[ElBando]

A friend of mine has a Harley Sportster 883 and we were discussing parking lot practice exercises, like those taught in the MSF ERC. I said we did our turns in 20' and 24' boxes, he says he can make a u-turn on his Sportster in 10'. I am just wondering, I can make a u-turn on the road but I need at least 20 feet. Am I just bad or is this guy just good? How wide of a turn around do most folks need to reverse course on a Goldwing?

 

[Islander]

Different bikes, different turning radius. Take all the bikes in your sig. out and do a u turn and you will see they are all different.

2006 GL1800 ABS ( Ours )
2007 DL650 ABS ( she thinks it's hers, but it's MINE )
2001 VLX 600 ( spare )
1991 250L XR (Hers)
1983 250R XL ( His )

 

[StevieMac]

The expert level of GWRRA Top Gun requires you to turn within 18'.

The Sportster has a much shorter wheelbase than a GW but I have my doubts about 10'.

 

[onewayblues]

Lean that sucker over further while turning while in 2nd gear :thumbup:
Practice makes perfect.
I have never measured my sharpest turning ratio, but I know it is somewhere close to 15'.

 

[Wicked]

You may have hit on one of the reasons police do not use the Wing.
I was at Hampton Beach one busy evening and noticed the motor cops could doing u turns in a single lane weaving around cars doing their patrol thing.
That is impossible on a GL1800.
:thumbup:

 

[willygfe]

Maybe he had rear wheel spinning to do it in 10':lol:

 

[trekbiker61]

I'd like to see him do it. The specs say the turn radius of the Goldwing is 10.8 ft. I can't do it but I guess somebody can. I use 2 lanes to turn around.

 

[yellow_wolf]

you guys forgot that the harley is sitting in a pool of oil,spinning her around is easy,lol:joke:

 

[trekbiker61]

The Sportster has a much shorter wheelbase than a GW but I have my doubts about 10'.

The difference is 7in.

 

[StevieMac]

The difference is 7in.

When it comes to motorcycle wheelbase 7" is a lot. IMHO of course...

 

[banana boy]

Could be his training wheels helped.

 

[AlZipp]

You may have hit on one of the reasons police do not use the Wing.
I was at Hampton Beach one busy evening and noticed the motor cops could doing u turns in a single lane weaving around cars doing their patrol thing.
That is impossible on a GL1800.
:thumbup:

I don't doubt your overall presumption and I don't know if the SAPD and the Bexar County Police (county in which San Antonio resides) are the exceptions but they use a fleet of GL1800s. They sling them around pretty good. On the other hand the Austin PD right up the road replaced their HDs and now use R1200RTs.

Al

 

[BIGMACACE]

I'm usually 2-up and I generally use all the space available! If it's going to be tight I am usually in 2nd gear.

 

[trekbiker61]

When it comes to motorcycle wheelbase 7" is a lot. IMHO of course...

Yeah,I was just stating the measurement.

 

[Rider Steve]

You may have hit on one of the reasons police do not use the Wing.
I was at Hampton Beach one busy evening and noticed the motor cops could doing u turns in a single lane weaving around cars doing their patrol thing.
That is impossible on a GL1800.
:thumbup:

There are four police officers who ride wings in my (small) town (they use to ride Harley). I'm also seeing some of the police departments in Houston riding wings as well but things are a bit more spread out here.

 

[oldguy]

Wicked, the Arizona Drill Team rides white 1800's. I think they might just prove you very wrong. They are quite good and are one of our resources for advanced training.

 

[Oldbuc]

I saw the Central Florida Motorcycle Drill Team go through their routines last year, here in Winter Garden. One of the riders said he was doing 17 ft circles, dragging his peg the entire 360 degrees.
The topper was when they did the 17ft circles riding side-saddle.
I would not have believed it, if I didn't see it with my own eyes! :bow:

 

[chuckM]

I had a Sporty. No way could you do a U-turn in 10'...10' radius, no problem.

 

[ksiceman]

you guys forgot that the harley is sitting in a pool of oil,spinning her around is easy,lol:joke:

Thats just too funny! :lol:

 

[PoleCat]

I've been getting a fair amount of practice with U-turns courtesy of Garmin and some guys I like to ride with. Parking lot maneuvers differ greatly from actual field turns where you are on a hilly country road with bottomless ditches on both sides and no orange cones to guide you. Never thought to stop and measure the event.