We’ve all been there and joked about the 3 point, 5 point or 7 point U-turn, but it’s no longer funny. Time to perfect the U-turn.
A true pleasure is watching my friend Dona flip a quick U-turn on her big ol’ BMW RT. She is absolutely awesome to watch doing this maneuver and I see just how painless she makes it. She has perfect control, feathering her rear brake, using the friction zone and keeping her bike’s RPMs up high enough. She just simply zips right around in any given space. I watch her snap her neck around like something out of the Exorcist as she looks where she needs to go. Her riding is an art form and her friendship is a treat!
One of my favorite shots of Dona and Sarah coming down Sherman Pass Road, CA while we were riding the pashnit.com Girly Ride.
Well, we can all do those types of U-turns. We need only PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE and to follow a few basic rules.
Head and Eyes Up!
You look where you want to go. Physically turn your head and eyes to the spot you want to go and the bike will follow along. You must turn your head, not just take a quick glance, or the technique will not work.
Use the Force–otherwise known as the friction zone ; ) and feather that rear brake!
The friction zone is that sweet spot on the clutch between fully open and fully closed. Add that to keeping up your Rpms between 1500 and 2000 since, at low speeds, higher revs mean more stability. And staying in the friction zone means managing the power efficiently. A good explanation of this is from a forum friend who said, “When you first turn in, you lose speed because as you roll onto the side of your tire, the diameter gets smaller and you slow down. FAST. As you start to turn-in, you need to increase throttle to keep the speed constant. Without engine RPM up using the friction zone, many bikes at such a slow speed won’t have enough throttle response with a fully engaged clutch to keep stability up. The higher RPM of the engine also acts as sort of a gyroscope to help stabilize the bike. Also, keep your weight on your pegs, and not on the seat, to force the center of gravity down to the bottom of the bike.”–Unforgiven’s post on Two Wheel Females, 2/14/11. What an awesome explanation! See? It’s all beginning to make sense.
REMEMBER…Keep your head and eyes fixed where you want to go. Even a quick glance forward will widen your turn angle. And never TOUCH that front brake…it’s a magnet to the ground. Keep the clutch engaged; disengaging will cut the power, another magnet down. And smile. That always helps me to remember that I LOVE what I am doing, riding my motorbike!
Practice your U-turns and nothing will impress your friends more than skillfully maneuvering your bike at extremely slow speeds.
No one maneuvers better than a moto-cop!
You can find additional info over on Bolty.net, where Stacy not only espouses the value of a good u-turn, but also of parking ones bike skillfully and how to effectively balance your bike at a stop sign.