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SlightlyMadman posted:For future reference, the trick to getting over a curb is to really lean into it and give it some power with your feet to propel the body forward, thereby overcoming the force of gravity pulling you down. Also, pick your feet up so you don't trip. Squid  If you don't want to end up skidding on your face down the asphalt, pull up safely to the curb and come to a complete stop, lift one foot onto the top of the curb and then transfer your weight onto the curb foot by shifting your body weight forward, and when you're comfortable doing so, bring up the other foot and then carry on your journey.
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Mar 29, 2011 18:29
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Weinertron posted:I'd like to echo the general rear brake hatred that has been going around, I hit a slick oil spot while braking moderately descending a hill and it was enough to break the rear loose for a bit. I kept things in line, but I'm going to be in the "rear brake only when stopped / 10mph" crew from here on out. But... How do you back it in? [/supermotocrew] I use the back brake a lot because my area is full of roads defined by the corners of houses and fields. Rear brake helps massively to stabilise the bike in very low speed turns. Sometimes I'll trail rear brake in longer corners too to settle the rear suspension more, am I doing it wrong?
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Mar 30, 2011 09:20
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NitroSpazzz posted:Well more reinforcement to not trust anyone on the road yesterday. Out messing around on the CRF and pull up to a stop sign. Wait a while for a break in traffic to turn left. Van with right blinker on starts slowing down so I pull out. Driver hits the ABS and is on the horn...I was a couple feet from being t-boned. You are invisible until you are about to dent their vehicle. Indicators are no indication. Brake lights are broken until they aren't. All bets are off when it comes to vans. Repeat this mantra 5 times and say a Hail Mary every time you put the key in the ignition.
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May 20, 2011 13:53
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It's been a week of assholes trying to pull out on me, but that's nothing particularly unusual. Tonight while I was out Riding Like a DongTM, I hit some gravel going around a really nasty little tight corner that I've been trying to master for years. I was hanging off the inside (I've been practicing moving around and hanging off more) and I managed to slide both the front and the rear momentarily but I stayed on the throttle and recovered  like a bawss.I've only had someone turn into me once, when I was on my pushbike. I was lane splitting through stationary traffic when this woman in an (otherwise empty) minivan decides to turn off to a side road, she flicked her indicators on as she pulled out and away, while I was along side her. Managed to stay upright but I took off the lens of her tiny side indicator with my handlebars.
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Oct 16, 2011 00:51
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Talking on your mobile phone while driving got banned here a few years ago. Since then it seems like every workvan driver (who were the worst offenders to start with) have decided that no matter where they get a call, they stop, pull over and make that "not my fault, they banned driving while on the phone" look at anyone who dares show their disdain at their inconsideration. This morning on the way to work in the pissing rain this attitude was exemplified by a cleaning van driver who had stopped on the exit of a blind left hand corner (we drive on the left, or 'correct' side) so that he could talk on his mobile. The car in front of me slammed on its brakes; I think he must have had ABS because he stopped quite sharp and didn't lock a wheel. I ended up locking the back, I kept it locked and concentrated on modulating the front while trying to correct the slightly alarming drift towards the (occupied) oncoming lane. I managed to keep it all controlled and came to a stop that probably looked more dramatic than the KTM made it. And drivers wonder why I flip them off when they wont stop tailgating me in the wet...
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Dec 16, 2011 17:45
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I've had some moments on the KTM in ice, oil and gravel. Several times I was saved by the fact that I didn't let off the throttle. The first time it actually happened a bit too quickly and I didn't even have time to think about chopping the throttle before the bike was straightened up and happy again (motards  ). Even though it wasn't intentional it made me a lot more relaxed about momentary losses of traction and now it's no biggie if the back slips out a little.This might sound weird but I also found it helps to watch road racing like the IOM and the NW200, seeing Guy Martin crossing over white lines full throttle at 180mph and watching the bike wiggle without him even batting an eyelid made me realise that as long as you don't let it freak you out you'll probably be fine. And if the slippery patch is bad enough to take you down regardless then you're better off relaxed, lowsiding out than tensing up, grabbing brake/clutch and highsiding yourself into a hospital traction bed.
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Jul 16, 2012 15:59
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While riding like a dong around my favourite bit of coast road I came around a bend to find a Rental car almost stopped in the road, stuck behind a blatantly unfit couple on push bikes, riding at less than walking pace, two abreast. I might have made the stop but as I was starting to stand it up on the brakes I noticed the oncoming lane was empty and used that momentum to swerve around them. Scared the absolute poo poo out of me. Lesson learned, make a slow run of the road before pushing it.
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Sep 20, 2012 09:55
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Welp, I'm back again  Today it bucketed down with rain from dawn to dusk. Lighting, howling wind, the whole show. So a friend and I, being the idiots we are, decided to wrap up and go for a spin; Him on a street-fightered GSXR-750 SRAD, me on the 690 SMC. The roads were strewn with poo poo; leaves, twigs, mud and gravel washed around from random flash floods. He was taking it really easy, the bike was squirming on some of the corners and I think his suspension set up is hosed or non existent. The KTM is pretty stable in the wet, especially with the sticky front on, so I was pushing it to a certain extent. Well I pushed it too hard. "Tarmac still has like 80% of the grip in the wet as it does in the dry" I'm thinking. "You usually take this corner at 35+, so 25 will be totally cool right?". Wrong. Within a blink of an eye I was in an opposite lock slide around the whole loving corner and more through shock and terror than skill I kept the throttle open and the bike just sorted itself out.
