RE: [ST] U-turn diameter

[Cunningham Andrew <Andrew.Cunningham@xxxxxxxx>]

Michael,

<Snip u-turn disaster story> 

Sorry to hear about your spill.  I always think low speed drops are the most
annoying and they always seem to do more damage than you'd think possible.
Anyway I just thought I'd share a few tips on u-turns.

First thing is that the ST doesn't have the worlds smallest turning circle
to start with, so don't be too hard on yourself.  The Daytona I had before
my RS was even worse...super tankers have better turning circles!

The secret to doing u-turns, or indeed any slow speed tight manoeuvres, is
slipping the clutch.  Get plenty of revs going and hold the throttle steady.
Use the clutch and the back brake to control your speed, not the throttle!

Approach your turn in point and turn the handle bars in the direction you
want to go.  As you begin to turn (and this is the most important part) LOOK
WHERE YOU WANT TO GO.  You will find that the bike goes exactly where you're
looking.

When I was learning to ride, myself and the guys I was learning with were
initially only looking a couple of feet in front of the handle bars and we
would foul things up every time.  We light heartedly complained to our
instructor that the street he was making us practice our u-turns in was far
too narrow.  He promptly jumped on his Pan Euro and did a perfect u-turn
using the techniques I've described above.  Once we'd all learnt to look
where we wanted to go and got used to the fact that it's ok to slip the
clutch it was plain sailing....honest!

HTH

Andy
__________________________________________
Andy Cunningham
Stockholm, Sweden
955i Sprint RS (01)
   

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