How to turn sharpish corners?

[Red]

Hardknott Pass is as much about faith as a limited steering stop.
 
 

[Delboy777]

Ha ha , try the mountain road to Applecross, some humdingers of switchbacks up there lol Forward planning and observation is the key.

[thirdway]

Oh not Hardknott, that's an easy turn. I know a few roads where you enter a main road where the turn is around 150 degree turn from a dead stop on a gravel strewn 1:4 :-) certainly tests control to the limit. The back slides under power and there is a lovely ditch on the other side of the road. I have seen riders give up the turn and go left to find a place to turn.

A good test is the shore at Windermere by the boathouse. That's where I came unstuck on the Speed. Not enough lock to get the bike turned onto the road. I had a BMW GS prior to the speed and it was easy to get out of that tight space,the Speed caught me out big style, hit the lock and the bike went over. The Street is at least a fair bit lighter, so that does help.

Once you do go that last few millimetres and hit the stop it makes riding in any tight turn situation a bit tense, even if you don't hit the stop, your steering like you will.

[Delboy777]

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1250 BANDIT, its downhill not up but gives you an idea if youve never been to Applecross. Better on utube itself this is full screen and i dont like it much.

[thirdway]

Brings back memories. I did that uphill two up, fully loaded in the dark on a Kawasaki GT 750. I didn't realise it existed, we were just touring and heading for Applecross when a sign by the side of the road indicated that the road was going to get considerably higher. We met a Transit on one of the really bad corners, very tricky.

[n.w.den]

1250 BANDIT, its downhill not up but gives you an idea if youve never been to Applecross. Better on utube itself this is full screen and i dont like it much.
[/quote]

Did that route uphill  last year,mate nearly dropped his kwaker when some idiot in a car in front of him slammed his brakes half way round a corner for no apparent reason 

[Machine]

Originally Posted by thirdway

.

A good test is the shore at Windermere by the boathouse. That's where I came unstuck on the Speed. Not enough lock to get the bike turned onto the road.

This bit?


Often park there in summer, I like to give it a squirt and spray some gravel on my way out, lol.

Can't see the point of riding places like Hardknott or Wrynose uinless you're on a supermoto, they're scenic, but crap biking roads.

[Mr M Hinckley]

Honey coloured wheels..........and discs.

[Machine]

Originally Posted by Mr M Hinckley

Honey coloured wheels..........and discs.

The colour's not like it appears in the pic (it's a scan of a film pic, rather than digital, and the wheel colour always seemed to come out different on film for some reason). They're actually candy green over a metallic silver base. It's very similar to Triumph Roulette Green, this pic of my Speed Triple wheels show it better:



The discs are just OE Suzuki ones, which unfortunately have minging gold carriers.

[thirdway]

Originally Posted by Machine

This bit?


Often park there in summer, I like to give it a squirt and spray some gravel on my way out, lol.

Can't see the point of riding places like Hardknott or Wrynose uinless you're on a supermoto, they're scenic, but crap biking roads.

Yes, I think so. Your looking at the scenic bit. Is it a sloping patch of gravel with a couple of bollards onto the main road ?

You should have done the passes with us last year. The wind was really strong. He big banana was getting pushed around something chronic. Added to that I had done something far worse than a lock stop. I had created a sort of soft lock stop. The new brake levers were a bit thicker than the original Ducati ones, so, turn a bit too far and the front end locks solid. Between that and the wind I was sweating.

[Machine]

Originally Posted by thirdway

Yes, I think so. Your looking at the scenic bit. Is it a sloping patch of gravel with a couple of bollards onto the main road ?

That's the one. just next to where the tourist boats go out from, where all the swans hang out. I always park down there, like to sit/stand and look out across the lake for a while.







Sometimes I'll park outside Vinegar Joe's fish & chip shop, if I'm stopping for lunch:


I don't bother with the Hardknott/Wrynose kind of roads - they're for mountainbikes or supermotos, and there's far better biking roads all around the area. Love Kirkstone Pass and alongside Ullswater up to Pooley Bridge though:



My TDR 250 was brilliant over Kirkstone, never ridden anything before or since that would've beaten it over there.

[thirdway]

I would have liked a TDR, always thought they were the perfect Sunday thrash bike, well, apart from the fuel.

Those Ducati's look lovely. Yours ?

[Machine]

TDRs are brilliant, one of the all time great hooligan bikes and serious fun on twisty back roads, great for embarassing sportsbikes. If you've never ridden a good one, you,ve never lived, but if you haven't it's unlikely you ever will now - there's only a handful left, and you'll need four grand or so for a good one. They're such a classic now that half of me wishes I'd left mine standard, but hindsight's always 20-20. It'd be worth twice what I paid for it now. Completely impractical, but one of the best bikes ever built. Here's mine:





Looks a lot different now though.

Those Ducati's look lovely. Yours ?

I had the 748S (the one without the stickers) for a few months. The other one was just some bloke who parked next to me.

[thirdway]

There is an opportunity. That's a bike that could make a comeback for small scale production. Stick the 500 cc engine built by TSS into a copy frame and plastics.

[Machine]

They don't really need any more power, they're barking mad with just the original 40/45ish bhp (and were bulletproof reliable in two stroke context). Flat out they only do about 105mph, but that's not what they're about. Stick it on a twisty B road, ride it like you stole it and you'll be grinning from ear to ear. I was thinking of a Stan Stephens wide spread tune for some extra lunacy though...