driving tips

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adrenaline seeker
Berichten: 42
Lid geworden op: vr okt 01, 2004 13:39
Locatie: antwerpen

driving tips

Bericht door adrenaline seeker »

hier staan dus enkele tips die ik heb gevonden op verschillende websites
ik hoop dat jullie er iets aan hebben :D


oefeningen om de moto beter onder controle te krijgen

There are basically two places that time may be gained on the track: technical choices in the air (do I double or do I not) and everywhere else. Most of 'everywhere else' is comprised of turns. The winners on those portions that's not air and not a turn is basically determined by horsepower and traction, so we can skip that for now.

It is surprising how much energy in skill development is focused on the air portion. Everyone wants to jump a really long way (and do cool tricks while they're at it). While it is exciting and fun to reach a point where you will fearlessly 'jump anything', the best jumper in a race is rarely the race winner.

These two practice drills are designed to improve your speed through most corners. You'll need a large, open, flat space to work on these. The drills will teach you the turning character of your bike and what the bike will 'do' under different cornering conditions. That knowledge will give you confidence and the confidence translates to faster laps.

(It's best to do these drills with tires that are soon to be replaced!)

1) Donuts - Yeah, I know it sounds stupid. Do donuts. Do 'em to the left. Do 'em to the right. Find some loose dirt on a hard pack base, lean it over and start doing donuts. But, between your giggling and trying not to tear your knee out of joint, or dropping the bike, pay attention to the feel of your bike. How it responds to more throttle, less throttle, clutch work. Try to find the balance point where centrifugal energy and traction cancel each other out. Then see how long you can hold the balance there without 'dabbing' your foot. Advanced: see if you can start out in a donut and, without dropping momentum, work the donut into a lazy, accelerating power slide that you straighten up and wind out through the gears. This will work exactly the skills you'll need to accelerate out of tight, flat or off-camber turns. Again, both left and right. Why? Because they are very different. When you have your right foot on the peg, you gain an extra 'control influencer': the rear brake. When you're turning right, that changes to the gearbox. Unless you ride an old Euro bike like a Bultaco. Ultimate Challenge: How early in your progression from a donut to accelerating out can you put both feet on the pegs?

2) Brake Slides - Start with the same loose dirt on hard pack as the donut. Drag race out to top end of third gear or fourth gear or so. Then, just lay on the rear brake. Hard. As the rear tire locks up, lean the bike left like you're setting up a turn. Again, the idea here is to learn how your bike reacts to the forces and become comfortable with the action. Progress to higher gears and work in light pressure on the front brake. Start with a 45 degree turn, then work up to a tight 90 hairpin. This will hone your entry point braking. Then, do it to the right. See how having the brake pedal on the right affects you. Advanced: The reverse of the advanced exercise for donuts. Start out with the brake slide you have perfected and then see if you can continue it so that it ends up as a donut at the very end (without losing control). 'Graduate' to different surfaces. Gain a feel for minimum set up distance you and your bike need to set up any kind of turn. Start on turns without berms, then, after mastering the technique, see how a berm helps you maintain higher entry and exit speeds.

Put 2 and 1 together and you have the makings of a quick turn that you can execute subconciously because you are completely aware of your bike's behavior. By working these drills I think you can hone your cornering speeds dramatically.


11 tips om sneller te gaan
Have you stagnated? When was the last time your riding improved? What would you give to be faster by next weekend? Fret no more! The MXA wrecking crew offers you ten quick and easy ways to be faster before your next race.

TIP ONE: THE JOHN FORCE APPROACH
Too many riders patty-cake around a track. They think they are going fast, but they aren’t. How can you tell if you are a pantywaist rider? Take this simple test: When another rider tries to pass you, do you dig down deep, twist your right wrist and give it everything you’ve got? If you do, then you have been dogging it for most of the moto. You shouldn’t have any speed left in your machine, wrist or lungs to put up a fight. If you do, you aren’t trying hard enough.
Experts say that 75 percent of riders grip the throttle in such a way that they cannot twist the throttle to the locks without dropping their elbows. To fix this, hold the throttle the same way you would a door knob. And be sure that every time you turn the throttle the slide hits the stops.

TIP TWO: THINK BIG THOUGHTS
Don’t divide your local track into 15 turns and seven jumps. A track is not 22 different obstacles, but one continuous circuit. Try to string two or three straights and turns into one well-thought-out maneuver (and eventually the complete track into one integrated racing line).
Plan ahead! Look ahead. Don’t fixate on a whoop, jump or corner. Keep your head up and ignore trouble that you have already hit. Start thinking like a race car driver instead of a stunt man.

