I periodically go back to school - especially when I need to tweak my slow speed skills. Today I ran a basic class hosted by FishTail in New Hampshire.
My takeaways are this:
1. As good as I think I am I suck.
2. The Grand (and I presume all of the K's) have a very short clutch throw and a very reactive throttle; even in Harley [rain] mode.
I have struggled to find the precise dance of clutch/throttle/rear brake on this bike, and I now know it is real by watching several others working their respective bikes. I found the short clutch made for some very interesting reactions and required a lot of concentration to manipulate. By this I mean the friction point becomes quickly engaged fully. I also felt the throttle reacted quickly. I went from 900 idle to 2500 RPMs with very little movement of my wrist; the net effect was I rev'd up a lot needlessly.
I found I had to leave the throttle closed and actually use my rear brake quite a bit to keep my speed down too with the clutch out.
All-in-all these are just characteristics of the platform and I need to become familiar with it for what it is. I can say that a slow speed course - especially an advanced one - is very challenging on this bike.
My freakin' forearms are on fire tonight. Clearly I need to practice more.
My takeaways are this:
1. As good as I think I am I suck.
2. The Grand (and I presume all of the K's) have a very short clutch throw and a very reactive throttle; even in Harley [rain] mode.
I have struggled to find the precise dance of clutch/throttle/rear brake on this bike, and I now know it is real by watching several others working their respective bikes. I found the short clutch made for some very interesting reactions and required a lot of concentration to manipulate. By this I mean the friction point becomes quickly engaged fully. I also felt the throttle reacted quickly. I went from 900 idle to 2500 RPMs with very little movement of my wrist; the net effect was I rev'd up a lot needlessly.
I found I had to leave the throttle closed and actually use my rear brake quite a bit to keep my speed down too with the clutch out.
All-in-all these are just characteristics of the platform and I need to become familiar with it for what it is. I can say that a slow speed course - especially an advanced one - is very challenging on this bike.
My freakin' forearms are on fire tonight. Clearly I need to practice more.