I want to know the secret to do sharp turns when taking the motorcycle skills test. I heard people say like hold in the clutch and feather on the rear breaks. wat do they mean when people say feather the rear breaks. Does it mean tap it or hold it slightly.
I do the turns without touching the clutch or break. I just use the accellerator. when I use the clutch or break, I have trouble. I release the accelerator when I'm going into the turn, and then lightly accellerate at the top of the turn coming out of it. helps with momentum make sure you are looking over your shoulder that is on the inside of the turn --to a point of about 10 feet beyond the spot where you will do the cross on the figure 8. To many people when doing this turn look at the point where they want to come out of the turn which makes the turn wider.
The best thing to do is go to a quiet car park set out some witches hats and practice. The technique. Set up bike in the ready position (Clutch in, rear brake on, side stand up, bike started) Select 1st gear. DO NOT release rear brake. Throttle on and keep the revs high, Engage the clutch but don't let it out all the way, Slowly ease off the rear brake not fully, (keeping the rear break on is the secret to success as is the high reves and engaged -but not fully-clutch) Using your hips lean the bike on way and counter that lean with your upper body, keeping your knees gripped hard on the tank and most importantly keep your head upright looking at where you want to go, then you will go around the witches hats easily. If you find doing this hard, practice going in a straight line and then in wide circles, slowly closing the circle radius until it is really tight. Also ensure you are relaxed and focused helps in manoeuvring. Don't panic, when you do this test usually you get shown how do to it before hand and time to practice (at least that is what happens here in NSW, Australia) If you can master this and keep practicing the slow speed riding regardless of the situations you find yourself in you will be able to safely ride out of it. Most importantly Enjoy. (because that is what riding is all about)
The proper technique is to use the 'friction' zone of the clutch, the area of the clutch that is between the clutch fully engaged and disengaged. That combined with learning how to use the throttle at the same time as the friction zone should you give you good low speed control. You can also add in using a little bit of back brake (holding slight pressure on the brake) on top of this to add even more stability and control to low speed manuvers. If you are an absolute beginner, start practicing these techniques in a straight line. When you get the hang of them, then start practicing the low speed u-turns and turns that are needed for the test. While proper use of the front brake on the street is essential, at low speed with your handlebars cranked way over for a maneuver, grabbing a handful of front brake will generally make you drop the bike. So for the low speed stuff practice not using the front brake. For everything else, make sure you use both your brakes. There is a video 'Ride Like a Pro' by Jerry 'MotorMan' Palimino that is very instructional, although it is more oriented towards advanced riders. He also has a video for beginners that should be very useful to beginners. I would actually recommend the MSF course in your local area. They will help you practice your skills and in the end, most states will give you your license after you pass the class. Besides, it will normally get you a discount on your insurance and you get to learn on their bikes rather than your bikes.
