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Ride with the boots further back on the pegs, move them forward to shift or brake.
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Mar 31, 2021 15:55
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| # ? Jun 4, 2024 20:13 |
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I have a bike with I think similar ergos to yours, and my feet are positioned so that the ball of my foot/area right behind the toes is on the pegs.
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Mar 31, 2021 16:13
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A Proper Uppercut posted:Something I've noticed that I'm in the habit of doing is coasting with the clutch in through low speed corners, like a 90 degree turn at an intersection going ~20mph. A Proper Uppercut posted:Is the proper thing to be doing is getting to the correct speed/gear before I hit the corner and keep steady throttle through the corner? Is it bad to use a touch of rear brake or clutch to smooth it out a bit? A Proper Uppercut posted:Is it bad to use a touch of rear brake or clutch to smooth it out a bit? Just try and avoid changing gears when turning, as Jim said. Soon all this will be second nature and you will not worry about it.
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Mar 31, 2021 16:43
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A Proper Uppercut posted:So just picked up a new bike last week after a few years of not riding. I'm not necessarily a "new" rider but I'm still a novice. this is a pretty bad habit that you should consciously curb. are you familiar with the old adage from moto racing? Brake. Turn. Gas. when you coast you're just throwing your hands up in the air and letting jesus take the bars. there are infinite hypothetical situations we can throw out but the gist is that when the bike is turning and burning you are in control, if you're coasting you're giving that up 1) Brake. This is when you setup the bike's speed for the turn. You brake and shift down x times (depending on how hot you're coming in) to reach the turn in a gear and speed that's going to let you apply gas in the right part of the powerband after you apex 2) Turn. This is when you are momentarily moving the bars to tip the bike over and hold a lean angle necessary to make the turn for your speed. Not gonna explain countersteering but that's what happens here. 3) Gas. This is when you have reached the apex of the turn, getting on the gas has the natural side effect of standing the bike up so now that the turn is straightening out it's safe to get on the gas and get going
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Mar 31, 2021 16:53
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Yeah, definitely do not coast through corners with the clutch held in and the engine idling. The big danger there is that you hit a pothole or something and it jars your hand and you pop the clutch out, and the rear wheel locks up and skids and you're already in a turn so you go past your traction limit and crash. As other people have noted, you should be slowing down to an appropriate corner speed before you enter the turn, downshifting to whatever gear you need to be in for that speed. Enter the turn in gear while applying just enough throttle to keep the driveline under tension, and maintain that all the way through. Add power as you're straightening up on the other side.
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Mar 31, 2021 17:06
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Yea, as I said, I know it's bad, and I have been consciously working on doing it properly. Realizing I'm doing it wrong is half the battle I guess. I'll just keep working on turning correctly.
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Mar 31, 2021 17:38
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Megabook posted:I have a question I should probably know the answer to by now as well. I've been riding a year and a half now, but never really put much thought into the setup of my new bike (SV650) when I got it 6 months ago. A friend pointed out the other day I ride with my toes out quite a bit and I'm going to catch them on the ground if I'm not careful. I'd never really thought about it, but it turn out they are sitting against the end of the gear lever on one side, and probably the brake on the other. I assume I should adjust both levers down? The brake seems obvious (I think!), but I was less sure about the gear lever. Is the actual problem that my feet are too far forwards on the footpegs? The peg tends to be sitting against the front of the heel of my boot. From this it's possible to infer you're doing something else much more important wrong: you are potato sacking against the tank and using your arms to hold you up. I know this because it's impossible to use your legs for the job if your toes are in the breeze, because you need to push against the pegs with the balls of your feet. Use your legs to grip the tank. Put rice paper on your grips and try riding around without tearing it; you are not meant to have any weight on the bars.
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Mar 31, 2021 19:17
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Slavvy posted:Put rice paper on your grips and try riding around without tearing it; you are not meant to have any weight on the bars. I think this is a little hyperbolic because you're almost certainly gonna tear the paper when you operate the brake or clutch. I like to think of it as you're cradling a little baby bird and you must not squeeze it. Be very light and gentle.
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Mar 31, 2021 19:26
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What about imagine the grips are snickers and you're trying not to squash them?
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Mar 31, 2021 19:51
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Quick quesion, was on a guided (legally mandated) ride today and the instructor mentioned to us that we really should be using the clutch with only two fingers. I would have to really adjust my clutch lever A LOT to achieve this without squeezing my other fingers. What's your take on this? Also, whoever posted a really concise quick shift tutorial on this forum really i fected me with it. I sometimes worry if I am overusing it and shouldn't be doing it.
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Mar 31, 2021 20:29
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That sounds like the instructor has a personal habit he's decided is an objective truth, use whatever fingers let you operate the bike correctly. Marc Marquez brakes from 300kmh with his index finger, you'll be fine using three to clutch crawl through the carpark.
