slow speed control

Dave h

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Hi

posting on here for help please,I have got a 2010 Gsa with ESA and tourance tyres 2.5 front 2.9 back i have done 20000 miles on since i bought the bike,a lot two up, the problem i am having is slow speed control getting on and off the euro tunnel is a bloody nightmare, trying to keep on a narrow path ie on the checker plates euro tunnel or filtering slowly the front wheel goes any way but forward unless i speed up , which you cannot sometimes due to other cars or bikes in front, bmw said to try putting esa on one rider to get the front to dig in a bit to stop front end being so light, helps a bit, tried relaxing my arms,looking forward, back brake on revs up ,still have problems,Tips and advice very well received, also anybody else has same problems,i know its a tall bike but handles so well in most areas.


Dave:thumb
 
It sounds like you are not familiar with rear brake control. The rear brake is the single most effective device for slow speed handling. It is the only way you could negotiate a tight figure of eight at walking pace on a bike.

Forget the front brake, it doesn't exist in these circumstances. Try it out sometime/somewhere and you'll never look back. :thumb
 
Most of these problems will disappear after a :beer: or a :jager or even a :spl1f: but make sure to watch out for :bobby
 
Hi

Thanks for that,got the message but have tried back brake with revs up to 2500 ish,once front gets going its sod to control, i know must be me but the front seems so light, anything to help thanks for replying much appreciated.


Dave:thumb
 
Dave, when you say it slips out, is it actually slipping (you have remarkable skills if it is and you're not going over every time it does, it happens so quickly if it does start slipping) or does it just 'feel' like it is?

The back brake is definitely a good suggestion, and maybe also making sure you have packed the weight sensibly......get your pillion to sit as far forwards as possible in these circumstances as well.

The 1200 is certainly a lot lighter at the front than the 11xx, as witnessed by their better progress through deep sand than the 11s, but a lot of it may be down to your confidence rather than actually slipping out...as I started off by saying, it's unusual to be able to save a bike when the front lets go unless you are very good.

The metal surfaces on ferries and on the chunnel train decks are pretty unpleasant, not only in fact, with shiny surfaces and oil from 4 wheelers common, but also because they LOOK it, therefore it can easily cause nervousness which automatically makes it worse as you tense up.

Last comment...I have no idea how the ESA set up actually works or what the settings do (I ride the superior and far more planted 1150) but 'putting it on solo rider setting' sounds counter-intuitive to me......I would have thought that the pillion setting would adjust the suspension for the weight on the back to bring the bike back more into balance :confused:

Perhaps someone who knows more about the 1200 ESA will comment on that when they've stopped playing with their barby dolls and hair straighteners :augie
 
Practice, mixed with increased confidence, is probably the answer to your problem.... if only because the 1200GS steers and drives well at low and medium speeds.

If you are nervous (and why not, as nobody wants to dump the bike on a crowded train) it will only make things worse.

My suggestion has nothing to do with electronic suspension settings but everything to do with confidence.

Find yourself a nice large empty car park. Supermarkets on a Sunday morning are excellent, so tomorrow will do. Practice slow speed manoeuvres, ride in and out of car spaces. Think to yourself, "I will stop in that one, 50 yards away, by slowly swinging in and out of those three". Practice stopping, pausing and restarting without putting your feet down, mixed in with slow speed.

Practice going quite fast, then slowing down to walking pace at a certain point, using the gear box and brakes. Try it without the brakes, driving the bike on the gearbox and clutch.

Get used to how the clutch engages and disengages. Experiment what difference a different gear makes. Experiment with getting your hold on the bars loose and your arms similar. You can't break anything.

Grip on the bars is difficult to describe. The best advice I have ever heard is you want to achieve the same as holding a pint glass of beer.... you sort of do it without gripping and all without really thinking too hard about it..... but the glass does not fall (often).... You want that 'feel' all the time. If you tense up, you are fighting the bike and the bike will probably win. The 'Chicken flap dance' is good, flapping the elbows.... you see GP stars doing it after a 'moment' and they ain't chicken.

Practice getting your view right up, if you look down at the cheque plate or walkway on the train, you will hit them or at least you will definitely try to. If you doubt this, find a mini-roundabout. Enter at 6 o'clock, to exit at 3 o'clock. Turn your head to look deep down the road at three o'clock..... the bike will be there before you realise that you have apparently done very little.


One last tip: When you are entering the train, as you approach the entry / exit door..... imagine where you want the bike to end up. Lots of bods bowl towards it at the wrong angles, then get in a panic or difficulty. Last of all, if it's wet on the metal take care but just be steady, the bike will be fine. I promise.
 
I'm a lot more confident at slow speed on my 1200gsa than my old 1150, the throttle seems somewhat less snatchy just off idle.

You might want to look past the eurotunnel loading plate, looking down at it will convince you to tense up. It's not that bad, don't try and stand up to drop your c.o.g though :)
 
Go practice and practice in a quiet car park or yard with the bike's boxes loaded up. Just get used to it and as the guys say - slow speed and gentle 'feathering' of the speed with the back brake pedal. Make yourself a bit of a course with old cans or whatever.
Why do you need 2500rpm though... Seems way too much.

