Goldwing Tight Turns - Chester

[ptynning]

Does Anybody know who Chester is and where he is from??

The tight turns he demos is unbelieveable!

Did he disconnect his Linked Brake System (LBS) on the goldwing in order to ride is back brake a little harder and do some of his slow tight turns??



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I am a Newbe - just bought a 2007 Goldwing fully loaded - What a great bike!

Pete

ptynning@msn.com

[gareva1]

Does Anybody know who Chester is and where he is from??

The tight turns he demos is unbelieveable!

Did he disconnect his Linked Brake System (LBS) on the goldwing in order to ride is back brake a little harder and do some of his slow tight turns??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqi7GONa ... re=related

I am a Newbe - just bought a 2007 Goldwing fully loaded - What a great bike!

Pete

ptynning@msn.com

I don't know who Chester is, but some of his stuff at the beginning is not slow and tight...it's on the border of sloppy for someone who purports to be a trick rider (I'm guessing by his extreme weight shift towards the end)

The best example of slow and tight from his video would be the part where a person is standing in the middle of his turn...that type of turn isn't as difficult as you think, especially with a person in the middle to act as your visual focal point.

You cannot diable the linked brake system on the wing---further, you don't have to; see, the rear brake requires quite a bit of force before any front brake is applied by the LBS...the front on the other hand is based on a hinged caliper on the left side...when you apply front brake, the left caliper rotates slightly upward, pushing a plunger that actuates the rear master cylinder.

You can easily apply a lot of trail braking to the 1800 before you ever encounter the LBS issues that you're concerned about.

GWRRA has a competition called the top gun---it's like the police motorcycle rodeos, but for civilians, and all wings. The two maneuvers that sorta go along with what the video is showing would be the tight u-turn and the "box", which is a simple circle...for the tight u-turn, the novice width is 22ft, intermediate is 20ft, and expert is 18ft---I've just recently cracked the 18ft barrier myself...for the circle box, the circle diameters are 13ft, 11ft, and 9ft for each level...I don't think chester was in the 9ft level for very long.

You may be interested in the Ride Like a Pro dvd series---it has fundamental concepts that will help you make tighter turns.

Although the guy in the video seems very comfortable leaning the bike and scraping parts, I think you could find a better example of tight turns to work with.

Personally, I think this guy is better than the guy in the vid you posted:



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[ptynning]

Thanks Gareval, I also have a Yamaha Royal Star, 1300 cc 800lb bike, I did take the ride like the pro course in Califronia by one of Jerry's instructors. At the end of the course I did have a gool feel for all of the turn manuvers with this the Yamaha.

My new 2007 Goldwing with its low center of gravity feels different when making tight turns, and I do need to practice more on my wing to get use to it.

Thanks for the info on the LBS system, I did not know when the front brake was activated when appling rear brake?
nor could I find that exact info in my shop manuel?

Pete

[maestro319]

I didn't see the video you are talking about, but I assume it was about turning a 2-wheeler. I just got my first bike ( a 1986 GoldWing Aspencade (I LOVE it!!), but it is a trike and I am having trouble by killing the motor when I make a slow turn, like into a driveway, etc. Any help or ideas would be appreciated. (I know...practice...practice...practice!!!)

[WingAdmin]

I didn't see the video you are talking about, but I assume it was about turning a 2-wheeler. I just got my first bike ( a 1986 GoldWing Aspencade (I LOVE it!!), but it is a trike and I am having trouble by killing the motor when I make a slow turn, like into a driveway, etc. Any help or ideas would be appreciated. (I know...practice...practice...practice!!!)

Never ridden a trike, but as long as it doesn't have a limited slip differential (which would cause binding during slow turns), the only thing I can think that would help would be to feather/slip the clutch slightly, and let the engine rev a bit higher, to allow it to generate higher torque, and keep it from stalling out.

[MikeB]

The guy riding the GL1800 in the first link of the first post is a member of the GWTA Northwest Wings Drill Team. I don't think he calls himself a trick rider. He just a very accomplished rider. The video was taken at the Renton Motorcycle Center (RMC) parking lot in Renton, Washington. The GWTA Drill Team practices there regularly

[fysty-1]

I didn't see the video you are talking about, but I assume it was about turning a 2-wheeler. I just got my first bike ( a 1986 GoldWing Aspencade (I LOVE it!!), but it is a trike and I am having trouble by killing the motor when I make a slow turn, like into a driveway, etc. Any help or ideas would be appreciated. (I know...practice...practice...practice!!!)

As stated before it could be the rear end but another place to check out on a beastie of that vintage would be in the steering head for a wire binding in the tight turns. I have the Voyager on mine & I just pull one grip into my hip & usually that means I have to let go of the trottle or clutch completely and I have never had a problem.

[guitarzan]

I've been having trouble at slow speeds. I drop my 1500. I know that I need to practice, practice, practice. Watching that video, I don't sse that he's counter balancing. I'm I missing something?

