Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Let's hope, and I mean this most sincerely, that you are never in a position where it could impale you.

I have laid a few bikes down though and it's debris involved in the crash that can do a lot of unexpected damage.

It's funny how so many of my safety worries disappear when I'm twisting the throttle!

Well, if the bike is sideways there’s no more chance of the kickstand impaling me now as when OEM, as far as I can see.

It's good, you've carried out a risk assessment and it seems fine from this distance. I'll be over here thinking about my own bike :)

Well, the risk assessment was deal with a lower leg fracture when the stand snaps as I climb off, or as you say deal with it when I’m sliding down the road.

I think I've finally decided on a KTM 390 Duke as my commuter. Does anyone have any thoughts on them?

Sat on one in the showroom in October. Seemed pretty small, and all the reviews appeared to say they were bags of fun. But...KTM... so ymmv.

I'm still half tempted to get one myself as my first bike. They seem like a lot of fun for the money and all the reviews I have read/ watched seem positive.

3h out this afternoon. Very much need to learn how to go down hills, sketchy!

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Low gear, engine braking, and light use of front brake. Avoid locking rear wheel and skidding by use of rear brake. This is how I was shown on slippery muddy downhill ruts.

Yeah good to hear as thats exactly what I'm doing. But I want to go faster. I can ride my mtb down a lot faster. Need to learn to have confidence to lean front in. Probelsm is with the weight getting it slowed or stopped is a lot harder than mtb. Think I need a little more pressure in front tyre for downhill and it was loaded up and squishy at 14psi.

Plus I need to get some trousers with grip on the inside of knees so I can load my weight to brace myself there through the tank. My mtb pants don't have grip there, so weight is through hands which makes throttle control and steering hard.

What PD said - except you can use the front brake a LOT harder than you think. And the steeper the down, the more useless the rear brake is....All the weight is on the front wheel, those knobs are properly digging in, use it. If it gets so steep you can't stay on the bike, dead engine / first gear and you can use the clutch like a rear brake.

For wet clay / ice....disregard everything. You're going to fall off and slide down to the bottom regardless. :)

Thanks. Yeah I was timid with the front brake but realised as long as your not lent over you can use it hard. Just dry loose over hard terrain here, so a bit washy. We are talking 20% slopes here.

Yeah we have a lot of loose surface hardpack here and it's probably the least grippy terrain to ride on. It's predictable at least and you'll be surprised how much you can lean and brake on good knobblies. Keep stood up aside from the turns, for flat turns remember you want to be sat forward towards the tank, body upright with weight through the comb of the seat, pushing on the outside peg and through the frame with your boot. Other leg should be straight forward down the forkleg. If you feel like the front is pushing, add gas and dial in some woohoo....

Oh I really like the Maxxis Desert / Intermediate IT tyre for sandy / rocky hardpack. Great allrounders and seem to be highly puncture resistant with HD tubes.

Thanks good tips. Similar to how I'd ride my full sus mtb, actually translates very well.

I'm running michelin starcross medium front and enduro medium rear with HD tubes. The PO put these on as its what he runs, he said they're the best, and given his riding skill I'm very incled to trust.

Right now I am

Uphill: sitting for tight corners, foot out, leaning in and gassing rear around, sitting for smooth straights, stading when it gets rough leaning forward head over bars knees flexed. I should get some videos to check my form.

Downhill: standing or sitting a bit like above. But a lot slower and more cautious. I need to lean more. I think the other issue is a lot of these are blind enough turns so I can't sensible do anything but be slow down.

One q, should I be able to shift gears standing? Right now I can't, but maybe that's because I can't really brace legs on tank.

You can shift gears standing but I have to take my foot slightly off the peg. My L leg is all f*cked up though but I think that it's pretty normal practice.

Never tried those Michelins but I bet they're good.

Try and stand up as much as possible, you can weight pegs to help initiating turns. Keep elbows up so you've got proper leverage. Flat turns, body upright with weight straight down on the edge of the seat - you'll notice way more traction doing this. Berm turns, lean body with the bike sat on the top of the seat. You can brake with the front in berms if you need.

Good job on the gassing front! Once you're comfortable sliding the rear it makes a huge difference - you can basically dial in the angle of turn you need. If you can find a flattish spot to practice in, doing ovals is great. Also hilariously good fun.

Flat turns, body upright with weight straight down on the edge of the seat - you'll notice way more traction doing this.

Is that sitting?

My thoughts on not having grippy material on the inside of knees, is that a thing? Ie not being able to brace legs against tank.

Yeah did try practice doing ovals but not ther yet.

You’re already way ahead of me then!

Just remember with downhill even if you lock the front you’re probably going to keep sliding forward before you can fall off, giving you precious seconds to release enough to keep rolling and regain some balance.

Check the shift lever position relative to your boots. MX boots need a different lever position and possibly a longer lever. Adv boots need a position not dissimilar to road boots. With MX boots most people have to lift the boot off the peg to kick the downshift.

You’ll eventually want some slip on the tank, I think. It’s true you want to be able to lock in, but the problem is you will lock in at all the wrong moments and not be able to shift your body when you need to.

Friends eh? Mate just sends me this, quote "This has your name all over it!"

Cue getting so excited I almost jump up to run to the garage to start checking my bike.

Except, it's completely sold out.....doh. Thanks.

https://www.biltwellinc.com/blogs/wtf/the-biltwell-100

I didn't say that I was going fast doing the above! Ha

Also if you're into it, like I am, the guy I bought the bike from did testing work with athena on their big bore kit when it was first made. He went through a few iterations and the final one is still there. Number 5. Hence all the graphics.

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That's cool - I really love those bikes, especially when they've been breathed on!

I always ride in MX trou.....You really want some grippy stuff inside the knees, knees through ankles is where you hold on. Grip with the knees, always.

Thanks, me too.

Any suggestions for some? I guess I ride tarmac too, so some abrasion on hips would be a bonus. Maybe I need to look mroe duel sport. I did see klim mojave (it's 25C here now and only getting hotter).

Whatever really - MX pants are generally pretty lightweight and have relatively minimal abrasion resistance. I just buy whatever's on deal and not too offensively coloured as they get holed up fairly frequently. Getting hot here too so I try and wear as little as possible over armor.

Frankly, I think you need this :)

https://www.reignvmx.com/jerseys/suzuki-jersey

Don't really have any duel sport stuff aside from a wax jacket for winter.