TIP THREE: TALK TO YOURSELF
You’d be surprised to find out how many AMA National riders talk to themselves during a race. It is an effective racing tool. Try it. Talk out loud! Tell yourself to turn the throttle wide open, yell for more brakes, demand a tighter inside line and don’t worry about sounding crazy—no one can hear you.
Thinking good thoughts is nice, but transferring those subconscious ideas to the conscious level (known as verbalization) is the best form of positive reinforcement around.

TIP FOUR: TEN FIRST TURNS
Every rider gives it his all in the first turn. Then, he gives about 95 percent to turn two, 90 percent to turn three and so on. Imagine how fast you could go if you thought every turn was the first turn!
Don’t fall into the trap of gradually going slower. Give every turn the first-turn treatment. Think holeshot into every turn.

TIP FIVE: IT’S A TEN-SECOND WORLD
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that your typical 15-minute moto breaks down into a few precious seconds of hard-core, head-to-head racing. Most of the 15-minutes is spent chasing, holding your own or marking time. The true-to-life racing boils down to those few second when you are passing or being passed!
If a guy chases you for six laps, you are in no danger of losing your place until he gets close enough to actually make a move. Your whole race could boil down to the ten-seconds in which he tries to pass you. If you defeat him during that ten-second period, he might never make a second attempt. Thus, a savvy rider will marshal all of his psychic power for those ten critical seconds when under attack. If you nullify your opponent’s ten-second attack, the remaining 14 minutes and 50 seconds won’t seem so tough. Fight when it counts and not until it does.

TIP SIX: DON’T TOUCH THAT SHIFTER
Your bike is faster in third gear at half throttle than wide open in second gear. Think about that! The best gear on any motocross bike is third gear. It can be lugged fairly low (with a little clutch work) and revved fairly high. Try to gear your bike so that you are in third gear most of the time.
Don’t downshift unless it can’t be avoided. Use the clutch to feather the bike out of turns in the highest gear possible. Try to carry speed—not make noise.

TIP SEVEN: WATCH AND WALK
Walking the track has fallen out of favor with lots of young riders, but it can make the difference between winning and losing. It never hurts to walk the track before practice, but it is even more important to try to walk it (and watch it) during the motos that precede yours. Never assume that the line that everyone is using is the best one. The best line may be 20 feet farther to the outside or even through the middle of the big mud hole that everyone is avoiding. How can you tell? Walk the track, kick the dirt, try to coax a rider into using your selected line and think creatively.

TIP EIGHT: WEIGHT THE OUTSIDE PEG
The hardest place to make up time is on flat, hard, dry and slippery turns. Everybody is sliding around, and, in fear of spinning out, they back off the throttle to get traction. But, you can go through flat turns faster if you know the secret—weight the outside peg.
As you enter a flat turn, concentrate on putting weight (pressure) on the outside footpeg. As the bike is leaned into the turn, your body provides counter pressure to the outside of the bike to load the suspension and flex the sidewalls. The best way to weight the outside peg is to place your knee against the tank and press down hard.
TIP NINE: GO FAST IN THE EASY PLACES
Don’t fall into the "pace" theory of racing. Too many riders set a good pace and try to hold it. But, unfortunately, pace is contagious and doesn’t differentiate between rough straights and smooth straights. Avoid pacing yourself! Go as fast as you can go on the majority of the race track and faster than you can go on the easy parts. Burn up the simple parts. Come out hard and go in hot. Push yourself beyond the limits when you aren’t in any danger (to do otherwise would be slow).
What if you burn out because you pushed too hard too soon? So what? Push even harder next week. In time you’ll get stronger, burn out later and, eventually, you’ll be in good enough shape to go flat out for the whole moto. If you don’t pour it on, you’ll never get stronger.

