Tips, Tricks, Advice learned from experience

[LM15]

Givi and others make a side-stand foot enlargement. I bought mine a few years back from a fellow on this forum from Portugal. The first "farkle" I bought and I had not even bought the NC at that point.

It works great in grass and other non-pavement situations.

 

[TN Thunder]

Another way to get your bike up on the center stand is to get a thin board, cut one end at 30 or 45 degree and ride the bike up on it. Then the center stand is easier to push down and you can drive the board from beneath the tire if you're working on the rear wheel. I just crank the bike and ride off it when finished.

I carry low sugar snacks, peanut butter crackers and a couple of bottles of water with me when I ride. Often trail mix, the kind that is mostly nuts. Along with some tools, socket set, air compressor, Lighting Pak, and rain gear.

 

[Hank]

For a side stand support I just put some traction tape over a light piece of metal and tnrow it down there.

 

[Gibsito]

Not NC700 specific, but the best advice I ever heard was to take the MSF course. Unfortunately it was not in existence (to my knowledge) when I got my first bike in 1971, so I learned from my friends. One of the nuggets of wisdom they imparted upon me was to "never use the front brake or you'll fly over the handlebars." So the first time I really needed to brake hard I slid on my rear wheel right into the rear bumper of a 1962 Ford Falcon and proceeded to bounce my head off his trunk lid. Thankfully, I had been wearing a helmet (which wasn't required at the time). I was knocked out for a short time though, and the bike was totaled. Thirty-one years later I took the MSF course and couldn't believe how much about motorcycling I hadn't known. Money and time VERY well spent.

 

[GunNut37086]

Not NC700 specific, but the best advice I ever heard was to take the MSF course. ...Thirty-one years later I took the MSF course and couldn't believe how much about motorcycling I hadn't known. Money and time VERY well spent.

Ditto here, I had no idea how much stuff I didn't know either. I especially had no idea how out of practice I was on low-speed maneuvers.

 

[paprides]

Paint your garage floor the brightest shade of red you can find in a concrete paint.

Never lose a dropped fastener again. (after all, don't they make all fasteners and washers out of a grey material that makes them invisible on concrete?)

Always carry water. If not for you, for the stranded rider you stop to help.

Have a quality first aid kit and know how to use it.

Know how to use your flat repair kit. Practice on a bald tire. No wait, I have a couple in the garage I'll happily ship to you COD so you can practice!

 

[DirtFlier]

[One of the nuggets of wisdom they imparted upon me was to "never use the front brake or you'll fly over the handlebars." Thirty-one years later I took the MSF course and couldn't believe how much about motorcycling I hadn't known.]

Having been an training site administrator & MSF instructor, I've heard all those fallacies. One dad called to enroll his 16-yr old son in class and specifically asked "Are you going to teach him to use the front brake?" When I replied "Yes" he became irate and tried vainly to argue his point. I was happy to see his kid show up in class...and yes he did learn to use the front brake properly.

ps. many riders who are self-taught are lacking in key skills.

 

[Triumph 'n Shadow]

When I got married 11 years ago my wife started riding on the back of my bike.
These are a few of the things I taught her:

Be FOCUSED on riding the bike and all that is going on around you.
Don't get so wrapped up in your thoughts that you become oblivious to the world.
Especially pay attention to what is going on a head of you.

Someone coming from a side street?
Do they have a stop sign?
Are they stopping or are their front tires turning ever so slowly (meaning they are not truly going to stop but continue on out in front of you!)
Which way are their front tires pointing (straight = crossing straight over, to their left means they are going to cross the lane in front of you and come against you and maybe cut the angle and ride a little in your lane, towards the drivers right/away from you means they are going to possibly pull out in front of you and stay in your lane and possibly start out slowly meaning you will be on their backside in seconds)
Look at the driver's head/face/eyes and determine if they see you (you can look at them and actually get an idea if they see you or are looking "through you!")
Feel free at that time to hit a horn or wave a hand if you feel they may not see you.

A vehicle coming up an on-ramp to merge with you:
Watch his turn signals
Watch his tires (are they getting closer to the line meaning his does not see you and is coming over!)
This is especially important when his on-ramp is also an off-ramp ahead because you do not know if he is sliding into your lane or staying in the other lane and getting right off.
I had this once with a huge garbage hauler coming up the ramp with the ramp also being an exit ramp ahead.
I was watching his signals and right as I was at his rear bumper while I was in my lane they came ON!
He instantly started moving over and their was a car in the lane to my left.
I instantly backed down, he then saw me in his mirror, and the entire truck lurched away from me.

