newbie questions... help or flame away!

[LuxMundi]

I am struggling taking left hand turns. I guess I am scared of the curb, and stay too far to the centerline, then cross the centerline due to bad positioning. Right handers seem to be easier because I feel like I have more road to work with. I know this is psychological, but any ninjette shrinks out there with any wisdom?

Also, I suck at low-speed maneuvers. I know I need to get in a p-lot and practice, but so far, not a scratch on my ninjette, and the thought of a silly drop has kept me away. What to do, remove the fairings? Cover them up? Just do it?

Bump-start: I left my lights on and had to bump start my bike. Does this hurt the engine?

Thanks in advance!

[karlosdajackal]

Originally Posted by LuxMundi

I am struggling taking left hand turns. I guess I am scared of the curb, and stay too far to the centerline, then cross the centerline due to bad positioning. Right handers seem to be easier because I feel like I have more road to work with. I know this is psychological, but any ninjette shrinks out there with any wisdom?

Also, I suck at low-speed maneuvers. I know I need to get in a p-lot and practice, but so far, not a scratch on my ninjette, and the thought of a silly drop has kept me away. What to do, remove the fairings? Cover them up? Just do it?

Bump-start: I left my lights on and had to bump start my bike. Does this hurt the engine?

Thanks in advance!

If you can turn ok right, you can turn ok left, so just do it

borrow a friends bike and practice on that, did you do any kind of training? Maybe that would help

Bump hurts the Cat's if you still have them, if you put a new full exhaust system in you should have no issue.

[littledog]

Originally Posted by LuxMundi

I am struggling taking left hand turns. I guess I am scared of the curb, and stay too far to the centerline, then cross the centerline due to bad positioning. Right handers seem to be easier because I feel like I have more road to work with. I know this is psychological, but any ninjette shrinks out there with any wisdom?

Also, I suck at low-speed maneuvers. I know I need to get in a p-lot and practice, but so far, not a scratch on my ninjette, and the thought of a silly drop has kept me away. What to do, remove the fairings? Cover them up? Just do it?

Bump-start: I left my lights on and had to bump start my bike. Does this hurt the engine?

Thanks in advance!

I am sort of new to motorcycles myself, I'll risk an answer that some one else might correct.

Turning:

I was unsteady turning right from a stop at first, I thought left was easier.
You already know what to do, practice someplace where cars wont bother you.


Low speed control, Two things:

I think being tall enough to flatfoot the bike, and strong enough to hold it up when I do something clumsy at 2mph is a big advantage.

The low gearing on the ninja makes it harder to control balance with clutch modulation @ idle in first gear compared to many other bikes.

Training:

You can teach yourself all this stuff. Even if you do, the MSF course is very worthwhile.

[Samer]

Originally Posted by LuxMundi

I am struggling taking left hand turns. I guess I am scared of the curb, and stay too far to the centerline, then cross the centerline due to bad positioning. Right handers seem to be easier because I feel like I have more road to work with. I know this is psychological, but any ninjette shrinks out there with any wisdom?

Also, I suck at low-speed maneuvers. I know I need to get in a p-lot and practice, but so far, not a scratch on my ninjette, and the thought of a silly drop has kept me away. What to do, remove the fairings? Cover them up? Just do it?

Bump-start: I left my lights on and had to bump start my bike. Does this hurt the engine?

Thanks in advance!

Did you take the MSF course? As far as left turns, in countries where people drive on the right, left turns are easier. You have more room to turn left so it is obviously psychological. The number one rule for turning is always look where you want to go. Sounds obvious but this burns a lot of people. Think about it, then do it. Also, try leaning your head towards the turn. If you're turning left, lean your head towards your left mirror. It might make you more comfortable with the turn.

[HKr1]

Originally Posted by LuxMundi

I am struggling taking left hand turns. I guess I am scared of the curb, and stay too far to the centerline, then cross the centerline due to bad positioning. Right handers seem to be easier because I feel like I have more road to work with. I know this is psychological, but any ninjette shrinks out there with any wisdom?

I dont under stand.... Just trying to picture what your talking about.

