Slow speed manuevers - how do YOU ?

[ohgood]

I'm practicing slow speed stuff:

lock to lock 8's, tiny lock circles, slow speed maneuvers. apparently either the drivetrain slack or the carbs (or me) aren't tight enough to do lock to lock maneuvers without a little clutch slipping.

I've got a major tune up weekend coming up:

valves, carb clean up and rejet, stem bearings, chain adjust, carb sync etc.

I'm hoping things will smooth out even more afterwards. I can do lock to lock 8's and tiny circles with along with slaloms at idle just fine, but the hesitation from idle to partial throttle, or a blip to stabilize the bike isn't as crisp as it should be.
Sooooo, is your fueling smooth enough to do things just off idle, or do you have to clutch it ?

(Not that I mind slipping it, but I wondered how my bike compares in smoothness)

[frankieG]

keep; f\the r[\pms up

[CndnMax]

I wouldn't recommend Slow speed maneuvers at idle, slip the clutch and have the rpm around 3 ish.

[GeeP]

I modulate the throttle and clutch.  The GS *will* do the box in just under 2.5 parking spaces.   

[yamahonkawazuki]

aye. you want to keep the rpms up a bit. incase it gets ready to stall or you get ready to dump it. youve got a chance of gettign out of a minor crash/laydown

[ohgood]

OK, so I'm expecting too much from a gs then, but not wanting to -have- to rely on slipping ?

Not a problem, I just wondered if anyone else's ran smooth enough just off idle to do really slow speed stuff.

Thanks

[Affschnozel]

Mine runs smooth without clutch slippage

[nazgulnarsil]

"The GS *will* do the box in just under 2.5 parking spaces"


slip the clutch, get up out of that seat and lean the bike under you.  I have seen a Honda Goldwing do a U-turn inside 2 parking spaces the GS should be tighter.  I practice in church parking lots on saturdays.   

[CndnMax]

OK, so I'm expecting too much from a gs then, but not wanting to -have- to rely on slipping ?

Not a problem, I just wondered if anyone else's ran smooth enough just off idle to do really slow speed stuff.

Thanks

I've taken off with just the idle but that took quite a bit of slipping, idle is for just that-Idling 

[ohgood]

I'm taking the camera out for my next slowbie day. Wanna see where I'm goofing it and where things look about right. Nope, I'm not posting the vid if I drop it 

[Domindart]

Im a new rider but I was practicing circles ina parking lot and I was getting better results when I just circled in idle.  The bike was pushing itself. 

[ivany]

You really gotta slip the clutch on all bikes, at least that's how we did it in MSF...and use the REAR brake the slow down.

[Ry_Guy]

I actually low-sided with my front tire once when I was practicing some slow speed manuevers. But I was going just fast/slow enough to right it with my foot. I agree with yamahonkawazuki - it helps to keep the rpms up a little.

[ohgood]

Apparently there is some slow speed renaissance going on. There are a couple of posts on tampasportbikes.com about uturns, slow speed practices/meets and slower rides (a few are 'choose your route by poll!' woohoo ) yaay !

Hopefully we can get the speed demons to realize they're not as good as they think. Nothing like dropping your stretched, candied, chromed, and lowed busa at a big meet while filling up (Nothing against busas, most of the folks I've ridden with on them are -very- good riders, and they usually 'sweep' the rides. Nice guys, lots and lots of experience) All it takes is one squid + a busa and it gets scary, fast.

[Affschnozel]

Speaking of busas I've just seen B-king in dealership     that thing is FAT ,forget U turns with that bike 

Yes,and see that link below for some laughs with low speed maneuvering   

[Teek]

Even the cop at the end went down. It looked more like tight maneuvers, going as fast as possible. There was a lot of peg scraping, not to mention road rash! Some of those bikes were classics, ouch!

[Jlittle]

i drop it to first gear throw on the choke and no hands it... ok maybe not but i tend to feather the clutch alot for low speed manuevers.  I do alot of in city riding and i had to learn that quickly to avoid alot of potholes and other obsticals

[ohgood]

i drop it to first gear throw on the choke and no hands it... ok maybe not but i tend to feather the clutch alot for low speed manuevers.  I do alot of in city riding and i had to learn that quickly to avoid alot of potholes and other obsticals

The last lot I found for slowbie practice is missing two manhole covers this week. I didn't get close enough to really worry about it, but from now on I'm dodging all covers, just in case.

[Jlittle]

i absolutely hate hitting any bumps on my gs, bumps me off the dang seat then i drop back down to the seat and hurt my tail bone.  Got my spring compressed as much as it will go. So avoiding manholes and such are a bing thing for me. 

[ohgood]

i absolutely hate hitting any bumps on my gs, bumps me off the dang seat then i drop back down to the seat and hurt my tail bone.  Got my spring compressed as much as it will go. So avoiding manholes and such are a bing thing for me. 

If you get moto-x style on it (life your ass and bend and the elbows) you'll get over larger bumps allot easier. Ya, a manhole would swallow you no matter how you ride

Doesn't compressing the spring make the suspension stiffer, and less comfortable ? :|