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Mar 31, 2021 20:35
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i say do what's comfortable for you, either method has no obvious pros or cons vs the other. i use all four fingers for clutch and 2 for front brake to build a habit for a lighter touch in emergency situations. clutch doesn't need precision touch so i just gorilla grip that sucker when i shift
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Mar 31, 2021 20:40
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My MSF instructors specifically said to use your whole hand on the clutch, so that's what I have always done. New bikes and small bikes seem to have quite light clutches that could work with two fingers, but good luck doing that with a bike that is older or which has stiff clutch springs. I'd break my hand trying to use two fingers through half an hour of San Francisco traffic. Use whatever works for you. SEKCobra posted:Also, whoever posted a really concise quick shift tutorial on this forum really i fected me with it. I sometimes worry if I am overusing it and shouldn't be doing it. Doing clutchless upshifts is perfectly fine as long as you're doing it right and the transmission is just slipping between gears with zero effort. If the shifter still feels like it's under tension as you make the shift, or you're getting clunks or jerks as you do it, you aren't doing it right and should go back to using the clutch until you figure it out. Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 20:49 on Mar 31, 2021 |
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Mar 31, 2021 20:46
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Just thinking about two fingers on a big twin Harley clutch and giggling.
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Mar 31, 2021 20:52
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When I started to MTB I grabbed a fist full of front brake and almost ate poo poo as I was used to the cantilever brakes on my CX bike, which NEED a lot of pressure to do anything. Pretty sure I use one finger braking on my MTB now. Might be two though. Two fingers on the brake and clutch on my Ninja seems like it works nicely. numberoneposter fucked around with this message at 21:17 on Mar 31, 2021 |
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Mar 31, 2021 21:14
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Slavvy posted:Just thinking about two fingers on a big twin Harley clutch and giggling. The Bandit 600 my instructor has has a heavier clutch than the Fat Bob.
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Mar 31, 2021 21:27
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Razzled posted:i say do what's comfortable for you, either method has no obvious pros or cons vs the other. i use all four fingers for clutch and 2 for front brake to build a habit for a lighter touch in emergency situations. clutch doesn't need precision touch so i just gorilla grip that sucker when i shift Oh boy do I have opinions about this. First, whatever kind of lever engagement actually works for you is best. But.... One (or two) finger is much better than four fingers because it lets you continue to maintain your grip on the bars when you are riding on bumpy terrain and consistently slipping the clutch to maintain traction. Graham Jarvis uses the clutch to modulate power instead of the throttle. Check this video of him using the clutch and talking about what he's doing a bit. It's ridiculous but he's really working the clutch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En4pLTEUY70 That's all off-road so maybe doesn't apply as much onroad and you definitely need a hydraulic clutch to do it because otherwise your finger will cramp up immediately. fwiw, I think the reason you get told to use four fingers in stuff like MSF courses is because they don't want you loving around with not fully engaging the clutch or not having sufficient grip strength or your fingers getting sore or whatever. I prefer good shorty levers for this, but you can also adjust the engagement on your regular levers so that they engage further out and don't have to bring them all the way back to the bar to get full engagement. Steakandchips posted:The Bandit 600 my instructor has has a heavier clutch than the Fat Bob. Isn't yours hydraulic and the bandit cable? builds character fucked around with this message at 23:00 on Mar 31, 2021 |
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Mar 31, 2021 22:58
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Both are cable.
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Mar 31, 2021 23:28
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Slavvy posted:From this it's possible to infer you're doing something else much more important wrong: you are potato sacking against the tank and using your arms to hold you up. I know this because it's impossible to use your legs for the job if your toes are in the breeze, because you need to push against the pegs with the balls of your feet. There will be edge cases not applicable to new riders that will have your toes touching the ground and that is when you're hanging off on the track and touching your toe sliders down. I prefer having the toe sliders touch before the pegs do. Yuns fucked around with this message at 23:38 on Mar 31, 2021 |
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Mar 31, 2021 23:36
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Steakandchips posted:Both are cable. Have you ridden any bikes with a twin cam or evolution? Highly recommended, it'll show you what a quantum leap the m8 bikes are.
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Mar 31, 2021 23:50
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builds character posted:Oh boy do I have opinions about this. i think the fact that he's on a 2t weighs more on the less finger usage too, i always kept a couple fingers hovering over the clutch lever when i rode my 300 XCW. don't bother on my 4 strokers unless the terrain is so rough i feel like i might whisky throttle
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Mar 31, 2021 23:55
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Nope. Just the Fat Bob and the 883 Sporty. Would love to try out some of the older ones...
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Mar 31, 2021 23:55
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My riding instructor back in the day told us to use all fingers for both braking and clutch. It's going back 12 years now but I vaguely recall the reason on the brake side was that using all 4 fingers forces you to roll off throttle and harder to accidentally have throttle and front brake happen at the same time. I brake with 2 fingers and clutch with 4.
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Apr 1, 2021 08:12
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Eventually though every rider needs to be able to use the throttle and front brake at the same time because you'll need to downshift and blip while you brake. My suspicion is that your instructors advice was meant for really really novice riders.
Yuns fucked around with this message at 09:07 on Apr 1, 2021 |
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Apr 1, 2021 09:04
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Thanks Slavy and Yuns for your thoughts. I think I am gripping the tank with my legs and my arms are bent. I will try and get the balls of my feet on the pegs though and be more conscious of not potato sacking!