[JeffM]

Josh, if you have not taken a MSF riders course you might concider one. They are worth your time in my opinion. Here are the classes and contacts for Georgia: http://nm.msf-usa.org/msf/ridercourses.aspx?state=GA

Like others have said, keep your head up and look where you want to go. Try not to fixate your vision on anything down near your bike.

Jeff

[addy126]

Looking directly into your turns is the secret! The bike will follow into that turn easily. Makes all the difference in the world. I find the 2 most important things in manouvering are 1. Looking directly into your turns (look to where u want to go) and 2. Countersteer, countersteer, countersteer when riding

[Tigress]

Originally Posted by addy126

Looking directly into your turns is the secret! The bike will follow into that turn easily. Makes all the difference in the world. I find the 2 most important things in manouvering are 1. Looking directly into your turns (look to where u want to go) and 2. Countersteer, countersteer, countersteer when riding

I have to agree with Addy. That has been the key for me. I've only been riding not quite a year, but I took the MSF before I started. When entering a turn, I tell myself over and over in my head to look where I want the bike to go. I don't know how it works, I just know that it does. If you haven't taken the MSF, it's totally worth it. Good luck.

[Flashmonkey]

Sounds to me like you're staring at the line or the curb too long when making a left. As per the usual notes and tid bits of advice, get all your braking done before you initiate the turn....this is also the point where you check out the turn in front of you looking for sand, gravel, potholes, etc. This is also the point where you mentally pick out your line of travel.

Once you intiate that turn and begin to lean over, don't touch the brakes, get your head and eyes UP, look past the turn to where you want to go and basically just let the turn happen. It's important to note that you should be gradually rolling on the throttle, pretty much after the initial lean in for the turn. This is how you control the turn...with the throttle...not the brakes. If you want to tighten up the turn a little bit, hold the throttle steady (don't roll off). If you want to widen it a little bit, roll on more throttle...but make no mistake...throughout the turn, you're constantly rolling the throttle open very gradually, very smoothly depending on how your turn is going, adjusting when and only when you need to.

...now with that said...don't over think the turn.

[FrugalNinja250]

I noticed that I had a "preferred" turning direction when I first started riding. Left turns were easy, right turns were hard. It took a few months for that to wear off. Likely it's due in part to the fact that our brains are "handed" in some way.

[demp]

I've somewhat got the same issue with left hand turns, I'm a lot more comfortable with rights... and yes I'm right handed

[adouglas]

+1... lift your vision and do NOT look at the curb.

When you drive your car, do you look at the curb as you pass? No. Because you can't. It gets hidden by the body of your car long before you get there. Do you hit curbs because you can't see them as you pass? No. Because you're looking where you're going, and you're going where you look.

You can't make the bike move sideways. Once you're into the turn, unless you aimed at the curb in the first place, you will not hit it.

You're going to go where you look. Look down, go down. Look at the curb, go to the curb. Look THROUGH the turn, you'll go through the turn.

Here's another point: Carry enough speed. It sounds like you're getting tentative and not using enough (or any) power.

If you take the bike off its side stand while it's not moving and let go, it will fall over. If you're rolling and take your hands off the bars, the bike will keep rolling. Lesson: The bike is stable when it's moving. The faster it moves, the more stable it is. When you add power (i.e. accelerate through the turn the way you're supposed to) the bike will get more stable.

ESPECIALLY with low-speed maneuvers, you have to be going fast enough to keep the bike from falling over. Try putting the bike in second gear and feathering the clutch for low-speed maneuvering.

Loosen up. Don't muscle it. The best riders are those who get the heck out of the bike's way and let it do what it needs to do.

How to take a corner:

1) Get ALL your braking done BEFORE you begin the turn. (Experienced riders trail brake - brake into the turn - but that's a skill that is clearly beyond your level for now and it will screw you up until you get more confident.) Get all your downshifting done before you begin the turn too. Second or third gear for most corners... never first, unless you're pulling off from a dead stop. (You DO keep track of which gear you're in at all times, right?)

2) Look THROUGH the turn and out the other side. You should be able to do this... friends don't let friends early apex. Are you looking at the apex curb? BZZT! WRONG!

