When you do a U turn, don’t stop man, that’s one of the biggest issues when you U turn and get in a tight spot. just commit and keep your head in the direction you’re going
@@rickstanley4570 I did that other day and still dropped the bike when trying to reverse turn. It was a slight hill with gravel and my right foot must of slipped causing the bike to follow it down. It hurt my leg but pride more. I will avoid backing up on a hill now,
Love this guy, getting all vulnerable and letting us in to see his difficulties. Refreshing video, rather this than womping down the road doing crazy speeds while wearing zero riding gear!! Will be practicing slow skills like crazy when I get my bike
Everyone shows themselves messing up these days. You can literally watch motorcycle fails all day there’s so many videos. All of them with the same comment of big props for showing your failure brah.
Look where you want to go, shift your weight to the outer (high side) of the turn , keep the throttle steady and instead of using the throttle, use the friction zone on your clutch to control your speed.
Good to see you practicing so many riders get their license and don’t think they need to practice anymore your load, speed skills, equal confidence throughout your entire ride. I continue to take classes and do practice sessions on a regular basis. Keep up the good work remember the three things that determine your turn your speed, your lean and how far are you turn your handlebars a good way to determine your bikes capability is park your bike on the line of a two parking space with turn your handlebars for a walk and walk it around and see how tight your U-turn is fully upright that’ll give you a nice base to work with
Hey, good job, man. Head and eyes, friction zone and a little pressure on the rear brake. I enjoyed watching your progress. You're right. You have to commit. Can't stop until the bike is straight and upright. 👌🏼
I personally feel more confidence when turning to the left rather than to the right. Did drop my bike once just like you did, and yes its was to the right. Thank you for the video
I was just going to say that! 😅 Although, you should be able to turn right, or left. Because you never know what you might have to do out there... Turning to the left is easier because that's the kick-stand side... everytime you get, on and off the bike, you learn it to the left.
@@maxwell9734 I do not think it has to do with the position of the side stand. Some say preferring a right or left hand turn has to do if you are right or left handed, i. e. right handed people prefer left turns v.v. I also doubt this. E. g. I am right handed, but do right hand turns better, I sm also a little more confident in right hand turn when skiing. I am a "goofy" when it comes to snowboarding in contrast to the majority of boarders, who in snowboard terms are "regulars" (this defines which foot you put in front of the other when staying on the board). As a child I stood with the left foot (the stronger one) on my scooter and kicked back with the right. All my frieds did it the other way round. And when playing soccer I prefer the left leg for kicking, again in contrast to the majority. So ny conclusion is, preferring left or right for turns depends which of your legs/feet is the more "skilled" or stronger one.
@@FTStratLP hmm, I never thought of it that way... It just seems like it was a skill that comes with practice. And, I seem to favor the lean of the bike towards the left. If I skid and slide sideways, I always throw the rear tire off to the right side. If I lay it down, I would want my right leg on top. Although, we should be able to go either direction..
Its because the throttle is on the right and you are scared to make sudden movements to the right. I counter this by pulling the left side towards myself rather than pushing the right side (this is for U turns etc).
You can't hit the front brake while making a slow turn, like pulling into a parking spot, I know I learned the hard way , almost lost it! Lol, good thing it's a lite bike, was able to keep from hitting the ground,!
Slow speed + U-turn = drag the rear brake. ( haven't seen this mentioned in the first 15 comments, it helps immensely with ALL slow speed stuff ) To elaborate: You have three possibilities to control your speed around the U-Turn: 1. Throttle 2. Clutch 3. Use brake on constant ( low ) throttle input. You can also mix and match to your heart's content. Conventional wisdom suggests that out of these three possibilities, using the rear brake by dragging it and engaging it more or less based on your needs yields the most stable bike and offers the most control after mastering the technique. It does not mean that you guys doing it with purely throttle or clutch are wrong, sometimes which technique to use is just a question of either convienence or confidence. It just means that trial riders and motor instructors alike agree on the rear brake dragging thing as offering the most and the biggest benefits. Side note, for your garage, I'd approach from the right, do a ~120° left turn ( 90° won't back in perfectly ), go full opposite lock and waddle it backwards into the garage.
LOVE IT!!! Practice practice practice! part of the awesome thing about riding, you can feel yourself getting better at something, so rewarding. LOVE the color on that Rebel!
That’s also a regular occurrence on dirt bike on a slope where your uphill side distance from your foot is closer and your downhill side is much farther away. Watch some dirt or enduro stuff to see how it’s easily handled.
Yup! We all have a preferred side for turning, even the pros, Rossi said it himself! For me it's left turns that are easier. I struggle more with the right turns!
Just relax and find a big level area. Do a bunch of figure-8's. Each time you complete an '8' slow down and do a smaller one... And, a smaller one. And, a smaller one. Then, go the opposite direction and repeat the process. Feather the clutch and keep a steady throttle on. Do some 'S's too and speed up, the slow down... real slow, and come to a complete stop... Without putting your feet down. Just keep it simple and don't do it for a long time. Just about an hour, then go riding... Wait a day or two and do another hour... It's simple, but you'll find that going just a bit faster, will make it smoother.
Here inthe UK this is part of the Module 1 test that you have to pass before moving onto the Module 2. The Module 1 tests your slow manouvering skills which includes manually handling the motorcycle (pushing it from one area to another) Riding between cones (without hitting them or putting a foot down) 2 X figure eight's between cones (again without hitting them or putting a foot down) also riding at walking speed an emergency stop, a U-turn and a few other things. The Module 2 is out on the roads being followed by an examiner giving you instructions through a headset. We have to jump through hoops over here to get a full motorcycle licence.
Same in Spain, this is part of the maneuver test that precedes the open roads test. You need to pass both to be able to get your A2 driving license (or your A1 if you are under 18). Although our U-turn is 11m wide (it's to be done at speed). I think your module 1 is a set of exercises that you must pass independently, innit?. In Spain they decided to create two circuits including all those exercises for the maneuver test. It's considered the most complex driving test along the truck maneuvers one (and in the opinion of everybody, it's unnecessarily hard, so I think your approach is better). You can see it here if you are curious: th-cam.com/video/XaxiJu-DRBw/w-d-xo.html (red bike is shown because the first circuit has different sizes for small bikes, but they are the same exercises).
I find that aside from throttle control, clutch control, and looking where you're going, pressing on the opposite footpeg and dragging the rear brake helps a massive amount. U-turns to the right still get me and I need to practice them more on my new bike even though I've been riding for a decade now.
I watched ALL the vids and couldn't conquer my fear. I saw your footpeg comment and tried it. Wow! I found myself doing a U turn!! I'm stunned and SO grateful. Thanks a zillion. Sometimes it's that single explicit instruction that makes all the difference.
You can also add counter balancing to this turn. Shift your body to the outside, turn, lean and steer the bike. You will be able to complete this turn with more ease.
Hey mate, is it OK to feature your clip in a moto edit some time soon? It will be credited in the description & comments section with your name watermarked on the clip. Thanks, MM
Started out on a rebel too mine was silver. Could definitely relate to dropping my bike. I guess I'm not the only one with a gash on the exhaust now lol
I really love moto gymkhana but I can't find anywhere to do it in Melbourne. gonna start a club. Anyway, I spent ages in carparks getting my skills up after I got my licence. The key with U turns is pivot the bike under you, keep speed up and more importantly turn your head to look over your shoulder the way you wanna go
Great practice session! It might be easier to make a 90° turn in the driveway, stop a few feet from parallel to the garage door, and then full lock reverse 90° into the garage, that way you don't have to push the bike all the way up the hill.
He should absolutely do that. I do the opposite with a much steeper driveway: pull in straight leave by backing 90, then driving forward the other 90 down. The nice thing about having the bike face up the hill is i never have to push it up. I have brakes to easily control it rolling down for me and an engine for any uphill movement. At worst, i push the bike a few feet at a flat/neutral angle that rolls easily.
If you’re still struggling with U-Turns, watch the Ride Like a Pro videos. I used to ride a Road King and always dreaded tight U-Turns. After 5 years without riding, I’m about to get another bike and I’m definitely going to buy the Motorman’s videos and practice more.
I just drop my bike trying to do a u-turn on a slight hill, but not too wide. I already done some with success but today was terrible and was distracted with something and push all the way the clutch in a too much slow speed: not good, obviously the bike didn’t like it! I’m a recent rider but until some 2-3 weeks ago after of before I went to ride I practiced a lot of slow speed maneuvers (8s , u-turns, starting and stoping), emergency stops and more. I already was kind of good with this and because I didn’t practiced no more, it seems I lost the progress I already did. No more! I have to commit myself again to continuously practice every technique I learned. So, after dropping my bike 😢 I returned to where I live and did some practice again. Man, my 8’s are not the same as they were when I practiced a lot. When arrived home searching for some TH-cam videos about u-turns on hills and found your video. It was inspiring your commitment to practice something that’s clearly not in your comfort zone and share, anyway, your fears that I really understand and feel. Thank you (even being a 1 year old video). I already knew that continuous practice is important but after a while my commitment’s went down. My fail today was really a reality check, it shook me up!
I noticed at the top of the turn you slow down & reduce your throttle, You'd have a much easier time making the turn if you set the throttle & leaned into the turn when you turn your handle bars fully. I drive a 2021 Softail Slim 117, the bikes around 720lbs & I'm barely 115. It wont fall over aslong as you set your throttle & don't reduce your speed to much in the turn. You should keep the same speed all the way through.
My BMW R1150GS was lying the other way around in the dirt recently. Second bike I own, 2nd bike that took some nap-time while parked. Never went down while riding so far, still doesn't means I will find my ride back upright where I left it. Damned painful lesson I never saw coming.
Same boat man I have a sports bike and turning right is so much harder for me. So I do the same kinda of practice.Keep up the good work! One thing you can do as it relates to 180ing a parked bike(no a riding technique) But you can try a kickstand turn. That is what I do when I pull in and need the turn the bike around in the garage. Look it up and see if it works for you. Be advised it is something that requires you to have steel kickstand as all the weight of the bike is on the stand as you pivot it around. Maybe more advance long time riders will chime in and say its not a good idea. But it was something I learned to do so I don't have to Austin Powers my 450lb bike to get in the direction I need to face after parking it head in. All the best; stay safe
For refrence, most US parking spaces are usually 9 feet by 18 feet. Two would be a 18 by 18 foot box. Perfect size for circles. Two wide by two deep is a 18 by 36 foot box. Perfect for oval-shaped U-turn practice. The "road" between two sets of spaces is usually 24 feet wide. So two spaces on either side of the "road" make a 18 by 60 foot box. Perfect for figure 8s.
U-turns. … 1) keep throttle/engine rpm constant (1200 to 1800 rpm - on bikes like Kawasaki zx14r - you don’t need to use the throttle because the bike just wants to go at idle speed) 2) keep clutch in friction zone (meaning you got power going to the rear wheel) 3) once you commit to the u-turn, turn your head to where you want to go, which is usually behind you, turn your head and keep it turned, focus on something down the road, 4) use the rear brake only to control speed of bike (4-5 mph and above. You have to trust that your bike will go where you head is pointed. Practice practice practice to build up your trust and self-confidence Finally, you have to train your muscles to make that tight left or right u-turns. Say if your right-turns are wider, then you have to keep practicing until you train your muscles to make a tighter turn.
Also try to get it to full lock as quickly as possible. And don't make steering adjustments once you start the turn. The turning circle gets wider and you will run out of momentum and space. So try to lean enough at the start and once it starts just let the bike do its thing and keep following through your head turn and vision.
PS from Stefano, Germany: And the best is that once you have the skill you can practice slow driving in your daily ride while approaching a red light or in a traffic jam. 😊
Hmmm 🤷♂️I can see it is possible to Not use the friction zone & work the throttle only on a U-Turn, but my experience has been to use the clutch as the “modulator-of-power” to the rear wheel. Most throttles are just not able to fine tune the engine rpm for slower work a U-Turn work call for. Keep the revs up a bit, modulate the power by slipping the clutch a tad here and there (wet clutches are robust enough not to have any issues with this infrequent driving condition…) My hats off to you for being able to pull this maneuver off not using the clutch. But, what I think is you are so smart putting in the practice to master this maneuver! Great effort sir 🫡👍😎. On not using the clutch to modulate the power from the engine, imagine using the throttle (gas pedal on a car with a manual transmission) to pull up to a stop sign, but not completely stop and then take off without using the clutch, just the throttle and brake. Chances of stalling are good. No problem with a car, they don’t fall over, but a MC that has a lot of weight above the axle line (I forget what it’s called) it’s going to buck and stall and if you’re in the middle of a turn, it’s going to want to fall once the engine stalls… . My mc holds 7.5 gal.s in its tank, and it’s way top heavy. Low speed maneuvers require focus, commitment, and practice. Thanks for sharing your practice time with us. 👍😎
That's great that you're practicing but for those who don't have the confidence yet or have a super heavy bike, think about getting a motorcycle dolly that you can just park on & then turn your bike around in the garage or just outside. Or, learn to turn your bike 180 by using the side stand like a monopod as you tilt the whole bike sideways on it. Just 2 cents
Practice with the friction zone on your clutch engagement, with the lever. A fine level of coordination between throttle and friction zone of the clutch will give you the desired results.
I get the value of wanting to make a simple u turn in your driveway to street and the practicing to that end. But, I have a very similar driveway. Maybe a bit steeper incline. I don't even bother. I roll in and up on one side point the front wheel as far up towards garage on the opposite side. Let it roll back with bars turned, give me room to complete the turn and go. Takes 20 seconds tops. Just two moves instead of one continuous.
To be honest I still do this a lot! Still working on the u-turn on the new bike, but I’ll get there! I think for me it’s about the skill building and practice more than anything else.
Hi. I found your channel only now and your video is 9 months old, so may be my help is not needed any more. But anyway: I fully understand your hesitation. It is not only about vision and selfconfidence.... it is all about driving VERY slow. And once you know how, it will be easy and... it will make LOTS of fun...you will se... So here we go: Your best partner is the rear break. At the beginning drive straight forward, no turns.... Try to break with your rear break, give a bit of gas (the more you give, the stable the bike will be) and search the point on the clutch when the bike starts to push forward. Give more gas and release a bit (but still stay on) the rear break.... You will see that the bike is stable also very slowly moving. This is due to the gas/break play but also due to the motor working (not too low gas, should be around 3000 refs, the mecanical parts of the motor will give stability by rotating).... Once you can do slow bends you can start with wide turns. You will see that after a bit of practice you will be able to drive the bike on 5 km/h easily, even stop it during practicing and restarting without putting your feet down... it is a great skill to have... PS: Should you ever feel unconfortable (will surely be at the beginning), then put the steering right forward (not bend) and then you can break without danger. Wish you the best and kind regards from Germany, Stefano
If you go to the left lean your whole body to the right of the bike and push it down, it might sound scary in the beginning but trust me if you give enough throttle or just don’t touch the clutch, the bike won’t drop bc of the momentum in the tires
i just dropped my brand new bike doing a right u turn on a hill , im soo sad . beginer aswel . i didnt think it would be hard . now i have a nice mark on my bike :( looked up your vid . wish i saw it sooner
hey, thanks for sharing this to me refreshingly honest video of a guy trying to learn something and taking us on the journey. (y) i personally am practising uturns too atm. my go to guys currently are motojitsu and "moto control", don´t know if you know them, but to me at least seeing their videos was really helpfull to spot some problems i kept repeating. it might be the same for you. Am curious if there will be a video possible to watch after this one on celebration that you figured it out. Anyhow, enjoy the ride and gaining of experience, ,-) Thanks for filming and sharing this in times of beauty filter, campaigned videos and viral marketing, it´s nice to see normal humans having normal problems, like turning in the uphill driveway . thumbs up for this mate.:D really! Marius
Thanks, and glad you got some value from the video! I think there will be a follow on video at some point...featuring a new bike this time. Since switching from the Rebel 500 to my 2018 SV650, I for sure need to repeat the whole process and learn again on the new bike. The SV doesn't have quite the steering lock that the Rebel had, so more lean angle it is!
I'd be interested in seeing a U-turn from a dead stop on a hill with your bike facing upward. I'm just getting into slow speed maneuver's, and I have many of these in my area. Not sure you're reading the comments anymore, but I got a lot of information from your trial and errors.
If you do park on a hill, it's better to have your bike climbing than facing down the hill.. leave it in gear and it can't go anywhere. If you park it down hill, even if you have it in gear and it doesn't roll the wind or someone could bump it and collapse the kickstand and its gonna be headed to the ground... In my opinion on the maneuvering the hill, to turn around I would have pulled up at an angle on the far edge and use the front brake and clutch to walk it backwards straight back until i had enough space ahead of me to turn and pull out. But with that being said, I'm 140lbs on a 800lb street glide. I had to learn to use the terrain to my advantage.
Not really sure how you're seated during the u-turn as it's pretty hard to see from the camera's perspective, but the number one thing to do if you want a tighter u-turn is to let the bike roll under you, and counter it by shifting your weight, even if you perform the u-turn on a hill. Completely lock the steering in the turn direction, straighten your inside arm (the arm pointing in towards the turn) and use that as your limit to how far you can lean away from the inside with your upper body, effectively shifting the weight so you don't fall into the u-turn when you let the bike roll under you. Scary for sure to begin with, but when you stop being completely glued to the seat and let the bike do its thing you'll be able to complete a u-turn on tighter spaces than an 18-foot driveway. But this video being from 9 months ago I'm sure you've really got the hang of it by now. For anyone else coming by here if you want to see a better explanation of what the hell I'm even on about, check out "How to u-turn" by Bret Tacks. That video explains it pretty much how my instructor did when I first got on a bike.
I'll be the pot calling the kettle black: It shouldn't be throttle control is you are near stalling. You should switch to a little more throttle but use your clutch as speed control. Then you won't risk stalling and lurching/pitching over. 2nd tip: watch some off-road videos and use their body techniques at low speed. Ride an off-road bike if you can. It made me so much more controlled and free-moving. Just today, i was mid corner and an oil track was spilled on the road. It was very nice to be able to tighten my line, know i was easily avoiding it but also have the confidence that even if i was forced to cross it, my bike was counterbalanced and wouldn't fall.
As much as i hate stupid trends, *the easiest was to remember how is to dab* It also helps with visibility and keeping your body out of the way of tight traffic.
I fucked myself up pretty bad doing this had my 650r land on my left foot and basically dislocated my small toe, felt it shifiting around and it almost made me black out, thankfully Ive had low blood pressure issues for a long time and know how to stop myself from blacking out, sounds crazy,, because it was lmao! wont do that ever again, and yes it healed on its own and I was lucky enough leaving my shoe on and tightening it was enough to get my toe to eventually go back into place. That was a crappy day ahaha 😂😂😂😂
Stay off the front brake, (that's why you dropped it in your driveway, by hitting the front brake midway through turn) Lighty keep your foot on rear brake and keep your head turned in direction of turn.
