"but I think I need to practice practice practice."

You already have your answer. The RLAP techniques work, but they require practice for proficiency. A dip, alone, isn't going to do the trick without use of the friction zone, turning the head, etc.

 

Having the bike fit you well as stated before is the starting point.
Never under-estimate the obvious, the weight of the tour pack and the fact it is high and far back does some funny things to the bike's handling. It just takes practice and experience. Also, as stated before, the front end geometry makes a huge difference in the handling. The dip as you call it is much easier to do on a Softail, Dyna or the like since the rake does it for you after the initial start. The reversed triple tree and reduced rake of the bagger requires a little more effort as you are "countering" the bikes natural tendency to straighten out. It takes a "leap of faith" at first to properly spin a bagger. Trust in your ability and most of all, trust in your scooter, she'll take you thru the tightest of turns once you get to know her better.

U

 

look where you want to go, feet up. since you go where you look never kook down, I put on a Mustang 2 peice seat and it puts you down in the bike not high on top of it.then all you need is a LOT of practice but this bike can do more than you can. it can in a circle scrape floor boards on either side during the entire turn, lock to lock.

 

Totally agree--The tour models handle differently than any other bike I've ever ridden, but once mastered, are extremely easy to do slow speed turns. For me, it was just watching the RLAPvideo, and seeing how far the handlebars were cranked over at the same time as the extreme lean angle.

And if you carry a passenger--make sure he/she sits perfectly still during these manuevers !

 

Head and eyes up andaround...look where you wanna go. I agree, best pieces of advice!

 

 

i can relate. i went from sportster to sportster chopper(8- over) to dyna, then the street glide. had a hard time trusting the bike and realized thru practice i need to trust myself.
allen.m is my local "rodeo" talent inspiration. i'm looking to be 1/2 this good some day.

 

I appreciate all of your responses. I googled some local MSF class sites and found one near by at a local high school.The parking lot was set up as an MSF range....cool for me. The H.S. baseball coach was working on his field and asked me if I'd like to borrow some traffic cones....wayyyy cool....so I set them up and practiced...and practiced....and practiced.

I improved on all my techniques....low speed weaves with the dip....lots of friction zone work...short curves....multiple S-curves....emergency braking....as well as left and right turns. The practice helped and reminded me that my skills are still pretty good and that they do cross over to a bike with more mass than my old shovelheads and my softail.

Maybe this was a "head" thing...maybe not...but I'm better for the practice and can go out to that range anytime there's not a class running. I may look into taking the ERC there too. A couple of the instructors stopped by and gave me a few range tips as well (no charge)....it was 2 hours well spent. Thanks again to all of you.

 

Agreed! Our bikes are almost always "way" more capable than we are. I'm also amazed that the front end doesn't washout when taken to such extreme angles. That's an impressive full lock turn but he'd better be careful. He's not going to have a right side foot board if he keeps that up for long!

 

I went from a R100RS BMW to my Ultra. The handling was a little bit heavier, but suprisingly not as much as I expected. I've got 1,600 miles under me now on it and the low speed manuvers are feeling very comfortable. practice, practice.

Great looking ride by the way!