Be aware of big trucks.
They have larger blind spots.
When I see one that will need to come over in my lane I will stay behind him in my lane (acting as a "pick" to keep traffic back) and actually wave him over when I see his turn signal come on so he can safely come over.
They really appreciate this.

Some thoughts that have kept me a live until this point of 39 years of riding.

God bless!!

Michael

 

[FezUSA]

I have a couple of these in the bright orange. One gets left on my gravel drive where I park, the other stays in the frunk until needed. A good idea is to also attach a length of line (my preference is 550 paracord to multiply its usefulness). Put a loop at one end and make the line long enough to put over your left grip with the foot under your stand. That way you should never ride off without it, and it also makes it easier to retrieve while sitting on the bike. If you use the paracord with 3M reflective thread built-in, then that can be a cool bonus in low light conditions too, just remember it does reduce the capability of the cord from 550.

I am looking for a good aftermarket bolt on foot for the 2016, but in the meantime:

Amazon.com: KiWAV Motorcycle kickstand pad support black x1 piece soft ground outdoor parking: Automotive

 

[davidc83]

If I park the bike in a soft spot, since I don't have one of these cool bigger stand feet, I drop one of my gloves and use that as the larger side stand foot-has worked every time, even in sand.

 

[supertux1]

Ditto here, I had no idea how much stuff I didn't know either. I especially had no idea how out of practice I was on low-speed maneuvers.

I'm doing the advanced rider course in June. It will be interesting on the DCT...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DCTFAN]

I'm doing the advanced rider course in June. It will be interesting on the DCT...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

did it. actually boring. especially when doing slow speed maneuvers- all you get is the throttle and brakes to play with
no friction zone to think of and no clutch to control. While the HD's, Yammi's and Vee's were struggling
I was doing lollipops with one hand.


..

 

[dduelin]

Linger On The Outside.

The natural line around a corner of constant radius is to describe an arc that mimics the radius of the corner. I'm not much of an artist but I tried to illustrate this choice of corner in drawing A. The rider follows a line of constant radius and maintains his position between the lane edges all the way around the corner. After tipping into the entrance the motorcycle assumes a constant lean angle throughout the corner until the rider reduces lean angle at corner exit.

A subtle variation is shown in B. The rider pulls the line inward and decreases the distance to the inside lane edge. When the distance to the inside edge is least this point is called the APEX of the corner. This is the classic line.

If the view around the corner is blocked by terrain or vegetation a safer line is shown in B1. The rider moves to the outside of the corner before the corner entrance then clips the apex in the middle of the corner before smoothly moving to the outside of the lane heading for the corner exit. By lingering on the outside at the entrance of the corner the rider can see further into the corner. He extends his sight line past the vegetation or terrain and has more distance (time) to cope with obstacles as they come into view. The apex is still roughly in the middle of the corner. This is the outside-inside-outside line.

Drawing C shows how Lingering On The Outside with a late apex improves safety more so. The rider enters the corner and sets up the initial lean angle. He could maintain that arc and ride the corner as in corner line A but about the middle of the corner he increases lean angle which moves the apex beyond the middle to a Late Apex. This line gives the longest sight lines around a bend and has the bike leaned over the least amount of time for a given radius. He waits longer at and beyond the entrance of the corner to really tip into the corner.

Lingering On The Outside pays other benefits. If the rider enters corner D and doesn't know the corner has a decreasing radius and chooses the classic line (dotted line) there is a high probability that he will run out of his lane at XX after the corner tightens up on him. He got a surprise when the corner tightened up and was not able to change the line in time. Ouch. The solid line shows how lingering on the outside and late apexing the corner put the rider on a line to cope with decreasing radius.

D1 is a crappy picture but tries to show how a late apex in a constant radius corner gives options to the rider to avoid sand or a parked car suddenly appearing on the inside or the outside of the lane. He has more options to avoid a problem.



Tips for cornering on your motorcycle

 

[DCTFAN]

Nice cornering tip from the link provided:

Point four is the throttle: you always give throttle while in a corner.
You will soon be at the point where you can lean in for the second time,
and you will be able to accelerate out of the corner.

I like riding twisty roads just to practice cornering. I've practiced since I started learning to ride 24 months
ago on the CTX700ND. I feel I'm close to graduating from the CTX because I'm scraping up the pegs too often
and the muffler is touching ground. Not going to try to hang off a cruiser either.

Now I continue with the NC700XD.
Most of the times I strive for diag.C or D1- delay the lean and lean in fast, almost trying to throw down the bike into the lean.
Then try to lean some more while coming to the delayed apex while giving a fistful of steady throttle.
The DCT always performs, albeit a little lagged. I found that you need to increase the throttle well in advance of the apex.