Do you use the rearbrake to make the turn more stable? I have to do the same every spring. Go to a parking lot and practice, takes a while to get the musclememory to wake up 😂.
the elevation of the county is 12 feet above sea level .... the closest things we have to hills are called "speed bumps" and we find it difficult to do Uturns on them
Hey Darren, yeah I think it's the same in the US too. The MSF teaches a couple drills during the course that include U turns, but not this tight! There's a huge difference between 24ft and 18ft...just gotta practice more!
Lean the bike more but you stay upright (i.e move your bum to the high edge of the seat) to create a smaller turning circle that doesn't require full lock. Practice on a larger turning circle first to get confidence at it. This is also how the police do cornering at speed in order to remain fully in control of the bike, rather than getting their knee down.
Theres a spot i ride at and at the end i have to u turn up a hill on a 90 deg bend on a road entry point with loose gravel now thats interesting lol. Nearly wemt from under me other day 😮😅 good practice though.
Let your clutch, barely engage look all the way over to your left, or all the way over to your right, and use a little bit of rear brake against the throttle
1 thing i know never turn the handle to the maximum and your body need to be a bit ahead. with enough speed and if you want additional balancing you may get your feet down
😂, yesterday I dropped my bike, twice. I was practicing circle to the right, from big circle to smaller one. My weight is only 50kg, the bike is 200+ kg. My last bike was about 130kg. So it's very tough adapting to the new one. Considering to sell it again 😅
Yoy can do it! If you love the bike keep at it and you’ll get there. Lots of resources online on how to handle big bikes. Check out Doodle on a Motorcycle and Jocelin Snow!
I appreciate you commentary, it is exactly my inner monologue. But I have not had the confidence to have follow through since I did a slow speed drop exactly like you had in your driveway. I think I will give it another shot.
i think the biggest thing when you stand the bike straight up at 5 mph or less its really hard to turn. if you stay around 10 mph if will feel more natural over time and another thing that helped me was take your weight off the bars and lighten the grip.
Um, they actually sell tape measures in several stores like Lowe's, Home Depot, Target, Walmart, most auto parts stores, etc. Maybe you ought to consider buying one. Your shoe is not a foot. OR just go watch a few Jerry Palladino videos.
turn your head look where you want to go bike will follow. don't use break your speed should be set entering such a slow speed u turn or just very very little throttle. I usually find my throttle is good enough to make 1 small u turn entering it.
It's been a while, you probably mastered it by now, but looking at the footage of the fall, it's pretty clear to me the problem isn't your riding skills, it's simply your eyes! At around the half point of the turn you seem to start focussing on the plant and/or the soil bags because you got scared of hitting them! The bike goes where your eyes go. So once the bike is lined up with the planters, and your eyes are on them as well, you loose your balance. instead, as soon as you are able to, turn your head more, and look a the sidewalk in front of your driveway again. I PROMISE this is gonna fix it!
That sucks. I did much the same thing when working on low speed drills in the parking lot while on my RE 350 meteor. It has a rocker shifter and As I made the slow turn, I gave it throttle to pull out and the near fall point only to learn my heel had inadvertently pushed down in the rear portion of the rocker and put me in neutral.I was luck it did almost no damage but it pissed me off. I will be changing to full toe shifter after market shifter soon.
When you do a U turn, don’t stop man, that’s one of the biggest issues when you U turn and get in a tight spot. just commit and keep your head in the direction you’re going
Thank you
Don't do a u turn, just turn in and back up.
@@rickstanley4570 or you can do that lol
@@rickstanley4570 I did that other day and still dropped the bike when trying to reverse turn. It was a slight hill with gravel and my right foot must of slipped causing the bike to follow it down. It hurt my leg but pride more. I will avoid backing up on a hill now,
@@jadonxthats why I prefer light bikes
Love this guy, getting all vulnerable and letting us in to see his difficulties. Refreshing video, rather this than womping down the road doing crazy speeds while wearing zero riding gear!! Will be practicing slow skills like crazy when I get my bike
Thank you! Sometimes you gotta just put your experience out into the world. Congrats on getting a bike...which one are you thinking you'll pick up?
@@chrisnclements not sure to be honest, probably honda or bmw😊
Everyone shows themselves messing up these days. You can literally watch motorcycle fails all day there’s so many videos.
All of them with the same comment of big props for showing your failure brah.
@@zealous72 Thats a huge variation lol, to each his own, but if you wanna save a lot of money get the honda
@@chrisnclements slow speed maneuvers are clutch control.. u learn this in the msf course doing the figure 8
Look where you want to go, shift your weight to the outer (high side) of the turn , keep the throttle steady and instead of using the throttle, use the friction zone on your clutch to control your speed.
Also feather the back brake keep the revs up a little bit to compensate and you’ll turn on a dime
Good to see you practicing so many riders get their license and don’t think they need to practice anymore your load, speed skills, equal confidence throughout your entire ride. I continue to take classes and do practice sessions on a regular basis. Keep up the good work remember the three things that determine your turn your speed, your lean and how far are you turn your handlebars a good way to determine your bikes capability is park your bike on the line of a two parking space with turn your handlebars for a walk and walk it around and see how tight your U-turn is fully upright that’ll give you a nice base to work with
Hey, good job, man. Head and eyes, friction zone and a little pressure on the rear brake. I enjoyed watching your progress. You're right. You have to commit. Can't stop until the bike is straight and upright. 👌🏼
I personally feel more confidence when turning to the left rather than to the right. Did drop my bike once just like you did, and yes its was to the right. Thank you for the video
I was just going to say that! 😅
Although, you should be able to turn right, or left. Because you never know what you might have to do out there...
Turning to the left is easier because that's the kick-stand side... everytime you get, on and off the bike, you learn it to the left.
@@maxwell9734 I do not think it has to do with the position of the side stand.
Some say preferring a right or left hand turn has to do if you are right or left handed, i. e. right handed people prefer left turns v.v.