Slow speed stuff I get a bit OCD about - but I like the way I can put that size of bike into a small area at slow speed so I guess you need to be more familiar with it. Don't tense up your neck, shoulders and arms. Check some of the 'Murican slow speed teach-ey videos on YouTube. Look where you want to go with your head. Dont watch the top edge of the screen.
I'll likely fall off tomoz now...
 
Thanks guys, sounds like practice and more practice, as for the question about front wheel slipping,No is does not slip more like i am overcorrecting the bars from side to side as though you was on an ice patch (very easy to move bars) once started you cannot stop until you put foot down and stop the motion if ya get what i mean. Thanks for all your advice, love the bike but this gets me going some times :eek:


Dave:thumb
 
1st....How low can you go?

Try messing around in an empty carpark......!

Figure of eights, balancing and all that, even with the engine switched off! The worst thing that can happen is that you'll fall over! It's good fun aswell with one of your mates on another GSA as you can have a bit of a laugh with each other seeing who can do what on the bike(and who nearly falls over first)

I've noticed bikes weaving around a lot in the ferry/customs que's and sometimes mines a real bitch when i'm knackered and hot with Mrs P on the back and a full luggage load!

Each bike is different though....Mine has TKC80's fitted at the moment instead of Tourances but i've no ESA and it feels like they are tearing at those bits of metal decking riding on and off the ferries when I was up in Shetland a few weeks ago.

My GSA's have had the low first gear option aswell which makes a bit of a difference......Riding in ASDA's car park with a neighbour of mine on a non 'low first' GSA made quite a difference at tickover in first gear without slipping the clutch and dragging the rear brake.

FP.:thumb
 
Dave h said:
Thanks guys, sounds like practice and more practice, as for the question about front wheel slipping,No is does not slip more like i am overcorrecting the bars from side to side as though you was on an ice patch (very easy to move bars) once started you cannot stop until you put foot down and stop the motion if ya get what i mean. Thanks for all your advice, love the bike but this gets me going some times :eek:
Click to expand...

The more you describe it, you are fighting the bike, a bike with very wide bars, too..... with a grip like a Jock on a fiver, if I had to guess. :D

Have fun in the carpark. You can practice it anywhere and anytime really.
 
Farmer Palmer said:
Try messing around in an empty carpark......!

Figure of eights, balancing and all that, even with the engine switched off! The worst thing that can happen is that you'll fall over! It's good fun aswell with one of your mates on another GSA as you can have a bit of a laugh with each other seeing who can do what on the bike(and who nearly falls over first)

I've noticed bikes weaving around a lot in the ferry/customs que's and sometimes mines a real bitch when i'm knackered and hot with Mrs P on the back and a full luggage load!

Each bike is different though....Mine has TKC80's fitted at the moment instead of Tourances but i've no ESA and it feels like they are tearing at those bits of metal decking riding on and off the ferries when I was up in Shetland a few weeks ago.

My GSA's have had the low first gear option aswell which makes a bit of a difference......Riding in ASDA's car park with a neighbour of mine on a non 'low first' GSA made quite a difference at tickover in first gear without slipping the clutch and dragging the rear brake.

FP.:thumb
Click to expand...

+1:thumb as in the above posts aswell......When I say the worst thing that can happen is you'll fall over.......What I mean is.......You'll not fall over!......If you know what I mean.......!:D

FP.
 
My 2010 GSA wanders about at very low speed when travelling in a straight line such as when trying to stay feet-up approaching a red light. The bars tend to weave from side to side. I don't know what causes it.

Putting the ESA onto solo rider setting should actually make the front end feel lighter as it will lower the rear of the bike. Is your rear shock OK?
Wappings advice is spot-on get in some practice and get used to it. :thumb
 
Hi
Mine does that as well, a lot of bikes do that i have also seen them weaving about, it sets off a chain reaction trying to correct it, yes rear shock has been changed under warranty,Thanks again everybody for replies

Dave:thumb
 
Continental tyres Gentlemen! :D
Here's a PITA - the train through the Lotschberg tunnel. Ride onto the flat wagon on the slippy bit. Then the mesh. Then you find you have get the feet down and crawl and fart about to go past the A-frame and in through the door. There's only about 3-4cm spare width on the door with GSA panniers. With the bar risers fitted you have to see-saw the bars around between the controls cabinet and the tube frame.
Then 5-point turn the bike inside the carriage and the man says tie the bike down with wee bits of thin rope...
WTF? so you spend the journey trying to keep the bike on wheels and sidestand... Fun though! To get off you ride the whole length of the train under those odd looking canopies. Bikers get a lounge and toilet. Drivers sit in the cars. Only 20 minutes though.
 

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Looks like fun,i bow down to others ability,been riding for years most on sports bikes, so thats why i find the taller bike bit more of a challange to slow crawl.

Dave:thumb
 
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