Thank you
Frank

[newday777]

I've been having trouble at slow speeds. I drop my 1500. I know that I need to practice, practice, practice. Watching that video, I don't sse that he's counter balancing. I'm I missing something?

Thank you
Frank

Do you know what friction zone is?

[newday777]

I've been having trouble at slow speeds. I drop my 1500. I know that I need to practice, practice, practice. Watching that video, I don't sse that he's counter balancing. I'm I missing something?

Thank you
Frank

Have you been using 1st gear or second gear? Clutch feathering and gas.

[newday777]

Try these exercises guitarzan

http://wingworldmag.com/wing_featured/f ... ow-speeds/

[Rednaxs60]

The fellow doing the clean run at wing ding is Steve McKenna from Richmond BC. He was one of the lead instructor at the Roadcraft Motorcycle Academy out of Richmond BC that has unfortunately closed its doors. Did three courses with them because of Steve McKenna and what he could do on his 1800 - my first course with him was on my 1800 of the time. Did two more, one with my '85 Limited Edition, and an advanced course on my then 1800. He was noted for his full lock, full lean slow turns. The last day of the course near its end, he would have each student follow him through the various skill sections, and increased the difficulty of the "follow me" ride until you left the course, or managed to make it to the end of the ride. Regardless of how you did, you learned a lot on the course.

[newday777]

guitarzan
On my ride home just now I thought what is your idle speed set on your 1500?

[guitarzan]

I've been having trouble at slow speeds. I drop my 1500. I know that I need to practice, practice, practice. Watching that video, I don't sse that he's counter balancing. I'm I missing something?

Thank you
Frank

Do you know what friction zone is?

I'm kind of confused about it. Is it that area of letting the clutch handle out until the clutch just starts to grab?

Frank

[tamathumper]

The "friction zone" is when you have the RPMs high (and you hold them there at the same level), while you keep the clutch partially engaged. That way you're able to quickly and smoothly modulate power to the rear wheel when you need it, just using the clutch lever to provide the right amount of friction. It's much smoother than having the clutch out and trying to use the throttle to modulate power, which is very jerky and responds too slowly to avoid a tipover if you're going too slow.

To corner slowly and smoothly, keep your RPMs high, clutch in partially, and drag lightly on the rear brake. Swivel your whole head around and look where you want to be, not down at the ground.

[newday777]

The "friction zone" is when you have the RPMs high (and you hold them there at the same level), while you keep the clutch partially engaged. That way you're able to quickly and smoothly modulate power to the rear wheel when you need it, just using the clutch lever to provide the right amount of friction. It's much smoother than having the clutch out and trying to use the throttle to modulate power, which is very jerky and responds too slowly to avoid a tipover if you're going too slow.

To corner slowly and smoothly, keep your RPMs high, clutch in partially, and drag lightly on the rear brake. Swivel your whole head around and look where you want to be, not down at the ground.

Well said.

[jcn59]

My bike rolls over and plays dead when I try to turn like that. I think I need a Trail 90.

[newday777]

My bike rolls over and plays dead when I try to turn like that. I think I need a Trail 90.

[C-dub]

The "friction zone" is when you have the RPMs high (and you hold them there at the same level), while you keep the clutch partially engaged. That way you're able to quickly and smoothly modulate power to the rear wheel when you need it, just using the clutch lever to provide the right amount of friction. It's much smoother than having the clutch out and trying to use the throttle to modulate power, which is very jerky and responds too slowly to avoid a tipover if you're going too slow.

To corner slowly and smoothly, keep your RPMs high, clutch in partially, and drag lightly on the rear brake. Swivel your whole head around and look where you want to be, not down at the ground.

What are we talking about by high here? 1k, 1.5k, 2k or higher?

[tamathumper]

The real answer is high enough to provide excess power, so that it can be modulated smoothly by the clutch.

Start at 3K and see if that works for you.

[Rednaxs60]

1500 RPM in first should be sufficient. Need to learn how to hear the engine - don't look at the tach, and stay at this RPM. The reason for the higher RPM is to do the slow speed maneuvering, but mostly if you feel the bike going over, keep the same RPM and dump the clutch - the bike will stand up and not fall over for a nap.

[Solo So Long]

The number one reason for dumping your bike is LOOKING DOWN.

"Look down, GO down!"

What you want to do is crank your head around to find the exit point from the turn. Don't look at the ground, don't look at the cones or the paint lines, look where you want to go. All of the clutch feathering in the world won't help you if your eyes are in the wrong place -- but if you're looking where you should be, all of your muscle memory and coordination can work for you.

Back in the Primeval World, when I was being trained, our Kawasaki training bikes had a little switch that would sound a buzzer when the bars were turned to the lock. Like Kwai Chang Cain, when we were able to hold the lock while scraping the floorboards for more than two 360s, it was time to leave. When we could ride the length of the course, and leave no cone down, we were considered to have learned. Fortunately, instead of burning a tiger and a dragon into our arms, the charcoal brazier was just used for the graduation BBQ.