Left Turns/Curves Still a Problem For Me....

[UtahPete]

In an off camber turn, the road sloping downward and away from the apex, I find pressing down on the outside peg or floorboard is even more important because I am counteracting not only the centrifugal force of the Spyder through the turn but also the outward and downward slope of the off camber roadway. Leaning into and toward the bars is again shifting my weight into the turn, just as in a normal curve. YMMV.

This makes total sense to me and doesn't contradict anything I have said, except in my earliest post when I suggested putting weight on the inside peg might help (and I have since admitted may be misleading to a novice).

[JayBros]

Mike, Do you mean you have no roads in the NH mountains, like on multiple switchbacks up the side of a ridgeline? If so, that's great; but down here one can find them in lots of places. I think they're probably paved roads that were originally horse or wagon tracks. I think in winter many of them are just closed but don't really know because I don't head that way once I know the road crews may have been spreading salt.

[JerryB]

Hi UtahPete,

Re: "I can see Russia from my back porch", John McCain

I am not trying to pile on you. However, I do believe that statement ( or something very similar ) was by Ms. Palin, his running mate.

Jerry Baumchen

[UtahPete]

Hi UtahPete,

Re: "I can see Russia from my back porch", John McCain I am not trying to pile on you. However, I do believe that statement ( or something very similar ) was by Ms. Palin, his running mate. Jerry Baumchen

It was. Didn't I say that?

[Yazz]

Most of the advice here doesn't seem to address the question the OP posted of how to feel in control on a left-handed curve on an off-camber crowned road, when he feels like the bike is going to pitch him off.

Practicing in a parking lot sure isn't going to do it.

Our neighborhood has crowned roads for flood prevention. When I first got my GS, taking the left hand curve getting home was un-nerving. The body roll of the Spyder was very pronounced. The saddle of the GS/RS is barrel shaped, so I learned to shift my butt to the inside of the curve to counteract the Spyder roll and I was sitting upright, weight on the inside of the curve.

Thus began my drunk-monkey / hanging ham style of riding. Yup, I can shift and break in full control. Full speed ahead.

***Finally installed a BahaRon swaybar and the un-nerving Spyder body roll was gone.***

I got an F3 and tried to ride it like my GS and it was a no can do. Feet in a different position and the bucket seat wouldn't let me hang ham. Learned to ride it like most ya'll are talking about, pushing with the outside leg and leaning into the curve.

The moral of the story is, everybody's Spyder is set up different, everybody's body is different. You need to get out there and ride and figure out what works for you!

[UtahPete]

When I first got my GS, taking the left hand curve getting home was un-nerving. The body roll of the Spyder was very pronounced. The saddle of the GS/RS is barrel shaped, so I learned to shift my butt to the inside of the curve to counteract the Spyder roll and I was sitting upright, weight on the inside of the curve. *Thus began my drunk-monkey / hanging ham style of riding. I got an F3 and tried to ride it like my GS and it was a no can do. Feet in a different position and the bucket seat wouldn't let me hang ham. Learned to ride it like most ya'll are talking about, pushing with the outside leg and leaning into the curve. The moral of the story is, everybody's Spyder is set up different, everybody's body is different. You need to get out there and ride and figure out what works for you!

Love your colloquialisms! And your advice.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Mike, Do you mean you have no roads in the NH mountains, like on multiple switchbacks up the side of a ridgeline? If so, that's great; but down here one can find them in lots of places. I think they're probably paved roads that were originally horse or wagon tracks. I think in winter many of them are just closed but don't really know because I don't head that way once I know the road crews may have been spreading salt.

imo ... designing a road to be off camber on / in a turn makes no sense. That road is then designed to cause accidents !!!! .... and I find it hard to believe engineers are doing it ./..... I watched a video on U-Tube of a road that looked like you were going up-hill .... it was an optical illusion .... so what you may think is OFF camber ... may not be at all..... Eyes play tricks on us all the time ..... Have ever seen a road sign that said Caution grade 5 % ..... and as you went down you thought 5% ....He*l I'm going straight down are they kidding with that sign ..... just sayin...... Mike

[SteveLaoyster]

Our neighborhood has crowned roads for flood prevention. When I first got my GS, taking the left hand curve getting home was un-nerving. The body roll of the Spyder was very pronounced. The saddle of the GS/RS is barrel shaped, so I learned to shift my butt to the inside of the curve to counteract the Spyder roll and I was sitting upright, weight on the inside of the curve.

Thus began my drunk-monkey / hanging ham style of riding. Yup, I can shift and break in full control. Full speed ahead.