I also doubt this. E. g. I am right handed, but do right hand turns better, I sm also a little more confident in right hand turn when skiing. I am a "goofy" when it comes to snowboarding in contrast to the majority of boarders, who in snowboard terms are "regulars" (this defines which foot you put in front of the other when staying on the board). As a child I stood with the left foot (the stronger one) on my scooter and kicked back with the right. All my frieds did it the other way round. And when playing soccer I prefer the left leg for kicking, again in contrast to the majority. So ny conclusion is, preferring left or right for turns depends which of your legs/feet is the more "skilled" or stronger one.
@@FTStratLP hmm, I never thought of it that way... It just seems like it was a skill that comes with practice. And, I seem to favor the lean of the bike towards the left. If I skid and slide sideways, I always throw the rear tire off to the right side. If I lay it down, I would want my right leg on top. Although, we should be able to go either direction..
Its because the throttle is on the right and you are scared to make sudden movements to the right. I counter this by pulling the left side towards myself rather than pushing the right side (this is for U turns etc).
You can't hit the front brake while making a slow turn, like pulling into a parking spot, I know I learned the hard way , almost lost it! Lol, good thing it's a lite bike, was able to keep from hitting the ground,!
Slow speed + U-turn = drag the rear brake.
( haven't seen this mentioned in the first 15 comments, it helps immensely with ALL slow speed stuff )
To elaborate: You have three possibilities to control your speed around the U-Turn: 1. Throttle 2. Clutch 3. Use brake on constant ( low ) throttle input. You can also mix and match to your heart's content.
Conventional wisdom suggests that out of these three possibilities, using the rear brake by dragging it and engaging it more or less based on your needs yields the most stable bike and offers the most control after mastering the technique.
It does not mean that you guys doing it with purely throttle or clutch are wrong, sometimes which technique to use is just a question of either convienence or confidence. It just means that trial riders and motor instructors alike agree on the rear brake dragging thing as offering the most and the biggest benefits.
Side note, for your garage, I'd approach from the right, do a ~120° left turn ( 90° won't back in perfectly ), go full opposite lock and waddle it backwards into the garage.
Dragging the brake helps, a little bike like that friction zone should have been sufficient
Love the Color of your bike. Reminds me of the old BSA 250 scrambler of the 60’s and 70s
LOVE IT!!! Practice practice practice! part of the awesome thing about riding, you can feel yourself getting better at something, so rewarding. LOVE the color on that Rebel!
Totally agreed, I've made huge strides even since this video was shot. Keep at it! And yeah, that orange was amazing!
That’s also a regular occurrence on dirt bike on a slope where your uphill side distance from your foot is closer and your downhill side is much farther away. Watch some dirt or enduro stuff to see how it’s easily handled.
Ride Like A Pro has tons of videos on slow speed maneuvers and using the rear brake when making u turns. Practice makes progress 👍🏻
Glad to see you pick it up the right way.
Absolutely! Having pulled muscles in my back at the gym before, I definitely DON'T want to have bad form picking up the bike!
I was practicing u turns tonight after 7 years off a bike. I had to practice more on left turns. Can be tricky but did quite well considering. 😊
Yup! We all have a preferred side for turning, even the pros, Rossi said it himself! For me it's left turns that are easier. I struggle more with the right turns!
Just relax and find a big level area. Do a bunch of figure-8's. Each time you complete an '8' slow down and do a smaller one... And, a smaller one. And, a smaller one. Then, go the opposite direction and repeat the process. Feather the clutch and keep a steady throttle on. Do some 'S's too and speed up, the slow down... real slow, and come to a complete stop... Without putting your feet down. Just keep it simple and don't do it for a long time. Just about an hour, then go riding... Wait a day or two and do another hour... It's simple, but you'll find that going just a bit faster, will make it smoother.
Here inthe UK this is part of the Module 1 test that you have to pass before moving onto the Module 2. The Module 1 tests your slow manouvering skills which includes manually handling the motorcycle (pushing it from one area to another) Riding between cones (without hitting them or putting a foot down) 2 X figure eight's between cones (again without hitting them or putting a foot down) also riding at walking speed an emergency stop, a U-turn and a few other things. The Module 2 is out on the roads being followed by an examiner giving you instructions through a headset. We have to jump through hoops over here to get a full motorcycle licence.
Same in Spain, this is part of the maneuver test that precedes the open roads test. You need to pass both to be able to get your A2 driving license (or your A1 if you are under 18). Although our U-turn is 11m wide (it's to be done at speed).
I think your module 1 is a set of exercises that you must pass independently, innit?. In Spain they decided to create two circuits including all those exercises for the maneuver test. It's considered the most complex driving test along the truck maneuvers one (and in the opinion of everybody, it's unnecessarily hard, so I think your approach is better).
You can see it here if you are curious: th-cam.com/video/XaxiJu-DRBw/w-d-xo.html (red bike is shown because the first circuit has different sizes for small bikes, but they are the same exercises).
Indeed, though our u-turns and the rest of Module 1 are on flat ground.
Its exactly the same for us in the netherlands!
best motorcycle video i've ever seen keep going
Well played, did the right thing and persisted until proficient. 👏
Awesome!!! 👍🔥🔥👏🏻😊 Thanks for sharing this with us!! You did it!!! That’s a hard one!
I find that aside from throttle control, clutch control, and looking where you're going, pressing on the opposite footpeg and dragging the rear brake helps a massive amount. U-turns to the right still get me and I need to practice them more on my new bike even though I've been riding for a decade now.
I watched ALL the vids and couldn't conquer my fear. I saw your footpeg comment and tried it. Wow! I found myself doing a U turn!! I'm stunned and SO grateful. Thanks a zillion. Sometimes it's that single explicit instruction that makes all the difference.
@@piggysister01 I'm glad it helped.👍
You can also add counter balancing to this turn. Shift your body to the outside, turn, lean and steer the bike. You will be able to complete this turn with more ease.
Hey mate, is it OK to feature your clip in a moto edit some time soon? It will be credited in the description & comments section with your name watermarked on the clip. Thanks, MM
Did you do it ?
@@deshawndarius No reply from owner so no use
Well done for putting the work in 👍
This is a really good looking bike, congrats! Ride safe all the time!
Beautiful Machine brother... Good thing you had those side guards "I believe that's the name" repairs are way more affordable
Absolutely. I think it was $20 for a new lever instead of a dented tank, etc.
Nice work. I really like the bright orange on your bike👌🏻
Started out on a rebel too mine was silver. Could definitely relate to dropping my bike. I guess I'm not the only one with a gash on the exhaust now lol
I went through this situation one time and was really messing. Never put me in this position again. But good advice is always welcome.
