Some things I have noticed while riding.

[dentheman]

I've recently been taking some fairly long rides to get to the twisties and canyons located some distance from my home. This includes some long stretches of highway as well as the twisties, and has taught me a few interesting things about my bike (and me).

Riding at 65 mph gets me roughly 50 mpg, but increasing speed to 70 mph or fighting winds significantly lowers the mpg.

When taking a curve too wide (too fast) my natural impulse is to cut the throttle, this corrects the problem. If taking a curve too close to the inside, the impulse is to give it some throttle, which corrects it. My point is that it happens instinctively, without having to think about it.

When riding at high speed with a crosswind, the handlebar will give a slight 'jiggle'. At first I thought this was due to road conditions, but then I realized it is the bike correcting itself to stay in a straight line in spite of crosswinds. If the wind is blowing from the right, it tends to move the bike slightly to the left, which causes the steering to go slightly to the right and then straighten itself, causing the jiggle. For all practical purposes the bike continues to go straight and will not be blown around in the lane.

My old school rear drum brake has more stopping power than the front disc brake. Of course I do use both brakes when stopping.

I just thought I would throw this in for other beginners who might not completely trust their bike to take care of them.

[alantf]

My old school rear drum brake has more stopping power than the front disc brake.

Mmmmm........Seems like there's a problem with the front brake.It should be MUCH more efficient than the rear, & should give you around 70% of your stopping power.

[mrlmd1]

You need to read Proficient Motorcycling, and More Proficient Motorcycling, by David Hough. And maybe also Total Control by Lee Parks, and A Twist of the Wrist by Keith Code (both about higher performance street and some track riding).
What you are doing in your turns where you go too wide, and with your brakes is wrong, and you do not want to get into a high side crash.

If you are too wide on the turn, it is because you entered it too soon, an early apex. You are better off with a delayed apex.
If you are going too fast into the turn, it is because you didn't slow down enough before you entered the turn.
If you cut the throttle to slow down and try and negotiate the turn, you are shifting the bike's weight to the front wheel, taking weight off the back wheel, and risk the back wheel losing traction and sliding out. This usually results in a high side crash when the rear wheel grabs the road again..
If you hit the front brake a little too hard going around the turn you risk a low side crash.
The only way to make sure you stay upright is it steer the bike straight and brake in a straight line, but that may take you into the other opposite lane or off the road.
You may be surprised, but you have a better chance of surviving a hot turn doing just the opposite of what you are doing. You actually should lean the bike over more and give it a little throttle to gain more traction and get around the turn - the opposite of what you are doing.

You should be doing most of your braking with the front brake, and if that is not providing most of your stopping power, it needs to be fixed or you will be seriously hurt.
Generally - The front brake is for seriously slowing or stopping the bike, the rear brake is for low speed maneuvers like slowly going around a tight turn, helps to keep the bike upright. Both should be used in a panic stop, front first, then rear. If the front tire skids, let up on that brake, then reapply in a progressive fashion, don't clamp on it all at once. If the rear wheel skids, stay or stand on that brake until the bike comes to a stop or you are going in an exactly straight line at a slow enough speed so you don't high side when the wheel regains traction.

Most times the bike will take care of you, like you said, but you have to tell it the right instructions in order for it to do that. I'm glad to see that so far your bike has done that regardless of what you tell it, but study and read some more instead of giving bad advice about what you do. I don't want you or anybody else on here to get hurt, so take my comments as constructive criticism and not as a negative attack.. :)

[Water Warrior 2]

Well said Doc. :2tup: :2tup:

[Water Warrior 2]

When you find yourself going too hot into a curve it will help if you lean your body into the curve. Shifting your weight will make quite a difference. This of course takes a bit of practice so you know how far to lean for any given speed or curve. Gently lean your weight and feel the difference. The bike will respond to the shift in weight and put a grin on your face. You don't need to hang off the side like a race track professional to accomplish this. Just try to kiss the inside mirror and feel the results. If the bike turns in too fast then just add some throttle.

