| Slow speed control The technique to master is one that is rarely discussed but one that I have found very useful for slow speed manoeuvrability. Firstly, please note that many slow speed stops can be avoided altogether by simply looking ahead and anticipating the conditions. It's a fun exercise to travel from A to B without stopping at all (unless forced to do so by traffic lights and junctions of course). If you really put your mind to this then you will realise that you can only achieve a measure of success by planning ahead all of the time. All too often it is easy to rush into a situation where it is plain to see (with foresight) that a stop is inevitable - but by looking and planning ahead you can adjust your speed to arrive at the delay so that conditions have changed by the time you reach the hindrance. A good example of this is a roundabout - without forward planning you will probably always come to a stop at a busy roundabout, whereas, by slowing down and looking for a gap in the circling traffic, it is often possible to negotiate a nice, smooth entrance without having to stop at all. However, sooner or later you are going to require control over the bike at very slow speeds and a large, empty carpark is the ideal venue to practise using the clutch as a throttle: What we are trying to achieve is to make progress while being almost stationary - a contradiction in terms it would seem but hear me out. The difficulty is that if you apply either brake at very slow speeds then the bike tends to fall over, hence the need for the foot down. Lets talk through the mechanics of this first. You are riding in first gear because the speed is very slow. You apply the rear brake, maintain a little power with the throttle and control the delivery of that power by slipping the clutch. Can you see that each time you let the clutch out the effect is to make the bike go forward, while each time you pull the clutch in (and adjust the throttle so that the engine is not screaming) the effect is to make the bike slow down (because of the rear brake).The objective is to be applying power to the rear wheel all of the time, something which is impossible to do by using the brake in the normal manner because you lose momentum. It sounds crazy, I know. But the advantage that this technique gives you, while controlling the bike at very slow speeds, is impressive. Mastering this technique will enable you to control the bike (with both feet still on the pegs) while on near full lock and hardly moving at all - now that is slow speed control. |