I really love moto gymkhana but I can't find anywhere to do it in Melbourne. gonna start a club.
Anyway, I spent ages in carparks getting my skills up after I got my licence. The key with U turns is pivot the bike under you, keep speed up and more importantly turn your head to look over your shoulder the way you wanna go
Great practice session! It might be easier to make a 90° turn in the driveway, stop a few feet from parallel to the garage door, and then full lock reverse 90° into the garage, that way you don't have to push the bike all the way up the hill.
He should absolutely do that.
I do the opposite with a much steeper driveway:
pull in straight
leave by backing 90, then driving forward the other 90 down.
The nice thing about having the bike face up the hill is i never have to push it up. I have brakes to easily control it rolling down for me and an engine for any uphill movement.
At worst, i push the bike a few feet at a flat/neutral angle that rolls easily.
If you’re still struggling with U-Turns, watch the Ride Like a Pro videos. I used to ride a Road King and always dreaded tight U-Turns. After 5 years without riding, I’m about to get another bike and I’m definitely going to buy the Motorman’s videos and practice more.
Nice job and we can all use practice. Ride safe
We've all done it man, looked like a easy hit, hopefully just the brake handle
Yo have done good.. brilliant video...I respect the difficulties getting used to turning the bike..I have been there like you!!..
I just drop my bike trying to do a u-turn on a slight hill, but not too wide.
I already done some with success but today was terrible and was distracted with something and push all the way the clutch in a too much slow speed: not good, obviously the bike didn’t like it!
I’m a recent rider but until some 2-3 weeks ago after of before I went to ride I practiced a lot of slow speed maneuvers (8s , u-turns, starting and stoping), emergency stops and more. I already was kind of good with this and because I didn’t practiced no more, it seems I lost the progress I already did. No more! I have to commit myself again to continuously practice every technique I learned.
So, after dropping my bike 😢 I returned to where I live and did some practice again. Man, my 8’s are not the same as they were when I practiced a lot. When arrived home searching for some TH-cam videos about u-turns on hills and found your video.
It was inspiring your commitment to practice something that’s clearly not in your comfort zone and share, anyway, your fears that I really understand and feel. Thank you (even being a 1 year old video).
I already knew that continuous practice is important but after a while my commitment’s went down. My fail today was really a reality check, it shook me up!
I noticed at the top of the turn you slow down & reduce your throttle, You'd have a much easier time making the turn if you set the throttle & leaned into the turn
when you turn your handle bars fully. I drive a 2021 Softail Slim 117, the bikes around 720lbs & I'm barely 115. It wont fall over aslong as you set your throttle & don't reduce your speed
to much in the turn. You should keep the same speed all the way through.
It's better to learn this using clutch fiction zone to control the speed. The bike will naturally balance itself, also on low speeds.
See the videos of moto control
My BMW R1150GS was lying the other way around in the dirt recently.
Second bike I own, 2nd bike that took some nap-time while parked.
Never went down while riding so far, still doesn't means I will find my ride back upright where I left it.
Damned painful lesson I never saw coming.
It's all part of the process : )
Lean angle will be your friend making tight u turns. Play in the friction zone as long as you have power to the real wheel the bike will not fall.
Always look where you go don’t look down you will be fine good luck 🤞
Thanks so much, I learned a lot watching the video. You can really see how much easier you made the turns when you turned your head and committed.
Same boat man I have a sports bike and turning right is so much harder for me. So I do the same kinda of practice.Keep up the good work! One thing you can do as it relates to 180ing a parked bike(no a riding technique) But you can try a kickstand turn. That is what I do when I pull in and need the turn the bike around in the garage. Look it up and see if it works for you. Be advised it is something that requires you to have steel kickstand as all the weight of the bike is on the stand as you pivot it around. Maybe more advance long time riders will chime in and say its not a good idea. But it was something I learned to do so I don't have to Austin Powers my 450lb bike to get in the direction I need to face after parking it head in. All the best; stay safe
For refrence, most US parking spaces are usually 9 feet by 18 feet. Two would be a 18 by 18 foot box. Perfect size for circles. Two wide by two deep is a 18 by 36 foot box. Perfect for oval-shaped U-turn practice. The "road" between two sets of spaces is usually 24 feet wide. So two spaces on either side of the "road" make a 18 by 60 foot box. Perfect for figure 8s.
Good on ya mate! Love that orange colour! Those crash bars a worth their money.
U-turns. …
1) keep throttle/engine rpm constant (1200 to 1800 rpm - on bikes like Kawasaki zx14r - you don’t need to use the throttle because the bike just wants to go at idle speed)
2) keep clutch in friction zone (meaning you got power going to the rear wheel)
3) once you commit to the u-turn, turn your head to where you want to go, which is usually behind you, turn your head and keep it turned, focus on something down the road,
4) use the rear brake only to control speed of bike (4-5 mph and above.
You have to trust that your bike will go where you head is pointed. Practice practice practice to build up your trust and self-confidence
Finally, you have to train your muscles to make that tight left or right u-turns. Say if your right-turns are wider, then you have to keep practicing until you train your muscles to make a tighter turn.
Preload - drag your rear brake keeping in the friction zone adjust throttle as needed
Also try to get it to full lock as quickly as possible. And don't make steering adjustments once you start the turn. The turning circle gets wider and you will run out of momentum and space. So try to lean enough at the start and once it starts just let the bike do its thing and keep following through your head turn and vision.
PS from Stefano, Germany:
And the best is that once you have the skill you can practice slow driving in your daily ride while approaching a red light or in a traffic jam. 😊
Smart choice putting some „training wheels“ on!😂
Hmmm 🤷♂️I can see it is possible to Not use the friction zone & work the throttle only on a U-Turn, but my experience has been to use the clutch as the “modulator-of-power” to the rear wheel. Most throttles are just not able to fine tune the engine rpm for slower work a U-Turn work call for. Keep the revs up a bit, modulate the power by slipping the clutch a tad here and there (wet clutches are robust enough not to have any issues with this infrequent driving condition…) My hats off to you for being able to pull this maneuver off not using the clutch. But, what I think is you are so smart putting in the practice to master this maneuver! Great effort sir 🫡👍😎.
