87 Hurricane questions
#11
06-06-2006, 07:44 PM
RE: 87 Hurricane questions
good point michigan. i took a class 3 months before i started riding since i had never operated a motorcycle not knew how to. long story short-i had a guy almost hit me in a parking lot so i dropped my bike, breaking the front brake lever. had to drive about 15 miles home on rear brake only. coming up to a light it turned red and i applied the rear brake sparingly trying not to lock it up, but it did. kept sliding into the intersection(meanwhile the back was starting to turn sideways) watching traffic cross, then as i had slowed down enough i let off the break and opened her up just in time to pass behind the last car. WOW, scared the hell out of me and all i could think was "DONT LET OFF THE BREAK, YOU DONT WANT TO HIGHSIDE" i then experienced the scarcity of stopping power i the rear brake. most people i know dont even use the rear brake. i do a little in conjunction with the fronts, but not much and only cause its muscle memory.
#12
06-06-2006, 10:05 PM
RE: 87 Hurricane questions
good advice.
i'd take the class.
me, i grew up riding, everything from dirt bikes, to harley's. one of the upsides of having parents like mine is you spend alot of time getting used to how bikes ride.
These guys got it right, front brake is your life. I however am in the habit of using them in conjunction to stop, simply due to the fact that it will stop you about 10% shorter of a distance than just using the front alone. always downshift, i know it sounds stupid, but if you are cruising at 40'ish (normal around here) and you just clutch it then brake, you will take longer to stop and if you need to pop it to get out of a jam, (which is also normal around here..... sunday f***ing drivers.) you are gonna end up screwed. you will either be in too low of a gear, or too high. either of which will leave you bloody on the pavement.
even on the hottest days down here (were talking 115-125 degree's.) i still wear gloves, helmet and my coat. my hands and my head are my life, and i kind of like being able to walk.
remember, 6 months... drive careful. first 6 months are "percentage" wise, the area of time that you will probably put it down. doesnt mean stop being intelligent after that time. Just means don't be one of the idiots that falls into the dmv's catagory of pain.
goodluck man, if you are ever in AZ lemme know we'll do some twisties.
oh i guess i missed the "not exactly sure how to" downshift part.
it's simple. it's easy, and it saves you brake pads.
never just downshift alone, if you are downshifting you need to be braking. not only for the bike and yourself, but for the people behind you, you can drop serious speeds by downshifting right and you want people to be aware of you losing said speed.
Say you are travelling at 40 in lets say 5th gear.
rpms will probably be around 4-5.
let off the gas a bit, rpms will drop to about 2-3 and you'll be still around 35-40.
pull in the clutch, let it coast, (DO NOT be maddly revving the engine when you do this..)
click it down to 4th gear.
there are two ways to do this next part.
and it depends how fast you want to downshift and how good you are at it.
right now you need to do it the basic way.
just SLOWLY let out the clutch, the bike will grab, rpms will jump to maybe 5-6 maybe higher.
and the drag will cause you to slow down, rpms will drop again, speed will drop rather fast as well.
you'll hit 30 pretty fast, and the rpms will drop to about 2-3 again.
drop it to 3rd, let the clutch out slowly, rpms will hit about 4-5 and the bike will slow.
one it hits 2-3 again drop it down to second, rpms will jump to about 4. bike will slow.
first gear is probably the easiest way to screw this up.
the jump from first to second when riding your bike, is probably the "shortest" jump out of any of them.
you can pretty much take off from second, and it will cover 1st gear entirely.
that said, when you switch from 2nd to first, the bike IS going to lurch. be smooth letting out the clutch.
don't be afraid to keep braking and have the clutch half in. you can control the lurch by how smooth yo uare with the clutch.
just get used to it.
once you get really good at it, you can rev it while the clutch is it to about where it'll jump to when it catches.
all but eliminating the lurch and making the whole process look really smooth.
I'm tired from work and i need to go change the air filter and check the oil in my bike so if i missed anything.. fill it in for me guys.
i'd take the class.
me, i grew up riding, everything from dirt bikes, to harley's. one of the upsides of having parents like mine is you spend alot of time getting used to how bikes ride.
These guys got it right, front brake is your life. I however am in the habit of using them in conjunction to stop, simply due to the fact that it will stop you about 10% shorter of a distance than just using the front alone. always downshift, i know it sounds stupid, but if you are cruising at 40'ish (normal around here) and you just clutch it then brake, you will take longer to stop and if you need to pop it to get out of a jam, (which is also normal around here..... sunday f***ing drivers.) you are gonna end up screwed. you will either be in too low of a gear, or too high. either of which will leave you bloody on the pavement.
even on the hottest days down here (were talking 115-125 degree's.) i still wear gloves, helmet and my coat. my hands and my head are my life, and i kind of like being able to walk.
remember, 6 months... drive careful. first 6 months are "percentage" wise, the area of time that you will probably put it down. doesnt mean stop being intelligent after that time. Just means don't be one of the idiots that falls into the dmv's catagory of pain.
goodluck man, if you are ever in AZ lemme know we'll do some twisties.
oh i guess i missed the "not exactly sure how to" downshift part.
it's simple. it's easy, and it saves you brake pads.
never just downshift alone, if you are downshifting you need to be braking. not only for the bike and yourself, but for the people behind you, you can drop serious speeds by downshifting right and you want people to be aware of you losing said speed.
Say you are travelling at 40 in lets say 5th gear.
rpms will probably be around 4-5.
let off the gas a bit, rpms will drop to about 2-3 and you'll be still around 35-40.
pull in the clutch, let it coast, (DO NOT be maddly revving the engine when you do this..)
click it down to 4th gear.
there are two ways to do this next part.
and it depends how fast you want to downshift and how good you are at it.
right now you need to do it the basic way.
just SLOWLY let out the clutch, the bike will grab, rpms will jump to maybe 5-6 maybe higher.
and the drag will cause you to slow down, rpms will drop again, speed will drop rather fast as well.
you'll hit 30 pretty fast, and the rpms will drop to about 2-3 again.
drop it to 3rd, let the clutch out slowly, rpms will hit about 4-5 and the bike will slow.
one it hits 2-3 again drop it down to second, rpms will jump to about 4. bike will slow.
first gear is probably the easiest way to screw this up.
the jump from first to second when riding your bike, is probably the "shortest" jump out of any of them.
you can pretty much take off from second, and it will cover 1st gear entirely.
that said, when you switch from 2nd to first, the bike IS going to lurch. be smooth letting out the clutch.
don't be afraid to keep braking and have the clutch half in. you can control the lurch by how smooth yo uare with the clutch.
just get used to it.
once you get really good at it, you can rev it while the clutch is it to about where it'll jump to when it catches.
all but eliminating the lurch and making the whole process look really smooth.
I'm tired from work and i need to go change the air filter and check the oil in my bike so if i missed anything.. fill it in for me guys.
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