***Finally installed a BahaRon swaybar and the un-nerving Spyder body roll was gone.***

I got an F3 and tried to ride it like my GS and it was a no can do. Feet in a different position and the bucket seat wouldn't let me hang ham. Learned to ride it like most ya'll are talking about, pushing with the outside leg and leaning into the curve.

The moral of the story is, everybody's Spyder is set up different, everybody's body is different. You need to get out there and ride and figure out what works for you!

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Our neighborhood has crowned roads for flood prevention. When I first got my GS, taking the left hand curve getting home was un-nerving. The body roll of the Spyder was very pronounced. The saddle of the GS/RS is barrel shaped, so I learned to shift my butt to the inside of the curve to counteract the Spyder roll and I was sitting upright, weight on the inside of the curve.

Thus began my drunk-monkey / hanging ham style of riding. Yup, I can shift and break in full control. Full speed ahead.

***Finally installed a BahaRon swaybar and the un-nerving Spyder body roll was gone.***

I got an F3 and tried to ride it like my GS and it was a no can do. Feet in a different position and the bucket seat wouldn't let me hang ham. Learned to ride it like most ya'll are talking about, pushing with the outside leg and leaning into the curve.

The moral of the story is, everybody's Spyder is set up different, everybody's body is different. You need to get out there and ride and figure out what works for you!

So Joy, now that you have the F-3 and your riding style is a lot different from how you drove your GS ie. " Duhamel " style ..... how much slower are you in comparison to what you could do on your GS.................Mike

[JayBros]

The off cambers we deal with are very tight 180s, 1st gear ones generally. Next time through one I will have to examine closely to be certain my eyes aren't playing tricks on me.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

The off cambers we deal with are very tight 180s, 1st gear ones generally. Next time through one I will have to examine closely to be certain my eyes aren't playing tricks on me.

Jay, this begs the question ....If you are in a " 180 " degree turn .... in first gear ..... how fast are you going ???? ......... and at that speed .... Unless the Off camber is a Hugh amount imo it's meaningless......................Mike

[Bob Denman]

Here's one by us that will ALWAYS get your attention!

hairpin.jpg

[UtahPete]

Here's one by us that will ALWAYS get your attention!

hairpin.jpg

Now imagine that with a high crown!

[Bob Denman]

It does roll over a bit to the outside, on the lower end of it...

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Here's one by us that will ALWAYS get your attention!

hairpin.jpg

THIS IS A GREAT EXAMPLE .... Thanks Bob .... you can see TWO curves ... The smaller ,at least to the EYE, doesn't look like it's OFF camber ....... The larger one is very tight/sharp and to the EYE looks to be OFF camber - but is it, without using instruments it's just a nice Pic ..... I'll bet from a different angle it doesn't look anything like it does here......and I ask you why would they build the larger curve OFF camber ( making it very dangerous ) and not the one above it ??? ......PS - ZERO camber is not OFF camber ...... Mike

[Bob Denman]

You can look it up on Google maps:
Rte 44/55 on the New Paltz side (eastern...) of the Shawangunk Ridge.

About 33 years ago, we had a WILD rode around that very turn!
We were coming back from an indoor Pistol Match in New Paltz...
Six of us were stuffed into a 1980 Chevy Citation.
About a half-mile from this curve: a raccoon jumps off the bank in order to commit "suicide by auto" We bailed into him at a pretty good clip, and busted the airdam under the front bumper in half...
The driver is REALLY pissed, and we're afraid to say anything...
So now he's steaming up that hill, and completly forgets about the hairpin!!!!!!!
We sailed into it at 35 mph!!!
Everybody spoke to God, and we somehow stuck to the road, and continued on our merry way!
About two hundred yards up past all of the excitement: the driver turns to the other two guys in the front seat, and says,
"You know: I completely forget about that damned turn!"

[Rattlebars]

OK. Now I am confused. Is it "lean into a turn pushing with the outside leg" -or- "lean into a turn putting pressure on the inside leg".
I have read both. Not riding aggressive enough to worry about the inside wheel loosing contact with the ground, putting pressure on the outside floorboard helps (me) with countering the centrifugal force of the turn and is more comfortable. Which is the correct way to do it?

I have ridden many quads in hare scrambles so I needed little to no training on the F3. When my grandson got old enough (he was 5) I taught him how to ride a BuRP 90. Old enough at 15 he began motocross on a Z400. I instructed him on hanging off on the inside of turns. He didn't quite get it so I showed him some videos of side car crosses and showed him how the "monkey" kept the rig grounded. After he saw that, he started winning trophy after trophy on a bone stock Z400 against the high dollar sponsored guys because he hung off the quad to the inside kneeling on his inside nerf.