TIP TEN: THE CHEAPEST HORSEPOWER AVAILABLE
Before you spend your hard-earned cash on pipes, port jobs, race gas and hot ignitions, buy a sprocket. Gearing is the most effective hop-up trick known to man. Get your gearing low enough to pull a strong second gear start, tall enough to avoid being tapped out before the end of the longest straight and balanced enough that you are in third gear most of the time.
Most stock gearing is too tall (by at least one tooth and sometimes two). Try to make most of your gearing changes with the rear sprocket.
Here are some gearing tips: (1) You gear a bike "down" by adding teeth to the rear sprocket (or reducing them on the countershaft sprocket). (2) You gear "up" by reducing the number of teeth on the rear sprocket or adding them to the countershaft sprocket (as a rule of thumb, one tooth on the countershaft is equal to 3.5 teeth on the rear).
tip eleven
I'll just add tip eleven that I read somewhere else - Don't follow right behind the guy you're trying to pass. You'll never get by if you just follow his back wheel lap after lap. Take alternative lines around corners, down straights and over jumps, then when he makes a mistake (which he surely will eventually) you just cruise by instead of banging into his back wheel and watching guys you've just passed going by both of you. Also be cocky, have too much confidence; when you come up behind somebody KNOW you are faster then them and make a bold passing maneauver as soon as possible, otherwise you'll be brought down to their speed and can get stuck in a rut for lap after lap. Motocross is all about confidence, the more arrogant you ride the better you'll do...
tips om beter door de bocht te gaan
The most crucial thing with cornering are body position and coordinating brakes and throttle. You should use the brakes until you get back on the throttle, you can feather each of them during the transition. The brake can also help you hold a line in a corner. The trick is to have no coasting between acceleration and braking.

#1 The Outside Elbow up
Raising you elbow above the handle bars gives you more leverage over the steering . Without doing this rider tends to twist his/her body toward the outside.

#2 Inside Foot Out
While cornering, you inside foot should be in front of you. Many riders tend to have there foot more out to the side and makes it difficult to jab at the ground quick enough if your front wheel slides out. Timing is also crucial with this. If you put your foot out to soon you start to use it as a counter balance, you don't need this.

#3 Feathering the Front Brake
While railing a berm or taking the inside line you can feather your clutch to help keep the front wheel in the line and help your bike turn sharper. You can also use the front brake while brake sliding to get the back end to swing around quicker.

#4 Rear Brake Control
To hold the front wheel in a rut and keep it to the inside you can hold the rear brake down slightly. This really helps to stay in lines.

#5 Connect the Dexes
Connect the approach dex and the exit dex. They are accelerating to braking and vice versa. Making a smooth transition takes the use of all of the controls. Gear selection being one of the most important ones.


tip 2
So do you want to corner like a pro? This simple corning technique works great on rutted inside lines but also can apply to flat and bermed corners. I was taught this technique by a friend and saw a BIG increase in corning speed. Some of the things I say might not match the pictures exactly but they were the best I could find.

Pick a line before entering the corner, remain standing, lean back and apply both front and back brakes. Leaning back allows you to get optimal traction to the rear wheel and not do a nose wheelie. Make sure to pull in the clutch so you don’t stall the engine. Remember always be on the gas or on the brakes. Absolutely NO coasting!



Once in the rut start to lean the bike over. Once you are near the apex of the turn sit down on the front of the seat and stick your inside foot out in ONE MOTION. It is very important that this happens in one motion and that you do not slide to the front but sit on the front. Sliding can cause you to get off balance and loose control. Make sure to weight your outside peg, stay in a upright position and don’t be tense.



Now at the apex start applying throttle. In reality you should be doing this as soon as you sit down and stick you foot out. Use the clutch and throttle for traction control and to help you stay smooth and consistent. Appling the gas should make you stick to the berm/rut and you should rocket through it.



While exiting the corner keep on the throttle and look ahead to the next obstacle. Allow the bike to return to an upright position. Start slowly moving back on the seat to get more rear wheel traction.



Now that wasn’t so hard was it? Try to work on certain corners using this technique. Start out slowly making sure you are using the technique and progressively go faster and faster. Have a friend or your dad watch you and tell you what you are doing wrong. Watch the fast guys and see what they do. Good luck and I hope this tip can help you!


tips om te beginnen met springen

Very few people would argue with me that jumping is probably the best part of motocross. What fun would it be with just straights and corners right? Although they are the best part, they can also be the most punishing. They have the ability to throw you off your bike with minor error, which is why I’m writing this riding tip.

One of the most important factors is experience. You need to start out small and work up to bigger jumps. To many people don’t take the time for the smaller stuff and end up paying the price for it.

Jumping requires four key factors: Body Position, Bike Setup, Timing and Throttle and Clutch Control.

1) Check the jump before you hit it! Walk up to the jump and take a look at the ruts and lip of the jump. If the jump has a big lip and small amount of length it will most likely kick your back and high. You will have to move you body position back to make up for this.

2) Body Position The idea body position is to have your weight centered, knees and elbows bent, and your eyes focused ahead.

3) Landing Attitude Where landings are flat it is usually best to land with both wheels at the same time. At greater speed some prefer to land with the front wheel last. The rear being about 6 inches lower then the front. This can reduce the effect of headshake and the front wheel washing out. On jumps with better landings most land the opposite.

