This information was originally posted on Jan 22, 2010 (post #31 now)
direct link to page here >http://gl1800riders.com/forums/show...m/forums/showthread.php?237208-Ride-like-a-Pro-and-Clutch&highlight=ride+clutch
In an effort to keep the information easily available, I am posting a new thread. I reside 30minutes from Deals Gap in Greenback, TN so if anyone wants to get together, let me know when you will be in town.
Again - this is the sumation of over 10 PAGES of information and Q&A. I do no thave time to reorder the information right now so please understand the order seen is how it was originally posted in the other thread. I have left out quite a bit and it's still a mini-book. As previously stated, even though this information is being posted here, I reatin my rights and request than anyone who wants to share this info on anything other than a personal level contact me first. (Share the info with some of your riding buddies but don't print this out and teach people without talking to me first.)
Here is the fun stuff:
UPDATE: This information is also valid for the F6B! (same motor and drivetrain). But 3rd gear will not work at idle on 2018 and newer as the gear ratios have changed!
Okay --- I have received requests for info from a bunch of people so I will post my response here.
Take the info and learn from it, or fight it and don't learn from it. I am not going to get into any kind of discussion about it here. This is not the thread for that. (see above link for original thread)
If you have genuine questions, please PM me and I will answer them.
Here's the info I have sent to several members...
Lack of faith in bike not falling over... this is one of the EXACT reasons why we are going to do the following... Many of you who have already been exposed to RLP, I want you to get away from RLP for right now. Do the following, then RLP stuff will be a snap! (RLP = Ride Like A Pro)
I have a different viewpoint so here's what I show / tell people who are finding difficulty in laying the bike over and performing tight turns... (we're going to step away from tight turns for right now, but we will get to those very quickly)
My first suggestion is going to sound like I have never ridden a wing before....
Make sure you are on pretty level ground, then...
Get the bike moving and get into 3rd gear as soon as you feel comfortable. Once in 3rd gear, let off the clutch, brakes, and throttle. The wing has plenty of torque AT IDLE to do what we want to do. I know this is a foreign concept, but I am asking you to simply have faith and after a very short time you will learn the wing has amazing power.
Spend a little bit of time doing easy smooth, NON-TIGHT turns. Get used to how the bike feels when transitioning from left to right turning (again, not tight turns).
Once you get a bit more comfortable, do some "cone weave's" --- the goal here is not tight turning, but a quicker transition from left to right turning. (again - 3rd gear, no brake, throttle, or clutch)
Once that feels comfortable, NOW we can BEGIN to think about turning circles. Again, we are not trying to turn tightly, just consistently.
Everybody takes about the figure 8's... rubbish. Not ready for those yet. I want you to think about what you are doing, not start a figure 8 and have to stop halfway through and think about what to do to go the other way.
Do 10 "static" circles. (Keep going around and around in the same direction until you have completed 10 circles.) This gives you the chance to get the best body to bike position. As you are turning, you can make slight adjustments with your body position and where you are looking. Once 10 have been completed one way, do ten the other way. I do not want you to worry about doing exactly 10 circles, don't worry about counting them... you'll know when you feel like going the other way.
So the current plan....
1. Get used to 3rd gear without throttle, clutch, or brake
2. Get used to quick transitions - cone weave style
3. Perform Static circles
If you can not drag your pegs throughout the entire circle, repeat steps 4 and 5 until you can drag an entire circle.
4. Perform more aggressive quick transitions - cone weave style
5. Perform static circles
If at anytime you feel you are falling over, just give her some gas.
See, by using 3rd gear you take the human error factor almost 100% out of the equation. Once you get comfortable with performing dragging peg circles CONSISTENTLY (and only then) we can discuss the ride like a pro style controls for tight turns.
I want you to get used to dragging your pegs in 3rd gear. Listen to the sound, learn what that feels like. You will become VERY familiar with how far you can lean your machine simply via sound of peg drag and position of foot on dragging peg.
I hope the above helps you and if you have any question, please let me know. I will be happy to share more info. The above will get you started. We want you to get used to the machine's limits before your really push it in tight turning.
Side notes:
1. If you are concerned with dropping your machine, put some radiator hose around your crash bars. (You can get used ones for free at many shops.)
2. Once you are ready to look at tighter turning... from your waist up, stay vertical (bike leans, but you do not) - THIS IS A BIG DEAL!!!
3. WEAR PROTECTIVE GEAR --- I AM NOT liable in any way, shape, or form for your actions on your machine, which you are in 100% full control over.
4. If you intend on getting to the point where you are doing super tight turns, eventually you will screw up a bit and drop your machine. It's just a question of when. THAT IS NOT A BAD THING! Anybody who tells you they have never dropped their machine doing this stuff either hasn't been doing it a long time, or is full of it. Even the cops drop their bikes from time to time. It happens, do not let it freak you out.
5. I heavily suggest setting up video camera equipment so you can review what you have done. What might feel good, may not look good. I don't mean looking cool, I mean you will see things in the video that you will want to work on.
That should get ya started!
Some of you are new to the wing and don't know me from adam and that's a good thing! Some of you will use this as a seasonal refresher and that's great too!
For those who don't know me at all, I have included a few pictures of me practicing and some competition riding. I am a Expert Level Top Gun Champion several times over. Within GWRRA, I am a Lvl4 Master Tour Rider, Road Captain, fmr Public Relations Officer, Seminar Presentor, PLP Facilitator, plus a slew of other little titles. I have logged well over 300,000 miles on the GL1800 platform from 2007 to 2012 alone and have several motorcycles.