If the rear brake is more effective than the front there is something wrong. Either with the brake or your fear of going over the bars. It is highly unlikely you will go over the bars. Practice braking hard. Grip the tank with your legs and brake hard. Repeat, repeat and repeat until it feels normal and easy to do. Develop some muscle memory. Increase your speeds and repeat. Later you can practice down shifting with hard braking to match bike speed and the proper gear as you slow. Always try to be in the proper gear at any given speed, it is the safer way to ride.

[dentheman]

I don't think there is anything wrong with the front brake, but reviews I have read make mention of the "weak" or "wooden" front brake in some derogatory manner, and I agree. Also the 70% braking by the front brake is not necessarily true with some cruisers that have the front wheel sticking out and the rider sitting low and toward the rear of the bike, like the Shadow (or so I have read). What I have noticed is I just have to use light foot pressure on the rear brake, but much more hand pressure on the front brake to get what feels like even braking.

As far as the turns, I know what I am supposed to do, but putting it into practice will require more riding on my part. It doesn't happen much, but I find unknown curves hidden by hills sometimes require correction while in the turn.

I have read Hough's Proficient Motorcycling. I probably need to read up again on curves, and practice them specifically. I am still learning, and have only found the twisties four days ago, so they are new to me.

I am chalking this up to being new to riding and posted it under Beginners for that reason. Just things that I have noticed as I ride.

Also, when I went through the course, the instructors emphasized always using both brakes, I don't believe they ever mentioned just using one brake.

[alantf]

but much more hand pressure on the front brake to get what feels like even braking.

Have you had the calipers apart to check that the pads still have plenty of life in them, and they're moving freely on their guide pins. It just seems that you may have some slight problem. You shouldn't have to use excessive force on the lever. :)

[blaine]

I agree that you may have a problem with your front brake.You should be able to get considerable braking force with just a little pressure on the brake lever.It sounds like the caliber may not be moving,only giving you pressure on one side of the rotor.
:) :cool:

[dentheman]

I agree that you may have a problem with your front brake.You should be able to get considerable braking force with just a little pressure on the brake lever.It sounds like the caliber may not be moving,only giving you pressure on one side of the rotor.
:) :cool:
I don't understand what you are telling me. The brake has two pistons, both for the outer pad, with the inner pad being static (no pistons, it doesn't move) as far as I can tell from the repair manual. So pressure would only be 'directly' applied to one side of the rotor by the pistons on that side, right? Or does the entire brake assembly (caliper?)move when pressure is applied to one side to place equal pressure on both sides of the rotor?

OK, I just went out and pushed the brake assembly side to side and there is slight movement, but when holding the brake lever there is no movement, so I answered my question. The entire caliper assembly should move.

In a few days I will take her by the dealer and see what they think.

[mrlmd1]

One last tip that can't be emphasized enough, and it's very simple and can be disastrous if ignored. No matter where you ride, but especially in turns and curves, LOOK WHERE YOU WANT TO GO. If you think you are going wide on the turn and you look that way, if you target fixate on something across the other side of the road, or at an oncoming car, that's where you will wind up. Keep your head level, turn your head and look through the turn to where you want to go. Your gaze and line of sight should be the track that the bike will follow. There's an old saying, look down, go down. Just keep looking through the turn and you will make it.

And the only type of bike where the front brake may not be the most effective or important in stopping the bike and providing most of the stopping power may be in a custom chopper with a very exaggerated front fork length - that general adage applies to practically every bike, every book you read, every training program. If your front brake doesn't stop the bike dead real quick with a moderately tight squeeze on the handle, you need to get it checked. Soon. You should not be able to even move the bike with a tiny weak application of the front brake.

