Well it was gonna happen sooner or later!

[Spiderman]

Ruth... i only read the first page of this and then came to this last post so not sure if what i'm gonna say has been said apart from by Rictus on page 1.

If you're having issues cornering and tapping a foot don helps resolve those issues then all you really need to do is learn a bit more clutch/throttle combo control.

The foot tapping down is only a false sense of security if truth be told. You're not actually stopping the bike from falling over or correcting it, you just think you are cos you got a foot on the floor moentarily.
If you really are stopping the bike from falling then way are turnign the corner WAY too slow. I'm not suggesting you launch yourself at corners but there is a minimum speed below which the bike has no real balance of its own and will fall to the side with the slightest of reason.

Find a friend to ride with you, not for fun but for practice. get then to go in front for a while and do the kind of corners you have problems with. The go back with you in front and try doing what they did at thier speed.
Go to a deserted car park and do LOTS of slow speed control work. Try standing up on the pegs. I know that sound even scarier but the more you try and remove the temptation of tapping the floor with your toes the more you'll think "god i used to tap my foot down in this sort of situation but now i really dont feel like i need to"

Being short of leg is not the only thing holding you from riding your bike the way you wish to. Its also a mental thing (and no i'm not calling you mental, lol.)

There is a girl i used to see on my morning commute who rides a Monster 600. First time i saw her she was at the lights and i thought "wow, how the hell does she ride that being soooo small?" And you know what, day after day this chick would cut swathes thru the traffic that even me and my astonishigly good filtering skills couldnt keep up with.

Practice, practice and then practice some more.


And when you're bored of that go practice some more with a friend. And dont try to run before you can crawl.
Good luck with it.

[dizzyblonde]

Originally Posted by Ruthja2801

It wasn't the jerkiness that made me drop the bike, is the fact i was turning right with no foot to guide me as i went!


I know people are saying its just confidence, but having all the confidence in the world ain't gonna give me a longer right leg and if turning right i lean slightly to far i can't tap my leg down as i go along to correct it!

I've said in another one of your threads and I'll say it again, you should have your right foot hovering over the brake pedal, when turning right anyway.

You really don't want to be putting your right foot down when turning right, as Dizzy said you want to be hovering over the back break.

When turning left just after i got my SV, (actually the afternoon after i passed me test) I had my right foot down and i had to break because of a number of elements and had to use the front break. Needless to say i went down with the bike on top of me! I lost all confidence in everything i had just learnt and shown in my test. I didn't want to ride the dam thing home even. But i was 20 miles from home so had to!

I wanted to leave the bike then and there. But I (and that means you too) have worked to hard to get this licence and not use it!!!!!!

It seems to me like whatever you can you are putting in the way of going out and riding the bike. You learn to compensate for stuff. I couldn't push the SV if i was off it, so everytime i needed to move it, I sat on it and footed it about! Ok you can only get one foot part down, you only need that, learn to lean the bike against that leg and the leg take the weight, look where your going NOT THE FLOOR! and you will end up going that way!

If you want to ride this SV you and only you can make your mind think that!

The controls are difficult to get use to and only time on the bike will get you use to them. Stop scarying yourself to not using the bike!

Good luck

I'm a short **** and my theory is if i can get the bike (any bike) on and off of it's side stand then i can ride it. If you can get enough purchase on one toe to get the bike upright enough to get the stand up then all you need to do is repeat this action in reverse when stopping at junctions. I lean my bike right over when i'm stopped because i have the confidence that i can hold it there and pull it upright again as i pull away.
You will never get both feet or probably even one foot flat on the floor with the bike bolt upright, but you don't need to. I have the ball of my left foot down, my right foot covering the back brake and the bike lent over.
You just need confidence and you won't get that sat at a computer asking for advice you will only get it from riding. If you don't like right hand turns don't do them, find a short route that only turns left and ride that till you are happy, if possible have a nice long straight or bit of dual carraigway that you can open up the bike on cos that will make you grin. Once you have more confidence try a few right turns in a empty car park your increased confidence will mean you won't even think about the issues you currently have.

Sorry to go on but i really think you can do it.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by Ruthja2801

It wasn't the jerkiness that made me drop the bike, is the fact i was turning right with no foot to guide me as i went!

When i was on the cruiser i used to be able to get two feet down and then as i went round a corner, if i needed to i could tap my foot down to correct the lean or whatever, thats all i'm saying!

I'd put the SV away and go back to the place that taught you to ride or a different riding school and get them to help you with your cornering and low speed control before I did anything else.

You need to fix these issues otherwise no matter what bike you get your going to endup on the floor in a big heap underneath it.

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

I'd put the SV away and go back to the place that taught you to ride or a different riding school and get them to help you with your cornering and low speed control before I did anything else.

You need to fix these issues otherwise no matter what bike you get your going to endup on the floor in a big heap underneath it.

+1, get on a CG125 for a bit, something you can build up confidence in riding. BTW, you should get both feet up on the pegs ASAP - you DO have more control this way, as you can relax your arms and keep them for turning handlbars and using the controls; not doing all this AND holding the bike up. I've suggested to a few wobbly people in the past to try filtering with their feet up, instead of having legs dangling eitherside and not being able to use their body to balance the bike through the pegs

[the_lone_wolf]

or just fit some crash bars and go practice in the asda car park until you can do 1 handed figure-8s in your sleep...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O1M7...eature=related

[rictus01]

Just wondering, is this thread the internet answer to perpetual motion?

Erm he`s paraplegic Ruth!

Slightly different reason for needing stabilisers ie. he`s unable to move any body part below his chest