U-turn

[Pandoras Kitten 3]

Why dun u use the engine break followed by both brakes with ur clutch in?.. U will slow down.. Applying brakes will slow u further while clutch in will not be abrupt..

 

My thoughts.. It's either way first.. Try and u get yr riding pattern soon.. Go for lots of revision arh.. Waste money but u do lots of practise..

 

Braking - (pls note personal experience may differ from mine)

 

For me brake preference depends on individual bike handling but from what I remember about CG125s it had pretty balanced braking. I still use 2 brakes at once because I will draw an imaginary line at where I want to stop, and target-stop exactly where I want to be in a decisive manner.

 

Imagine my ah pek Phantom with all the boxes gradually slowing down to filter out of a main road - here's an example of me possibly irritating the traffic by slowing down TOO gently!

 

If you find you're going to stop too soon, do not hesitate to gun the throttle and scoot forward a bit. Always aim to stop exactly where you want to turn out from, don't hesitate!

 

If you need to crawl forward, say, in a queue of trainee bikes at riding school, I liked to use the rear brake only in crawl mode (ultra low speed control). This is because I can concentrate on operating the throttle with one hand, and foot on the brake. Don't worry about the American-standard "two fingers on the brake lever" just yet, local riding schools don't practise this.

 

So in short my practise on U turning is as such (universal for any bike, big or small):

 

1. Signal intentions (standard practise lah!)

2. Slow down and enter turning lane

3. Monitor oncoming traffic & target stop at turning point. Most of the time I end up about 20 degrees pointing to the direction I want to go. Handlebars also braced slightly into the turn so I can roll into the maneuver

4. Clear? Launch into U turn - DO NOT fight the bike just balance your momentum, control speed to aim your turn. More power to widen the turn, rear brake to tighten it.

5. If you feel like "falling", add power. The general rule is that the motorcycle will always make it through the turn, IF it has enough momentum (= gyroscopic force) for stability. Again do not hesitate. Just add power and go! It may sound a bit silly and unsafe but that's exactly how it works - it's hard to balance a bike if its not in "gyroscopic" mode, typically >15kph.

6. Straighten out in lane and if you cleared the U turn without wobbling or holding up traffic, you're a champ

[msdaphiey]

arghh .. u-turns give me headache .. like plank ..

 

the first time when i do u-turn in bbdc.. my u-turn like sh*t .. when i start to turn my engine stall.. for quite a few times and everyone was looking at me. so paiseh ...

 

but after that just gotta keep practicing on half clutch and step a little on foot brake and slowly move off.

 

Just took my 8.01 ytd. Now i can do my u-turn. but if not careful, right leg might just step down ...

 

my friend's advise is to move the butt/body a little to the left when making u-turn ....

[crazydj]

arghh .. u-turns give me headache .. like plank ..

 

the first time when i do u-turn in bbdc.. my u-turn like sh*t .. when i start to turn my engine stall.. for quite a few times and everyone was looking at me. so paiseh ...

 

but after that just gotta keep practicing on half clutch and step a little on foot brake and slowly move off.

 

Just took my 8.01 ytd. Now i can do my u-turn. but if not careful, right leg might just step down ...

 

my friend's advise is to move the butt/body a little to the left when making u-turn ....

 

But ultimately, how you shift your body, where you look. all really depends on the individual.

[icywaffles]

if u decide to go den go , dun hold back