On not using the clutch to modulate the power from the engine, imagine using the throttle (gas pedal on a car with a manual transmission) to pull up to a stop sign, but not completely stop and then take off without using the clutch, just the throttle and brake. Chances of stalling are good. No problem with a car, they don’t fall over, but a MC that has a lot of weight above the axle line (I forget what it’s called) it’s going to buck and stall and if you’re in the middle of a turn, it’s going to want to fall once the engine stalls… . My mc holds 7.5 gal.s in its tank, and it’s way top heavy. Low speed maneuvers require focus, commitment, and practice. Thanks for sharing your practice time with us. 👍😎
nice work mate! We are all learning everyday. Keep up the good work.
All been there. Good on you buddy. Chin up. 👍 oh , and love the bike.
Someone has probably mentioned it, but are you using your rear brake? A little pressure on it helps with slow speed balance.
Motojitsu is amazing!!
That's great that you're practicing but for those who don't have the confidence yet or have a super heavy bike, think about getting a motorcycle dolly that you can just park on & then turn your bike around in the garage or just outside. Or, learn to turn your bike 180 by using the side stand like a monopod as you tilt the whole bike sideways on it. Just 2 cents
Practice with the friction zone on your clutch engagement, with the lever. A fine level of coordination between throttle and friction zone of the clutch will give you the desired results.
Here in latin america its very common the uphill terrain so we developed the ability to ride motorcycles this way from the start.
I get the value of wanting to make a simple u turn in your driveway to street and the practicing to that end. But, I have a very similar driveway. Maybe a bit steeper incline. I don't even bother. I roll in and up on one side point the front wheel as far up towards garage on the opposite side. Let it roll back with bars turned, give me room to complete the turn and go. Takes 20 seconds tops. Just two moves instead of one continuous.
To be honest I still do this a lot! Still working on the u-turn on the new bike, but I’ll get there! I think for me it’s about the skill building and practice more than anything else.
Hi. I found your channel only now and your video is 9 months old, so may
be my help is not needed any more. But anyway: I fully understand your
hesitation. It is not only about vision and selfconfidence.... it is all
about driving VERY slow. And once you know how, it will be easy and...
it will make LOTS of fun...you will se... So here we go: Your best
partner is the rear break. At the beginning drive straight forward, no
turns.... Try to break with your rear break, give a bit of gas (the more
you give, the stable the bike will be) and search the point on the
clutch when the bike starts to push forward. Give more gas and release a
bit (but still stay on) the rear break.... You will see that the bike is
stable also very slowly moving. This is due to the gas/break play but
also due to the motor working (not too low gas, should be around 3000
refs, the mecanical parts of the motor will give stability by
rotating).... Once you can do slow bends you can start with wide turns.
You will see that after a bit of practice you will be able to drive the
bike on 5 km/h easily, even stop it during practicing and restarting
without putting your feet down... it is a great skill to have... PS:
Should you ever feel unconfortable (will surely be at the beginning),
then put the steering right forward (not bend) and then you can break
without danger. Wish you the best and kind regards from Germany, Stefano
If you go to the left lean your whole body to the right of the bike and push it down, it might sound scary in the beginning but trust me if you give enough throttle or just don’t touch the clutch, the bike won’t drop bc of the momentum in the tires
Man, I gotta start doing this with my rebel, always told myself I would. Your video is motivating me 🤔
You can do it!
@Christopher Clements Actually just got done with some practice :) no drops so I'd say it went well!
i just dropped my brand new bike doing a right u turn on a hill , im soo sad . beginer aswel . i didnt think it would be hard . now i have a nice mark on my bike :( looked up your vid . wish i saw it sooner
don't forget to counter-balance and lean :D
you're basically guaranteed to U turn if you lean enough.
Hey man, all good to feature it? Full credits will be given to you, of course, thank you so much!
hey, thanks for sharing this to me refreshingly honest video of a guy trying to learn something and taking us on the journey. (y) i personally am practising uturns too atm. my go to guys currently are motojitsu and "moto control", don´t know if you know them, but to me at least seeing their videos was really helpfull to spot some problems i kept repeating. it might be the same for you.
Am curious if there will be a video possible to watch after this one on celebration that you figured it out.
Anyhow, enjoy the ride and gaining of experience, ,-)
Thanks for filming and sharing this in times of beauty filter, campaigned videos and viral marketing, it´s nice to see normal humans having normal problems, like turning in the uphill driveway . thumbs up for this mate.:D really!
Marius
ha, was at minute 8 when typing the comment above, but yeah, you did it !!
Thanks, and glad you got some value from the video! I think there will be a follow on video at some point...featuring a new bike this time. Since switching from the Rebel 500 to my 2018 SV650, I for sure need to repeat the whole process and learn again on the new bike. The SV doesn't have quite the steering lock that the Rebel had, so more lean angle it is!
Good job with the throttle control !
That’s why tight hill figure 8 is one of the test item in my city, which is hard af
Agreed, super difficult! But worth the practice for sure.
Happen to everyone, no worries. Hours spent on a bike learnt me one thing; „when in doubt, gas it” 😉
I'd be interested in seeing a U-turn from a dead stop on a hill with your bike facing upward. I'm just getting into slow speed maneuver's, and I have many of these in my area. Not sure you're reading the comments anymore, but I got a lot of information from your trial and errors.
If you do park on a hill, it's better to have your bike climbing than facing down the hill.. leave it in gear and it can't go anywhere. If you park it down hill, even if you have it in gear and it doesn't roll the wind or someone could bump it and collapse the kickstand and its gonna be headed to the ground...
In my opinion on the maneuvering the hill, to turn around I would have pulled up at an angle on the far edge and use the front brake and clutch to walk it backwards straight back until i had enough space ahead of me to turn and pull out. But with that being said, I'm 140lbs on a 800lb street glide. I had to learn to use the terrain to my advantage.
Not really sure how you're seated during the u-turn as it's pretty hard to see from the camera's perspective, but the number one thing to do if you want a tighter u-turn is to let the bike roll under you, and counter it by shifting your weight, even if you perform the u-turn on a hill.
Completely lock the steering in the turn direction, straighten your inside arm (the arm pointing in towards the turn) and use that as your limit to how far you can lean away from the inside with your upper body, effectively shifting the weight so you don't fall into the u-turn when you let the bike roll under you.
Scary for sure to begin with, but when you stop being completely glued to the seat and let the bike do its thing you'll be able to complete a u-turn on tighter spaces than an 18-foot driveway.
