Riding the twisties videos

[Roaddawg]

I took a nice ride yesterday around the Napa Valley and wanted to post up some of the videos. I take it for granted sometimes that there are a lot of nice curvy roads a couple minutes outside my door.

This video is just a small section of Highway 121 going up to Lake Berryessa. This is a very popular road for Bay Area motorcycle riders. Its a nice curvy road, but during the weekends, there are tons of bikes and drunk towing there boats. I like going during the weekdays and yesterday was perfect. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyCCEIiz1JE]YouTube - Riding some twisties in the Napa Valley[/ame]

 

[Detrich]

was that a mostly 3rd gear road?

 

[Roaddawg]

was that a mostly 3rd gear road?

This particular section is a lower gear section. It's a fairly steep down hill section with a steep cliff on the right side. The road also has some spots were you can really get up and go with some high speed curves. I know I don't ride as high of revs as some, but its comfortable to me. These roads are not for trying to be a track star. Too many double yellow drifters, 300+ foot cliffs, trees, and lots of deer. Just a nice, fun ride with great scenery.

 

[dart1963]

very nice! And you can see what running a good line can do for your sight-line through the corner!

 

[Roaddawg]

In this video, I call this section of Howe Mountain Road in Pope Valley area the "Lombard Street" of Napa Valley. Its a very twisty, steep uphill ride. You can't get a lot of speed (varying from 20-45), but it's great to practice throwing the bike back and forth quickly. I usually take it a little quicker, but someone recently blew a transmission and you can see the leak up the middle of the lane. I felt a little slippage a few times.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4-GQ1jpLqI]YouTube - Riding some twisties in the Napa Valley 2[/ame]

 

[Diluted]

Damn hotel internet..buffering....buffering..guess I'll have to watch these when I get home.

 

[Detrich]

sounds like you were in 2nd & 3rd gear in this video.... looks really fun!

for some odd reason i still cannot get a smooth, click-less shift at high revs (6000+ rpm) from 1st into 2nd and always get a chain grind/ click sound. =( but, at low revs i can do it smoothly. all the videos u guys always sound extremely smooth shifting. so, i wonder if it's something wrong w/ my bike or me... <lol>

 

[creggur]

sounds like you were in 2nd & 3rd gear in this video.... looks really fun!

for some odd reason i still cannot get a smooth, click-less shift at high revs (6000+ rpm) from 1st into 2nd and always get a chain grind/ click sound. =( but, at low revs i can do it smoothly. all the videos u guys always sound extremely smooth shifting. so, i wonder if it's something wrong w/ my bike or me... <lol>

I don't know what these guys are doing, but if you pre-load the shifter and simultaneously roll off the throttle and stab the clutch it will snick into the next gear very, very smooth. You'll be amazed how much smoother your shifts are.

When I go full throttle I don't use the clutch, simply pre-load the shifter and roll from 100% throttle to 75% throttle to 100% throttle - gear changes with no loss in acceleration. Again, very smooth shift. And no - it will not hurt the bike to do it this way...

**Edit** Practice this on straights before you try doing it in curves so you know how the bike reacts. There really is a significant difference in velocity as the bike loses no(or much less) acceleration when shifting this way. ***

 

[Detrich]

Thanks Creg... What does "pre-load the shifter" mean exactly? Do you mean ride & then pop the clutch while already in gear or ?

If thats What u mean then I've done something like that by accident and it was smooth- but only going from 2nd to 3rd. 1st to 2nd is still a challenge... =\

 

[creggur]

Thanks Creg... What does "pre-load the shifter" mean exactly? Do you mean ride & then pop the clutch while already in gear or ?

If thats What u mean then I've done something like that by accident and it was smooth- but only going from 2nd to 3rd. 1st to 2nd is still a challenge... =\

Push up on the shifter with the toe of your boot with just enough force to shift, then when you simultaneously roll off the throttle and 'stab' the clutch it will pop right up into the next gear.

If you're used to shifting by rolling way off the throttle, pulling the clutch handle all the way to the bar, releasing the clutch, then rolling back on - it will take a bit of practice to get the timing right doing it the new way. When I upshift I may be pulling the clutch handle in a half to 3/4 of an inch. You'll be surprised at first how little you have to move the clutch (and throttle) to initiate the shift. Then getting the timing right on the quick roll-off/roll-on of the throttle in sync with it. But once you get the motion down it is nice and smooth.

Practice it at lower RPMs at first, then gradually move up, and then when you're doing redline shifts just skip the clutch all together. And if you haven't read "Total Control" by Lee Parks, pick it up on Amazon - he explains it (and a lot of other excellent performance riding techniques) way better than I ever could - it's worth every penny.

This video explains it pretty well: Note - I always use a bit of clutch unless it's full throttle speed-shifting...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P5lk426tOQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P5lk426tOQ[/ame]

**When I do full-throttle clutchless upshifts on my VFR the front wheel comes up a few inches - I haven't done this on Tracie's FZ6R so beware of that possibility.**

 

[DutchPaul]

I don't know what these guys are doing, but if you pre-load the shifter and simultaneously roll off the throttle and stab the clutch it will snick into the next gear very, very smooth. You'll be amazed how much smoother your shifts are.

When I go full throttle I don't use the clutch, simply pre-load the shifter and roll from 100% throttle to 75% throttle to 100% throttle - gear changes with no loss in acceleration. Again, very smooth shift. And no - it will not hurt the bike to do it this way...

**Edit** Practice this on straights before you try doing it in curves so you know how the bike reacts. There really is a significant difference in velocity as the bike loses no(or much less) acceleration when shifting this way. ***

better yet shift before the curve / corner !!!!

 

[creggur]

better yet shift before the curve / corner !!!!

Well, yeah - I thought that would go without saying... What I meant was to practice it on straight easy roads so there is no hurry between corners to learn a new technique. Thanks for pointing that out, though, didn't mean infer that shifting mid-corner (while sometimes necessary) should be common practice.