U-turns on a Ninjette

[akima]

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

[Alex]

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

[alex.s]

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

[WhiteRice]

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.

[akima]

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

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by akima

work my way down to ON THE SPOT BURN-OUT ROTATION!! jk

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.

[ally99]

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!

[RedOctober]

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.

[KawiKid860]

I "learned" to ride in MSF...first day was on Kawa Eliminator 125cc.

+1 for the eliminator haha... I actually learned to do a U-turn on my Ninja 500 in parking lot sessions before I got my endorsement, and I got to doing them nearly flawlessly. I friction zone it going into the turn then slowly let out and give it a little gas to accelerate out for the smallest radius turn, but I can idle through it within the 20' box idk if that's possible with the ninjettes seeing as my bike has quite a bit more low end :P. The eliminator sucked it was all wobbly which was probably partly my technique but I made it within the box!

[nit8690]

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

[akima]

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.

[Live2ride]

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.

[totaled]

I found myself watching the bunny hop back and forth thinking it was going to do something different.... what's this thread about?

[Numbersix]

Originally Posted by akima

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.

Agreed on all points; the Ninja isn't quite as darty as my Elite (that's Lead 110 to you in the UK) but nearly so.

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.

[akima]

Originally Posted by Numbersix

Agreed on all points; the Ninja isn't quite as darty as my Elite (that's Lead 110 to you in the UK) but nearly so.

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.

That's a good idea. I think I'll try and get some more low speed practice in soon. I still can't come to a complete stop and keep my feet on the pegs. Seems as soon as I stop I start tipping.