LunaP wrote:I was taught when I learned to drive, and not just by one person either, that when turning at an intersection, a proper and smooth turn is executed by first starting into the turn by pulling straight into the intersection, then turning your wheels towards where you want to go and accelerating into the turn. I understand that 80 or 90% of the time driving four wheels is totally different from driving two, but I do NOT think this is one of those times. Turning is turning, and that is a basic concept of driving pretty much anything.
Good analogy to car driving in that you don't do that in a car either, but don't forget that to turn a motorcycle, you COUNTERSTEER as you enter a turn, something that (again) few people learn to do properly unless they're a Proficient Motorcycling reader or take the MSF class.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countersteering
Teabow, If you're not able to turn in a small radius, it's not your scooter, it's the way you're steering. your time would be much better spent practicing countersteering than the maneuver you describe. Even in the most simple of turns, even to swerve or change your position within a lane, you don't turn the handlebars in the direction of the turn, you actually gently nudge the bars in the direction OPPOSITE the turn and lean, which reduces your turning radius and allows the edge of the wheel to touch the ground, which allows you a tight and controlled turn. The explanations and illustrations in Proficient Motorcycling explain it far better than I do, it's entirely counterintuitive, but it works. Even a motorcycle racer in a hairpin rarely turns the handlebars more than a few degrees off center, they turn by countersteering and leaning.
photo:
http://v4.sportnetwork.net/mainadmin/im ... 914154.jpg
note that even in this tight turn, the wheel is practically straight, the rider is using the side of the tire to turn. You don't need to (and shouldn't) go to the 'knee down' extreme shown here, but it's the same principle. You do it when you ride a bicycle, too, you just don't think about it. When you DO think about it and understand how it works, it's a beautiful thing that makes tight turns much easier.
With proper countersteering technique, you should have no problem making a 180° turn within the width of a parking space. In fact, that's on the riding test in most states. In illinois, the width varies, it's a smaller radius for under 150, and a larger radius for over 150, but both are relatively narrow and at the DMV, I've seen many people struggle with that part because they're steering like they're driving a car, not a motorcycle.
Bb.