4) Tabletops These are basically like a double only a lot less dangerous because coming up short isn’t near as bad. Again, you should work you way up. Jump a quarter of it, then half, then once you start “bouncing” off the end you should start thinking about clearing it. Jumping front wheel high or low is all about rider preference.

5) Doubles You have to be careful on these jumps. The penalty for under jumping one of these can be harsh and painful. Once you get the courage up to jump it, it is better to go too fast then to slow. If your going to do it you got to do 100%

6) Triples Triples are much the same as doubles. Try over jumping the double until you feel ready to go for it. Once your ready give it 100%!

7) Step Ups These are like an elevated double. The take off of the jump is lower then the landing. These require 100% as well. If there is a step up coming out a corner you may want to use the “seat pump” skill.

8) Kickers These are tricky little sun of a guns that have the tendency to throw you, the rider, over the handlebars. Depending on the severity of the jump you will have to lean waaaaaay back and be on the throttle all the way through, don’t stop half way through. This will cause you to be kicked even more

9) Seat Bump This is used to get more preload on the suspension to go higher and farther then standing up. Basically all you do is hit the jump sitting down. It is especially useful when there is a jump coming out of a corner Be careful with this though, sometimes it can kick your back end up pretty high.

10) Airborne Adjustments There are a few different ways to change the position of the bike in the air. You can “man handle” the bike by pushing the handlebars forward or lean to the back of the bike. If your back end is kicked high you can rev the motor to bring wheel back down (panic revving) or if the front end is kicked high you can hit the back brake. (you may need to pull the clutch in first)

11) Whips Many beginner rides try to whip but all that they end up doing is turning the handlebars. That’s because you have to set up for a whip Before the Jump. You have to turn, lean, and whip it as you are just leaving the ground. If you are having troubles straightening your bike out it is probably because you aren’t in the center of balance in your bike. There are benefits to whips too. You can line up for a corner after the jump. Here is a site that will give you better instruction: http://www.adbmag.com/html/pages/riding/arch/whip.html

Pay attention to how Reed keeps his body centered as he is bringing back the whip.

tips om sneller te vertrekken
Preparation
Make sure you get to the paddock early enough to get a decent gate, but not that early that you end up psyching yourself out.
Watch some races before yours and see where the good gate positions are.
When you get your gate position make sure there are no rocks or holes in your takeoff area or directly in front of the gate. If the takeoff area is quite worn leaving a step up to the gate kick some dirt into the hole to build a ramp to cover the step.
Have confidence and be CERTAIN that YOU will holeshot, try to imagine the perfect start while you’re sitting getting ready for the 15 second board.
Generally you should have both feet on the ground (this will stop you going off course and milling the guy beside you ) and be sitting far forward on the saddle with your head over the bars. Don’t use your feet to support your weight though, they should just be there for balance, you want as much weight on the front wheel as possible. You might find that the ground is very slippy and sitting this far forward is unnecessary, if that is the case sit in a few inches back for the next start.

The Technique
So you’re now sitting on the front of the saddle (with your weight on the seat, NOT on your feet) with your head over the bars and two feet on the ground. When the 15 second board shows put the bike into first gear (second on a 250+) and start revving the bike to make sure it is running cleanly. Once the board has been showing for almost 10 seconds I hold the front brake on, go to FULL throttle and have the clutch just slipping so the bike is trying to move forward but the front brake is holding it. Some people say to focus on the gate beside you or the pin but I prefer to just watch the gate in front of me, less distractions . Over here once the 5 second board shows the gate can drop anytime from straight away to 5 seconds so be ready for it to drop at any time. As soon as you see the gate beginning to drop (don’t wait for it to drop fully, you won’t hit it if you’re a few inches back, you can’t accelerate that quick ) release the front brake and clutch together. Don’t just dump the clutch though, let it out smoothly but quickly. Shift into 2nd quickly, pretty much as your rear wheel goes over the gate or shortly after. This is known as short shifting and works especially well on low traction surfaces. Hold the throttle wide open all the way to the first corner. If you can shift by just banging up through the gears great (with the throttle fully on and no clutch. aka Powershifting), if not just flick the clutch as you shift, you shouldn’t be chopping the throttle to shift unless it is absolutely necessary on your bike to get a smooth shift.
Now don't be fooled into braking just because other people around you are, most people brake far too early for the first corner. Just watch one of the Expert races and you’ll see how late it can be left! It might be a good idea to have a braking marker picked out beforehand and don't brake until you come to it.
In amateur races getting out of the gate first is not the most important part, it's how you get to the first corner when you brake for it. A friend of mine is often late out of the gate but always ends up in the top three out of the first corner because he just forces his way through the pack and brakes very late, ignoring what others are doing around him. Though you don't want to be so slow out of the gate that the pack closes the gap in front of you but you know what I mean.


