New Rider Question.......

[Rick Butler]

Guys,

 

After reading all this sound advise, I have one tidbit of information for those of you who ride with passengers.

 

There will be those times when you will inadvertenly get the bike off balance and it will want to fall over. And most likely you will catch it, but it will be too little, too late and your leg muscles will be bulging as you try to keep the bike upright. And the weight of your passenger naturally leaning with the bike only makes the situation worse. Then it gets to the point that you can't hold it any more and the bike goes over on the crash bars causing the passenger to spill out of the back seat and onto the ground. Most of the time when the RSV gets to the crash bars, it will go completely horizontal onto it's side.

 

Here is where the passenger can help if they recognize the situation. Instead of just sitting there as the bike goes to one side and their weight only causes the bike to go over sooner, if they would just shift their weight to the other side, it will help upright the bike. It's like when you make a slow turn on a sloped surface and have to lean your body to the outside of the turn to help keep the bike upright. All you are doing is changing the center of gravity of the bike and passengers.

 

I first discovered this by accident when we pulled up to the west entrance of Big Bend National Park on my 93. The concrete pad was poured in two sections and one side at the joint had a slight drop. When I pulled up, my front wheel rolled to the side that had a drop, which caused the bike to go off center as I stopped. I caught it, but knew it wouldn't be enough, so I spoke into the intercom "Linda would you please lean to the left a bit" which she did. And just that weight shift brought the bike back upright and saved us from going over. Since then, we have done this several times to keep the bike up where she has started recognizing the situation and making the correction herself. Of course a big grunt from me with both hands on the grips is always a good signal to her.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Rick

[ediddy]

Rick you are right. I failed to mention that in my post. I had just had my venture for a few months and my wife and I were riding on an interstate in Tennessee. My brother-in-law was leading us on his goldwing. He was almost past an exit when he realized we needed to get off on that exit and he swerved onto the exit ramp. We followed. The exit ramp went down hill and then he made a quick turn to the right. I was going to turn right but a car was coming so I hit the brakes with my handle bars turned to the right. The bike started over and I realized I couldn't stop it from going down when my wife put her right leg down on the payment and it was just enough to pop the bike back up. We didn't practice this but out of instinct she put her leg down. Since that time I have learned how to ride my bike and not get in that situation again.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Rick you are right. I failed to mention that in my post. I had just had my venture for a few months and my wife and I were riding on an interstate in Tennessee. My brother-in-law was leading us on his goldwing. He was almost past an exit when he realized we needed to get off on that exit and he swerved onto the exit ramp. We followed. The exit ramp went down hill and then he made a quick turn to the right. I was going to turn right but a car was coming so I hit the brakes with my handle bars turned to the right. The bike started over and I realized I couldn't stop it from going down when my wife put her right leg down on the payment and it was just enough to pop the bike back up. We didn't practice this but out of instinct she put her leg down. Since that time I have learned how to ride my bike and not get in that situation again.

 

Two lessons here. One...Yes..learn how to ride your bike. Always a good thing.

 

Two...never follow Goldwings. I swear, since they are so damn quiet, and some riders dont give you any warning they are speeding up or slowing down....screw that.

 

 

 

 

 

[WIKD]

I may get flamed for this and may eat my words in the future since I have only owned the bike a few months and put only 3500 miles on it. But have only come close to dropping the bike once in the sand on the beach,two up in a slow speed turn. However getting on the throttle stood in right back up. I feel that the bike isn't unstable at slow speeds, you just have to alter your riding style a bit because it will fall quickly into a turn at slow speed. This is even more noticable for me when I jump off my Warrior and then climb on the Venture or vice versa.

 

On a side note I can see where an outsider looking in would not get a good feeling about buying a RSV with some of the way things are written here about it. I'm not saying that the opinions are wrong but the overwhelming opinion is that you can't own a RSV without dropping it or even expecting to drop it. I, for one, do not expect to drop the bike or will even consider it to be the norm. But that's my opinion.

[CrazyHorse]

But have only come close to dropping the bike once in the sand on the beach,two up in a slow speed turn. However getting on the throttle stood in right back up. I feel that the bike isn't unstable at slow speeds, you just have to alter your riding style a bit because it will fall quickly into a turn at slow speed. This is even more noticable for me when I jump off my Warrior and then climb on the Venture or vice versa.

 

It's all about balancing what I mean by that is balancing throttle input, rear brake input, and clutch. In a slow turn your throttle,rear brake and clutch will stabilize your turn and prevent you from falling you just have to find where that is and it only comes from practice and experimenting. Two up is going to be different then one up your gonna need more power to gain that balance.

Same on a watercraft in a tight slow turn if there's not enough power in your turn you will uncerimoniously be tossed into the water for a baptism you didnt neccesarily want.

[CrazyHorse]

The bike started over and I realized I couldn't stop it from going down when my wife put her right leg down on the payment and it was just enough to pop the bike back up. We didn't practice this but out of instinct she put her leg down. Since that time I have learned how to ride my bike and not get in that situation again.

 

Putting your foot down while moving more then 1-4 mph on a big bike with bags in a turn is not a great idea. The reason being is your foot leg will sometimes be forced under the bags by the moving bike and break your leg and or ankle.

[ediddy]

Hey Jimbob5,

 

You need to read a little closer. I stopped with my handle bars turned hard right. If I was still moving I wouldn't have a problem with the bike going down. Only when stopped.

[CrazyHorse]

Hey Jimbob5,

 

You need to read a little closer. I stopped with my handle bars turned hard right. If I was still moving I wouldn't have a problem with the bike going down. Only when stopped.

 

Who said I could read?

[AKRefugee]

I went from a lighter bike to a 06 RSV and I also had a few challenges with low speed while riding 2up. After much practice and experimentation I learned that with the RSV I needed to keep my body in a much more straight up position and rely on my head turn much more. At low speeds on the lighter bike I figured out that I was actually leaning in just a slight bit and could get away with it because I was able to man handle to compensate. With the heavier weight and longer wheelbase when I leaned in just the slightest bit the physics reaction was greater and it reached a point where I could no longer overcome it with brute force after dropping it a few times (and getting the "laser eyes") I learned to keep my body position much more upright and really really really turn that head.

 

Lesson learned: You ca not ride a big bike with brute force. It really does require much more attention to technique.

[hipshot]

I went from a lighter bike to a 06 RSV and I also had a few challenges with low speed while riding 2up. After much practice and experimentation I learned that with the RSV I needed to keep my body in a much more straight up position and rely on my head turn much more. At low speeds on the lighter bike I figured out that I was actually leaning in just a slight bit and could get away with it because I was able to man handle to compensate. With the heavier weight and longer wheelbase when I leaned in just the slightest bit the physics reaction was greater and it reached a point where I could no longer overcome it with brute force after dropping it a few times (and getting the "laser eyes") I learned to keep my body position much more upright and really really really turn that head.

 

Lesson learned: You ca not ride a big bike with brute force. It really does require much more attention to technique.

 

Kevin. thank you very much.

you have succeeded in "putting into words", what EVERYONE here , has been trying to say for ages!

very good description, about "physics".

just jt