BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

Just for fun, but there are some good Heads Up and Weight Transfer Moves

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KRP0VknbBo

Yeah, just like my daily commute!!!!

Really clever stuff, would be interesting to see some of the inevitable spills as well. Note lots of rear brake to steady things up. :killbill:

Its a great technique and you can see clearly how the rear brake assists the motorcycle with low speed stability

Some of that stuff would be difficult on a trials bike - for me anyway !

Seen the video before :-) but still dream to be able to handle any bike half that good and at easier speeds...  Peter

hold my beer....  :))

Brilliant  :D

Brilliant handling, but how long did he practice on some old wreck before he could do this?
Just wish I had an old wreck to practice on.happy

Love watching how far ahead he's looking. It really works if you get into the habit of not looking at the road immediately in front of you. Raises your eyes to horizontal and really improves your sense of balance. Unfortunately, as road riders, we're never guaranteed a pefectly clean cornering surface like our motor officer has, so we're always having to compromise where we look to check for gravel, road kill, etc. I race quite often and road ride daily. It's always a transition for me in how my eyes work from the two different circumstances!

jswisc wrote: ...as road riders, we're never guaranteed a pefectly clean cornering surface like our motor officer has...

You're right - I'd be able to do the same he does, if only I had a smoother surface to do it on...


:alas: :alas: :alas:

Without doubt he is a truly gifted and talented rider and I know I'd never be able to do that with all the practice in the world AND totally clean pavement....... Just sayin if someone where to sprinkle a little gravel in a few spots and didn't tell him I bet the outcome might not be the same......

Too right, Mike.  I'm always amazed at the number of experienced riders that never use the rear brake properly in slow maneuvering:  as an accelerator when you life your foot up, with the clutch partially engaged.  I think that's why so many take their feet of the pegs, like outriders, in slow turns. 

You nutshelled it perfectly, Jswisc.  Sighting on the pinch of a curve's whitelines in the distance boots up your brain's auto-nav systems.  Your head's like a tilted gyroscope that signals the rest of the body to shift and lean. It also has the salutary effect of letting you know of road hazards more quickly.  Even before I rode, I'd tear thru a curve in my car and would lean into it naturally.  I'd always tell those who asked, especially the skittish, panicky types, that they should dance and lean with the car thru maneuvers, but most importantly they should only see the road directly in front in the lower periphery of their vision.  The road appears to be moving impossibly fast there, whereas it's unfolding slowly (and calmly!) in the distance.  It also leads to less little corrections in a turn;  just trust your computer and set it and forget it and watch the lines converge way ahead.  Mostly due to that need to check the road up close for slippery patches and debris which you so rightly pointed out, [size=2px] thru almost 50 yrs of riding, I've never had the same high-speed cornering sureness that I had in my car.  It divides one's attention too much.  On the other hand, don't think I'd've been riding (or living) this long without hazard radar.[/size]

I took a week long motorcycle cop training class a couple years ago. I had only been riding for about a year at the time. We used old Harley Road Kings. These 950 lb beasts were quite a challenge. First thing they taught was how to pick up bike after it fell. Bikes had crash bars and were dropped a lot. Keys are counter weight shifting, elbows down, hand position on bar, looking forward and stabilizing with rear brake. They called it "brake torque".
We learned to do tight u-turns, tight circles, chicanes, tight turns from a standing stop (important when entering traffic from a stop) and emergency braking/swerving techniques. The training was very hard for me, especially because of record level hot and humid conditions. The training was very helpful when I got back on my lighter weight RT. I still practice these tight maneuvers regularly because it's easy to get rusty.