Gymkhana - Page 18

TheWall · 08-23-2012, 08:30 PM

Lol, have you seen what they ride in Japan? NS250's! They ride some bigger bikes too, but I'd rather drop a $1000 Ninja 250 than my >>$1000 Wee-Strom...hey, wait. It's a "Wee" street bike too, come to think of it!

Motogymkhanaman · 08-24-2012, 02:34 AM

TheWall is a true hero! Moto Gymkhana practice on a narrow road complete with grass growing through the cracks and on a significant slope as well

In situations such as this it is much better to reduce the number of pylons (cones) and increase the space between them, you'll be amazed at what you can achieve.

KX50002 · 08-24-2012, 05:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harvey Krumpet

If you watch some Supermoto videos too, you could be the forerunner in Gymkhana "backing it in" technique.

Maybe watch some dirt track racing, the kings of backin 'er in!!

Motogymkhanaman · 08-24-2012, 06:55 AM

Have tried the 'backing it in' technique and it's nowhere near fast enough. Keeping the wheels in line is the trick.

TheWall · 08-24-2012, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Motogymkhanaman

TheWall is a true hero! Moto Gymkhana practice on a narrow road complete with grass growing through the cracks and on a significant slope as well

In situations such as this it is much better to reduce the number of pylons (cones) and increase the space between them, you'll be amazed at what you can achieve.

Nah, just not smart enough to know any better :)

Vulfy · 08-24-2012, 05:56 PM

Wow. This is awesome. I'm out for a month, and you guys are keeping this thread on the first page, with new people coming in, AND motogymkhanaman joining in as well!

TheWall

@ the toy bike on the floor. As far as the real practice session, you got some balls my friend (tennis balls that is) to start practicing on an incline like that :) That is also a beast of a bike to throw around, kudos to that as well!

Good start. Gymkhana is awesome, and the more you get comfortable with the bike, the more you realize how far you can push it.

Also as Harvey mentioned, opening up the course really helps. A lot of psychological training as well as physical here. The easier you can make it on your brain, the faster it is to grasp base concepts.

Courses are fun, but nothing will teach proper cornering for gymkhana like the figure 8 thats been posted earlier in the thread somewhere. The dimensions are in the video.

Harvey:

glad you are helping out here. How is your own riding going?

shaddix: Hah... DR650... that might be my next bike. How is she treating you? Lock to lock is a bit tricky on any bike I would think.

Motogymkhanaman: Yey, glad you made it here. Your advice and experience will be appreciated here just as much.

As far as the bike size and weight... well this is sort of the reason why i've been out of the loop for some time. Light and CHEAP bike is definitely way to go with gymkhana. I started to search for a super moto to trade in for my Triumph Speed Triple. Because of that, I wanted to take it easy on the current bike as to not completely trash it before passing it on to another rider. Unfortunately its pretty hard to find a trade in my neck of the woods, so the latest development is that I'm going to see a guy tomorrow, to potentially trade my Speed Triple for DR650 converted to supermoto.

I have some reservations about that though... First the 650 is a bit outside of my preferred engine displacement for gymkhana.
Second, the bike weights just a little bit less than my Triumph, while I was hoping to get a MUCH lighter bike.
Third, its 5 gears, and tall gears at that. I don't know how that will translate to relatively low speed maneuvers of gymkhana.
And its a conversion, so hopefully guy did a good job on that.

Oh and of course, my black outfit, most definitely will not go well with white and blue color of the bike....

On the plus side, being a dual sport, its built like a tank, so dropping it (which I do alot

) shouldn't be a big deal.

If I trade, I'm sure gonna miss my Triple

Been a bit extra throttle happy the past few days, as I'm "preparing" to part with it. Oh well...

I'm really glad you guys are finding gymkhana fascinating and keep at it. I'll start posting more as I get sorted with the bikes.

Cheers.

Harvey Krumpet · 08-24-2012, 06:19 PM

Wow Vulfy, you must be addicted to swap your striple. Is it the DR 650 that was posted on this site?

Gearing is quite easy, just stick on a bigger back sprocket. I'm sure there is a lot of info on this.

My riding is, er, sporadic shall we say. Last time out was on the wee DT & I was practicing hanging off out of the corner, great fun. Just need to translate it to the TDM.