Again, if you have questions, feel free to send me a PM and I will be happy to help you in any way possible.
direct link to page here >http://gl1800riders.com/forums/show...m/forums/showthread.php?237208-Ride-like-a-Pro-and-Clutch&highlight=ride+clutch
In an effort to keep the information easily available, I am posting a new thread. I reside 30minutes from Deals Gap in Greenback, TN so if anyone wants to get together, let me know when you will be in town.
Again - this is the sumation of over 10 PAGES of information and Q&A. I do no thave time to reorder the information right now so please understand the order seen is how it was originally posted in the other thread. I have left out quite a bit and it's still a mini-book. As previously stated, even though this information is being posted here, I reatin my rights and request than anyone who wants to share this info on anything other than a personal level contact me first. (Share the info with some of your riding buddies but don't print this out and teach people without talking to me first.)
Here is the fun stuff:
UPDATE: This information is also valid for the F6B! (same motor and drivetrain). But 3rd gear will not work at idle on 2018 and newer as the gear ratios have changed!
Okay --- I have received requests for info from a bunch of people so I will post my response here.
Take the info and learn from it, or fight it and don't learn from it. I am not going to get into any kind of discussion about it here. This is not the thread for that. (see above link for original thread)
If you have genuine questions, please PM me and I will answer them.
Here's the info I have sent to several members...
Lack of faith in bike not falling over... this is one of the EXACT reasons why we are going to do the following... Many of you who have already been exposed to RLP, I want you to get away from RLP for right now. Do the following, then RLP stuff will be a snap! (RLP = Ride Like A Pro)
I have a different viewpoint so here's what I show / tell people who are finding difficulty in laying the bike over and performing tight turns... (we're going to step away from tight turns for right now, but we will get to those very quickly)
My first suggestion is going to sound like I have never ridden a wing before....
Make sure you are on pretty level ground, then...
Get the bike moving and get into 3rd gear as soon as you feel comfortable. Once in 3rd gear, let off the clutch, brakes, and throttle. The wing has plenty of torque AT IDLE to do what we want to do. I know this is a foreign concept, but I am asking you to simply have faith and after a very short time you will learn the wing has amazing power.
Spend a little bit of time doing easy smooth, NON-TIGHT turns. Get used to how the bike feels when transitioning from left to right turning (again, not tight turns).
Once you get a bit more comfortable, do some "cone weave's" --- the goal here is not tight turning, but a quicker transition from left to right turning. (again - 3rd gear, no brake, throttle, or clutch)
Once that feels comfortable, NOW we can BEGIN to think about turning circles. Again, we are not trying to turn tightly, just consistently.
Everybody takes about the figure 8's... rubbish. Not ready for those yet. I want you to think about what you are doing, not start a figure 8 and have to stop halfway through and think about what to do to go the other way.
Do 10 "static" circles. (Keep going around and around in the same direction until you have completed 10 circles.) This gives you the chance to get the best body to bike position. As you are turning, you can make slight adjustments with your body position and where you are looking. Once 10 have been completed one way, do ten the other way. I do not want you to worry about doing exactly 10 circles, don't worry about counting them... you'll know when you feel like going the other way.
So the current plan....
1. Get used to 3rd gear without throttle, clutch, or brake
2. Get used to quick transitions - cone weave style
3. Perform Static circles
If you can not drag your pegs throughout the entire circle, repeat steps 4 and 5 until you can drag an entire circle.
4. Perform more aggressive quick transitions - cone weave style
5. Perform static circles
If at anytime you feel you are falling over, just give her some gas.
See, by using 3rd gear you take the human error factor almost 100% out of the equation. Once you get comfortable with performing dragging peg circles CONSISTENTLY (and only then) we can discuss the ride like a pro style controls for tight turns.
I want you to get used to dragging your pegs in 3rd gear. Listen to the sound, learn what that feels like. You will become VERY familiar with how far you can lean your machine simply via sound of peg drag and position of foot on dragging peg.
I hope the above helps you and if you have any question, please let me know. I will be happy to share more info. The above will get you started. We want you to get used to the machine's limits before your really push it in tight turning.
Side notes:
1. If you are concerned with dropping your machine, put some radiator hose around your crash bars. (You can get used ones for free at many shops.)
2. Once you are ready to look at tighter turning... from your waist up, stay vertical (bike leans, but you do not) - THIS IS A BIG DEAL!!!
3. WEAR PROTECTIVE GEAR --- I AM NOT liable in any way, shape, or form for your actions on your machine, which you are in 100% full control over.
4. If you intend on getting to the point where you are doing super tight turns, eventually you will screw up a bit and drop your machine. It's just a question of when. THAT IS NOT A BAD THING! Anybody who tells you they have never dropped their machine doing this stuff either hasn't been doing it a long time, or is full of it. Even the cops drop their bikes from time to time. It happens, do not let it freak you out.
5. I heavily suggest setting up video camera equipment so you can review what you have done. What might feel good, may not look good. I don't mean looking cool, I mean you will see things in the video that you will want to work on.
That should get ya started!
Some of you are new to the wing and don't know me from adam and that's a good thing! Some of you will use this as a seasonal refresher and that's great too!
For those who don't know me at all, I have included a few pictures of me practicing and some competition riding. I am a Expert Level Top Gun Champion several times over. Within GWRRA, I am a Lvl4 Master Tour Rider, Road Captain, fmr Public Relations Officer, Seminar Presentor, PLP Facilitator, plus a slew of other little titles. I have logged well over 300,000 miles on the GL1800 platform from 2007 to 2012 alone and have several motorcycles.
Again, if you have questions, feel free to send me a PM and I will be happy to help you in any way possible.
I'd like mine with BUTTER, please!
