[net.cycle] Tips for novices--quick turns and stops

ken@ihuxq.UUCP (ken perlow) (02/02/84)

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>>> p.s. If you want the bike to go to the right, which way do you point
>>>      the front wheel? 

A serious question, this, and one I didn't know the answer to until
I came across it in a MC magazine.  (I've been riding since the 60's).
If you have to dodge an obstacle, or make a fast lane change,
but you don't have enough time or room or whatever to lean into
the turn, give the handlebars a quick jerk in the direction OPPOSITE
the way you want to go.

That's right, to make a very quick left, toggle your bars to the right.
It really, really works.  You have to practice to get the feel of it,
of course.  I like to come up on manhole covers in the road & see how
close I can get at various speeds yet still miss 'em.  After all,
someday it might be a board with a mean nail in it.

And to counter a common myth held by novices, the fastest way to stop
in an emergency is NOT (repeat NOT) to lay it down.  Brake hard but
stay in control.  Once you lock up the rear wheel, your gyroscopic
stability goes with you--to hell in a handbasket all over the pavement.
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JE MAINTIENDRAI   ***** *****
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