We headed out under gray skies trying to get a ride in ahead of looming thunderstorms (see picture below). Temperatures were in the 70s with some strong winds, but otherwise a good day for riding. The roses are blooming everywhere, but the flower of note on this ride was the iris. The irises are in spectacular bloom in bright yellows, vivid whites, deep purples, and even a lovely shade of light pink.
I had a training agenda in mind for this ride. Earlier in the week, we had watched Motojitsu’s video on “5 Things Never to Do in the Twisties” (https://youtu.be/DcMlzhQIgp8). So I wanted to work on my entries and exits into curves and turns, body awareness, and continue my trail braking practice. Entering curves was something covered in the MSF course, but the practice course is a parking lot with orange cones, so visibility is great. On the road curves can be blind. Now my route is pretty open and most curves are easy to see around, but there are a few blind turns. The rule of thumb on entering curves on a motorcycle is to go as wide out as possible on entering the turn. This approach means if the road curves to the left, I start my entry from over to the right side of the road. If it is a right curve, then I enter the turn from near the center line. By entering the curve from a wide start, I maximize how much of the lane is available to me in the turn. As I lean around the curve, the motorcycle “eats” up the lane which brings me to the second concept of riding through curves.
Once I’ve ridden into the curve, when do I straighten the motorcycle? If I straighten up out of my lean too soon in the curve, I can run the bike off the road. The rule on when to straighten is once the exit is clearly visible. This rule is another version of looking where I want the bike to go. So common sense would suggest that I don’t straighten the motorcycle until I see the road ahead where I want the motorcycle to go. However, in curves the bike is leaned over, and for some riders that may be nerve-wracking. Because they are uncomfortable in the lean, they wish to straighten up as soon as possible. Luckily for me, leaning the R Nine T is super fun, so while I ride toward the curve’s exit, I can enjoy the lean.
Now I am riding mostly on 25-mph roads, so my lean isn’t anywhere near approaching knee-scraping, but another mistake riders can make is entering the curve at too high a speed. I did have that mis-shift episode and can say that entering a turn at too great a speed is freaky. But as long as I’m operating the motorcycle correctly, I do slough off speed as I enter turns and curves. A related mistake riders make in the curves is grabbing the brakes. My trail braking practice is in part for this purpose. It allows me to gradually apply the brake and add contact between the front tire and the road so if I do need to brake suddenly in a curve, I don’t have to grab the brake while the bike is leaned. A leaned over bike losing acceleration is a target for gravity.
The fifth mistake has to do with body position while leaning the motorcycle which is more technical than I am ready for. I could lean my body more with my motorcycle, but at my slower speeds, it isn’t too much of a factor. I made a huge leap in my practice on looking opposite while turning from a stop. Well I made the leap making right turns. I managed to keep my head turned to the left and just darted my eyes to the right as I began moving. I did try this technique with left turns, but I realized it isn’t as simple. When turning left, obviously I have to cross the lane of oncoming traffic. Because of this, the turn has to go wider than my nice, tight right turns. So I realized that I need to figure out how to get comfortable looking to the right while turning the bike on a larger radius.
As I got ready to make a right-hand turn, I noticed a cabbage white butterfly flitting about a foot away from my right hip. I saw another (or the same) Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and what I think was a small Spicebush Swallowtail. I really love spring-time rides even with the constant threat of April showers.
Flutterby Biker 