Slow maneuvering

Discussion in 'New Riders' started by vfr_menace, Feb 17, 2010.

  1. vfr_menace

    vfr_menace New Member

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    Help a brother, will you? How do you maneuver a beastie 4th gen in 1st/2nd gear around turns and such?
    I've been riding a DRZ-400 and it was like riding a bicycle. Now with the VFR, I've already dropped the bitch on the way out of the parking garage and I'm still not comfortable turning/moving slowly.
    So, my dilemma is, I need practice with the slow stuff, but then again it will be real easy to drop it again.
    What's the best approach?
     
  2. jasonsmith

    jasonsmith Member

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    It's all about working the "gray" area of the bikes throttle, clutch and brake. If you lean into a turn and lose your momentum either by stalling or whatever down you go. I know... :redface: If you can properly control your throttle, clutch and rear brake you can almost do turns dragging your feelers without falling over. Practice your straight line slowwwwww riding skills first, that will give you practice with your controls before you start leaning the bike. If you screw up, stop and put your feet down, in that order. Go as slow as you while keeping your feet up. Once your comfortable start turning, and look where you want to go. If you fail to look you will go where you are looking... pole, car, pavement, straight etc..
     
  3. uberchuckie

    uberchuckie New Member

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    What Jason said. Another thing that helps is leaning the bike the opposite direction. So if you make a slow left turn, lean right and vice-versa.
     
  4. Cundalini

    Cundalini New Member

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    My beloved 1990 is very big for me ( im only 5'8" and 140 lbs ) and it was scary to manuever at slow speeds first.
    Steps I have taken to get used to it -
    Tire pressure. I had the tires too low and she didnt want to stand up until I was trying to corner, yeah scary. Adjusting the tire pressure to the correct amount made ALL the differance in the world.
    Boots with good traction. If you have to put your foot down and then your foot slips..... well we all know where this is going.

    I also hug my bike at low speeds that other riders might not do, but it works for me. Lowering my center of gravity closer to the tank. Not at 5 mph obviosly, but I ride a short winding road to work every day, and average 20-25 mph around corners and I keep my head and chest closer to the bike then I do once I hit the main road at 45 mph. Always look where you want to go. Such simple advice that is often overlooked. Point your eyes and head at where you want to go. ( as jason stated above )

    You are not the only one that thinks your bike is awefully heavy. Alot of us have had to struggle at first with these machines, but once you get to know it, its all worth it. I promise that it was for me. Well worth it.

    The guys I ride with had to here me whine and complain about how I thought my bike was too much for me, just too plain heavy. Then after a few months, it got easy, and natural. just my bike. Fits fine. Dont get discouraged.
    Welcome bro. As someone that is still learning I rarely give advice but I didnt want to stay silent on this one, cause I had a hard time at first as well.
     
  5. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Could be that your parking garage has a concrete deck that's oil soaked. Highrise parking is many times open in some cities and the floors are sloped. The runoff flows downward. Did you pitch over, lowside or did your front end wash out? Any other riders dump thier bikes that you know of? Did you ever dump your other bike in a similar garage?

    Correct tire pressure on a bike is as critical at low speeds as it is at greater speeds. Grabbing too much brake application on either end of a bike at low speeds can dump a person. Check the wear pattern on your tires too. Seen em worn down in the centers and the edges look brand new on some bikes.

    Seems like I recall that somebody took up a collection for Cundalini's problem but I can't rememember if it was for high heels or training wheels.
     
  6. reg71

    reg71 Poser Staff Member

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    Throttle control was a biggie for me when starting out with the VFR. With the bike being so heavy, and the throttle so sensitive, it took me a while to get used to. I still don't like maneuvering my VFR at less than 15 mph, it's just not made for it. But >15mph and it's all fun...
     
  7. mrich12000

    mrich12000 New Member

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    Have you ever thought of going to a motorcycle control school? Skip Barber's and many more.

    The BMW owners of America have control schools at the:tongue: rallies and there are some listed in maybe you own area to attend . Just a thought to help you with your frightening under 15 mph trouble

    Cheers..
     
  8. Bubba Zanetti

    Bubba Zanetti Member

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    Clutch and throttel control plus I drag my rear brake some and LOOK where you want to go (basically over your shoulder).

    I have to do this exercise in the MSF Experianced rider course; which I recommend you take and also in Lee PArks "Total Control" book he gives a nice detailed way to turn a motocycle around in a short distance. I think David Houghs "Proficianct Motorcycling" aslo has a desciption for slow speed manuvers.

    BZ
     
  9. vfr_menace

    vfr_menace New Member

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    Thanks for all the feedback, y'all.
    I understand that mastering clutch/throttle control is the key, I'm just having a hard time.
    In 2nd gear, my throttle goes from nothing to a lot of ass awful quick.
    Now, my clutch feels to me almost on/off; it releases fully when the lever is almost at end of travel. The friction area is really small.
    Is that what most folks have?
     
  10. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Sounds like your bike needs adjustable clutch and brake levers. These are priced all over the place and available online from several suppliers. Your throttle is in need of tweaking. Not something that should be let go IMO. It needs fixing ASAP or you might end up like those folks in that Toyota.

    This brings up another question. What is the speed limit in parking garages? Surely there is a book or a website out there somewhere that addresses this critical issue. Getting busted by the parking garage police cannot be a pleasant thing. Not as bad as busting your ass though..
     
  11. Meatloaf

    Meatloaf New Member

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    Badbilly has a very good point as well as everyone else up above. Make sure that your throttle (and clutch if the 97 isn't hydraulic) cable is adjusted properly. I find that there is a gray area in defining "properly" because each person will have their own tolerance for slack and free play. Improper adjustment can limit the response that you expect from your throttle and clutch.

