How To Do Slow Speed Maneuvering And Turning on Motorcycles

In today's video, I show you my techniques for slow speed U-turns. These are going to be my tips for you when it comes to making slow speed U-turns. This is something a lot of people have problems with. Even Ashley had a little bit of a hard time with it, especially on the left-hand side. So I'm going to tell you what I do when I'm out there on the road to do these turns confidently. First thing you want to do is find yourself an open area where you've got lots of room to go as wide as you want. And you're not going to have too much traffic. Today, I'm in an old closed down gas station on the highway. So we might have some loud traffic noise. But nonetheless, I'm in a safe environment to take the time to show you all this. And you all should look for something similar. And thing number two is going to be safety. Always make sure you've got your helmet on, especially when you're practicing new stuff. Because, you know, the learning process can be a little shaky sometimes. I promise if you continue to practice before this is done, you will be very confident on your turn. The next thing I'm going to tell you about is counterweighting. And this one may be one of the most important things when it comes to slow turning. Whether it be a U-turn or any type of slow balance. Let me show you, this is my butt over the seat on a corner. With G-forces, it works. Without the speed, there's no G-forces, it does not work. This is a proper balance when doing a slow speed turn. You'll notice my butt is off the seat, over the side of the bike, and in line with the tires. Friction zone is going to be the next thing I'm going to talk about. And if you took a motorcycle safety class, you should have learned a lot about this. It should be the first thing. It's the difference between your clutch being disengaged and your clutch being fully engaged, full power. It's right in that area where the power starts to come on and off with your clutch. This is important in slow speed control. Whether it be off-road riding, whether it be a slow race, or whether it be a U-turn. Playing with that friction zone keeps that bike in constant friction and allows it to be more stable. So you always want to feather that clutch just a little bit to keep that power going exactly like you want it. Again, watch my hand here as I'm doing this U-turn. You can see I'm just keeping it right in that friction zone. It allows me to keep the RPMs a little bit higher and consequently makes my bike more stable. Trail braking is the second thing. When you're riding around a corner, you can also increase that friction zone we just talked about by applying just a little bit of rear brake as you turn. That rear brake is, again, going to keep your bike in friction and tension. And it's going to allow you to be more stable at the slow speeds. It's ever so slight and it takes practice. And you certainly don't want to jerk on it or smash it. But a slight amount of trail braking on any corner can really help. And this is something you can do at pretty much any speed. The next thing is going to be actually looking through your turn. Your motorcycle goes where you look. I know it sounds funny and it's like a wise tale, but it's true. If you look at an obstacle in the ground, you are going to likely hit it. The same thing goes when doing a turn. You can't look where you are. You can't look where you don't want to be. You've got to look where you want to go. So you've got to do a full turn of the head and look through your turn as to where you want the motorcycle to end up. And that, my friends, will give you the most stable turn you can possibly have. Looking at the obstacles, looking at the ditch, or looking at the front of your bike will all lead you in an excessively wide turn. So take a look here as you see me look through the turn. I come up. My head is nice and straight. I'm looking where I'm going. I decide I'm going to make that turn. I look all the way through the turn and then let the bike ride out until my head is straight again. And I'm going to tell you the biggest mistake you can make. Those are all tips on things to do, but there's something that you shouldn't do that almost everybody does and almost always lands somebody on the side of their motorcycle. And that's this little bad boy right here. The front brake. The front brake is your worst enemy when it comes to any type of slow speed maneuvering, especially turning. If you hit that brake, it compresses your front shock, leaves you almost counterbalanced, and lays your bike over extremely fast. So please, do yourself a favor. Don't even put your fingers up there. That front brake is not even an option when it comes to slow speed turning. Alright, y'all. Those are my tips when it comes to riding motorcycles and doing slow speed turns. With practice, you too will become very good at it and very comfortable no matter the situation. I hope it helped, but know this. At first, it will not be easy. It will become more easy with practice. But no matter how much time it takes to learn, y'all just stay stubborn. Stay at it. And get out there and ride. We'll see y'all in tomorrow's video. Thanks for watching.