What I learned today. Steering and helmet speakers.

[Easy Rider]

Over the years I've heard a lot about "Look where you want the bike to GO and it will go there."
That was an important piece of advice.
Once you get some miles under your belt and you practice doing that, steering around corners becomes almost automatic.
You don't have to consciously lean/move the bars/etc to get it to turn.

So today I practiced that some on the Spyder. It still works.....and it seemed to keep me from "oversteering" and having jerky corrections in sweeping curves.
Concentrate on where you want to the machine to go AS YOU ENTER THE TURN and don't consciously push the bars; see if it won't actually go there, seemingly by itself.
Then look through the curve as you go around.

The first couple of times I found that I needed to "look my way OUT" of the curve too.

Then......I was having trouble with low volume on my helmet speakers.
Turns out the problem was that the speakers were not positioned correctly, or maybe my ears are in the wrong place.
I took them loose (velcro) and moved both down about an inch.
WOW, what a difference. I had to turn a couple of settings down from almost max. where I had them set.
Much louder now.

Now.....if the new headset I have ordered will get rid of the squeal when transmitting on the CB, I will be a happy camper.

[pegasus1300]

I think as we get older (at least in my experience) we tend to not look far enough ahead. If I think more about looking farther ahead I find it is easier for me to "look where I want to go". Very good point Easy Rider.

[SpyderAnn01]

Over the years I've heard a lot about "Look where you want the bike to GO and it will go there."
That was an important piece of advice.

That's an important piece of advice for life in general.

[bmccaffrey]

That's why a lot of people high and lowside on corners. Not looking around corner

[k7xi]

Your ears were in the wrong place, so you moved them??

[Easy Rider]

Your ears were in the wrong place, so you moved them??

Yes......something like that.

[WA5VHU]

See my post #2 about helmet speakers.

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?95235-Sena-20s-speaker-upgrade-What-did-you-use&highlight=sena+speakers

[ARtraveler]

Great thread subject...and great reading whether we need to "review" or "learn."

Having recently returned to two wheels, I have also found the information to be very helpful. I live on a very winding road with several 15 mph turns--usually sand somewhere on each one. The fact that I also drive a leaner--I had to think about those turns--again.

The look through the curve applies to both.

[JayBros]

It took me a lot of fiddling with my SMH10 helmet speakers to get them positioned exactly where they work best and patience isn't my long suit. It was worth the effort and cheaper than getting my ears moved.

[Wrongway]

Over the years I've heard a lot about "Look where you want the bike to GO and it will go there."
That was an important piece of advice.
Once you get some miles under your belt and you practice doing that, steering around corners becomes almost automatic.
You don't have to consciously lean/move the bars/etc to get it to turn.

So today I practiced that some on the Spyder. It still works.....and it seemed to keep me from "oversteering" and having jerky corrections in sweeping curves.
Concentrate on where you want to the machine to go AS YOU ENTER THE TURN and don't consciously push the bars; see if it won't actually go there, seemingly by itself.
Then look through the curve as you go around.

The first couple of times I found that I needed to "look my way OUT" of the curve too.

Then......I was having trouble with low volume on my helmet speakers.
Turns out the problem was that the speakers were not positioned correctly, or maybe my ears are in the wrong place.
I took them loose (velcro) and moved both down about an inch.
WOW, what a difference. I had to turn a couple of settings down from almost max. where I had them set.
Much louder now.

Now.....if the new headset I have ordered will get rid of the squeal when transmitting on the CB, I will be a happy camper.

Now that I've recovered from your ears being in the wrong place lol, it's interesting that you mentioned the sweeping curves.
On 2 wheels I never had an issue because I knew to look where I wanted to go.
When I got the Spyder I was very jerky through the curves and didn't really understand why....just figured it was the nature of the beast kind of thing.
Then one day my wife and I went on a long ride and we just happened to end up on a lot of roads with long and sometimes 90 degree sweeping curves.
Suddenly a light came on and I just acted as if I was on 2 wheels. Amazing......so smooth.
It's good that you mentioned this because a lot of new Spyder owners may read it which will help them.

And good luck with those ears.

[Easy Rider]

And good luck with those ears.

Got a new helmet and a new headset......so now it is time to experiment with "ear position" when mounting the headset.

Got a Shoei helmet because the salesman assured me that it had GREAT ventilation.
RIGHT. For the price it better have.
I'm tempted to take the cheek pads out and leave them out; that should make getting the speakers positioned right a bit easier.

[Easy Rider]

It's good that you mentioned this because a lot of new Spyder owners may read it which will help them.

A third riding technique item might bear a little discussion: LEANING.

On 2 wheels, a coordinated turn requires a counter-steer AND leaning to the inside of the turn (except for VERY low speed manuvers, where neither of those applies). Without the body lean and/or body shift to the inside, you are fighting yourself trying to make the bike turn like you want it to.

With a Spyder, you lean for a slightly different reason: You need to keep your body at a "balanced" angle to counteract the tendency to throw you off the high side in a turn. If you are NOT leaned IN, fighting the centrifugal force that is trying to lean you OUT will screw with your steering too.

I'm still working on consciously leaning like I need to.
At my age, I suspect that it will never come "automatically" like it did on 2 wheels.