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Apr 1, 2021 09:05
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Carth Dookie posted:My riding instructor back in the day told us to use all fingers for both braking and clutch. It's going back 12 years now but I vaguely recall the reason on the brake side was that using all 4 fingers forces you to roll off throttle and harder to accidentally have throttle and front brake happen at the same time. I brake with 2 fingers and clutch with 4. All fingers on the brake so you get into the habit of doing it. So when a car pulls out in front of you, you can really yank on that brake and get full leverage from the end of the lever. (Probably don’t do this without ABS)
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Apr 1, 2021 09:17
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had a good ride on my ninja 650 tonight one idiot tailgaiter while i was already doing 70 kph in a 50 kph zone but i was going to turn left so i wasnt gonna let it rip some nice back roads corners but im still getting used to how much i actually need to lean the bike to get it to turn im used to cycling where i weigh more than the bike, and now the bike weighs more than me seeing a chevy spork tailgaiting someone else and cant find a gap to get around and i find the gap and make cars look stupid tiny speed test via an onramp into the highway only hit modest speeds when coming back into a town a guy on a huge harley paced me and i did a decent lean through a corner and he gave me props at he light and then he went way too fast downtown but it was pretty cool too and then an old guy and his wife on an even bigger harley said hello to me on my tiny blue ninja a good ride
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Apr 1, 2021 10:31
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chevy spork lol
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Apr 1, 2021 14:10
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Dumb thing, but is the dropped left hand to wave when you see an oncoming rider a Midwest/Wisconsin thing, or more widespread?
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Apr 1, 2021 17:41
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That's just "the wave" afaik. Widespread.
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Apr 1, 2021 17:53
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Re: levertalk on the road, i see no reason to not use all fingers. Rev matching while braking i mostly do with the bit of my hand between thumb and index finger. If you have small hands, you may adjust your brake lever to sit closer to the bar. If you have light brakes and use three fingers, you may end up squeezing the lever all the way against your pinky that remains on the bar, which now hinders your ability to brake. I absent mindedly did that once (E: with my clutch, that is, i don't absentmindedly brake that hard) But in the end, i think it's 90% personal preference and if you manage to ride safely with 2 fingers, it's all fine. On my SV i really need all of my fingers to operate the controls, but on the Duke i tried i really only needed two fingers for a serious amount of brake force. LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 19:28 on Apr 1, 2021 |
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Apr 1, 2021 19:07
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Horse Clocks posted:I was told: I can lock the front with just two fingers so I'd be more worried about braking too hard with four fingers rather than not braking hard enough with two
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Apr 1, 2021 19:20
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LimaBiker posted:Re: levertalk Yeah, I'm an idiot and didn't realize what thread I was posting in. Use whatever number of fingers work for you but definitely start with all of them.
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Apr 1, 2021 19:27
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MomJeans420 posted:I can lock the front with just two fingers so I'd be more worried about braking too hard with four fingers rather than not braking hard enough with two And yet, on some bikes your can gorilla grab the lever to the bar and only slow down moderately. It's almost as if technique is meant to be an adaptive process to extract the best out of a given machine, and not dogmatic gospel of the One Right Way. Strange.
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Apr 1, 2021 19:34
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Hell, on my CL350 I can squeeze the (cable-operated drum) front brake to the bar on a steep downhill and not only will I not lock the wheel, I will continue to accelerate. Gotta use both brakes simultaneously on that guy.
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Apr 1, 2021 19:52
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Slavvy posted:It's almost as if technique is meant to be an adaptive process to extract the best out of a given machine, and not dogmatic gospel of the One Right Way. Strange. No room for nuance in the new riders thread, if you can't lock it with two fingers you just need to lift more
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Apr 1, 2021 20:18
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sliding away from danger
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Apr 1, 2021 20:37
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Sagebrush posted:Hell, on my CL350 I can squeeze the (cable-operated drum) front brake to the bar on a steep downhill and not only will I not lock the wheel, I will continue to accelerate. Gotta use both brakes simultaneously on that guy. The Suzuki GN125, the front disc brake, I can get it down to the bar and it still won't halt immediately, even at 30mph. To actually do an emergency stop on it, you need to use both brakes.
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Apr 1, 2021 20:58
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The gn125 has one of those amazing disc brakes that are actually worse than a similar sized drum. My cb125 is the same, it has a cable operated one piece, one piston caliper that tilts on a spindle to accommodate pad motion; it is borderline useless.
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Apr 1, 2021 21:05
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Of course I should clarify, since this is the newbie thread, that you should always be using both brakes simultaneously rather than getting lazy and relying on one or the other. Splitting your braking effort across both wheels (I.e. twice the contact patch) allows you to brake harder without locking up, every single time. When I was a new rider I had the mistaken idea that because of weight transfer, your front brake alone was just as effective as both brakes and the rear wasn't even strictly necessary. This is obviously false; the only time the rear brake is totally ineffective is if you're pulling a stoppie, and a stoppie won't slow you down as fast as keeping the rear wheel on the ground and using both brakes at once. Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 21:10 on Apr 1, 2021 |
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Apr 1, 2021 21:06
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