tips om beter door of over (of wat dat ook is) whoops te gaan
OK, I see a lot of people with the request of Whoop tips. So I'll throw in my 2 cents. Before I begin I'll let you in on a little secret. There's is no perfect way to describe how to tackle whoops in all situations. There are many different variables to every track, bike and rider. You decide what works better for you. I have had many years to perfect my ways and I have no problem sharing my ways.

OK, now that's outta the way, You ready...... "Grip it and rip it"!

Most of the time you will find that the faster you go the easier it is to get through the whoops. When you graze the tips of the whoops and your bike isn't rocking back and forth like an angry bull, it's a great feeling. Trust me, when you're in control it's awesome! I'm gonna break a whoop section into 3 parts. The entry, the middle and exit. As some or all of you may have noticed most whoop sections are in the worst place of a track as possible, (well they're put there for good reason, to slow you down, or at least try to). You usually don't get much room to get up some good speed to blast through them with a good running start. I find most whoops start just out of a corner.

Entry;
Be prepared to grip it and rip it, cuz that's what your about to do. When I say "Grip it", I don't just mean a death grip on the handlebars. Position your body with bent arms and knees (we'll go over this in a bit) and a firm grip on the side of the bike with your knees. Squeeze the seat (or frame) with your knees, not too much the bike won't rock back and forth, but enough to keep you afloat the vessel. Position your rump as far back as you can reach (without straightening your knees) its ok to let your elbows straighten at first (we'll get back to this one too), keep your butt about an inch or so above the seat (yeh it's real important you don't hit the seat, or you're gonna join the infamous over the handle bars club!) as you feel yourself hit the first bump in the section you want to focus on staying in contact with the ground (at least the tips of the whoops) don't try to jump, this is usually a recipe for disaster, when you land, you take out some of that precious suspension you need. Do everything you can to stay down on the ground except slowing down. Now your bike is revved up, shift as necessary (there is no need to try to time when you should shift, it doesn't matter, you're holding onto the bike with your knees, just shift it and get the bike going faster). Now back to the knees bent thing. It's important to bend your knees so you can use them for extra suspension. As you hit a bump in the road you can usually avoid leaving the ground with that extra dampening. Whoops are all about weight placement, balance, and timing. You won't achieve any of these when your legs are as stiff as a picnic table.

Middle;
Ok now your rocking! You'll notice that the bike is like a bucking bronco. If you have picked up the speed you'll notice that as soon as the bike seems like its gonna flip backwards, your back tire hits the top face of the next whoop, thus forcing the front end back down, then the whole cycle repeats. Go Faster. Keep your body positioned toward the rear of the seat, just don't touch the seat. You keep on grabbing gears and well it's getting smoother. 9 times out of 10, the faster you go the less your bike rocks back and forth. If you understand the concept so far with the knees, I'm gonna throw another factor in there for you. Just as your knees are bent, so shall your arms. If you apply more pressure on the bars (pushing and leaning forward) your bike will dip down allowing you to control when the front wheel touches down to the next bump. It's important to touch down near the top of the whoop, but just before the crest. Why, I'll tell you. If you land the front on the top you will soak up the bump and allow your tire to roll in. This is bad! This is where people loose it! You want just the right amount of kick back to allow your back tire to hit in the same spot. Sound confusing yet? Well it is, but when it happens, you'll understand. Its important to not stare at the ground in front of you. Look forward, plan your moves with your peripheral vision (yeh it just keeps getting harder doesn't it). In a race, you don't want to focus on just the ground, you have to avoid other riders, and pass them right! You also have to plan your exit.

Exit;
OK, so we are jamming now huh! How do we get out of this mess with out folding ourselves in the bars or overshoot the next berm. This is where more timing technique comes in. You will notice that if your arms are bent and your using them to control your damping of the front tire in addition to the front forks, you'll find that you actually have control over where the tire lands. Position the tire on the back end of the last whoop. Not the bottom or you're gonna join that Infamous club again! Keep your body centered or back a little. Try to land that tire just past the peak of the bump. You'll find that the back tire will have the last say so in the matter, pushing the front down. I find that last little push forward helps me slide down on the bike, and forward on the seat ready for the turn.

