QuestionHi, I just passed my basic class and I am ready to ride, (at least I want to be ready). My issue is overcoming my fear of turning, not really curves but actual turning sharp. I have always been the passenger on the back of my husbands HD and now I have a new 2008 HD sportster 1200 custom. I go almost every evening to the high school and practice and I know that I can do it but it seems as though I have a mental block. I want to gain the confidence so that I am a better rider and safer as well. Any suggestions??
I want to be able to ride with the MC that my husband is the road captain of, I hope to be ready by middle of June for some local rides. I live in the Dallas area.
AnswerI hate to say it, but low speed turns require a lot of practice and experience. There's no silver bullet.
Sharp turns require superior clutch control and balance, combined with precise handlebar inputs and lots of familiarity with the bike and how it turns at low speeds.
To improve your sharp turn skills, here's what I recommend:
1. Practice your clutch control, starting out from a stop (in a straight line), over and over and over again until you can do it smoothly, every time, with just exactly as much clutch and throttle as you want to give it. You want to be able to do it perfect every time. This will take a good amount of practice, because your clutch hand will be worn out after a half an hour. Stop, then start again the next day.
2. Once you can start out in a straight line perfectly every time, start turning left or right after the clutch is fully released. Start using wide sweeping turns, and gradually make them tighter and tighter. Practice this until you can do either direction smoothly every time.
3. Now, start out in a straight line but begin your turn left or right before the clutch is completely released. Gradually work your way down to easing out the clutch and turning immediately, to easing out the clutch and turning simultaneously--both things at once. Once you get to this part, repeat it about 1,000,000 times until your body could do it in its sleep.
All the skills you develop starting from a stop will apply to any sort of sharp turn in the future. It's the familiarity with how it feels and what the bike is doing that will make the difference.
Remember, that a moving bike is more stable than a stopped bike or a slowing bike. If you're leaned over, you want to be under power or at least with constant throttle (neutral throttle, in gear, clutch released, but neither accelerating or decelerating). Any time you are going to bring your bike to a stop or a near stop, you have to straighten the bike up FIRST. If you stop while you're leaned over, you'll fall. (That 1200 is too heavy!) It is okay to be stopped at an angle, if that's what it takes to straighten the bike. Better that than tipped over.
Expect all this practice to take you at least 4-6 weeks to get good at it if you work at it for an hour a day, four times a week. Spend the first whole week working on just clutch control in a straight line, then a couple weeks turning after you release the clutch, then another couple weeks getting your clutch and turning snychronized.
Good luck and have fun! Don't expect too much from yourself. Rome wasn't built in a day. I spent an entire day last year working on my low speed turning, and even after 17+ years of riding, I still need lots of practice and instruction to do it smoothly and...gasp!...improve.
Pat
