speeds as the deftly move around tight cones, but certainly haven't built my skills up to that point. When I figure out everything else I need to perfect while riding, maybe I'll get back to this one. :)

I think I'm OK at them, but I gotta say that it's not something I spend much time working on. I enjoy watching the motor-cops competition where they heel over the largest of their bikes (RT's, ST13's, etc), at great angles at slow speeds as the deftly move around tight cones, but certainly haven't built my skills up to that point. When I figure out everything else I need to perfect while riding, maybe I'll get back to this one. :)

I think I have it down but 6 motorcycle cops crashed today on the way to Bruce Rossmeyer's funeral. I don't think they were paying attention.

I've been practicing at my local universities parking lot. Definitely much better at u-turns than I was, but I still have a long way to go. I enjoy trying to get good at all of the slow speed stuff.

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=13515

Go Sam! Swoopin in :)

I am confident in the uturns (I just think of them as really tight curves... And i love curves...).

If it would make you feel more comfortable there is a DVD you can get, ride like a pro. That covers everything but it might have some extra pointers to help build a continous confidence.

We never did U-turns in the course I took, but we had a circle to follow. I'm not sure how big it was though... Probably about 2 parking space widths in diameter. I got a bit dizzy going around and around and around. LOL

After end of my weekend rides I stop by at a big parking lot near my apartment and practice slow maneuvers. I have improved a lot since I started riding in June especially after I started using my rear break and clutch to control my speed keeping the throttle steady around 3k rpm. Going left I can fully lock my hadlebar now. I wonder why right turn is lot harder... Also, on the streets I still get tense and go wide so I have to keep remind myself to relax.

The things that made it especially easy in the MSF course were the little things. LOOK where you're going. DO NOT look down. AT ALL. If you look down, you're going there :) Those two things together made a WORLD of difference with the people who lacked confidence in the course.

The only other thing that I noticed would vary per person was the leaning... The more a person weighed, the more they needed to counterbalance their turn. I'm only 120lbs, and I actually found it easier to just keep my body upright rather than shift my weight to the outside of the bike. When I'd shift my weight I felt like I was having to fight the bike a little if I didn't have perfect and precise friction control.

For your bigger turns, try looking to your exit point of your turn, say you're U-Turning in 3 street lanes instead of one, as you enter your turn make a full head turn and look at your exit lane, when you're halfway through your turn, look through that down the road, not at the ground.

Don't think about what you're doing, just do it :) You'll get much better at them.

I agree with Eric ^

Look where you want to go... I dont know how it works, but it does. Take it slow and give a tiny bit of throttle if you feel your unstable, but don't look down at alll. I still need a lot of work on everything, but this is what I've done to help me practice my u turns. and a little bit of counter balancing. head up eyes up and if you do it right... your bike will stay up as well.

just found this, lol!

yGtCMxu8PyM

Just like Sho said the secret is to relax and look in the direction of the turn. Avoid the temptation to put your foot down all that does is shift your weight and make the turn very awkward.

just found this, lol!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGtCMxu8PyM

:thumbup:

I practice by riding through a neighborhood close to me. They have those sections where you can only go in circles to go back the way you came and they have an island in between them. I circle that things 5-6 times going one way and then turn back around and do it the opposite way. Just find something around you that will enable you to practice these things IRL but keep you away from danger.

i have been riding for years so this goes under the 'old dog new trix' tab...
anyway, at the base m/c safety course, where ya gotta do that u-turn and fig. 8, the instructor said something that changed everything:

turn your head to look through the manuver, not straight ahead at where i was at.

looking through the manuver, to where i was going, and not where the bike was at that particualr moment, totally changed the way negotiated these 2 during the course. so rushed to share this, i'm sure others have done so in this thread already

aloha

I agree with Eric ^

Look where you want to go... I dont know how it works, but it does.

This works in equestrian sports as well. For those not familiar with equestrian terminology, when a horse is cantering or galloping, its front feet don't land at the same time, but one first, then the other. If the left front hits the ground first before the right front, it is called the right lead (strange, but so the convention goes), and vice versa. When a horse is going left, it has to be on his left lead, i.e. right foot landing before the left foot, and vice versa. Same for a horse jumping over fences. If the rider intend for the horse to go left after a jump, he signals the horse to land on the right feet, then the left (the left lead, and vice versa. These signals are very subtle and fairly complex, involving hands (reins), legs (for left lead, left leg on the girth and right leg behind the girth, and vice versa), and seat (weight shift +). When experienced, the rider doesn't have to think about them, but just do it in a coordinated fashion. The thing is that when the horse is going over the jump, the rider should look to the left if he intends to go left after the jump, and to the right if he wants to go right, and almost as if by telepathy, the horse lands on the left lead when the rider looks to the left and lands on the right lead when the rider looks to the right. But there is no magic to it. It is just hand-eye coordination on the part of the rider, and the horse gets the message. Same thing for turning your head when doing a U-turn. The body almost automatically coordinates the whole set of movements to follow the eyes.

ooo now i want to go to a parking lot and try that..

I had been getting pretty good at U-turns, but I dropped my bike practicing, and suddenly my U-turns got much worse and wider, like maybe my over confidence was helping me before, and now I know a drop can happen and I start over thinking it. Every time I try to do a U-turn now I keep thinking about the bike going over and I can't get it out of my head.

I had been getting pretty good at U-turns, but I dropped my bike practicing, and suddenly my U-turns got much worse and wider, like maybe my over confidence was helping me before, and now I know a drop can happen and I start over thinking it. Every time I try to do a U-turn now I keep thinking about the bike going over and I can't get it out of my head.

oh yea.. its a mind game now.. you just gotta build that confidence back.. yea.. when i dropped my bike.. i just lost a ton of confidence.. so yea.. we all should ride to together and build it up again!

I had been getting pretty good at U-turns, but I dropped my bike practicing, and suddenly my U-turns got much worse and wider, like maybe my over confidence was helping me before, and now I know a drop can happen and I start over thinking it. Every time I try to do a U-turn now I keep thinking about the bike going over and I can't get it out of my head.

Exactly what happened to me.. my over confidence was helping, but it can only do so much, then i dropped the bike and its like starting from day 1 all over again...

I'm starting to get much better after a couple days of practice. I can keep it within 24 ft. probably 80% of the time. I think one of the biggest things that gave me some confidence was knowing that if i ever feel like i'm gonna lose it, instead of putting a foot down I just let out the clutch and that'll keep the bike up. Additionally, using the rear brake to help tighten up the turns has helped immensely.
A couple of times I've gotten to the point where I can pull a U'ey in 2 parking space widths, or about 18-20 feet!

I usually don't keep the clutch in, should i be doin that? i just give it a little gas if i start to fall and it kinda stands up, but it also puts me somewhere else a little faster than id like.. :/

^You should keep the clutch in the friction zone.

These guys are pretty good with figure 8's and u-turns. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ-pTyQZJng&feature=related

I usually don't keep the clutch in, should i be doin that? i just give it a little gas if i start to fall and it kinda stands up, but it also puts me somewhere else a little faster than id like.. :/

I don't keep the clutch in either... Probably a n00b mistake. I am currently just keeping the throttle constant and using the rear brake to control speed. All 3 things in combination feels like too much stuff to keep track of at this point. :S