September 6th, 2011, 01:24 PM | #1 |
Nooblet
Name: Akima
Location: England
Join Date: Jul 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2011 Ninja 250R FI Posts: A lot.
Blog Entries: 5
MOTM - Oct '13
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U-turns on a Ninjette
I learnt to ride on a 125 Standard-type bike. I found that performing U-turns was a piece of cake <-- HIGHLY relevant ok! The bunny is doing u-turns with a cake!
I've only ridden my Ninjette about a dozen times, so I shouldn't beat myself up about it, but I find u-turns really difficult on it. On the 125 I went really slowly during the manoeuvre; about walking pace. I also kept the 125 almost completely upright (no lean). I feel like the Ninjette wants to tip over during the manoeuvre, whereas the 125 felt completely stable. The Ninjette also seems to have a much bigger turning circle. Do you think it has to be done faster on the Ninjette so that I can get in more lean so that I can get a tighter turning circle. Any thoughts or advice is welcome |
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September 6th, 2011, 01:32 PM | #2 |
ninjette.org dude
Name: 1 guess :-)
Location: SF Bay Area
Join Date: Jun 2008 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 (white, the fastest color!), '13 R1200RT, '14 CRF250L, '12 TT-R125LE Posts: Too much.
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Some relevant threads.
http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=81267 http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=25993 http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=13515
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September 6th, 2011, 01:54 PM | #3 |
wat
Name: wat
Location: tustin/long beach
Join Date: Sep 2009 Motorcycle(s): wat Posts: Too much.
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MOTM - Oct '12, Feb '14
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keep the gas on. don't be afraid to go a little bit quicker than you did with the 125, it's heavier and needs more gyro force from the wheels to stay up. leaning is not bad. right next to my house i have to pull a u-turn in about 10 feet of road-width... first couple times i freaked and almost pulled it up and would've hit the curb... just stay on the gas and push her down, she'll turn. just make sure you practice where you won't hit a curb
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September 6th, 2011, 03:47 PM | #4 |
Kamikaze Squirrel
Name: Zach
Location: NJ
Join Date: Sep 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2010 250r Posts: 300
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Gah u-turns! I dropped my bike on my first day out trying to get out of a dead end. Just take it to a parking lot and get plenty of practice.
Ride the rear brake a bit. Swivel your head toward where you're going! Lean your bike toward the turn and get your weight on the outside peg. |
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September 6th, 2011, 04:04 PM | #5 |
Nooblet
Name: Akima
Location: England
Join Date: Jul 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2011 Ninja 250R FI Posts: A lot.
Blog Entries: 5
MOTM - Oct '13
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I read those other forums posts Alex. Thanks.
Thanks Alex.s and WhiteRice too. Your advice seems to echo what everyone else is saying. I've already had a fair bit of practice doing u-turns... I've gotten lost lots I think I'll take what I've learnt to a parking lot and start with a big turning circumference and work my way down to ON THE SPOT BURN-OUT ROTATION!! jk |
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September 6th, 2011, 04:14 PM | #6 |
wat
Name: wat
Location: tustin/long beach
Join Date: Sep 2009 Motorcycle(s): wat Posts: Too much.
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MOTM - Oct '12, Feb '14
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don't forget if you somehow get boxed in by stupid cars parking where they shouldn't and fancy yourself fit enough (and trust your kickstand, and don't care about the asphalt you're about to destroy) you can always balance the bike on the kick stand while you rotate it around. might be easier than the burnout. generally speaking of course this is a last-case scenario and there's probably a better way to move the bike. also if you do it enough your kickstand/kickstand mount starts to bend and then when you set it down on the kickstand with a bend mount, it sets down... then goes a little bit further. also there's a chance of simply breaking the kickstand all together and dropping your bike.
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September 6th, 2011, 05:01 PM | #7 |
Ninja chick
Name: Allyson
Location: Athens, GA
Join Date: Jun 2009 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 Posts: A lot.
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MOTM - Dec '13, Feb '15
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Look where you want to end up! Sometimes that means you're actually turning your head and looking backwards as you are initiating the lean. Weird, but the bike follows where you are looking!
