Low speed stuff

[YZF600R]

History: Passed test on a 125cc machine at 17. Have ridden scooters since then ranging from a 125cc 2-Stroke through to a few 'Maxi-Scooters' including the 500cc Tmax and Gilera Nexus. In eight years I've covered about 100-120k on two wheels throughout Europe.

Thought it was about time to get a 'proper' bike. (I did the manual test back at 17 especially 'cos I knew the time would come when I wanted one!)

Picked up my YZF600R a couple of weeks ago, have so far done about 150 miles on it. After 8 years of riding scooters it is a very big change and I found these points:

1. I was really worried about remembering the use of gears, however touch wood I've yet to stall it. Have overrevved it a couple of times which I'm sure made me look like a plonker but hey ho. Am getting much more used to it now but yet to be able to tell what gear I'm in due to engine and revs. Has caused a couple of 'attempting to find 7th gear' on dual carraigeways!

2. Riding at higher speed 45+ is a lot easier on a sportsbike than the scooter, as it feels a lot more planted and stable.

3. Hill starts, which I thought would be a nightmare aren't bad at all. Not tried anything really steep yet, though.

4. Low speed straight line feathering the clutch in 1st/2nd is fine. Thought this would also be a nightmare.

5. However. Low speed turning. Argh. I find this quite tricky, especially small (not mini) roundabouts, U-turns and so on. Very good at them with a scooter but DIRE on the 'bike. I think a) I lack confidence in leaning the bike at low speeds as it is nearly 400lbs and b) The engine is quite jerky in 1st / 2nd and feathering the clutch/throttle leads to a fairly jerky turn which doesn't help point A. On a tight roundabout should I use 1st or 2nd?

I intend to get some further tuition but as you can imagine, all instructors are fully booked until October.

Also, what revs do most tend to use around town? I try and stick to about 4k rpm (30mph in 3rd) but with the Scorpion end can it does sound pretty damn loud!

[YZF600R]

Thanks chaps! (and babe)

I tend to look where I'm going anyway as a habit, I know looking down is a big no-no which will lead to disaster!

Have spent an hour or so in a deserted car park which has improved things but lots more practice is definitely in order.

Have tried the rear brake but have issues getting the correct amount of brake/throttle/clutch. Am becomming quicker so hopefully it'll fall into place soon.

Thanks to the link for the slow speed training, although £80 for 2 hours is a little steep! My local instructor has quoted me £150 for a full day (7 hours) including use of their GS500. Unfortunately have to wait for that, though.

First time on a big bike in the rain soon. Lovely and sunny this morning so thought I'd go to work on it! Has been pissing it down for hours

[YZF600R]

cyberface said:

This is almost exactly my history - though I had a while on a Monster 600 after passing my test but sold it as it wasn't suitable for the station commute... which was what I used the scooters for, for many years.

First 'proper' bike bought last weekend - a CBR600F - nothing too mental as I knew it'd take time getting used to clutch and gears again.

Plenty of practice needed!!!

One thing pointed out that I may have to look at - there seems to be an awful lot of 'driveline shunt' which I've put down to lack of throttle control (with my scooters it was often on or off, even with the 100 mph souped up Gilera 180 strokers, because I used to ride those like a loon - they are faster than most sportsbikes in town). Being *incredibly* sensitive with the throttle in low gears at low speed (town) has managed to keep the bike smooth, but without concentrating 100% on being smooth it's easy to jerk along in lunges of acceleration and engine braking. Is this just incompetence or could the chain / sprockets be loose? The bike has nearly 60,000 miles on it, used as a commuter, and has a Scottoiler and a full service history so appears to have been well looked after. But I wouldn't know how tight a chain should be - it looks clean, and the Scottoiler's a good sign.

I assume it's just my lack of experience rather than anything wrong with the bike - as soon as I get the speed up it's ace and changing gear (whilst still unfamiliar) is getting better, don't have many problems getting into the right gear for turns etc. on open roads. Though with a CBR600 round my way, I could leave it in third and ride everywhere without changing gear

I don't have much problem balancing the bike at low speed (i.e. almost at a halt, clutch in, 1st, waiting for traffic to move off without stopping and putting my foot down) but pulling away once traffic moves... can be rather jerky again Perhaps I should leave it in 2nd for these manoeuvres and slip the clutch?

I'm still thinking 'car engine' so try to avoid any clutch slip, and really haven't got my head round the fact that the engine pulls to 13.5k rpm - which is probably a good thing as I learn, since the CBR's a pussycat below 7000 rpm, but is this the right way to do things or should I just hold a lower gear and higher engine revs for more control? I'm finding that in general 'cruise around and practice' riding (which is most of my riding at the moment) that I'm keeping the engine between 2 and 6k rpm. I've only done one 'let's see what this can do' run because some bloke in a 996 turbo was up my arse, and it's fast enough for my skills thanks very much Gearchanges seem to be a LOT smoother when going hard, for some reason - the opposite of a car 'box IME.

Shame about the bloody ste weather otherwise I'd have got a full day practice in. So car parks and slow CBT-style turning practice is worth it, right? Even though it raises my chances of dropping it many times.....

Great post. Glad to see I'm not the only one. (Yours isn't a Black CBR from West Sussex is it, per chance?) I nearly went for one with same miles and a Scottoiler although I guess there are tonnes around!

I don't think I've taken the 'Cat above 6k rpm yet, both because it would be beyond my confident capabilities and I'm a big girls blouse LOL. I don't like to go too far outside my comfort zone on the bike and would feel silly dropping it having done 100-120k scooter miles shiny side up so far! Have even thought of buying a cheapo CG125 or something to practice on, not really caring if I drop it.

No trouble with my gearbox & clutch at all and low speed straight line stuff is easy as pie although sometimes jerky if I'm not concentrating 100%. At junctions I'm quite hesitant and wait until a big gap rather than nip into smaller gaps I'd do on the scooter. With the Scorpion exhaust I have on mine anything above about 4k rpm sounds bloody loud (to me) so I try to keep below this unless I'm on a dual carriageway. For some reason, 5k rpm at 35mph sounds all wrong! Will check the chain as suggested although it had a major service just before I purchased it so hopefully it will be OK.

I find when 'pressing on' (comparatively, at about 30% of the bikes capabilities!) gear changes are smoother and I've tried clutchless upshifting with varying degrees of success. Prefer using the clutch for consistency at the moment. Going down the box is OK (always with clutch) but I can't rev-match to save my life so I either ride the clutch too much or sometimes it is jerky if I've changed down a tad too early - same as in a car. Probably get it spot on about 70% of the time at the moment.