Not many of these here in Florida, but when I see one coming I lean forward a bit, turn the handlebars into the curve, lean a little into the curve and roll on the gas as I'm leaning forward, and into the sweeper, don't know the official way to take a curve,(too new to trikes) but this proceedure works for me. How does this sound to all you trikers?
taking a sweeping curve
- Thread starter joe pain
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Being relatively new to Trikes also the above technique is the one I also use, works well for me. :yes:
John Luciano
One Of The Origionals , TOI - New England
YES you got it. I tap the brake before the curve. I drop it down 5 or even 10 below the speed limit . I look thru the curve. I lock the outside elbow and pull on the inside bar lean and roll on the gas till I am almost thru the curve or reach 100 MPH what ever happens 1st
Having had my trike for about 9 months now, I find that in particularly hard turns, I also put my weight a little more on the inside foot. I'm not sure this actually does anything, but it make me FEEL as if I'm hugging the curve better.
John Luciano
One Of The Origionals , TOI - New England
Yes JUJU an other good pointer. Works for me too.
I agree 100%: :yes: Shifting your weight (even sliding over slightly in the seat) to the inside of the turn, leaning your body to the inside of the turn, and lowering your posture all help to keep the "CG" of you and the trike low and to the inside of curve.
Adding power or accelerating in the curve definitely helps hold you in the turn, while deacceleration or braking will have the opposite effect. Avoid braking in a curve, so be sure to reduce your speed befor the curve.
For me, curves on the level or an upgrade are the easiest to negotiate, as you can adjust your speed as you approach the curve with the throttle, and then add throttle as you go through the curve. Curves on a downgrade are more difficult as you must drop your speed sufficiently prior to entering the curve, so that you can still power through the curve, and not exit the curve too fast.
Happy triking! Hepengr
Adding power or accelerating in the curve definitely helps hold you in the turn, while deacceleration or braking will have the opposite effect. Avoid braking in a curve, so be sure to reduce your speed befor the curve.
For me, curves on the level or an upgrade are the easiest to negotiate, as you can adjust your speed as you approach the curve with the throttle, and then add throttle as you go through the curve. Curves on a downgrade are more difficult as you must drop your speed sufficiently prior to entering the curve, so that you can still power through the curve, and not exit the curve too fast.
Happy triking! Hepengr
Yes it does...
Also aim for the APEX of the turn, (just like you were taught in MSF class) I wont say that this is more important on a trike.
But you can hit the apex of a turn and practically NEVER have to move the handlebars, or let off the gas.
Braking down to 5 or 10 below the limit and accelerating back to 100 is one heck of a spread, isn't it?
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- #9
Dave, John thinks he has a turbo on that Honda, but it sounds good the way he says it.
You guys have the right things happening but I am not hearing a major trick here that is very inportant and that would TURN YOUR HEAD or LOOK WHERE YOU ARE GOING!!!!!! This is one of the must inportant componets to taking any curve !!! Rember what we learned in MSF class.
SLOW,look,press,roll !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:yes:
Almost everyone forgets the look part and as we get older it is harder to turn our heads far enough. But it is important!!!!
Sorry I got in my instructor mode again!!!
SLOW,look,press,roll !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:yes:
Almost everyone forgets the look part and as we get older it is harder to turn our heads far enough. But it is important!!!!
Sorry I got in my instructor mode again!!!
Good point!!!!
I went to the albums and scoured his photos to see if I could figure out where he had hidden the NOS tanks, but he did a great job with it.
:machinegun:Com'on John....we're just kiddin' !
John Luciano
One Of The Origionals , TOI - New England
Good point . we do the look through the corner so naturally we don't remember to mention it. I find I even do it with my car.LQQk real close at the right rear floor board you can just barley see the NOS tank and the turbo is on top of the motor under the shelter . <LOL>:blush:
:blush:
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- #14
You go where you look. Lots of people forget that in their car as they wobble down the road.
Since I have only logged 1k miles & most of those on So California twisties, I kindda figured out all the above, with a lotta help fm this forum. But the only thing I seem to be doing differentlt is that I am weighting the OUTSIDE peg (or the converse of what I do on my 2-w sport-tourer) while still leaning into the turn. Is that wrong?
- Thread starter
- #16
i used to do that too, in time with practice you'll push down on the peg of the side your turning into
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- #17
Its all about weight transfer. However you transfer weight to the inside of the turn, you are getting the job done. What is more comfortable for you is the correct way, because it's all about maintaining control.
Salty, if you are pushing the bar with your outside arm and pushing down with your outside foot, you're inherently shifting your body weight to the inside radius of the curve. That's all that counts. Trying to do it in a way that's unnatural to you will tend to have you looking down, then you'll have a real problem.
The rule is; Look at where you're going, not at where you're at !
The rule is; Look at where you're going, not at where you're at !
Is it common for the front end to wobble a bit if pushing a turn too hard? We have a set of reverse curves in the neighborhood that are just so much fun, I have a tendency to run pretty hard through them. In the curves, speed limit is 25 & 35 after through the "S". At 40, everything is fine, but at 45, the front wobbles a bit. Is this a warning sign I'm pushig it too hard??? This is the only time I've felt the front wobble. One observation about throttle control in turns: When I was riding my Sporty to & from work, there was a real nice sweeper on the way home. I noticed that if when in that turn if I dialed in just a LITTLE more throttle, the bike would suck right down into the turn tighter. If I backed off even just a little from normal, it would drift to the outside. Now, I MIGHT have been changing the pressure on the bars a bit, but I did this a LOT & tried NOT to change pressure on the bars & only use the throttle to control where I was in that turn in respect to toward inside or outside of the lane. I haven't ran that curve yet with the trike, but I'm thinking the same will apply.
NM
NM
- Moderator
- #20
NM on my trike I slow before the turn steer to the apex, and roll on throttle after the apex.
From what I read,
Most of you guys must be riding conversion trikes which are a little more top heavy in the curves. I ride a Rewaco trike which is larger and has a lower center of gravity than most conversion trike and I don't have to lean so much in the curves, as Old Goat mentioned my main concern is to look directly at where I'm going and the trikes just follows.
Most of you guys must be riding conversion trikes which are a little more top heavy in the curves. I ride a Rewaco trike which is larger and has a lower center of gravity than most conversion trike and I don't have to lean so much in the curves, as Old Goat mentioned my main concern is to look directly at where I'm going and the trikes just follows.
This may be similar to putting weight on the inside peg, but I have found that exerting a bit of pressure against the side of my fuel tank with my knee seems to help. That is, in a left hand curve,press with your left knee. Seems to increase stability and keep you locked on the seat. Lots of other good tips here too.
With my demo Rewaco as I am getting to the curve I get on the gas as much as I can because I can beat most 2 wheel cruisers around the curve....low centre of gravity...wide rear wheel stance is what accomplishes that.
I am wondering why most of the trike conversions are not built with a wider stance in the rear so they could haul a-- around the corners??
I am wondering why most of the trike conversions are not built with a wider stance in the rear so they could haul a-- around the corners??
As true motorheads have always known;
"Brake going in - Power through the center - Accelerate going out"
On both the trike and the 2 wheeler,the basic is the MSF mantra- slow, look, lean, roll: Slow down going into the curve, look through the curve and determine your line, lean into the curve, roll on the throttle through the curve. Same as said before, just different phrasing.
Ozarkryder...
You said that "Most trikes, well ridden, can beat almost all but sprotbikes through curves - tourers and crusers run out of lean before traction. Trikes dont have to worry about the lean angle."
Am I reading the above right in that a trike conversion then is actually faster in cornering than when it was 2 wheels?? I may be misunderstanding what you have said.
But if so, that is interesting because most people that come by the shop with trike conversions have said they love them except that they don't corner as well as when the bike was a 2 wheeler.
You said that "Most trikes, well ridden, can beat almost all but sprotbikes through curves - tourers and crusers run out of lean before traction. Trikes dont have to worry about the lean angle."
Am I reading the above right in that a trike conversion then is actually faster in cornering than when it was 2 wheels?? I may be misunderstanding what you have said.
But if so, that is interesting because most people that come by the shop with trike conversions have said they love them except that they don't corner as well as when the bike was a 2 wheeler.
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- #27
Than they need more time in the saddle and learn to be aggressive as experience comes to them. My HD is just as fast on three as it was when I rode it on 2. I've had this 07 for 3 years and rode it half as a 2 wheeler and half as a trike. A good rider can make a trike move, but it is not a sports bike.
Canuckhoss- on the same very curvy roads, I can run the twisties faster on the trike than I can on my 1990 FLHS. It is due mostly to the lack of lean angle on crusers and touring bikes. Leaning over a bike puts the forces on the body differently from a trike. A 2 wheeler puts the force through the body to the road, a triker gets pushed sideways. This makes it seem as if the trike isn't cornering as smoothly. As tmigala stated, the folks that say trikes don't corner need more time on thier ride. Going down the Pig Trail (very twisty road in Arkansas) I can even easily keep up with half of the sport bike riders. Not being able to pull away from a trike kind of irks them sometimes, but I know the road and that's what 18 years of experience brings.
Canukhoss, in the quote Ozark posted, you say the front wheel looses traction first, but gives plenty of warning -- what kind of warning? Is it the "wobble" I'm feeling? Still trying to figure this concept of 3 wheels out. 40 was as fast as I ever got through this particular set of curves -- on my Sportster -- the Ultra was slower. At 40 the trike is getting some pretty heavy side thrust from the centrifugal forces, but feels solid, but at 45, the front wheel starts to wobble a little. Like it's snapping back from the side load??? After riding 47 years, I know how to take a corner on a bike, but this is something new I've never felt before when cornering. I usually feel it in the second turn because there isn't much decel time between the 2 turns. As I said in another post, on the trike, I find it's much easier to "look through the turn". I understand & use the apex theory on curves, but sometimes it's impossible to look all the way through a turn, and some turns are long enough the use of multiple apexes is required. On "blind" curves (where you can't "look through" all the way) with a decreasing radius, the understanding of how power affects lane position comes in real handy, but with the front wheel wobble, it feels like I'm pushing things too hard. Just wanted to know if what I think is happening realy is.
NM
NM
Canuck, believe me that my husband is by nature a far more aggressive rider than I am. I won't even try to count up his tickets over the years! He loves twisty roads on the motorcycle and frequently leaves his buddies in the dust. Since I added the Champion kit to my Fat Boy, however, I easily stick to his tail and "push him" around the corners in the twisties. Of course, when the road straightens up again.. he's out-o-there! LOL!!!
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