Viewing 11 posts - 41 through 51 (of 51 total)
  • motorbike swerve test
  • jond
    Free Member

    One point I’m curious about – is countersteering taught as part of DAS (or otherwise)? – ‘cos the swerve should be piece of cake if it is. Certainly wasn’t taught when I did DAS about 10 years ago…

    BigButSlimmerBloke
    Free Member

    Me neither. Interestingly though, I was taught to ride a motorcycle, not just to pass the test. several times, the instructor said, “this is not part of the test, but..” and then covered swerving and not braking. We also did slow cone work for about half a day to develop control, even though that wasn’t part of the test then either. It did help with general control.
    Part of the problem with the swerve test might be that instructors who are focussing on the test, not on riding the bike, haven’t been teaching the control skills which make the swerve bit a piece of p1ss, so now struggle to teach those skills.
    Although not part of the test back in the old days, I have since passed the swerve test several times in “uncontrolled” circumstances.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    “Frankly, I think 600cc is plenty for most riders. I used to be able to risk my life at breakneck speeds on a 2 stroke 250cc. It would be a shame for the guys who like to plod round on big heavy Harley Davidsons, or the guys who do long journeys on supertourers. Another case of people misunderstanding the problem!”

    Exactly… My SV650 would be banned, as would the ER6N, BMW F800, Honda Deuville… None of them performance machines, all of them great practical road bikes. A modern 600 is faster than a 1000 was just a few years ago, so it’s a nonsense cap. If they were going to do something like this (and who knows, they might) then ptw would be the only way to make it work.

    The whole “600 is plenty for most riders” doesn’t make a lot of sense to me… Bigger engines give more power but also more usability. For the real world I’d choose a race rep 1000 over a 600, not because a 600 is slow but because it’s less good at moderate speeds. They’re both too fast 🙂

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    coffeeking
    Free Member

    its far less dangerous to hit the back of a suddenly stopped car, than to be lying in the oncoming lane.

    Having hit the back of one car and swerved round dozens in my time, I can happily say I’d rather swerve than hit, unless I’m pootling along at 10mph. When I hit the back of the car I had to re-arrange my nose, check my teeth were still intact and pick myself up from the lane before traffic came too. Then wipe the blood off the roof of the car and offer to pay for any damage. Generally my swerving incurs no loss of speed, stability or doing more than skimping around on the white line, though I appreciate motorbikes are totally different kettle of fish 😀

    bassspine
    Free Member

    Strikes me as demonstrating the difference between being taught to pass the test and being taught to ride a motorbike properly.

    (Personally I have ridden motorcycles for 20 years, I’d hate to have to go through the hoops current riders have to)

    BigButSlimmerBloke
    Free Member

    The whole “600 is plenty for most riders” doesn’t make a lot of sense to me… Bigger engines give more power but also more usability. For the real world I’d choose a race rep 1000 over a 600, not because a 600 is slow but because it’s less good at moderate speeds. They’re both too fast

    It makes no sense at all, unless you’rre talking to people who just commute and rip about town.
    recently, i did a 1600 mile tour of Britain. The bike was a 1000cc V twin. Cruising easily at motorway speeds, without revving the tits off
    it, and still with plenty of “get out of trouble fast” in reserve. And the bike is big and comfy enough to sit on for long distance miles. But it’s not a fast bike, it was bought for longish distance, middle aged, comfort touring. There’s nothing smaller I can think that would do the job as well, apart from a VFR or BMW (neither of which I want)

    Coffeeking – not that different in this case, speed and agility are the only differences. And you’re not as well dressed for an accident on a bike.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    “Strikes me as demonstrating the difference between being taught to pass the test and being taught to ride a motorbike properly.”

    Well, you can’t really make a test that accurately reflects what happens when some clown pulls out in front of you, but this at least reflects what you have to do when it happens to some extent- exactly the same as the emergency stop in the old test.

    But it’s a minimum standard, if a rider can’t safely complete this move (can’t spell maneuvuruuruure) in such controlled conditions then they’re not going to manage it on the road. Whereas if they can, then they might. That’s why I find it so laughable that people are crying about how hard it is. It makes me wonder just how bad many experienced riders actually are.

    bassspine
    Free Member

    I stand by that: some places are teaching people to pass the CBT and get them out the door ASAP and some places are teaching riders how to ride and understand what goes on eg countersteering….

    You only have to ride behind a few of the summer racers and watch their poor observation, thruppenny bit cornering and crap line choice to see how poor many ‘experienced’ bikers are, or is that just the BABs?

    Spongebob
    Free Member

    They did teach counter steering on my DAS 2 years ago.

    Re. the comments about it being better to go into the back of a suddenly stopped cars – there was a bloke at my old work who did this on a pushbike and spent 3-6 months having his face rebuilt! He never looked anything like normal at the end of it. He was lucky to survive!

    Northwind
    Full Member

    “I stand by that: some places are teaching people to pass the CBT and get them out the door ASAP and some places are teaching riders how to ride and understand what goes on eg countersteering….”

    This is definately true. TBH I think CBT is a bit of a farce, with no independant testing and a financial penalty to the school for “resits” it’s no wonder some schools will just give anyone a certificate.

    When I did mine, I found it very tough, I had a bad first attempt that really tore out my confidence and it took a lot to get past that, so it took me 4 attempts to get up to a suitable standard. The school were straight up about it- I wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t getting a certificate off them. And they were right.

    But my mate Stewart, when he did his, went to the other local school… crashed in the practice yard and broke his wrist without ever getting out onto the street and was still given his certificate! After 2 years, he went to them again to get it extended and they said “Oh, we’re a bit busy, tell you what- give us the money and we’ll give you a certificate, no need to do the course”.

    richcc
    Free Member

    I had exactly the same thought as Jond. For people to understand the mechanics of the swerve then you’ve got to teach them countersteering – which wasn’t the case when I did my test. If they are teaching newbies countersteering then I think that’s a really good thing.

Viewing 11 posts - 41 through 51 (of 51 total)

The topic ‘motorbike swerve test’ is closed to new replies.