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Sep 23, 2012 22:31
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Actually the road on that corner is in great condition, it's been raining on and off all weekend and my tires have great tread. I'm pretty sure I just rolled on too much throttle because I was getting cocky.
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Sep 23, 2012 23:00
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Covert Ops Wizard posted:East coaster? Not even close  KARMA! posted:Good for you for staying on the throttle and the bike. Wet weather has a bit of a habit of throwing all kinds of slippery patches in your path. Don't think for a second the grip is as even as on dry, because for me most of my 'oh poo poo' moments are on the 'safe' parts of the road in the wet. Eh, it could have been a diesel patch or something. In any case I would have been fine if I had been less of a dong and slowed down.
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Sep 24, 2012 08:58
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Snowdens Secret posted:This is probably just the KTM being so Ready To Race(TM) that it's taking matters into its own hands. Are you satisfying its natural appetites for backing it in? Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if it's sneaking out at night at popping wheelies while you're not looking. poo poo you might be right, maybe I'm not taking care of her needs  I mean I take her all around town and give her the best 10W60 money can (just about) buy. I know I get her engine revving all the way to the limit pretty regular but maybe that's not enough... I'll change baby, I promise!
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Sep 25, 2012 09:00
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KozmoNaut posted:Leaving safe following distance is essential, even more so if you're on a bike. Generally, a car can out-brake just about any bike, especially a bike without ABS. I don't think that's true for the majority of modern bikes, with or without ABS. My KTM can and has out-braked cars with ABS in emergency braking - thanks, van guy who stopped on the exit of a blind corner in the rain. In "You didn't crash but it probably looked loving awesome" news, I got a bit overzealous with the new tyres and warm weather, turned the KTM hard on the throttle at an intersection which it turned out had freshly painted markings. Turned out they weren't *all* the way cured and I left a nice smudge as the rear spun up and I rounded the corner like I was racing speedway.
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May 7, 2013 21:28
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Z3n posted:It's completely true. Huh, fair enough. I think my perspective must be skewed by how well my KTM stops and the state most cars are in where I live. When I outbraked that Volvo in the wet I could see/hear his ABS working. However, I run a race wet on the front of the KTM, keep the brakes fresh and bled. He probably had some aged whatever-was-cheapest tyres and the brake fluid the car came with 9 years ago.
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May 8, 2013 23:35
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Shimrod posted:I had some idiot kids at the skate park jump out and try to touch me as I went past a while ago, little dumbshits. This is what armoured knuckles were made for.
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May 16, 2013 17:29
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Stugazi posted:I will take a different route back to office. For safety or embarrassment?
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May 21, 2013 10:11
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Ugh, there's nothing worse than a lovely driver who doesn't even realise they're being lovely. I usually try and chase them down and point out what an irresponsible shitheel they are being in the nicest, most polite way I can but sometimes you can't and it feels lovely knowing they're just going to carry on, maybe even hurting or killing someone next time and there's nothing you can do. AncientTV posted:"gently caress you human being, you wanna go?" We had a horrific blizzard back in February, totally caught the island by surprise and people were struggling to get around on ungritted, unsalted roads*. I nearly got merged into by a woman who had her wing mirrors folded in, so I pulled up along side her car when she stopped and tapped her window, then the mirrors. I couldn't hear her through the car window and my helmet and the snow, but everyone can lip read "gently caress YOU!". I just wanted to help you not kill people, crazy lady  *we can't use salt because of our captive water table, and we don't even have the infrastructure (trucks/storage) for gritting, that much snow is super rare for us.
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Jul 30, 2013 12:53
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One time I needed to overtake some slowpoke tourists in a hire car, except I forgot about a hump in the tarmac on that road. Cue me overtaking said hire car entirely on the back wheel, probably looked awesome but I nearly shat myself.
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Sep 3, 2013 12:03
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Forgive me father for I too am a heretic and have braked mid corner without standing the bike up (Sniff glue, worship supermoto).EightBit posted:The computer had to evaluate it via simulating the properties of the antenna, therefore we know how it works, just that designing it with traditional methods wouldn't achieve the same result. This is true, it's a bad example. EightBit posted:We can accurately place car-sized rovers on Mars and you think we can't understand bike physics? That's a bit hard to swallow. But so is this. There have been more failed Mars missions than successful ones. We often use phenomena without fully understanding how they work. Aerodynamics is a fantastic example, Orville and Wilbur Wright didn't understand aerodynamics, but it didn't stop them making a plane. Even now we still don't understand turbulence fully, and it is a key function of spaceflight from the aerodynamics to the engine design. Similarly we have recently found out that our understanding of bicycle (and thus motorcycle) stability is flawed, and that the traditional explanations of negative trail and gyroscopic forces don't fully cover it after some guys managed to build a working model bicycle that had neither. In on-topic news, I had to borrow MY GIRLFRIEND's vespa this week. It's the first time I've ridden a scooter and it was frankly terrifying. It didn't help that we are experiencing gale force winds and torrential rain right now. I thought metal drain covers in the road were scary on proper bikes, but the little babby wheels on the scooter made even crossing one perfectly straight and upright a puckering experience. Several times at only modest lean angles I felt the little tyres squirming and I had no confidence in the brakes. It's odd, scooters are seen as toys and commuters here; Kids often get them before getting their first 'real' motorcycle or car. Frankly if I had a child I would prefer they started on a small displacement "proper" motorcycle like an RS50 or one of the 50cc babby motards before a scooter. They would have a safer bike and learn clutch control so they would be better prepared for learning how to drive a car. Scooters - Not even once.
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Dec 23, 2013 14:11
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