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Sometimes it's the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination. ~Drake Check out my Appalachian Trail journal, 2015! Postwhores are COOL! ~Allyson |
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September 6th, 2011, 06:41 PM | #8 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Andrei
Location: Austin, TX
Join Date: Aug 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2012 Ninja 250, 2008 Daytona 675 Posts: 212
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I'm exact opposite
I "learned" to ride in MSF...first day was on Kawa Eliminator 125cc. 2nd day was on pre-gen Ninja. I found Ninjette to be a lot more stable and easier to turn (almost nailed the box double-U turn). Push her down, give her gas, she'll do the work.
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September 12th, 2011, 10:51 AM | #9 | |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Murphey
Location: Eastern Washington
Join Date: Apr 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2002 Honda 919, 2004 Ninja 500R NAKED Posts: A lot.
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Quote:
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October 13th, 2011, 09:45 AM | #10 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Aaron
Location: Oregon
Join Date: Aug 2011 Motorcycle(s): Ninja 250r soon Posts: 75
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My fear right here lol. I learned on about a dozen different bikes lol. most recent being a 200 cc dual sport that team orgeon provides. its small and is pretty nimble. we had to do the u turns and the sharp 90. on those I found that if you keep yourself straight up but lean the bike it helps alot. the second course I did was a rider practice and they put us on this course it started with a sharp 90 then to this figure...v I guess lol where we did 5 u turns. take a corner swerve another corner acclerate to a set speed and stop after a cone and stop quick if it makes sense lol but the 1st time we were all so confused we sucked. then did some stuff and did the course the 2nd time. I had it down and I was in that zone.went from taking I think 2 minutes to do the course to just over a minute. lol move to oregon and do the rider skills practice lol
Or find a cone of some shorts or somthing you can turn around and just do it a few times...lean the bike keep yourself up it works lol
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Getting a ninja 250 asap |
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October 13th, 2011, 10:28 AM | #11 |
Nooblet
Name: Akima
Location: England
Join Date: Jul 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2011 Ninja 250R FI Posts: A lot.
Blog Entries: 5
MOTM - Oct '13
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I've actually got it pretty much down now. I don't really have to think about it anymore. I even had a biker in full leathers walk up to me and complement my skills when I was parking. He recognise my bike as a Ninja 250r and said he was considering getting one for his gf to replace her R1 (which she struggles with). I guess our bike is much lighter and more nimble than most sports bikes. Recently, I've been wondering more and more why people even buy the big engine bikes. I went to London yesterday and had no trouble following the paths through the traffic that the nimble scooters were taking. I also got up to 90mph on the motorway home so I easily kept up with the flow.
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October 13th, 2011, 10:36 AM | #12 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Cody
Location: NoVa
Join Date: Jan 2011 Motorcycle(s): 06 yzf r6r previously: 09 ninja 250r, black 07 zx6r Posts: A lot.
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I still find myself putting my feet down at times while u-turning on the 250; I have absolutely no problem u-turning on my zx6r though. The zx6r has a little bit of a wider turning radius but not much. The 250 just doesn't feel nearly as stable as my zx6r for some reason; I have a feeling it's the wider rear tire allowing more traction and thus more confidence while turning at low speeds.
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October 13th, 2011, 11:04 AM | #13 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Carl
Location: Louisiana
Join Date: Jun 2011 Motorcycle(s): '09 Ninja 250-SOLD Posts: 58
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I found myself watching the bunny hop back and forth thinking it was going to do something different.... what's this thread about?
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October 13th, 2011, 11:05 AM | #14 | |
ninjette.org member
Name: Michael
Location: MI
Join Date: Aug 2011 Motorcycle(s): Honda Elite 110 (deceased), Green 2012 Ninja 250 (sold on Pi day); Grey/Green 2019 Ninja 400 ABS Posts: 238
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Quote:
My low-speed cornering drill is to go to a parking lot, find a storm drain and circle it repeatedly in one direction, then the other, as tightly as possible without bobbling. That seems to work for me to build the muscle memory for the right body position, clutch slipping, and throttle; I'm certainly not close to perfect, but that drill helps me improve. |
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October 13th, 2011, 12:00 PM | #15 | |
Nooblet
Name: Akima
Location: England
Join Date: Jul 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2011 Ninja 250R FI Posts: A lot.
Blog Entries: 5
MOTM - Oct '13
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Quote:
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