    The adjustable levers that Badbilly mentioned lets you customize the lever position to you instead of a preset position making it easier for you to control them. There are many out there and can be found relatively cheap.

    I wish I could speak for other generations of the VFR but I have never had the pleasure of riding any other than my 6th gen. While I do feel that the 6th gen is quite a heavy bike, from the moment I have sat on it I have always feel that the balance and low speed maneuverability of the bike is the best of anything that I have ridden.

    Take some time getting used to the bike so you know what to expect of her and when. I highly suggest taking the MSF class on your bike as they teach and do almost exclusively low speed maneuvers. I'd only owned my VFR for three weeks when I took it and it really did help.
     
  12. reg71

    reg71 Poser Staff Member

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    a little off topic, but I think I know the answer to this one: All VFRs have hydraulic clutches. I am going from the fact that I had an 84 VF 500 with a clutch setup that looked almost the same as my 98. There was a little VFR250 (maybe I think) that was like pink and blue or some shit. It looked kind of cheap. Maybe it had the manual style? This is strictly just a guess on my part. I have that history of the VFR book around here somewhere, but I am too lazy to get it out and actually look this stuff up.
     
  13. FJ12rydertoo

    FJ12rydertoo Member

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    Also, don't be afraid to move around on the bike and do some counter-weighting if necessary. Just pretend it's a bigger dirt bike. :)
     
  14. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Honda and the other Japanese manufacturers have many motorcycles that are not imported into the US. I have a 1995 Honda full catalog of all bikes from Honda. There are bikes of all sorts that we never or rarely see. The 95 VFR 400R is a nifty bike.

    In this catalog including the scooters and various utility bikes there are 78 bikes. One is NSR250R SE/SP in three paint schemes and the NSR80 and NSR50 that look to be much the same bike one with the smaller displacement engine. The catalog does not contain the GP bikes with the exception of a mildly tuned GP 125cc racer.
     
  15. squirrelman

    squirrelman Member

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    You mentioned that your clutch feels like its on or off, which, combined with too little freeplay in throttle cable, is a very hard problem to ride with.

    IMO the first thing to do to smooth out low speed riding--especially in U-turns-- is to find and use the clutch FRICTION ZONE

    One low speed technique i find especially useful is to spin the engine revs up beyond what would be needed to propel the bike--because a spinning engine tends to stabilize the bike--and only bite off as much power as you need using the clutch friction zone.

    Unlike automotive clutches, 'cycle clutches don't mind alot of slipping at low engine rpms.
     
  16. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    All this forking and foreplay has no place on a nice clean motorcycles forum like this one IMO.
     
  17. Cundalini

    Cundalini New Member

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    I got a check from some friend's on here to take the motorcycle advanced rider course.
    You can bash on me all you want, Billy, but what a shame you would try and make a joke of their gift to me.
    As for the high heels, you may need to take up your own collection on that one. Since you seem so sweet on me.
    And by the looks of the bike you have in the photo gallery, those chicken strips on the rear tire show who needs the training wheels.
    I stopped mentioning your name - in chat. in threads and I stopped PM'ing you.

    Leave me the fuck alone.
     
  18. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    If you want to sign the check over to me, I can do ya one better and supply you with all the necessary paperwork to turn yourself into a legit charity. Then your friends could use you as a tax writeoff.

    I apologize for not thanking you properly for the George Micheal glurge but I had to figure out how to clean out my PM box that you had loaded up with whatever all that was about. Good Lord dude, that was a whole shitload of really strange stuff middle school level.

    So did you take or are you planning to take the little test I mentioned about getting off the sauce for thirty days? Not a good mix on a bike especially if friends are springing for riding lessons. They may have an agenda you know nothing about. Could be that there is a subtle message involved and they don't want to be taking up a collection if you buy the farm or maybe you are just holding them up on rides.

    I did catch my name in chat from you a time or two. I hope you got the responses that made you all warm and fuzzy inside.

    Ahh, the bike. That pic was shot with my little Fuji zoomer about half way up Mary's Peak, Near Corvallis Oregon. First time out with the new paint and rubber, oil and filter washout, plugs and a new speedo cable. From my place on the coast to Mary's peak via 101 and the Alsea Highway is a bit over 80 miles. Did you catch the bugs on the front end or the tag from Rich's seats in Seattle or the WP shock too? I know, shameless plugs but I got the bike new and like to take care of it.

    The thing to check is the castellated feelers on the pegs. I know that with your acumen and knowledge of computers you could enlarge the area on my bike and see maybe a few scrapemarks. This would require vectorizing the the pic. Some attention should be paid to the directionality of the scrapes. There are dudes out there who have been known to remove the bolts, chuck them up in a vise and hit them a couple of licks with a file or just file them whilst still bolted to the bike. Another scam is taking a sheet of 60 grit Aluminum Oxide sandpaper and grinding down the sidewalls to make it look like the bike is ridden by Ricky Racer.

    A little more on tires. If you don't piss off the money on something other than the riding school. Some schools have some hard and fast rules about the wear on tires and if you show up with questionable rubber. It's a big DNF and they keep your money. Well not "your" money really.
     
  19. tris1948

    tris1948 New Member

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    What he Said!!

    I was tyring to do a U turn round a little round-about (Rotary?) the other day and was running out of room.

    I then remembered my training "LOOK WHERE YOU F***ING WANT TO GO" and round she came.

    That was on a Good surface though

    Keep practicing
     
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