3) Keep looking through the turn as you lean the bike. Do not look down. Do not look at the apex. LOOK WHERE YOU WANT TO GO.

4) Start rolling on the throttle gently, right away, and keep accelerating all the way through the turn. This is critical. It settles the bike and makes it very stable, like it's on rails. Braking, sudden surges of throttle, shifting... all of these upset the bike and make it squirrely. Get it all done before you're in the turn and carve that sucker, accelerating smoothly and gently.

[Sailariel]

Josh, All those who replied gave good sound advice. That`s what this forum is all about. Sounds like you are on the right track. I have been riding off and on--mostly on, since 1958--will be taking an MSF course next month. Worth every penny!

[utahninja]

The hours and hours I have spent in an empty parking lot have helped me tremendously. Here is a site with some simple parking lot exercises to help with turning and braking. http://www.msgroup.org/Tip.aspx?Num=194&Set=

[TrueFaith]

You're concentrating too much on where the curbs and lines are and not where you're going. I'd be a bit worried that you're apt to be a prime candidate for target fixation unless you concentrate more on where you're going rather than what's on either side of you on the road. Keep your eyes moving at all times.

[adouglas]

Taking a hairpin. This guy's vision is way, way down the track and nowhere near the corner. He's already IN the corner. No point in looking at it, any more than you have to watch your own feet as you walk down the sidewalk.

[ninja250]

To add to this..
I noticed when you drive a cage you look ahead into your corners too.
When you turn your car left, You look left before you do so. (sometimes you look right out the side window!)
Never noticed that until I started cornering fast enough on the bike to need to look way ahead of my corners. It's just something that already automatically happens when you drive a cage, but need to train yourself to do on a bike because so much more is visible I guess. As Capatin Obvious states above.

[Flashmonkey]

Originally Posted by adouglas

Taking a hairpin. This guy's vision is way, way down the track and nowhere near the corner. He's already IN the corner. No point in looking at it, any more than you have to watch your own feet as you walk down the sidewalk.

That's a damned good picture!

[addy126]

Originally Posted by adouglas

Taking a hairpin. This guy's vision is way, way down the track and nowhere near the corner. He's already IN the corner. No point in looking at it, any more than you have to watch your own feet as you walk down the sidewalk.

Humph and here I always thought they were just posing for a good picture!

[JeffM]

Here is another example of looking through a corner.

Notice the eyes of the rider (a member here btw ). His eyes are up and looking far down the track.

This has the added benefit of visually slowing things down so the perception of speed isn't so great.

Looking where you want to go also helps a ton during low speed maneuvering. In the riding classes I took, the instructor always stated that if you looked at the ground (or the cone you were trying to turn around) during a low speed turn that is where you would end up. Lots of emphasis on eyes-up. If you make a U-turn, for instance, your head should be on a swivel and you should feel like you are an owl turning his head around. It really does make a difference.

Cheers

[CZroe]

Remember, for very low-speed turns, counterLEAN (as opposed to leaning with or hanging off the bike). Don't confuse it with countersteering. U-turn around a median from a turn lane after stopping at a stop light: COUNTERLEAN!

[Flashmonkey]

Link to original page on YouTube.

Found it!

Ok this video has a bit of everything....leaning, counterleaning, looking where he wants to go...and good ol' japanese awesomeness. Behold fellow riders!

[Postiez]

I actually kind of have the opposite problem... I don't feel as comfortable leaning right as I do left probably due to traffic situations. When I turn right its super tight and slow so I don't get a good lean that way unless there is tight sweeping bend in the road to the right. Whereas left turns in an intersection are similar to a quick sweeping left bend in the road so my body naturally gets into better position.

I seem to just be rambling and its probably not helping so my advice is to learn the right about of gas to give it when going around a corner and things feel much more comfortable. Whenever I go around a corner without giving it gas I seem to have problems similar to what you are saying.

[DRivero]

I was unsteady turning right from a stop at first, I thought left was easier.

I actually kind of have the opposite problem... I don't feel as comfortable leaning right as I do left........

Me too! It sort of baffles me, but whatever......