What I am illustrating here is if you ever rode a four wheeler, you know how to ride a spyder. I've considered even adding Outriggers to the pegs to help with the pressure on the outside of the turn as I lean into the turn and I even come off the seat a bit to the side inside. If you are properly making a left turn, your foot should be beyond the brake pedal because you should have adjusted your speed before entering the turn and be accelerating out of it. Coupla pics of my grandson. I really wish I'd have had more money to buy him a hot rod at the time.







This board will not allow me to index the start time on a you tube video so skip to about 1:40

[hillbillywhisperer]

Originally Posted by JerryB
Hi UtahPete,

Re: "I can see Russia from my back porch", John McCain I am not trying to pile on you. However, I do believe that statement ( or something very similar ) was by Ms. Palin, his running mate. Jerry Baumchen

It was. Didn't I say that?

Not trying to pile on either of you but neither actually said that. That statement "I can see Russia from my house" was an SNL skit.

[UtahPete]

Originally Posted by JerryB

Re: "I can see Russia from my back porch", John McCain I am not trying to pile on you. However, I do believe that statement ( or something very similar ) was by Ms. Palin, his running mate. Jerry Baumchen

Not trying to pile on either of you but neither actually said that. That statement "I can see Russia from my house" was an SNL skit.

You know, I believe you are right! Thanks for setting me straight on that.

[Yazz]

So Joy, now that you have the F-3 and your riding style is a lot different from how you drove your GS ie. " Duhamel " style ..... how much slower are you in comparison to what you could do on your GS.................Mike

Mike, to be fair, I have more miles on my GS than the F3. Also, I haven't found where Nanny kicks in on the F3 yet. That said, I do the twisties faster on the GS.

The GS is a nimble little beast. I know a few here who will agree.

The F3 is for touring, the GS is for fun.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Mike, to be fair, I have more miles on my GS than the F3. Also, I haven't found where Nanny kicks in on the F3 yet. That said, I do the twisties faster on the GS.

The GS is a nimble little beast. I know a few here who will agree.

The F3 is for touring, the GS is for fun.

............ Mike

[Bob Denman]

The F3 is for touring, the GS is for fun.

It's always best to have the proper weapon handy; when something is about to happen!!

[Yazz]

It's always best to have the proper weapon handy; when something is about to happen!!

Was hoping someone caught that...

[Bob Denman]

nu%20smiley.jpg

[classicvw]

Can I jump in here as a newbie rather than start the 1000th newbie thread?
I never rode a Spyder nor a quad before. I've been riding street bikes for 30+ years over the past 50 years. Nothing crazy fast, mostly Honda CBs, BMWs, and I did ride a Harley in my last two years before retirement as a LEO. I also now own Triumph Bonneville and a Vespa GTS.

IDK if it was a good idea or bad to jump right in. Yesterday I bought a '13 ST from a great person 125 miles away from me. I took a Greyhound bus there and rode the ST home. Tell me if I'm normal (insert joke here). Riding away from his house I felt the front end wiggling on every road imperfection and was worried about my line in the lane and I took the 90* turns very slowly. I was convinced I made a mistake in purchasing it and felt like parking it right there. After the next 3 or so miles I was feeling a lot better. After those first few miles, the ride home was mostly interstate slab. I kept my speed to 66-72 indicated and noticed the curves in Pennsy were banked and I felt good. When I got into Joisey in general, the road surface was worse, and none of the curves have any banking. I noticed if I was cruising at 62-65, in the curves I was slowing to 57-59.

I have to say I don't feel like the centrifugal forces were going to throw me off the Spyder, but the fact that the Spyder doesn't lean made me worry the bike itself was going to roll over. I know this is unreasonable thinking on highway curves at the moderate speeds they are designed for, and with the Nanny system and all, but it still didn't feel good to me and was impossible for me to ignore.

I did at one point, take a break from the interstate and found myself on some twisty country roads. Sometimes I felt confident and was able to keep my speed 'normal' in twisties, sometimes I found myself slowing down IMO, way too much. I was practicing leaning and pressing on the outside peg.
One thing I can't understand of what you guys are saying. In a turn, with me leaning my body into it, how does pressing with my outside foot give enough force to compress the outside suspension? Seems a daunting task what with my body weight going the other way.

Are these feelings and performances normal, after all, it was my first ride? I'm still wondering if I made the right choice. Thanks for listening.