TIPS ON NOT TIPPING

Save embarrassment when coming to a stop on your bike with these tips for keeping the shiny side up

WORDS BY RAY PETRY

Tipping over on a motorcycle can be one of the most embarrassing things that can happen to any rider, new or experienced. It’s a confidence crusher, and it’s hard on chrome, ankles and ego. Tip-overs usually occur at very slow speeds, often in conjunction with a second factor. Here are some of the common tip-over traps and how a rider can avoid them.

Whether smooth or more extreme maximum braking, stopping requires two things – beyond having enough traction – to stay upright. First, make sure your handlebar is squared up. When stopping with the bar turned, the motorcycle tries to follow the curve of the front tyre. When the front wheel is in alignment with the centreline of the motorcycle, all is well, but just a few degrees left or right of centre creates a force that causes the motorcycle to fall in that direction. ‘Squaring your bar’ so the front and rear tyres are aligned before any braking occurs ensures the forces are directed straight through the centreline of the motorcycle, eliminating any tipping force.

Have you ever come to a stop and been forced to make a hard dab with a foot or land on a foot you didn’t intend to? You were likely looking off to the side. Looking ahead is also essential for a smooth, square stop. Your head, without the added weight of a helmet, averages five kilograms. Having your head and body aligned helps balance the whole works.

Squaring the bar and looking ahead are the keys, so practise those fundamentals and you’ll still be on two wheels when you pull to a stop.

Having your head and body aligned helps balance the whole works

Here are a few scenarios:

• You’re at a stop sign or traffic light waiting to make a sharp turn onto a side street. Turning from a stop on a cold engine or mismanaging the friction zone can cause an engine stall. When this happens, it’s the equivalent of locking the rear brake with the bar turned. Making this save requires immediate disengagement of the clutch. Squeezing the clutch lever quickly and fully allows the rear wheel to keep turning and prevents that tip. You’ll most likely still need to dab a foot hard to stay upright, but a save is a save.

• You’ve pulled into a steeply upward-sloping driveway but found there’s no place to turn around. Backing down the driveway is your only choice. Use just the front brake since your feet are on the ground. A little speed causes you to squeeze the brake, but instead of slowing things down, it unloads the front suspension and the tyre skids. Now things are getting really exciting, and a tip over is imminent. To prevent this, brake early and often, don’t allow any speed to build, just creep along until you’re on flat ground. Nothing to it!

• Catching a trouser leg or bootlace on a footpeg can be a real surprise. Although many a bike has been dropped like that, you don’t need to prove it to yourself. Just tuck those laces in; same goes for trousers, and any other loose clothing around footrests and foot controls.
  
• So you got there all right, but now it’s time to park. Thinking the side stand is fully extended when it’s not usually results in a big surprise when you let your bike over and feel it keep going. Tips to not tip include parking your bike in gear to prevent rolling. Extending your side stand, then giving it a nudge with the toe of your boot. And turning your bar fully left lowers the bike and puts more weight on the side stand so your bike remains safe if someone were to bump into it.
  
• Forgetting to put your feet down – well, it happens, so I must include it. You know what to do.

Tips to not tip include parking your bike in gear to prevent rolling

Practicing these tips will help eliminate the misfortune of tipping over, and the subsequent damage to both your ego and your chrome.

Ray Petry is a Certified Riding Academy Coach and a member of the Riding Academy™ team at Harley Davidson Motor Company, headquartered in Milwaukee.

---

Tags: