Right turns... why so hard?

[Cajunrider]

Tight right turns are more difficult for me also. A friend of mine who is left handed told me that the tight left turns are more difficult for him than the right turns. I don't know if that is a coincidence or not. I am right handed and the left turns are somewhat easier for me. I purchased the Ride Like a Pro IV dvd and was amazed what those tiny ladies could do with the HD Road Kings riding 2 up with a 200 lb passenger. They have the technique mastered and they practice every day. If I practiced every day on a paved parking lot I would have to rig up armor on my bike. I would certainly drop it a time or two. I was one of the newbies who started off with a 1600 Nomad. Never owned a bike before. I'm 6'0" 230 lbs and I still run into low confidence problems with slow manuevers. I should have started off with a 900 instead of the Nomad. But I'm slowly getting there. Hopefully, one day before I get too old I'll have the Nomad mastered.

[nomad]

i have been riding for 23+ years and i too found the nomad to be hard for a right turn. i just assumed it was because of the shaft drive? i never experienced this on my other bikes (chain drives).

OK, now I'm gonna have to go out in some parking lot and do a bunch of tight turns and see if the right turn is really harder, and I just never noticed it before; because, frankly, I never noticed it before.

[Yellow Jacket]

Originally Posted by caddmannq

OK, now I'm gonna have to go out in some parking lot and do a bunch of tight turns and see if the right turn is really harder, and I just never noticed it before; because, frankly, I never noticed it before.

Be careful Cadd! If you look for it you might find it. Then your mind will be screwed up and it will take 4 years to overcome. The next thing that will happen is the attack squirrels will begin to jump up on your helmet instead of just running back and forth! After that . . . ahhhhhhh somebody help me. . . . those voices are in my head again.

(P.S. it would be best to ignore this whole post. I need a beer. Where's cactusjack?)

I haven't seen a squirrel around here since my wife brought home these two big hounds.

I haven't seen my hand stitched Italian loafers since then either.

Hmmm...Coincidence?

[ells]

I've been looking at my tight right turns more closely too. The left hand probably wants to stay on the clutch so gets stretched out more, and right wrist gets bent into an unusual angle. Turning left does feel a little more comfortable but can't really put my finger on it, other than maybe what I first suggested, we lean left when getting on and off, but that doesn't really make much sense does it?

[glwilson]

Here's the answer; only make left turns. Never make right turns no matter what. Plan your routes this way. Why make life tougher than it has to be. Besides; turning only left you will always find new areas to ride that you might otherwise have passed by.

Good luck.

[markusmaximus]

Originally Posted by Dan Lund

A lot of thoughts there that I agree with. One of the reasons that I think people have an easier time transitioning from dirt bikes to street ones is that they already know how to operate the mechanicals, and they can devote more neurological resources to what is going on around them.

But as you stated, you could ride just fine on your concurs and Nighthawk.

Here's my very long detailed answer to your question. I thought that it deserved a precise answer.


I don't know, but I think you have a mental hiccup about the Nomad. Don't know if you had a scary almost dump it to the right or something to set it off or what? But if you did it just fine on your other bikes, and can do it to the left on the Nomad, I think it's a mental hitch.

As a previous poster said, from a stop a left turn is wider than a right, making it easier. A Nomad can actually be turned 90 degrees from a stop in about 3 feet, and you state that you are having trouble doing it in the whole lane. The first exercise in this video I turn to the left from a stop in 3 feet. Now I'm wondering if I just happened to do it to the left, or if I'm more comfortable going left? I think I was just doing it towards the camera.



As Caddman said, I'd get it down in a parking lot before going out in traffic again. Having as much anxiety as you described isn't conducive to proper concentration. The good news is that because it was no problem with your other bikes, you'll perhaps get it figured out in a day and be fine from there on out.

I would go to a fairly empty lot and stop perpendicular to a row, but back plenty far. Use the row you have your eye on as if you are stopped at a stop sign and pulling out into that lane of travel. Be far enough back that it is fairly easy to do.

Do it over and over, stopping each time so that you are pulling out from a stop. When that gets to be routine, move the imaginary stop sign up a ways, and do that till it becomes routine. Keep moving up until you can easily do it with a distance that is like a stop sign on a residential street.

One thing that you may be uncomfortable with, but you weren't on your other bikes, is the physical sensation of the bike starting to go over. You may have a mental hitch thinking that if it starts to go, you won't be able to stop it and it'll go all the way down. If that is the problem, you will have to just prove to yourself that it isn't going to happen. Once you know that it isn't going to happen, it should become a lot easier.

When turning right from a stop as you described, most of the turning sensation happens right in the first 1/4 of the turn or less. The bike may feel very unstable if you are not used to the sensation. The parking lot exercise I mentioned will make the sensation stop ringing alarm bells that something is wrong. Or that something wrong is about to happen.

If you start with plenty of distance and work in, your body will get desensitised to the sensation. But by the time you get into real world distances I'll explain what you should be doing, and how it feels.

You will be turning the bars and inducing the bike to "fall" inside as you are pulling away. But right after it starts falling you will probably naturally (when the mental hitch is gone) start feeding out more clutch and giving more throttle. Doing that will make the bike come back upright more, turning what would otherwise be an auger into the ground into a graceful arcing turn.

