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"Time to go to work"

1K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  djfalkenstein 
#1 ·
At the cones class that I took again yesterday, I remembered a phrase that the instructor used the last time I took his class that I like a lot: Time to go to work.

The instructor was a retired motor officer in the ATL area who still does escorts and funerals. A lady was having trouble with many of the maneuvers and he was getting very frustrated with her because she wasn't listening to him and following his instructions about posture, riding position, turning your head, friction zone, etc.. She dropped her bike several times. He called all of us together and used her as an example of not concentrating. What he said to her (and us) was that it is all good and well to be relaxed and enjoying your motorcycle when you are rolling down the highway but when you come upon traffic, a busy intersection or when you are making a turn or are in a parking lot, that you need to get up on the tank, heighten your awareness and pay attention to what you are doing - It's "time to go to work" was the phrase that he used. That lady did not like being used as an example and promptly left the class that day but I often have thought that she simply was riding her bike like she was driving her car/truck and failed to "get it" that motorcycle riding was not as simple as it looked. For me, when I get on my bike I enter a different level of concentration and even more so when I get in traffic or in situations where the potential for "trouble" is even greater but now every time I scoot forward in the seat or up on the tank I will be reminded of his great one liner.👊
 
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#2 ·
My wife says she always knows when I'm going to pass a car or I'm paying special attention to our surroundings because I straighten up and lean forward. I do that without really thinking about it so I guess that's when it's time to go to work.
 
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#3 ·
We called it "keeping your head out of the cockpit." I spent a ton of time last year returning to my parking lot work. Cylon was new then; sans the tune I gave her. I found the K bike clutch to be a wholly stupid thing; the friction zone is at the end of the throw and the friction range is very short - almost binary. After the Bren tune, I have much better control and my slow speed work is greatly improved.
 
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#4 ·
I found the K bike clutch to be a wholly stupid thing; the friction zone is at the end of the throw and the friction range is very short
Yes, but luckily she has enough torque to pull even at low RPMs so I found that I didn't need to pay attention to RPM as much and focused mostly on clutch and rear brake.

I still am struggling with the full circles - gonna have to practice on my own more. Didn't have any trouble on my RT, even down to 18 foot circles (~2 parking spaces). The 24 foot circle I can get about 1 out of 3 tries on the B and I would like to get down to 100% on the 20 foot circles.
 
#5 ·
My solution is 1500 - 2000 RPMs steady, about 1/4 pressure on the REAR brake, then use the clutch to dance around the friction point. Don't be afraid of the lean so long as you have appropriate velocity (10 to 15 mph); the bike has more ability than you do. I added both the case bumpers and the Illumworks crash bars on mine because I forget to follow my own advice sometimes.
 
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