Turning circle ( oiltankeresque)

Why did i have to do a U-turn in my test.....?

My Tcat could not do one on the freeways of LA. I know this is the same for most sporty bikes but would them riser/straight bars they have on streetfighters give me a smaller circle?

I was thinking about getting them for comfort anyway.

Can you fit em? Easy job?

I welcome the knowledge.

There's a subject here in this [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to "The Pit Stop" . Mentions Bar Risers but more for comfort and not the turning circle.

I think the turning circle has more to do with the steering stops on the frame rather than it has the bars, which type or their position.. .. .. .. I stand to be corrected on that point though .

kevin10529 wrote:Why did i have to do a U-turn in my test.....?

Don't talk to me about U-turns - this was my right leg after u-turns whilst doing my DAS!!
[img][You must be registered and logged in to see this image.][/img]

before the bruising came out and let me tell you .... it b&st&rd hurt!!!!

Gawd Suzie that looks nasty.
I didn't think a u-turn means You turn (your leg) though

Guess it must be nearly universally disliked. Really pleased I didn't have to do any of that, but have not been let off the hook.
I do some marshaling for big rides through London and we have to do some 'not so easy' maneuvers in our training.
Slow is the name of the game here, so a bike race where the winner is the last home - without putting a foot down (or falling off!), riding in a circle keeping a constant distance with the bike in front of you and my pet hate, doing a figure 8. To practice for the fig 8 they made me do u-turns arrgh!

Those that can do it tell me its a balance of throttle, clutch and back brake - the proverbial 'get the balance right'.

Not sure if the higher bars would help. All my previous bikes had higher bars - I have never been conscious of u-turns before, so maybe there is something in it. Mind you I rode on roads where the pavements were not so close together and I wouldn't fail myself if I did put my foot down.

-Steve

Sorry must have not explained properly, my u-turns are ok its just seems the tanks is stopping the bars in full lock hence straight bars might able me to turn the wheel further round if you ken what i mean.

but would raising the bars give you any bigger a lock which is surely what you're after? is it a smaller u turn you're after?

Yeah steve it was nasty but my own fault - my DAS instructor kept taking me to narrow streets in p'boro to try and stop me looking at the kerbs - unfortunately it mostly didn't work i got half way round then moved my head and looked straight ahead - result was bike 1 me 0!! lol
That's the only thing holding me up too on my IAM - i can't bring myself to even try a u turn (only because i know i'll drop the bike and i don't want to damage it) and as i need to do either that or a figure of 8 (no chance!) for the test i think it'll be a while yet - extremely irritating as that's all i need to master.

On my bike it is the steering stops that dictate the maximim steering angle, not the bars - therefore changing the bars will have no effect on the maximum steering angle. In reality, when riding you don't go all the way to the stops anyway - if you do you have no room for wobble/correction and hence will drop it!

I did my DAS on a BMW F650ST - single cylinder lump meant just let it tick over and it would thump around the slow speed stuff easily - no clutch or throttle needed! Probably means I'm not good at slow-speed stuff on an i4 engined bike but hey, I have my licence now and who does U-turns anyway?!

weasley wrote:and who does U-turns anyway?!

yeah exactly - if i didn't have to do one for this darn thing it wouldn't bother me- i know plenty of people who haven't done one since ... i'm getting to the point now i'm going to say bin the test and call it quits lol

i have to do them all the time.

Dropping my mates off on country roads and that. Look like a twat doing the ol 3 pointer.

u-turns, no problem on my bandit but on the cat, thats what rounderbouts are for.