Considering IAM.

Yep, certainly has, was an interesting read with lots of different view points.

Yep - generally the same differences of opinions come up every time this topic comes up!

[gruntygiggles]

Right, only going to quote these posts as there are a fair few, but I will hopefully cover everything.

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

It feels right, it feels natural, it is probably right.

Scraping pegs is not good, if they dig in it will lever the back wheel off the ground and you will crash. Hang off more and change your foot position.


Keep doing what you are doing, just careful you leave your safety margin and stopping distance. All my crashes have happened when confidence was high and "oh, this is easy.."...CRUNCH...

Yep, I leave safety marging by taking a wide line into bends and the widest line available at roundabouts......that I consider to be available to me. I cannot and will not go closer to the line than about a foot to 18 inches away, same for the left side of the road. When on left bends, I go wide right (leaving a good gap) and when I can see the exit, I take it via the middle of the lane, not cutting right across as again, I want a margin for error if I need to lean in more. On left bends, I approach pretty close to the side of the road where surface, camber, lack of drains etc allow to get a better view, but on the bend, I cme away from the edge by about 2 ft to allow for room to go wide again if I need to and to avoid any drains, cambers or potholes that seem to be so common on the roads around here.

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

No use the clutch. Its what its there for. You can down change without using the clutch its quite useful to be able to do it if you loose a clutch cable etc, but for everyday riding change down using the clutch. Just give it a blip on the throttle when you have the clutch to change down. Dont go mad it doesnt need a mahoosive blip, just enough to equalise the revs. If you give it a big handful I found it unsettled the bike which you dont want.

Thanks fizz, had this confirmed earlier on the phone to Keith something from California Superbike School, apparently some guru who happened to be available. Taken on board and I'd rather the cost of new brake pads than a new clutch

Personally you're a new rider, dont try and learn to much in one go, you will fry your brain, I did when I started riding, just pick one or two techniques and practise those and then build on that, but build it slowly. You've got years in front of you, damaging your confidence levels takes a long time to recover from.

Point taken in the spirit it is intended...thank you again.

If you are regularly decking your pegs / toes out you need to look at the position on the bike you are adopting. Hanging off is one way to keep the bike more upright, but it might be a little early in your riding career to consider that.

Yep, I am comfortable hanging off where there is one bend and find it quite natural in fact, but I know I need time to get used to this and do it without affecting the handling, so as per conversatin with Keith something...I will learn this under instruction on a track rider safety day.

Dig a peg in to deep and it will as Chris says above have you off. Has the baby blade been lowered or is it standard settings ? My brother had trouble with poor ground clearance on his RVF and it was one of the reasons he sold it on.

This, (and please don't take this as being cocky....I knw I'm a new rider, but I'm also not stupid) is not something I am overly worried about. I ride with my toes on the pegs, nt sticking out at all and on any bend, I put the weight of my body through my outside foot and so lean on the outside peg, not the inside peg. My right foot (only one that has scraped) has virtually no weight on it s what has happened is the footpeg folded back a little and I just opened the throttle by literally a fraction and it took the bike up enough to get the peg off the floor.
Keith said that it would be more dangerous to change my riding than to carry on with my natural instincts. He said if I was inclined to open the throttle too hard, I would have done in that situation, or worse, throttled of or applied brakes, so not to mess with something that is a good way to ride.

That said, I did not come anywhere near a lean angle to achieve even toe down, let alone footpeg yesterday as I do not want to do it on the roads, no matter how good a feeling it gives.

Sounds like perhaps you are carrying a little to much corner speed and having to lean the bike over more than you need to, remember slow in, fast out. Also by going in a little slower you give yourself more time to read the corner or adjust if you havent read it properly.

Not been fast...only happened at much lower speeds on roundabouts, the bike just dumps very easily from one side to the other. I've only had two bends that I was a bit too hot, both only because I could see a clear road ahead of me, but still....I learned on those clear roads (despite staying on the correct side of the road) what is too fast.....and haven't done it since. Not that I never will again of course, but I have completely backed off the pace and am just going out and simply enjoying it now, as I did yesterday with Dan, Squirrel and Alan the Boss.

I apologise now if it sounds like I am trying to say I am better than I am. I am a beginner and there is no getting around that. I am well aware that I am yet t learn what it is like to have something go wrong but I am taking every precaution in terms of observation, hazard awareness, preparation for bends (with the exception of the two only pushed due to a clear road) and I am keeping the bike in a rev range that allows for most slowing down to be done by simply throttling off, not braking.

I really am not trying to be a know it all.....and I really do appreciate all comments made, so thank you very very much for them.

Not sure what to say now, but please don't think I am a nob or riding like one....I am not, I promise you. I realised I was making a bit too much progress and have addressed that.

I just want to enjoy my biking and I think changing it to going snail pace at roundabouts etc would be unnatural and probably do more bad than good for my riding. Hope that makes sense.

[yorkie_chris]

What is with all apologetic tone in that post?
If you are riding smooth and not going so fast you cannot stop in distance you can see is clear you are fine.

Only comment I would make about first red bit there ... there is no NEVER, or an ALWAYS... you can bend and break all the "rules" because they're more just guidelines on the proper lines to take.

[gruntygiggles]

I'm british...lol. We apologise for everything

Secnd point taken!

[yorkie_chris]

See screen name and post 80... we don't

[gruntygiggles]

Haha......maybe just me then....actually, I really respect any advice I get off Fizz and don't want him to think I am not taking it on board!

I am Fizz.....pwomise

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Like I keep saying. IAM/rospa/roadcraft will stop you getting into trouble. (most of the time)

They will NOT get you out of it when you inevitably get into it. Only the ability to ride a lot closer to the limits than you were before it went wrong will get you out of the sh*t.

No matter how quickly you escape the mire,you'll still be stinking.
Through fortune, rather than skill, I have never really found myself properly in that particular pit, but I doubt there is much margin before the question isn't "how do I get out of this one?" but "this is going to hurt, but how much, and do I get to see the other side of the pain?"

GG, another bit of (my) stupidity to benefit from - DONT RIDE TIRED!

I took the bike out last Sat, after 3 hrs sleep and overtime, and ran right through a give way on a Y-junction. Apparently a big hi-vis triangle isn't enough warning. When I actually thought about what I was doing, I realised I was riding like I was cycling back from the pub,but not averaging 13mph! It totally screws your ability to think, and assess your actions.

Again, full credit for your common sense attitude.

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by carternd

No matter how quickly you escape the mire,you'll still be stinking.
Through fortune, rather than skill, I have never really found myself properly in that particular pit, but I doubt there is much margin before the question isn't "how do I get out of this one?" but "this is going to hurt, but how much, and do I get to see the other side of the pain?"

That's the amazing thing, you set the margin yourself. You decide how much to leave yourself.

You know full well where your limits are (remember that time you tried to keep up with your mate and sh*t yourself when you ran a tiny bit wide. Everyone's done it!) so if you back of to like 70% of that effort (not necessarily pace...) then there's your safety margin.

Best rider is the one who is able to ride at complete lunatic pace and chooses not to.

Best rider is the one who is able to ride at complete lunatic pace and chooses not to. [/QUOTE]

Says Mr Sensible---keep taking the medication











Sorry YC couldn't resist