* disclaimer *
* I am not a safety instructor *
* the following is just one man's opinion from 1k feet*
* if you want to try this stuff, please first go to a parking lot *
I have kind of made up my own style on handling the turns and it has worked out great for me. It's not going to be easy to explain but I tried to carry over some knowledge from aggressive riding on two wheels. The biggest lesson I ever learned on a sport bike was that I needed to move my whole body and shift my weight. For me the same theory still comes on the Spyder.
Although I'm not getting as many tickets as I used to, I still tend to push it a little more than normal. I also have paranoia that leeds to me to believe that I must be prepared for when the sh&t hits the fan and I need to make some serious moves, real fast. I'm a commuter and not a day goes by without some drama that forces me to get out of a lane and or quickly alter my course. I'm also forced to deal with three types of traffic. Near home its rural/suburb, then I get on tight parkway traffic and finally the really tight traffic in NYC. The tight parkway traffic is the one that really keeps all my senses on high alert. We move very fast in a tight pack on some serious curves. (Saw Mill Parkway if you're from the area. I ride the north end all the way to the south end) It feels like a Nascar race cause we are all within a foot of each other and all breaking the law by at least 15mph.
I'll do my best to describe it here and will use right turns on all the examples. With that being said, this is what works for me;
Arms and Hands
Reading a book from Lee Parks and other classes that I attended in the past taught me to keep one arm limber and make one the power arm. The best way to grasp that concept is to take right turns with your left hand removed from the bar. It forces you to focus on that right arm only. On the Spyder when taking a right turn, I first bring my elbow in towards my body and pull the grip towards my chest. Stay away from pulling with the right and pushing with the left at the same time cause it will throw your body out of position. My turns are always focused on pulling, never pushing. If you push, your weight will be placed on a course that will work against you when you reach higher speeds and g-forces. Yes, pushing works great in the driveway, but if you go pushing at 65mph in to a turn marked for 35mph, you're not going to be properly balanced.
Torso
When taking a right turn I'll shift my torso to the right side to shift more body weight for counter balance. The best way to describe it is that I hang my right butt cheek of the edge and only my left butt cheek is on the seat. The more extreme the turn, the more I go. But the key is to not lean out like on 2 wheels. I keep my head up high. It's important not to lean to maintain the strength of pulling on the bar and in case you need to modify the course back to the left. The more extreme the turn the more that I aim myself forward and to the right. Although my left arm is limber I need to be ready to alter my course, so that if I suddenly need to go left, the puling on the left bar will assist in shifting my torso to the left side instantly.
Legs and feet
When taking a right turn, as my torso shifts to the right and I'm pulling the bar towards me. I'll drop my knee forward towards the side panel that goes over the fan. In heavy turns my knee will press on to it. Meanwhile I'm placing serious pressure on my left foot down on the peg to fight the g-force that wants to pull me out of that position. (on 2 wheels, I would actually be laying all that foot force on to my right foot)
Head
I keep my head up and looking to where I need to go, but always straight, never leaned over. I find that this keeps me more properly orientated.
It's funny to see this post as I just spent a solid 30 minutes or so describing this to a friend today and he mentioned how I should try to make a video of it.... Maybe if time allows it, I'll squeeze one in.
opcorn:
