Got this video, and am gonna start trying some of the practice moves in a local parking lot. Wearing a helmet and leather, wrapping my front engine guards in tape, and got a rear set off ebay cheap cause they were all banged up already, took my bag guards off and sold them like a fool cause they bothered the wife's legs. Gonna remove my hard bags as well during the practice moves. Really don't wanna bang up my bike, but man I really need the practice in a parking lot, my slow speed manuverability really needs some help. Hell, my overall riding really needs some help, and I hope to get some of it from the video. I may even cover the corners of my batwing in tape, as I feel these may get scratched if I drop it. Any other suggestions/advice? any other courses /videos I can use to help improve my riding?

 

Ride like a pro sells some crashbar protectors. Captain Itch also sells some leather ones. Use multiple layers of tape with some duct tape in the middle. One layer may not be sufficient. Tape the batwing for sure and remove lowers if you have them. Remember to turn your head like the man says and have some fun. What they do is hard on the clutch, so may have to replace discs when done.

 

Sounds like you are on the right path already. That video and your preparation is just about all you need to get ready. Now it is just practice and confidence.

I got that video too a few years back and really learned a lot. The friction-zone concept is the key. When you get that, along with practice, you will be fine. The pro's smoooothly raise the rpm's just a tad, as they press the foot break just a tad.... and then they cruise around so easy....like, well, wait for it......... like, a pro !

There are also courses you can take thru the Ride Like a Pro people where you get hands on training and rental bikes to drop at will !! Check it out.

When in doubt, stop. Put your feet down early, and re-assess. There is no shame in stopping. At least, not for me.... hahaha.

 

MSF has both beginning and advanced courses. I believe advanced classes are 1 or 2 days.

 

Get proficient with the friction zone, throttle, and rear brake coordination before you get too involved with turning the bike in the exercises. You won't be able to turn the bike well until you coordinate those functions consistently and confidently.

Congrats on trying to improve your riding skills.

Carl

 

I am signed up for the skilled rider class in late June. So I dug out my rlap video and have been in the parking lot practicing on the weekend mornings. Friction Zone, little rear brake, turn head and eyes most important.

 

I have not seen the video tapes, but I took the Ride Like A Pro class in Los Angeles late last year. Mark, the instructor (who I am guessing is on the video tapes), is awesome. I paid the extra amount to rent his old police bikes to do the course. Like others have said, the friction zone technique that he teaches you is very important. But maybe the single most important technique to safe riding (in my opinion) is learning to look and turn your head in the direction of where you are turning the bike. This seems obvious, but if you haven't been doing it, you will soon realize it once you start doing it. This simple technique helps you maneuver the bike so much better and safer--and with confidence. My only concern about the video tape instruction is that you aren't going to get the benefit of Mark watching and telling you what you did right or wrong. Also, don't worry about the comment about wearing out the clutch from "riding the clutch" to execute the "tension zone." Mark explained that bike clutches are not like the clutch in a manual transmission car. Basically, you can "ride" the clutch in your bike without wearing it out.

 

Wrapping your bars in tape isn't going to do anything for you. Go buy 10" feet of heater hose, slice it long ways (after you cut to length) then use zip ties and tape.

Or better yet.......(like the wife and I did, after we bought the videos), fly to LA and take the Rike Like A Pro West Coast and use the bikes that Mark has for rent (retired CHP Kawasakis). That way, when you drop them, it's not your bike!

I believe he's the only RLAP franchise that has bikes for rent to take the course on. We rode our own bikes back down to LA a year later and took it again on our bikes. Great course and Mark is a great instructor. Once we took the course I realized that watching those videos three times each, we'd only picked up about 1/10th of what you learn in the video. Watching the video you don't have the instructor standing there pointing out what you're not doing, or what you may be doing wrong, etc. After taking the course, it just left me feeling the videos were pretty much useless. I'd suggest taking the course live......especially if you're going to do it on your bike!

 

Thanx guys, I'm gonna check into some of those courses. I took a basic course, and learned a great deal, but on small 250 cc bikes. My FLHT is a whole different animal in a parking lot at 7 mph or less. I've had some crashes and close calls recently and the whole thing has me shook up a bit, just trying to improve my abilities and boost my confidence level.

 

You will learn slow speed control.
You should feel better after practice.
A full tip over would be less common..most times since speed is slow it is more of a hold-up between rear crash bar and front crash bar.
The oil in the primary will take a beating..
I took an "in person class" with 4 or 5 people total of about 4+ hours in the heat with only a 30 minute off bike break.
I wanted to do as much as possible in those 4 hours.
I road the clutch hard.
On the way home the engine and transmission were super super hot and i had some clutch slip at highway speeds...It went away once bike was allowed to cool overnight.
Took several hours for bike to cool down..amazing how hot it got.. I did very little cool down laps during the 4 hours.
I changed the primary oil a few days later and it was very dirty with a very slight coat of debri.
No issues to report.
I doubt you will spend 4 hours straight with practice by yourself.
If you practice on your own i think an hour at a time would be good enough.