The guy who got the ball rolling for me is with us this weekend, he instructs instructors & an amazing teacher. He has been giving me crap about my you tube posts so I now have to put a sticker on my bikes screen saying "eyes up!"

Hopefully he can spend some time with me later today, bring me back to earth with a thump.

All the best.

Vulfy · 08-24-2012, 06:49 PM

No DR is local, 2005. Looks pretty mint with only 7k on it.

I am definitely addicted, but I've been changing bikes pretty often as I get antsy and want to try new things.

So far had, Vulcan 550, CB250, CB750 and my current Triple. If the trade goes well, I pretty much covered the pavement gamut of motorcycles, from cruisers to standards, to sport and supermoto

Been itching for a cafe, but thats mostly for looks so it always gets pushed back in cue for a more "technical" bike.

Storm Shadow · 08-24-2012, 11:31 PM

choice of motokana toys,

2011 honda vfr800f4i with topbox and panniers and trick bits, oggies etc, lots fo fairing

or 1989 honda cd250u caffe racer, with a 233cc par twin engine currently out of the bike with a rebuild. i could put crash bars on it. but i have done, full lock circles on it in the past.

what would be best?

Motogymkhanaman · 08-25-2012, 02:18 AM

The usual answer to the question of what bike to use for Moto Gymkhana is "whatever you have in the garage". This is because the sport was designed to challenge the rider and not the bike.

Our experience in the UK has shown that the smaller the bike the easier it is to do the more interesting parts of the course, but the downside is that little bikes just aren't as fast between the obstacles.

The VFR800 is a fantastic machine and just in case you are unsure of how agile it is, the Japanese Police do things with them that almost defy belief.

http://youtu.be/EszzwhHE4vU

If the choice were down to me between the 800 and the 250, then I would go for the 250 to begin with and put some decent handlebars and some crashbars on it.

By far the best way of working out which will be the right bike for you is to go out and do a bunch of GP8's on each one and see which is the easiest/fastest.

It is also very true that the happier you are with dropping a bike, the faster you can go on it. Our friend Yoshinobu Shiga (CBR600RR) says that a pre-disastered bike is always quicker than shiny bike!

Vulfy · 08-25-2012, 02:28 AM

I'd go with 250. Nice cafe, would be a shame to bang it up though. Besides crashbars, I'd think of making it back into a
standard, with regular handle bars. I doubt ergonomics of cafe bars will be good for gymkhana practice.

Drop = how hard will you cry if you drop it?
Ergonomics = how comfortable is it to turn handlebars lock to lock while riding on the bike?
Weight = is it a pig? Will you pop you back out, trying to pick it up?
Power = less is more forgiving.

Of course these are just my current personal criteria for choosing a bike for motogymkhana. I'm sure you'll have fun on ANY bike.

Storm Shadow · 08-25-2012, 03:54 AM

yep, do it on both, ive looped around car parks, for the past 15 years ona ny bike i own, more of practicing the MOST motorcycle test, emergency stops, cone weave, off set cone weave, u turns, figure of 8s, etc, but i have gotten carried away more than usual, these days and see how much lean angle i can get around car parks, flick turns etc.

i cant say how good the cafe would be now, that i cafe'd it up, after i put it all together i did a few rides on it, then the cam chain tentioner went, and im still in process of putting it all back together

Storm Shadow · 08-25-2012, 04:21 AM

http://youtu.be/qgt3GVugB2A

as for vfr800's, can you ride like these guys in the wet, scary mcsht

Harvey Krumpet · 08-25-2012, 03:32 PM

That ladies vid cracked me up. Wee things are giving it the herbs!

I think the full roll cage & state funding help increase the enthusiasm, though.

TheWall · 08-25-2012, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Storm Shadow

choice of motokana toys,

2011 honda vfr800f4i with topbox and panniers and trick bits, oggies etc, lots fo fairing

or 1989 honda cd250u caffe racer, with a 233cc par twin engine currently out of the bike with a rebuild. i could put crash bars on it. but i have done, full lock circles on it in the past.

what would be best?

Those are a pair of beautiful bikes -- both a VFR and cafe racer have been on my wish list for a while!

I'd hate to drop either of them, but I think the VFR might fare better, especially if you can put crashbars or frame sliders on it. Seems to me the bar end mirrors would be a certain casualty if you dropped the cafe racer. On the other hand, I would think the light weight and lower power of the cafe would be better suited for gymkhana.

