Moto Gymkhana Techniques Level 2: #8 The Magic Moment
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- Опубліковано 5 сер 2024
- How are Moto Gymkhana riders able to get around cones so quickly when making U-Turns? Knowing how to use the brakes and Self Steering is key. To explain, let's talk about a little something I call "The Magic Moment."
DISCLAIMER:
Motorcycle riding is inherently dangerous. This video was filmed in a controlled environment with riders who have years of riding and teaching experience. Lexco Moto Gymkhana and all related personnel are not to be held responsible for any injury resulting from attempting these techniques.
Please wear safety gear, know your limits, know your motorcycle's limits, have fun, and always practice in a safe and controlled environment. - Спорт
This is my first big hurdle to get comfortable with. I can often feel myself fighting this and preventing the self turn, even though I know and believe it will prevent the bike falling. If I force myself to look away from the turn, or even momentarily close my eyes, I'm happier to relax and let the bars do their own thing and turn.
Thats a great point. Many riders use a delayed head turn to feel more balanced during The Magic Moment. Good examples of this would by Takayoshi Sakuta and Noboru Yoshino. Thanks for watching.
Great lesson, now I could practice Gymkhana automatically and with least efforts
Thanks Alexie,
You’re welcome, my friend. Stay safe!
Thank you, Alex, for this very useful lesson! I do not know how I missed this until now, but you made me realize that I have been fighting with my steering bar every time I was practicing tight turns and loops. It was so bad that my arms would ache after a 20-min practice. Today, I spent an hour working on full-lock turns and was amazed how much easier it is when I leave the front wheel alone. Now I must forget the wrong muscle memory and re-learn my turns the right way.
Thanks for your comment. I am glad that the lessons have been helpful for you. It can indeed take time to break bad habits but with proper practice and time, I know you will accomplish your goals. Keep up the great work and thanks for watching.
This is some GOOD stuff!
Now to practice!
I have the next one recorded but I just need to edit it. Stay tuned because it’s gonna go nicely with this one. Thanks for watching, Brotha!
nice tips.
Awesome. Thanks for watching :)
Thanks for the tips! I need to focus on loosening my arms. I KNOW they've been keeping the handlebars from moving naturally, but I've got to get over that fear response from the feeling of full lock!
You’re welcome and thanks for watching! Keep at it and it will come with time. I’m constantly working on reaching higher levels of relaxation and fluidity in my riding. The one thing I’ve noticed is if I am consistent with my research and practice, it keeps getting easier :)
Do you full lock your front wheel whole making a u turn at the cone
Great Video! Could you possibly elaborate on the "following and GUIDING the handlebars" in the magic moment? I am having trouble balancing the following and the guiding..
Thanks for watching and for your question. During the entrance of the turn, we are leaning the bike by countersteering at the bars but once the Magic Moment happens, we must relax our arms completely and maintain lean angle by leaning the bike with the lower body (Self Steering). During this time, I like to put all my weight on the footpegs and I lean back slightly with my upper body. This helps with keeping weight off my hands which helps the bars turn on their own. Relaxing your hands and grip at this moment also helps with "feeling" the front tire. This is what I mean by "following" the front tire. It's like a dance; be the woman and follow what the front tire is doing. Let the front tire be the man of the dance and let it lead. Relax and FEEL what the front is doing.
During the Magic Moment, you should never feel like you are turning the bars yourself but sometimes (depending on the turn) it can feel like you are gently reinforcing the movement of the bar with VERY gentle, Direct Steering inputs. That is what I mean by "guiding" the bars. On certain bikes, even that is not necessary. On my Ninja 300, the bike is so light that I really don't have to do anything at the bars during the Magic Moment. On my GS, however, sometimes I do need a tiny bit of input at the bars.
Other riders put a lot of emphasis on "Full Lock" turns. I don't put too much importance on that. It's not about trying to turn the bars AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. It's more about letting the bike turn as much as IT wants to. Sometimes when going around a cone, I will get to full lock but not because I am trying to MAKE it happen. It happens because that is what the bike wants; I let it do its thing. Most cones I go around, I never get to full lock. It's not about forcing anything; it's about flowing with what the bike wants. Hope that helps :)
@@LexcoMotoGymkhana helps a lot! Looking forward to your season 3 btw!
I find myself fighting the magic moment, because it feels like it's going to dive in hard and crash like we would when the bars would turn too fast on our bicycles as kids. I can do fast full lock turns all day long with use of the clutch, but it feels so wrong without touching the clutch.