If you ever watch a pro, you'll see them execute these with ease. Their bike isn't rocking back and forth as much. It's all about Balance.


Riding in a Crosswind
by Flash#412
May '01

There seems to be some general confusion and disagreement about how to ride in crosswinds: go faster, go slower, hold tighter, be looser.

Years ago, I found THE ANSWER. It worked for me when I had an R75/5 with a full Avon fairing and Enduro bags, with a backpack strapped upright to the short sissy bar, with a passenger. (Maximum crosswind profile.) And it worked for me when I had a nekkid R80G/S, solo. (Minimum crosswind profile.) I have posted it occasionally on rec.motorcycles and gotten many favorable responses. Though, some folks, with some bikes, claim it doesn't work. YMMV. (It works on an F650, too.)

When riding in a crosswind, particularly a gusting one, all you need to do is stick your knee on the upwind side out as far as you can. The drawback is that if it is cold or rainy, you tend to scoop all the weather into your crotch. The reason it works, I *think*, is that with your knee out, you are putting your bike aerodynamically off-center and must compensate to get it to go straight. Now, when a gust comes along, your knee scoops up a bunch of the breeze, pulling you INTO the wind at the same time the wind is pushing the bike away. In any case, the effect of the gust is reduced by 90% or so.

Try it. It's free. If you don't like it, or it doesn't work, stop doing it. (Disclaimer: The suggestion assumes you are a licensed motorcyclist with enough sense not to fall off. If you try this and fall off, it is your own damn fault.)
Riding in Sand.
David H. Park #711
November ‘01
Rim locks do not make installing a new tire or tube any more difficult than normal is you really know how to do it.
5 psi is too low. Bib mousse used for racing emulated 10-12 psi which is correct low pressure setting, 8psi at worse/best case but not really necessary.
2 rim locks in rear and 1 in front
Weight back, gas on, let handlebars move around, keep forward momentum, change direction by shifting weight side-to-side
Knobby tires only!
check and clean/replace that air filter!
Riding in sand is technique not machine specific
Standing with weight over the back of the bike lowers the CoG and makes the front end light.
Speed is dependant on how fast you want to get somewhere
Don't go flying over the tops of dunes as you don't know where/how long the drop-off is.
If you find yourself at the bottom of a big sand bowl ride clockwise around the rim to use centrifugal force to ride the rim to the top instead of charging up the "hill"
Anybody wanting to really learn to ride sand should sign up for the Jimmy Lewis training sessions one of which will be sand training at Dumont Dunes.
Riding in Rain
Believe it or not pledge helps water run off your shield. On another site there was a disscusion about rain-x being to harsh and causing problems with hazing if used continously on some blands of shields. I haven't used it on my shield so I don't have any first hand experience with it over time. For people who don't have a squeege built into their gloves ski shops sell a Ski-Gee. It has a hole and you slip it over your thumb and on the other end is a squeege. I keep one on all my bikes because living in Oregon it can be sunny here and raining a couple of miles later. I have found that turning my head to the left and then the right helps clear the water away. Like you I get tired of wiping the shield off. In hard rain it some times works better to not wipe it. The water collects into bigger drops and then run off better. It is easier to see through big spread out drops than than it is to see through small mist type drops.Living in Oregon I get to ride in the rain more than I would like and this is what I have found to work the best for me.I used to try anti fog stuff but I either didn't have it with me when I wanted it or I just didn't want to stop in the rain and apply it. Your mileage my vary and this advise may only be worth what ya paid for it. Tom McCallum
I use car wax on my shields with good results. Seems to make the water bead up rather quickly and blow off. PS I use turtle wax. langlois
Rain-X works great for me. I follow the directions and apply at least two coats. Flash 412 (CO)
You need a pristine visor to start. Brand new. Treat it like very well. I would hesitate putting anything other than spit or breath on it. You want to protect the factory coating. Dirt and rubbing take their toll. I'm not sold on Rain-X. I think it was fomulated for glass which is hard to etch. I haven't tried the Pledge yet. I had the best luck with extreme cleanliness. Buffing with the cloth that comes with my wife's plastic spectacles. The other thing is to manage the humidity in the helmet by managing the crack (no snickering here you neandethals). Once the visor starts to get bad buy a new one. Its over. Even if you manage to polish and buff your way to a clear visor, the coating is probably gone. Chris in Santa Cruz, CA
Fog City Proshield on the inside of the visor will kill fogging in all but the most extreme conditions. Not much you can do for the outside. I have found the windblast off the edge of the windshield will clear the shield (depends on your windshield and comfort in standing) in light rain. And a Wee Willy to clean up afterward. Marty #436