In the 3 foot turn in my video I'll narrate what happens.
At 22 seconds I'm turning the bars all the way to the stops ( for your turns you don't need to be anywhere near the stops).
at 24 seconds I'm feeding some throttle and clutch out, still keeping the bars at the stops.
At 25 seconds the bike takes a pronounced dip towards the ground on the inside, my boot starts pointing to the ground off the board. It's just a totally unnecessary habit I picked up to feel the ground right before boards drag. As soon as the bike makes that pronounced fall inside, I give more clutch and throttle. That extra clutch pulls the bike more upright and I'm starting to let the bars back to a neutral position.
I am now fully 90 degrees turned and lifted back upright and it is still at 25 seconds.
At 26 seconds I've over rotated slightly and make a correction to the right and pull away.

I gave it to you second by second so that you could pause and get all the sequence. But all you really need to know is that when the bike dips in, letting out more clutch and throttle will straighten it back more upright as you are bringing the bars back towards center.

Turning in 3 feet is an extreme example, but it illustrates the point of what sensations you will feel, and how do effectively deal with them.

For a stop sign right turn into the first lane, you won't need to be anywhere near full lock, but you will still feel that initial dip inside sensation. Teach your body during parking lot practice that it is a normal sensation, not a problem sensation.

When you feel it, let more clutch out while giving more throttle. Be looking where you want to go. Eventually you will be able to pull from the stop sign into the first track of the lane no problem. But if at first you go wider, I'd still look at the first track and arc back into it even if you go into the middle third. As your body becomes used to the sensation, the alarm bells won't go off and you won't worry about right turns at all.

It takes guts to be a newbie on the board and admit that your having trouble with a certain bit of riding. Let us know how it progresses and feel free to ask for any clarification.

Good luck.

Dan,
This is a great example of mastering your bike. I bought my Nad 2 months ago and made a point to practice a lot before riding in heavy traffic. My goal was to do figure 8's within 2 car spaces and I'm pretty close. Your video illustrates just how much better I can be. Great job. BTW, I'm now very comfortable on the Nad in heavy traffic, so much so that I rode my wife to/from downtown Indianapolis last weekend without any problems.

Most riders have a dominant side and a weak side. Left turns must be more natural for me because I've comfortably dragged my left board several times through turns and I've never even touched the right one down. I probably need to practice my right more. I don't think you need to down size I just think you need more practice on the nomad. I started riding in 2004. My 1st bike was an 1100 and the nomad is my 2nd bike. I'm much more skilled on the Nomad than I ever was on the 1100 which is kinda scary: Looking back, I probably wasn't ready to upsize to the nomad when I did; (my confidence probably outwieghed my skill) but now I'm more comfortable riding the nomad than I ever was on the 1100. I have a long way to go to get to the level of a competition motorcop but I would love to be at that level someday.

OK, this is sorta freaky, but I rode my bike around in the parking lot at work today. Our lot is fairly long and narrow, and there's a gutter down the middle so it slopes to the center from both directions.

I did some left and right circles and some figure-8's through the gutter, so that in addition to turning I was always going up or down hill too.

I found that I am actually more comfortable doing a right than a left, which seems backward; especially considering that I'm right handed. The difference wasn't considerable, but when I looked for it it was clear that I did the right turns a bit faster than the lefts.

Now I ride the same route to work and back every day. I have to make both rights and lefts and u-turns as well. Often I must maneuver from a dead stop. I probably get equal practice going both ways, but I'm amazed that one way does seem easier, and it's the opposite direction too.

[markusmaximus]

Originally Posted by caddmannq

OK, this is sorta freaky, but I rode my bike around in the parking lot at work today. Our lot is fairly long and narrow, and there's a gutter down the middle so it slopes to the center from both directions.

I did some left and right circles and some figure-8's through the gutter, so that in addition to turning I was always going up or down hill too.

I found that I am actually more comfortable doing a right than a left, which seems backward; especially considering that I'm right handed. The difference wasn't considerable, but when I looked for it it was clear that I did the right turns a bit faster than the lefts.

Now I ride the same route to work and back every day. I have to make both rights and lefts and u-turns as well. Often I must maneuver from a dead stop. I probably get equal practice going both ways, but I'm amazed that one way does seem easier, and it's the opposite direction too.

When you were practicing, were your left turns equally as sharp as your right turns? If so, it should make sense that sharp right turns are easier. You've had more practice in the real world.

[mrbill69]

Right turns are hard for almost everyone. One theory that I heard that might make some sense is that most people start their driving experience in cars and sit on the left side. It gives one a better feel of the car and a more secure feeling sitting on the "top" side when the car is leaning and better vision of where you're going when turning left. I wonder how the europeans feel about this sitting and driving on the right side. I raced dirt bikes til I was 47 years old and no matter how much I practiced I never could take a fast right turn as good as a left one, I still can't. My brother was just the opposite though. I still feel comfortable scraping the pegs and even sliding a little in a lefthand turn but fast right ones cause me to pucker if you know what I mean. One thing I agree with that I learned from racing dirtbikes and stock cars is always look where you want to go not where you're going. I've seen a few riders get over their heads in a curve and go wide and even leave the road. They were all looking right down in front of them.

Originally Posted by Markus Maximus

When you were practicing, were your left turns equally as sharp as your right turns? If so, it should make sense that sharp right turns are easier. You've had more practice in the real world.

Well, they were equal in that at the most extreme turns I was holding the forks tight against the stop in both directions. I just assumed they're equal however. I never measured the angles.