Your bikes handlebar steering radius might be too wide. Something that might help are Steer Stops. That way, your bars will stop turning a little sooner before you get that ugly whipping sensation from turning the bars too much. You will reach full lock sooner with Steer Stops and you will be able to stay there a little easier when set up this way.
Besides that, just make sure you are not trying to FORCE full lock to happen. Full Lock happens on its own in a natural way. Kinda like dragging a knee on a track. You don't try to force it to happen. It just happens when you are at the right speed, body position and lean angle. Instead of telling the bars what to do, let them turn on their own from Self Steering and follow the front wheel where it wants to go.
How often do we full lock the front wheel to make a turn
Yes. Full lock would happen during the Magic Moment. However, I do not put too much importance, at first, on reaching Full Lock. I know some other riders emphasize reaching full lock, but I just believe in letting the bars turn as much as they want to naturally. Some bikes don't like full lock since their handlebar steering radius is too wide. If you tried to force full lock during some turns, the bike will fight you and you will develop tension and could even fall.
A relevant example would be like knee down on a track. Getting your knee down is a result of proper body position and adequate speed to reach a desired lean angle. You should never really TRY to get your knee down or force it. It happens if it happens. It's the same with full lock. If it happens, then great but It's not something that I try to make happen or force. Instead, I relax the arms and follow what the bike wants.
You can modify a bike so that you can reach full lock more consistently but that would be a different conversation. Hope that helps.
@@LexcoMotoGymkhana thank you... I think you phrased it accurately " If it happens It happens - dont coerce it"
Appreciate you taking time putting out those videos, they really helped a great deal, especially No Clutch,The Magic Moment and Braking.
Just a suggestion: why dont you put out a series on GP8 and archive your personal progress.... I heard 26sec is the present world record.
Thanks for the suggestion. I will take it into consideration for future videos. I have received many comments about GP8 so I think I will definitely make a video about it in the future. Thanks again :)
always feels like im going to drop the bike when the bars hit full lock.. how do you maintain full lock?
Thanks for the question. Keeping yourself from falling is all a matter of carrying enough speed into the turn and then maintaining just the right speed as you go through the turn. This is one of those things that is much easier said than done. In a previous video ("Use the Force"), I talk about the physical forces that keep us stable during a turn and how they apply to the throttle. That knowledge is important to understanding this issue.
Specifically to staying stable during the turn at full lock, using just the right amount of throttle (or what I call "Maintenance Throttle") in combination with just the right amount of front/rear brake is key. Overlapping the throttle and brakes and getting the correct amount of input and timing is advanced but is a key technique that must be developed for Moto Gymkhana. I will be making a video on this topic in my Level 3 series. For now, try to find as much information as you can on overlap techniques such as "Trail Braking" and experiment with trailing the brakes on and off while maintaining the smallest of throttle openings. You can practice this while upright in a straight line. Then apply this overlap technique to Moto Gymkhana style turns and decrease the radius of the turns gradually as you feel more comfortable with the throttle and brakes until you reach full lock turns. Hope that sheds a little light on the subject. Thanks for watching :)
@@LexcoMotoGymkhana do you favor steady throttle and pump rear brake or vice versa? im riding a carbuerated fz1 so it feels very choppy at very low engine speeds. idle is around 1500 i think
Yes, I try to stay on the throttle (maintenance throttle) as I round a cone and just modulate the brakes to slow down. But it really depends on the situation; it can vary.
If you have the ability to raise your idle rate a little bit, you can try that out to help with the choppyness. My bike idles at 1800rpm but for gymkhana, I raise it to between 2200-2400rpm. This really helps with smoothing out the throttle at lower rpm's. Changing the gearing of the bike also helps with that; specifically, making the gearing shorter. I'm planning a series of videos on modifications that should address some of these topics more in depth.
@@LexcoMotoGymkhana i'm practicing now on a DRZ400 but i have to slip the clutch otherwise the engine bogs hard when i am exiting full lock
is this normal for smaller bikes?
Yes, it is normal. If you ever get really serious about Gymkhana, you will have to modify the bike by changing the gearing. That will help out a lot with the bogging. Also, as you improve with your throttle control and overlap technique, this will become less of an issue. But for now, practice with using the clutch. There are some very fast riders who use the clutch. I suggest watching Noboru Yoshino. He rides a super-moto and uses clutch. And he happens to also be one of the fastest Gymkhana riders in the world :)