Key word is "strive" what happens in actual rides as seen in my videos,
is that I still turn in too fast, don't lean enough and either shut the throttle or use brakes
and once slowed down, punch the throttle in disgust.

... well there is the next corner and my reward is waiting.

Something about succesfully executing a text book cornering line is extremely satisfying and the best reward.


..

 

[supertux1]

A lot of this cornering theory is for the controlled environment of the race track (eg. Keith Code, Twist of the Wrist 1 and 2) and is the fastest way to take a curve, which does not necessarily apply when street or highway riding.

Examples:

Suppose you're on a divided highway and you're following line 'C' hugging the double yellow setting up for that sweet delayed apex and roll on at the exit when you meet a semi coming in the other direction that is encroaching on your lane...

Maybe your perfect line has some roadkill, potholes, gravel or tire parts right where you need to make that fast turn. You got the position right, good job, but will you have the traction?

Perhaps there's an intersection right after your turn and you've gotta be ready in a different lane position just for the driver who doesn't look twice...

You can't tell if it's an increasing, decreasing or constant radius turn because there's stuff (trees, cliffs, hedges, more cars) blocking your view or the road isn't level...

Most of the time when I set up for a curve where anyone one of the above is present, I slow down and set up for a center, center, center path and let what I see coming through the turn dictate any changes.

 

[dduelin]

A lot of this cornering theory is for the controlled environment of the race track (eg. Keith Code, Twist of the Wrist 1 and 2) and is the fastest way to take a curve, which does not necessarily apply when street or highway riding.

Examples:

Suppose you're on a divided highway and you're following line 'C' hugging the double yellow setting up for that sweet delayed apex and roll on at the exit when you meet a semi coming in the other direction that is encroaching on your lane...

Maybe your perfect line has some roadkill, potholes, gravel or tire parts right where you need to make that fast turn. You got the position right, good job, but will you have the traction?

Perhaps there's an intersection right after your turn and you've gotta be ready in a different lane position just for the driver who doesn't look twice...

You can't tell if it's an increasing, decreasing or constant radius turn because there's stuff (trees, cliffs, hedges, more cars) blocking your view or the road isn't level...

Most of the time when I set up for a curve where anyone one of the above is present, I slow down and set up for a center, center, center path and let what I see coming through the turn dictate any changes.

These are street riding strategies not track lines focused on the fastest line. In your example if you lingered on the outside of the entrance your sight line is extended beyond what the center position offers and you would see the encroaching semi earlier and have more time to change your line to avoid it as well be better positioned to the inside of your lane when it mattered, namely in proximity to the truck.

 

[sumo]

When soldering a pair of wires offset the connections for a cleaner finish.







Don't worry about a short, just tape it up in one go. Stretching the tape slightly.



Cut with scissors to a point. Keep stretching.



Don't stretch the last little point, just press it down, and try not to get your oily fingerprints on it like I did!

 

[ld_rider]

Linger On The Outside.

I like it....

Left hand sweepers will keep you further from the double yellow and give you great sight-lines.
Right hand sweepers will bring you closer but also give you (and any approaching traffic) longer sight-lines.

Makes sense to me...

 

[670cc]

When soldering a pair of wires offset the connections for a cleaner finish.

View attachment 29838

View attachment 29839

View attachment 29840

Don't worry about a short, just tape it up in one go. Stretching the tape slightly.

View attachment 29841

Cut with scissors to a point. Keep stretching.

View attachment 29842

Don't stretch the last little point, just press it down, and try not to get your oily fingerprints on it like I did!

View attachment 29843

View attachment 29844

Good tip on the offset splices. My preference is to use heat shrink tubing as it looks tidy and it will never unwrap.

 

[DCTFAN]

did it. actually boring. especially when doing slow speed maneuvers- all you get is the throttle and brakes to play with
no friction zone to think of and no clutch to control. While the HD's, Yammi's and Vee's were struggling
I was doing lollipops with one hand.
..

Need to temper this post with some content that actually fits with the OP intent.

If you take the DCT to any MSF sponsored class, be aware that most instructors have not been prepped to apply the
boiler plate instructions to fit your bike. Your are on your own in most slow speed maneuvers to realize that without clutch control,
you must have that 'fine touch' with the throttle. YMMV but unless you frequently practice slow speed maneuvers
on your own, you will not really benefit in class.
It takes a while to get that control/feel of your DCT which
is nearly impossible to achieve within a day's worth of exercises.

Take it out and practice prior to going to the class. My 'boring" comment was only
my personal observation, as my experience only.
Hope to hear from everyone that they had a blast with their DCT
and learned new things.
I am still trying to convince them to let
me bring my NC to the trail riding class.