My local bike dealer stopped selling Rain-X as it was reported over time to have made some visors brittle. I have found from experience that a scratched up visor is terrible in the rain as the drops 'collect' in the scratches. Even in slow speed town riding (which unfortunately is 99% of my biking) a clean unscratched/lightly scratched visor performs miles better. It also helps to clean the visor with a proper visor cloth as opposed to tissue. Tissue in time will also scratch up the visor. Other than that i use a Vee-Wipe which is great and I make sure my visor is fully closed to stop rain drops getting onto the inside of the visor. For anti-fogging the inside of the visor I use a light reactive fog-city insert (clear at night, yellow in low light and blue in sunlight). Buy one of these or be called stupid for the rest of your pathetic, god forsaken life. :-) Andrew C (UK)
River X-ings
How deep can you go? If you're crossing streams/rivers this time of year in the mountains be careful of the weather. A few decades ago a bunch of us were riding dirt bikes on the eastern slopes of the Cascades in WA state. An unusually warm day. In fact, it was so warm at one crossing we parked the bikes on the other side and all jumped in the stream clothes and all. We reversed our route later in the afternoon. No problems until we came to one of the larger streams that was now running noticeably deeper and faster from the rapidly melting snow from higher up. After surveying the situation for a couple of minutes we decided to go for it. It was a little tricky but we all made it except for one guy (Who's name was Guy, BTW) on a 360 Husky. About half way across he went down. Memory fades after all these years but I still have this vision of Guy and the bike going under. Guy popping up sputtering and looking around for his bike. Then the tires break the surface about 5 feet down stream from him, then disappear, then the tank and handle bars pop up another 10 feet down stream, then disappear again, and then Guy trashing down the river trying to catch up with bike. He finally caught up about 50 yards down stream. A couple more of us jumped in and helped him drag it up out of the water. Turned it upside down on a big log beside the river, pulled the spark plug and drained the engine, squeezed the water out of the air filter, and after about a gazillion kicks finally got it going and went on our way. Mike639 - Covington, WA
I agree walk across the water first especially if this appears to be an area where no one has gone before. You may go into a hole as I did or you may hit a big rock and wind up in the drink. If the water is super cold you may die or drown or even if you get out of it you may be unable to retrieve your bike! And also yes the current may sweep you away also. You can only worry about these things so much though....When I was going through flooded areas of the Pinelands here in NJ with my XL250 I was just about lost. My motorcycle went into a hole and sank from sight! I knew if I walked out I would never be able to find it again. So I had to muscle it out of the hole. That took an hour. Then it would not run. Using the efficient tool kit I took the motor to pieces until I found the reason for not starting. Water had filled up the exhaust pipe. Then I put it back together again. Total time of adventure: about three hours. Telling the story over and over again: priceless. On my Honda XL250 I used to ride with water up to the bottom edge of the seat. The air intake was 1 inch above that. Then one day while going upstream I rode into a hole and the bike disappeared! Take the seat, tank, side panels, and what ever else off and look at the bike. Whatever you don't want to go into the water that is lowest is as far as you want to go, depth-wise. paul
http://www.touratech-usa.com/shop/media ... oof56k.mov. Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling book has an excellent section on river crossings, including total submersion. If you don' have the book already, then it's worth the 15$ or so, and it's a great read. Adam #906 (NC)
With regards to crossing deep rivers, you need to be really careful because if you get in deep the force of the water against the bike can really move you sideways making you lose your balance and drop the bike. When a crossing 'LOOKS' deep it's sometimes best to get out and walk across testing for rough spots. Sucks, but it's part of adventuring along/properly. You don't want to get the bike dropped in the middle of a DEEP river because you didn't know that there was a 4 ft. drop off 5 feet into a 20 ft. crossing. You can typically ride up to the air snorkel, Keeping forward momentum is key. Loose surface underneath can cause traction/balance problems. Helge Pedersen just completed a ride/loop of Iceland. Of course rivers there are freezing even in summer so you've got two choices: (1) put your knees on the seat so your boots stay dry, (2) get some special socks to keep the feet dry. DavidHpark, #711
I'm a very experienced river crosser! First gear in most cases and always walk across first if you cannot see the bottom with murky water, etc. Even walk the clear deeper water, if unknown crossing. Nothing like a hidden deep hole to screw your day up! Fast water? Always plan an upstream entry point to exit point for obvious reasons. You will lose some ground in fast deeper water. I've walked my bike under power in really bad situations, with me on the downstream side. Depending on which way you're crossing will have a lot to do with which side of bike you walk on, but I prefer the downstream side in most cases. "Don't go" if you think you'll have to lay bike down in river and get two people handling bike through if questionable. I "will not" cross heavy water without somebody around watching. As a solo adventurer, you can find jeepers, other riders, etc. to assist or at least watch. A good jeep winch is gold to a down bike in river! Always carry web strap of 6 feet, etc. for the tough times! The most important advice is probably have somebody standing by for help in bad river crossings. The intake advice above in another post is good for how deep....About two feet is where things happen fast. I've never had an engine give me trouble from cooling quickly in river, but maybe there is some wear. Having good oil program surely helps. Randy748/Calif.
http://www.wsw.net/F650. There is are few movies of us crossing a stream. It's only about 1/2 way up the bike, but it illustrates some key points:
1) Do not go SLOW. Keep the revs up and in 1st gear. Keep accelerating and whatever you do, don't stop!
2) Stand up!
3) Know what is on the bottom if you can -- someone else in this post mentioned a hole ruining your day... so will a log or big rock!
4) Go with friends, in case you dump it. They can help you drag your ride out :) Take care and have fun! BillW #930
How do I lift a Dropped Bike ?
Andy #982
07-Dec-01
If you drop the bike, lift it by squatting next to it, back to the seat, one hand under the tank/seat and the other on the grab rail.
Lift by pushing with the legs, keeping the arms straight.
Once upright you bring the grab rail hand round unto the bars, then wheel away as normal. Saves your back.
Wheelies (aka Naughtiness)
David H. Park, #711, Doug 781
01-Aug-01
“All this talk of oil changes and S&M has me feeling naughty. So I'm going to ask a question this motorcycling novice knows will piss off the safety dandies.” Bob #752
Wheelies on any (most) bikes are a simple matter of finding the point between throttle input and clutch output. I wheelie my Dakar all the time and my Schalber Rallye wheelies even easier. I have also wheelied the stock GS (which is a piece of cake).
A good trick is to put in a bit of front brake via a quick dab of two fingers to compress the front suspension a bit.
Then give it lots of throttle while popping the clutch. Standing on the pegs helps for beginners as you can yank the bars back.
Be careful not to give it 'way' too much gas. It's a balancing act with the right and left hand. The rear brake can be tapped to start to bring you down in an emergency as will letting off the gas.
Have fun. Wheelies are a blast (and an important component of off-road riding). The F650 (in any variety) does them easy. (Changing the front counter sprocket down one makes it even easier).
All you have to do is (in first gear) give it throttle and back off quick- the front shocks will compress slightly. Then give it a bit more throttle and lean and pull back slightly. The front end will come up pretty easy. This is a pretty useful thing to get comfortable with because being able to make the front end a bit lighter is nice to know how to do - when crossing big potholes for example.
Careful of your gas tank load - it makes a huge difference on how easy it is to pull a wheelie. When my tank is near empty, I can pretty much bring up the front end via hard acceleration.
p.s. – don’t fall off and start small
More Wheelie Notes from DHP:
Make sure when you do your wheelie to have a clear path of "intended" travel.
Remain calm, seated if possible but standing is also okay. Don't move the bike side-to-side which will get you off line. The main danger of being off-line is that people tend to cock the steering/wheel to the right as they twist the throttle causing them to pull on the handlebar. Then their front wheel is off-center and when they land, they have more issues than if it was straight.
You can see a video downloadable from my website at: http://www.dhpmoto.com/Reports/Wheelie/wheelie.htm
If you OVERDO IT (not caps being majorly overdo it) you'll need to bring it back down by tapping the rear brake. NOTE - any use of the rear brake brings the front end down, this is your emergency saver instead of jumping/going off the back of the bike.
If you want to do small things first and are having problems with the simple "roll on the throttle" method you can "snap" the bike either with a little preloaded rear brake or by a small dab of front brake to compress the front forks then snap of the throttle. Note - both of these methods will give you lots more 'snap' so be careful.
Lastly, I've always found that dialling in the snap point by feathering the clutch is best/most helpful. In the end it's not one long wheelie that counts but if you have the fine control to snap off mini-wheelies/wheel hops in a short distance under control. (like bunny hops).
there ain't no hill to high
Noppy
Berichten: 2915
Lid geworden op: vr feb 13, 2004 23:49
Locatie: Midden-Nederland
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Hoi Seeker,

Geweldige teksten, goed gevonden!

Thx,

Noppy
Ride on the sharp edge of life - www.knobbyKnife.nl
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