Out of curiosity, was the cafe your work? Great job, if so!

08-24-2012, 02:34 AM	#257
Motogymkhanaman Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Aug 2012 Location: Stratford on Avon, England Oddometer: 137	TheWall is a true hero! Moto Gymkhana practice on a narrow road complete with grass growing through the cracks and on a significant slope as well In situations such as this it is much better to reduce the number of pylons (cones) and increase the space between them, you'll be amazed at what you can achieve. __________________ Dedicated to the wonderful sport of Moto Gymkhana

08-24-2012, 06:55 AM	#259
Motogymkhanaman Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Aug 2012 Location: Stratford on Avon, England Oddometer: 137	Have tried the 'backing it in' technique and it's nowhere near fast enough. Keeping the wheels in line is the trick. __________________ Dedicated to the wonderful sport of Moto Gymkhana

08-25-2012, 02:18 AM	#265
Motogymkhanaman Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Aug 2012 Location: Stratford on Avon, England Oddometer: 137	The usual answer to the question of what bike to use for Moto Gymkhana is "whatever you have in the garage". This is because the sport was designed to challenge the rider and not the bike. Our experience in the UK has shown that the smaller the bike the easier it is to do the more interesting parts of the course, but the downside is that little bikes just aren't as fast between the obstacles. The VFR800 is a fantastic machine and just in case you are unsure of how agile it is, the Japanese Police do things with them that almost defy belief. http://youtu.be/EszzwhHE4vU If the choice were down to me between the 800 and the 250, then I would go for the 250 to begin with and put some decent handlebars and some crashbars on it. By far the best way of working out which will be the right bike for you is to go out and do a bunch of GP8's on each one and see which is the easiest/fastest. It is also very true that the happier you are with dropping a bike, the faster you can go on it. Our friend Yoshinobu Shiga (CBR600RR) says that a pre-disastered bike is always quicker than shiny bike! __________________ Dedicated to the wonderful sport of Moto Gymkhana

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08-23-2012, 08:30 PM	#256
TheWall 0 miles and counting Joined: Apr 2012 Location: Somewhere in the cold, frozen north Oddometer: 156	Lol, have you seen what they ride in Japan? NS250's! They ride some bigger bikes too, but I'd rather drop a $1000 Ninja 250 than my >>$1000 Wee-Strom...hey, wait. It's a "Wee" street bike too, come to think of it!

08-24-2012, 05:56 PM	#261
Vulfy ^OP Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Feb 2012 Location: NYC Oddometer: 305	Wow. This is awesome. I'm out for a month, and you guys are keeping this thread on the first page, with new people coming in, AND motogymkhanaman joining in as well! TheWall @ the toy bike on the floor. As far as the real practice session, you got some balls my friend (tennis balls that is) to start practicing on an incline like that :) That is also a beast of a bike to throw around, kudos to that as well! Good start. Gymkhana is awesome, and the more you get comfortable with the bike, the more you realize how far you can push it. Also as Harvey mentioned, opening up the course really helps. A lot of psychological training as well as physical here. The easier you can make it on your brain, the faster it is to grasp base concepts. Courses are fun, but nothing will teach proper cornering for gymkhana like the figure 8 thats been posted earlier in the thread somewhere. The dimensions are in the video. Harvey: glad you are helping out here. How is your own riding going? shaddix: Hah... DR650... that might be my next bike. How is she treating you? Lock to lock is a bit tricky on any bike I would think. Motogymkhanaman: Yey, glad you made it here. Your advice and experience will be appreciated here just as much. As far as the bike size and weight... well this is sort of the reason why i've been out of the loop for some time. Light and CHEAP bike is definitely way to go with gymkhana. I started to search for a super moto to trade in for my Triumph Speed Triple. Because of that, I wanted to take it easy on the current bike as to not completely trash it before passing it on to another rider. Unfortunately its pretty hard to find a trade in my neck of the woods, so the latest development is that I'm going to see a guy tomorrow, to potentially trade my Speed Triple for DR650 converted to supermoto. I have some reservations about that though... First the 650 is a bit outside of my preferred engine displacement for gymkhana. Second, the bike weights just a little bit less than my Triumph, while I was hoping to get a MUCH lighter bike. Third, its 5 gears, and tall gears at that. I don't know how that will translate to relatively low speed maneuvers of gymkhana. And its a conversion, so hopefully guy did a good job on that. Oh and of course, my black outfit, most definitely will not go well with white and blue color of the bike.... On the plus side, being a dual sport, its built like a tank, so dropping it (which I do alot ) shouldn't be a big deal. If I trade, I'm sure gonna miss my Triple Been a bit extra throttle happy the past few days, as I'm "preparing" to part with it. Oh well... I'm really glad you guys are finding gymkhana fascinating and keep at it. I'll start posting more as I get sorted with the bikes. Cheers.

