safety question

[wyliec]

I'm not trying to start a debate; but, in another post someone said when taking turns/curves to transfer your weight to the outside. I lean toward the mirror on the inside and when I do that the weight is transferred to my inside hip. What am I missing?

I have over 5,000 miles on the spyder now and am wondering if I have been doing something wrong and need to change.

[BLACK WIDOW]

I'm not trying to start a debate; but, in another post someone said when taking turns/curves to transfer your weight to the outside. I lean toward the mirror on the inside and when I do that the weight is transferred to my inside hip. What am I missing?

I have over 5,000 miles on the spyder now and am wondering if I have been doing something wrong and need to change.

Always shift your weight into the curve. If you are taking a curve that goes to your right then shift your weight toward your right hand. At least that is the way it works best for me.


Michael

[DannyS]

Yes it is the inside wheel that will try to lift. I think of it as the same thing as "hanging" off the bike only shifted forward as much as passable. I also try to get as much weight on the peg on that side also. I was thinking about putting a strut back from the front to the rear or crossing to the other side to mount pegs on so you could get the weight transfer to the front inside but I don't ride that aggressively maybe if I was racing.

[shunkmanitu]

The Spyder will tend to transfer your weight to the outside but you compensate for that by leaning in.

As you get used to it you will find that as you enter a curve you will tend to lean in for self preservation. Keeps you from feeling you could get thrown off. As you lean in it actually puts you in position that starts you pulling on the inside bar thus starting your turn. After a few days it starts to seem as natural as "counter-steering" a bike.

[j45p3r]

Always shift your weight into the curve. If you are taking a curve that goes to your right then shift your weight toward your right hand. At least that is the way it works best for me.


Michael

Right, just like riding a snowmobile, lean into the corner.

[BajaRon]

I'm not trying to start a debate; but, in another post someone said when taking turns/curves to transfer your weight to the outside. I lean toward the mirror on the inside and when I do that the weight is transferred to my inside hip. What am I missing?

I have over 5,000 miles on the spyder now and am wondering if I have been doing something wrong and need to change.

Yes, I saw that post as well. I really don't know where he was coming from with that comment. He may have just mis-spoke.

It's all about centrifugal force. Think of it like the old days when you had to spin records to play music. (I hope there is still someone else that can remember those days).

Anyway, put something like a coin, whatever, near the center of the spinning record and it doesn't move. Place that same coin further out and it will start to slide. The further out the coin is the faster it scoots towards the outside edge until it is thrown completely off the record.

The curve is the spinning record and you are the coin. You want to stay as close to the spindle (inside of the turn) as you can. Exactly the opposite of what was said in the post you reference.

So you're doing it right to lean or even slide down the seat towards the inside of the curve. That is the 2nd factor, center of gravity. If you place your weight lower to the ground it reduces the tipping force and helps you get around the curve faster with less lean.

You can lean away from a turn just to see what happens. But do it carefully as it can make a big (negitive) difference leaning in the wrong direction.

[Roaddog2]

Yes, I saw that post as well. I really don't know where he was coming from with that comment. He may have just mis-spoke.

It's all about centrifugal force. Think of it like the old days when you had to spin records to play music. (I hope there is still someone else that can remember those days).

Anyway, put something like a coin, whatever, near the center of the spinning record and it doesn't move. Place that same coin further out and it will start to slide. The further out the coin is the faster it scoots towards the outside edge until it is thrown completely off the record.

The curve is the spinning record and you are the coin. You want to stay as close to the spindle (inside of the turn) as you can. Exactly the opposite of what was said in the post you reference.

So you're doing it right to lean or even slide down the seat towards the inside of the curve. That is the 2nd factor, center of gravity. If you place your weight lower to the ground it reduces the tipping force and helps you get around the curve faster with less lean.

You can lean away from a turn just to see what happens. But do it carefully as it can make a big (negitive) difference leaning in the wrong direction.

and well explained

[ataDude]

I'm not trying to start a debate; but, in another post someone said when taking turns/curves to transfer your weight to the outside. I lean toward the mirror on the inside and when I do that the weight is transferred to my inside hip. What am I missing?

I have over 5,000 miles on the spyder now and am wondering if I have been doing something wrong and need to change.

Shift your weight to the inside... but I think the gentleman was referring to placing more of your weight on your outside peg... that forces you to the inside... kind of like standing lop-sided.

.

[Lamonster]

I must admit I always get screwed up when I go to explain it. I do it right but most of the time I explain it wrong. My bad.

[wyliec]

I must admit I always get screwed up when I go to explain it. I do it right but most of the time I explain it wrong. My bad.

It wasn't you that I was referring to. I've been doing it right; that's all I wanted to know.

[brutus450]

I lean inside for every turn no matter what the degree. Keeps you in tune and always ready. Also new little thing I do is to press my inside knee hard into the bike when turning hard. It keeps your body from wanting to sway off to the outside. squeeze it hard and you feel more like part of the bike and more in control. Its amazing how fast you can hit corners with this bike!

