I didn't see you...or how a U-turner got me...

[bikerdoc]

Glad to hear your fine and unhurt! I am a new Motorcylist (Is that correct?) and I have been driving cars and trucks for over 21 years. I have always GREATLY respected Motorcyclist because of the limited protection afforded them, and now I have joined the ranks of the risky! I went today and got my insurance, and I am now waiting on my bill of sale and Origin of Manufacture so I can get my plate. I have NEVER driven a motorcycle EVER before now, so I am going to take a safety course and practice on my street that has VERY little traffic. I am not going to lie at all....I was very scared my first time behind the bars (is that right, or do we say wheel?) and I had a crowd of people watching me! No pressure, right? Anyway, here I am, learning from you all and hoping we all can move along from day to day and not get hurt (or worse) having fun on our bikes! I gotta say up front....I LOVE riding my Chopper!! I haven't gone fast on it, about 30mph/48kmh so far. I wear a helmet and hang on for life!!! Thanks for your post and lesson. I will DEFINATELY be watchful when I hit the roads! By the way, I have a DongFang DF250CHA with a 250cc engine.

Hey great to have you on board here at MCM. Have to admit I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that your location is somewhere outside mainland China, as I read your reply via the automatic notification subscription that MCM sends which didn't display your location.

Now that I am reading your post I can see according to your basic profile info you are in USA, reason this is such a relief, is that China is not the ideal place to be learning to ride a motorcycle IMO. You've got the right attitude already and heading to a riders course will be a very worthwhile investment. Once you've competed it, try and sign up for the next advanced riding course if possible. I hope you also have invested some $$ into good quality riding gear, decent quality helmet, motorcycle jacket, gloves, boots and if you can a set of riding trousers too. Setting yourself up from the get go will be a worthy investment in enjoying the riding experience and develop a good set of riding habits. What motorcycle have you bought? As for motorcycle terminology, and related biker slang, you'll pick it up as you go along... welcome!

[Lao Jia Hou]

Hey Fred

I saw this and immediately thought of your attempt ... "merde!"



(sorry, I can only find the youtube version)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf7g2...layer_embedded

[Nuhaus]

Interesting discussion of that video in the comments on Youtube. Lots of people claiming "fake". I'm not so sure though, he certainly looks scared enough, checking over his shoulders after he gets back on.

[Fred]

Haha, yeah I saw this one before !
Don't really care if it's fake or not, it's funny either way !

As I saw on another forum : how bad can you be that your bike is doing a better job of staying upright when you're not on it ?

[zhu]

Hi Fred, sorry to hear about your mishap and good that you are ok - would have been funny to see you running


Sorry to chime in - as an instructor I couldn't resist when I read the "braking" news.

When it comes to emergency braking, as it had in Fred's case, generally the following shall be done:

1. disengage clutch, close throttle
2. only slightly apply rear brake (to reduce the momentum of the spinning wheel and to stabilize the rear end)
3. firmly apply front brake and increase / decrease force; avoid locking up the wheel though
4. shift your weight back in order to avoid your arms to straighten
5. keep viewing towards the obstacle

If you ride a ABS equipped bike, fully apply both brakes.

As soon as you notice that a collision cannot be avoided, disengage both brakes and veer off to the side you think you can pass the obstacle by counter-steering.

Sounds complicated but isn't. After a bit of practice, the above 5 steps will become one. First, practice braking to standstill and when you think you are firm, try the collision avoiding maneuver.


Fred, not that I want be the smart ass , but from your description (the spot you hit that car), I'm pretty sure you could have avoided the collision with a bit of practice of the above.

Generally the front brake is the more effective brake. Different types of bike constructions have different brake efficiency - front / rear, which is approx. as follows.

heavy cruisers and choppers 50 / 50
cruisers 60 / 40
dual sports 70 / 30
sports bikes 80 / 20


Safe

Fred glad you are ok after that little bingle

@ Chinabiker ..sureley you mean keep your weight foward?

if we are trying to stop the front locking and arms bent .. moving foward would seem to keep more weight on the front, give it more traction thus avoid lock up

[chinabiker]

Fred glad you are ok after that little bingle

@ Chinabiker ..sureley you mean keep your weight foward?

if we are trying to stop the front locking and arms bent .. moving foward would seem to keep more weight on the front, give it more traction thus avoid lock up

No, I mean to shift your weight back. This is to avoid your arms straightening - straight arms mean no ability to steer and the danger of injuries. With your arms bent, you are able to move your handle bar.

[chinabiker]

Interesting discussion of that video in the comments on Youtube. Lots of people claiming "fake". I'm not so sure though, he certainly looks scared enough, checking over his shoulders after he gets back on.

[zhu]

No, I mean to shift your weight back. This is to avoid your arms straightening - straight arms mean no ability to steer and the danger of injuries. With your arms bent, you are able to move your handle bar.

so you are saying i can brake better with less weight on the front wheel?

[chinabiker]

so you are saying i can brake better with less weight on the front wheel?

Well, maybe I said it wrong, so here is another try.
As soon as you decelerate, caused by mass inertia, your upper body want's to move forward.
To avoid biting the handlebar , you could:
- use your arms; this will fail as you will not be able to bear the forces occurring during a emergency braking maneuver
- shift your upper body back; by doing so, your arms shall be bent and free of force to allow you to steer


Your body's weight will remain on the bike and move forward anyway, just not supported by your arms.

[Fred]

A quick update :

I think the boss and mechanics at my shop know me well now, and how pissed I was with their inaccurate time predictions when I was waiting for the bike... They told me 2 weeks to get the parts so I was counting for a month : it took 5 days !
Happy surprise today, all the parts arrived, and everything is changed on the YBR now (front suspension fork, fork T, exhaust cover, handlebars, etc.).

The only part missing is the most visible but not essential, the mudguard. It should arrive in a few days.

So there, happy surprise to have everything changed much quicker than anticipated. I rode the bike a little bit to come home, everything feels fine, I'll do more testing later.