08-24-2012, 06:19 PM	#262
Harvey Krumpet Studly Adventurer Joined: Dec 2011 Location: The Shaky Isles Oddometer: 714	Wow Vulfy, you must be addicted to swap your striple. Is it the DR 650 that was posted on this site? Gearing is quite easy, just stick on a bigger back sprocket. I'm sure there is a lot of info on this. My riding is, er, sporadic shall we say. Last time out was on the wee DT & I was practicing hanging off out of the corner, great fun. Just need to translate it to the TDM. The guy who got the ball rolling for me is with us this weekend, he instructs instructors & an amazing teacher. He has been giving me crap about my you tube posts so I now have to put a sticker on my bikes screen saying "eyes up!" Hopefully he can spend some time with me later today, bring me back to earth with a thump. All the best.

08-24-2012, 06:49 PM	#263
Vulfy ^OP Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Feb 2012 Location: NYC Oddometer: 305	No DR is local, 2005. Looks pretty mint with only 7k on it. I am definitely addicted, but I've been changing bikes pretty often as I get antsy and want to try new things. So far had, Vulcan 550, CB250, CB750 and my current Triple. If the trade goes well, I pretty much covered the pavement gamut of motorcycles, from cruisers to standards, to sport and supermoto Been itching for a cafe, but thats mostly for looks so it always gets pushed back in cue for a more "technical" bike.

08-24-2012, 11:31 PM	#264
Storm Shadow Thread Ninja Joined: Jan 2011 Location: Arashikage Clan Oddometer: 1,142	choice of motokana toys, 2011 honda vfr800f4i with topbox and panniers and trick bits, oggies etc, lots fo fairing or 1989 honda cd250u caffe racer, with a 233cc par twin engine currently out of the bike with a rebuild. i could put crash bars on it. but i have done, full lock circles on it in the past. what would be best?

08-25-2012, 02:28 AM	#266
Vulfy ^OP Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Feb 2012 Location: NYC Oddometer: 305	I'd go with 250. Nice cafe, would be a shame to bang it up though. Besides crashbars, I'd think of making it back into a standard, with regular handle bars. I doubt ergonomics of cafe bars will be good for gymkhana practice. Drop = how hard will you cry if you drop it? Ergonomics = how comfortable is it to turn handlebars lock to lock while riding on the bike? Weight = is it a pig? Will you pop you back out, trying to pick it up? Power = less is more forgiving. Of course these are just my current personal criteria for choosing a bike for motogymkhana. I'm sure you'll have fun on ANY bike.

08-25-2012, 03:54 AM	#267
Storm Shadow Thread Ninja Joined: Jan 2011 Location: Arashikage Clan Oddometer: 1,142	yep, do it on both, ive looped around car parks, for the past 15 years ona ny bike i own, more of practicing the MOST motorcycle test, emergency stops, cone weave, off set cone weave, u turns, figure of 8s, etc, but i have gotten carried away more than usual, these days and see how much lean angle i can get around car parks, flick turns etc. i cant say how good the cafe would be now, that i cafe'd it up, after i put it all together i did a few rides on it, then the cam chain tentioner went, and im still in process of putting it all back together

08-25-2012, 04:21 AM	#268
Storm Shadow Thread Ninja Joined: Jan 2011 Location: Arashikage Clan Oddometer: 1,142	http://youtu.be/qgt3GVugB2A as for vfr800's, can you ride like these guys in the wet, scary mcsht

08-25-2012, 03:32 PM	#269
Harvey Krumpet Studly Adventurer Joined: Dec 2011 Location: The Shaky Isles Oddometer: 714	That ladies vid cracked me up. Wee things are giving it the herbs! I think the full roll cage & state funding help increase the enthusiasm, though.