[BumbleBee]

I lean inside for every turn no matter what the degree. Keeps you in tune and always ready. Also new little thing I do is to press my inside knee hard into the bike when turning hard. It keeps your body from wanting to sway off to the outside. squeeze it hard and you feel more like part of the bike and more in control. Its amazing how fast you can hit corners with this bike!

I do the exact same thing, works great for me!!

I was starting to think I was the only one squeezing my spyder

[Sny]

Shift your weight to the inside... but I think the gentleman was referring to placing more of your weight on your outside peg... that forces you to the inside... kind of like standing lop-sided.

I started off doing that and realized something...

When you push with your outside leg, it moves your body inside... sounds good.

Except your actual body weight is on your outside leg. Your body being physically inside doesn't do any good when all your weight is on the outside of the turn.

So I tried pushing down HARD on the inside during hard corners. What a difference!

Problem is, your body wants to go the other way, so now you need to use your knees, back and arm muscles to keep your body over the inside leg/peg. Sure makes for a workout... and who couldn't use a little saddle exercise

The real trick is to set up for a turn before you transfer the suspension weight (with control input.) Launch your body towards the inside with a quick hard push on the outside peg, then settle all your body weight on the inside peg just as you start to turn in hard. Works great, looks really aggressive (watch ATV riders sometime) and keeps the blood pumping and all 3 on the ground.

My wife lifts the inside wheel on most hard corners because she was pushing with the outside leg/peg to get her body inside. She's trying to get used to doing it the other way... she weighs half what I do, so it seems easy for me to throw my weight around, but it takes a much more concerted effort for her to make a big difference.

That all said, a nice stiff sway bar upgrade would do wonders to this machine. The sway bar has a similar effect of transferring weight to the inside wheel when the outside suspension compresses.

We've got 2 of them going on the shopping list today.

So ends the lesson

[Smylinacha]

I think you're doing it right - I read on here in a post a while back and it really helped me w/ curves vs. a 2 wheeler - "Pretend I'm gonna kiss my mirror" so when I'm taking a right curve, I lean down to pretend to kiss my right mirror and it makes the cornering easier and I can go faster in it I've always had less trouble in right curves/turns vs. left and now I'm doing really good in left ones too.

[redspyderlady]

Also new little thing I do is to press my inside knee hard into the bike when turning hard. It keeps your body from wanting to sway off to the outside. squeeze it hard and you feel more like part of the bike and more in control. Its amazing how fast you can hit corners with this bike!

And when you are in a lot of curves you get a thighmaster workout as a bonus

[BajaRon]

I must admit I always get screwed up when I go to explain it. I do it right but most of the time I explain it wrong. My bad.

It wasn't your post that I was referring to Lamont. I didn't see any post from you that was wrong on this subject.

I know you do it right because I'm the guy trying to keep up with you all the time!

[RodO]

As I recall, the Owner's Manual and/or the DVD also try to explain this move to the inside of a turn (but it wasn't as clear as the explanations given here.)

Rod.

[Bersquack]

As I recall, the Owner's Manual and/or the DVD also try to explain this move to the inside of a turn (but it wasn't as clear as the explanations given here.)

Rod.

[WackyDan]

Tell you what. The Dragon on Thursday was the first time I really had the nanny kick the brakes on proactively in the turns. - and that was with leaning to the inside.

Of course, that boosted my confidence so I put a little more speed into the corners. Found that there is a window of speed and steering input that is just right. The nanny kicking in a little is very helpful, but sometimes with too much speed it applied brakes for longer resulting in my being bogged down coming out of the turn. I was indeed leaning, but looking back I'm not sure how much weight I was actually transferring from peg to peg. I guess I need to run the Dragon again.

[docdoru]

I'm not trying to start a debate; but, in another post someone said when taking turns/curves to transfer your weight to the outside. I lean toward the mirror on the inside and when I do that the weight is transferred to my inside hip. What am I missing?

I have over 5,000 miles on the spyder now and am wondering if I have been doing something wrong and need to change.

[Love2Ride]

I don't lean... I go so fast my lil feet just flap in the breeze. LOL j/k I'm bored.

[BLACK WIDOW]

I think you're doing it right - I read on here in a post a while back and it really helped me w/ curves vs. a 2 wheeler - "Pretend I'm gonna kiss my mirror" so when I'm taking a right curve, I lean down to pretend to kiss my right mirror and it makes the cornering easier and I can go faster in it I've always had less trouble in right curves/turns vs. left and now I'm doing really good in left ones too.

Yes, I think that is completely normal. When you are taking sharp curves to your left you are actually leaning toward on coming traffic; That can be intimidating and your brain is trying to tell you to pull up. But your brain doesn't know or trust the Spyder yet but the Nanny knows.


Michael