Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126547
ANSWERS
1. Yes.
Putting only the right foot down as
the bike stops demonstrates to the
troops you've got everything under
control. You don't want to be the rider
who does a rain dance. You know the
one. He puts his left foot down as he
stops. Then he puts his right foot
down, lifts the left foot up to put the
transmission in neutral, then puts the
left foot back down again.
There are exceptions to the right·
foot·only act, of course. One of them is
on a day with severe cross· winds when
you're stopping a full·dress KZ 1500
loaded down with luggage and your
250'pound girlfriend.
Putting both feet down is always
preferable to toppling over. It's hard
to look polished while picking up your
motorcycle, especially if it happens to
be one of the King- Kong variety.
2. Yes.
The skilled rider usually doesn't
need to put his foot (or feet) down
until the. bike has actually stopped.
Sometimes the reason for stopping
may be eliminated (light changes to
green, for instance) just as the rider
stops. So he rides away without
removing his feet from the pegs.
If this is a technique you haven't
mastered yet, a few practice sessions in
an empty parking lot will let you add it
to your repertoire of smooth moves.
lJ. No.
Precise throttle control is a key
element in the skilled rider's arsenal.
It's hard to precisely operate the
throttle if there is freeplay present.
Sure, once you've twisted the throttle
to the point that it starts pulling up the
throttle slides or moving the butterfly
valves, there's no slop left. But if
you're out on your favorite backroad
heeled over in a comer, just releasing
the brakes at the apex and rolling on
the throttle, you want that throttle
movement from idle to off-idle to be
precise. Throttle slop makes that precision more difficult.
Take an informal sUrvey. The next
time you're around a group of parked
motorcycles, check the throttle grip on
each one for freeplay. Watch the
riders of these machines take off.
Usually the ones wiJh no throttle slop
will ride off wobbling less and with
greater authority than their sloppy
brethren.
As a last check, the next time you're
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near Freddie Spencer's bike in the pits,
check to see how much throttle slop his
machine has. If Mike Velasco tells you
to beat it before he runs you over with
an ATC, check another racer's
machine. You won't find any slop. At
least you shouldn't.
4. Yes.
No self-respecting rider drags his
feet on takeoff. If you've developed the
balance and confidence you should
have, you can put your feet on the pegs
immediately at takeoff.
5. Yes.
This, in addition to looking classy,
marks you as a person who has good
control of his machine and good
balance. Watch an experienced rider
on his full-dress tourer. He rarely puts
a foot down until he stops, or just a
fraction of a second before the
machine stops.
If you're a little rusty on the slowspeed feet-up routine, the old
practice-in-the-empty-parking-lot will
work wonders.
6. Yes.
Of course there are cruise controls
that prevent your wrist from getting
tired. But if one isn't present, a skilled
rider can use his left hand to work the
throttle and steer.
If this is a skill you haven't
mastered, give it a tfY.. Practice it away
from traffic. In the
of learning
how to do it. you'lI also learn exactly
how countersteering works, in case you
don't already know.
Process
7. No.
The skilled rider ra-rely forgets.
Riders who frequently forget to tum
off signals are riders who need to concentrate more on what they're doing.
They're also the reason a lot of bikes
now have self-cancelling turn signals
which-cancel before you want them to.
8. Shift into neutral.
Ever borrow somebody's motorcycle
and have to down-shift five times just
to take off? The rider you borrowed it
from could stand to polish up his
stopping technique. Sure the bike can
be stopped in high gear.
But why not put it in neutral when
you stop? It makes things easier when
you're ready to take off again. Besides,
stopping the bike in gear just isn't a
class act-unless, of course, you've got
to park it on the kickstand on an
incline. In this case, parking it in
neutral and watching it roll down the
incline is not a class act.
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