[JWR]

One last tip that can't be emphasized enough, and it's very simple and can be disastrous if ignored. No matter where you ride, but especially in turns and curves, LOOK WHERE YOU WANT TO GO. If you think you are going wide on the turn and you look that way, if you target fixate on something across the other side of the road, or at an oncoming car, that's where you will wind up. Keep your head level, turn your head and look through the turn to where you want to go. Your gaze and line of sight should be the track that the bike will follow. There's an old saying, look down, go down. Just keep looking through the turn and you will make it.

And the only type of bike where the front brake may not be the most effective or important in stopping the bike and providing most of the stopping power may be in a custom chopper with a very exaggerated front fork length - that general adage applies to practically every bike, every book you read, every training program. If your front brake doesn't stop the bike dead real quick with a moderately tight squeeze on the handle, you need to get it checked. Soon. You should not be able to even move the bike with a tiny weak application of the front brake.





This is the most important piece of information in all the post on this subject.

Skill is more important than the bikes handling.

[mrlmd1]

Here's just one video of a great series from Keith Code's Twist if the Wrist series from his superbike school.
Some of the things we talked about here are on this video and it's worth watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztWMrxnm-bo

[Water Warrior 2]

Very good training film. Tire temp does make a big difference to me. I have noticed the bike isn't near as planted on cooler tires when playing in the twisties. On warm tires I will never get to the limits of the bike before I get to my own limits.
Picking the proper line is a fun ride but can lead to some really excessive speeds and luckily I haven't won any performance awards yet. The one thing I try to maintain is not to go faster than my line of sight around a curve as their is always a chance of wildlife out for a walk.

[dentheman]

mrlmd 1, thanks for that video. I will watch it a few more times when I can kick back in my recliner and take notes.

Concerning my brakes: The mechanic rode my bike up and down the parking lot a few times and said the brakes are OK, I just need to practice applying a little more front brake and a little less rear brake. He said many people think that drum brakes are weak compared to disc, but that isn't necessarily true for the Shadow.

I really do enjoy the twisties and ups and downs, I see an 'adventure' bike in my future. But for now, the Shadow is doing a great job of teaching me rider skills.

[JWR]

You are just going through a learning curve.

I think you are being safe and cautious and that is good.

More miles = more fun.

:)

[Water Warrior 2]

I see an 'adventure' bike in my future.

Hang in there with that idea. The market is swinging over to do it all adventure bikes. They are the Swiss Army Knife in the moto world.

[Skunkhome]

The effectiveness of the front brake is more dependent on the location of the tire than the type of brake. The front tire is going to have more grip in a braking situation as the harder you brake the more weight is transferred down on the front tire and inversely the rear tire looses traction the harder you brake as the weight of the bike and rider is lifter off the rear tire and transferred to the front tire.

[varangianknight]

As a new rider i found my self "50 centing" it. An Australian fifty cent coin is twelve sided so as i was going around the corner i would aim at a spot, find i was wrong correct, get it wrong again and so on. It was quite annoying but as i was riding along a road every day i got to know it well and was able to practice doing a smooth corner. Along unknown roads i still occassionaly 50 cent it as sometime you cant see all the way through a corner so i usually just slow down a bit more but it is a good feeling to know that im not doing it so much anymore. Guess thats what practice will get you - better!

[sam88]

Thanks for sharing such interesting experiences. :cool:

[PG tips]

I must have a look out for those books mentioned earlier, need to look over the bike before venturing out after the winter.

[mrlmd1]

Be aware also that when you first start to ride in the colder weather, the tires are hard and slippery until they warm up from riding a while. Take it easy for the first few minutes of riding so they can warm up and increase their grip on the road.

[Rookie Rider]

What a good thread, and the video too, ive seen the whole video a couple of times. It never gets boring.

[PimpS]

More km i ride, more quiet I am. Reading and checking with my gained experience and making conclusions over and over again, what luck and great folks are on this forum. Yes, Keith's movie is a great to watch, over and over again...