But this video being from 9 months ago I'm sure you've really got the hang of it by now.
For anyone else coming by here if you want to see a better explanation of what the hell I'm even on about, check out "How to u-turn" by Bret Tacks. That video explains it pretty much how my instructor did when I first got on a bike.
I'll be the pot calling the kettle black:
It shouldn't be throttle control is you are near stalling.
You should switch to a little more throttle but use your clutch as speed control.
Then you won't risk stalling and lurching/pitching over.
2nd tip: watch some off-road videos and use their body techniques at low speed. Ride an off-road bike if you can. It made me so much more controlled and free-moving.
Just today, i was mid corner and an oil track was spilled on the road. It was very nice to be able to tighten my line, know i was easily avoiding it but also have the confidence that even if i was forced to cross it, my bike was counterbalanced and wouldn't fall.
As much as i hate stupid trends, *the easiest was to remember how is to dab*
It also helps with visibility and keeping your body out of the way of tight traffic.
I fucked myself up pretty bad doing this had my 650r land on my left foot and basically dislocated my small toe, felt it shifiting around and it almost made me black out, thankfully Ive had low blood pressure issues for a long time and know how to stop myself from blacking out, sounds crazy,, because it was lmao! wont do that ever again, and yes it healed on its own and I was lucky enough leaving my shoe on and tightening it was enough to get my toe to eventually go back into place. That was a crappy day ahaha 😂😂😂😂
Oof, sounds painful! It’s a good reminder that I need to purchase some proper, full length moto boots!
Great lesson
I'm a biker for 13 years. never thought about that how you take a u turn on a hill
Stay off the front brake, (that's why you dropped it in your driveway, by hitting the front brake midway through turn) Lighty keep your foot on rear brake and keep your head turned in direction of turn.
Do you use the rearbrake to make the turn more stable?
I have to do the same every spring. Go to a parking lot and practice, takes a while to get the musclememory to wake up 😂.
Also if it hasn't been said drag your rear brake just enough to put some Friction on the tire while controlling your Friction zone with the clutch
the elevation of the county is 12 feet above sea level .... the closest things we have to hills are called "speed bumps" and we find it difficult to do Uturns on them
good job picking it up and moving on.
u-turns are sketchy if you don't have a lot of practice.
Look up Japanese u-turns lol
Part of the test in the UK is a u turn in 24 feet, no foot down or fail your test!
Hey Darren, yeah I think it's the same in the US too. The MSF teaches a couple drills during the course that include U turns, but not this tight! There's a huge difference between 24ft and 18ft...just gotta practice more!
Such a fantastic video. New fan.
Thanks Cory, glad you’re here!
Lean the bike more but you stay upright (i.e move your bum to the high edge of the seat) to create a smaller turning circle that doesn't require full lock. Practice on a larger turning circle first to get confidence at it. This is also how the police do cornering at speed in order to remain fully in control of the bike, rather than getting their knee down.
Damn that sucks!!! Great video and beautiful bike yo.
Theres a spot i ride at and at the end i have to u turn up a hill on a 90 deg bend on a road entry point with loose gravel now thats interesting lol. Nearly wemt from under me other day 😮😅 good practice though.
Let your clutch, barely engage look all the way over to your left, or all the way over to your right, and use a little bit of rear brake against the throttle
Well done :) one tip counter lean on slow speeds. There should be lot of videos on the youtube.
1 thing i know never turn the handle to the maximum and your body need to be a bit ahead. with enough speed and if you want additional balancing you may get your feet down
😂, yesterday I dropped my bike, twice. I was practicing circle to the right, from big circle to smaller one.
My weight is only 50kg, the bike is 200+ kg.
My last bike was about 130kg.
So it's very tough adapting to the new one.
Considering to sell it again 😅
Yoy can do it! If you love the bike keep at it and you’ll get there. Lots of resources online on how to handle big bikes. Check out Doodle on a Motorcycle and Jocelin Snow!
I appreciate you commentary, it is exactly my inner monologue. But I have not had the confidence to have follow through since I did a slow speed drop exactly like you had in your driveway. I think I will give it another shot.
You can do it! Watch some vids, slap some crash protection on the bike, and keep at it!
i think the biggest thing when you stand the bike straight up at 5 mph or less its really hard to turn. if you stay around 10 mph if will feel more natural over time and another thing that helped me was take your weight off the bars and lighten the grip.
Yeah, there’s totally a mental aspect to this…speeding up right toward my garage doors 😅
Um, they actually sell tape measures in several stores like Lowe's, Home Depot, Target, Walmart, most auto parts stores, etc. Maybe you ought to consider buying one. Your shoe is not a foot. OR just go watch a few Jerry Palladino videos.
Is your foot 12"?? If not the drive is mostly wider. Remember the power comes from the clutch...not throttle.
Use rear break, it balances the motorcycle and control the speed using the clutch as opposed to the throttle. 😊
It's called a BRAKE
Nice to get your knee down so early into your motorbike career. 😉😂👍
Well you kept on trying and trying- then you finally did it--Good Lad
turn your head look where you want to go bike will follow. don't use break your speed should be set entering such a slow speed u turn or just very very little throttle. I usually find my throttle is good enough to make 1 small u turn entering it.
It's been a while, you probably mastered it by now, but looking at the footage of the fall, it's pretty clear to me the problem isn't your riding skills, it's simply your eyes! At around the half point of the turn you seem to start focussing on the plant and/or the soil bags because you got scared of hitting them! The bike goes where your eyes go. So once the bike is lined up with the planters, and your eyes are on them as well, you loose your balance. instead, as soon as you are able to, turn your head more, and look a the sidewalk in front of your driveway again. I PROMISE this is gonna fix it!
Take the msf brotha. Lots of good tips and tricks. Next time turn your head more.
What a beautiful bike is it a honda rebel 500
Yup, a 2019 Honda Rebel 500 in candy orange
That sucks. I did much the same thing when working on low speed drills in the parking lot while on my RE 350 meteor. It has a rocker shifter and As I made the slow turn, I gave it throttle to pull out and the near fall point only to learn my heel had inadvertently pushed down in the rear portion of the rocker and put me in neutral.I was luck it did almost no damage but it pissed me off. I will be changing to full toe shifter after market shifter soon.
Hey Chuck, that’s wild, I never thought about how a heel/toe shifter could affect this stuff! AND I didn’t know the Meteor had one!
What gloves are those ? Look sick