Slow going on leaning roadway

[Cajunrider]

On July 4th my wife and I took a late evening 120 mile ride. At one of the lake parks we encountered a traffic jam with local police directing the traffic. They were stopping the highway traffic to let people out of Lake End Park. There is a long radius 90 degree curve at the park entrance. This is where we were stopped and moving very slowly. There is quite a bit of tilt to the left in the curve which turns to the left. I had a very difficult time moving slowly in a straight line on the leaning roadway. Under 5 mph if I didn't keep a little above idle throttle while dragging the rear brake there was no way I could prevent weaving. A couple of times I had to stop and put a foot down. Has this ever happened to anybody else or is it a lack of riding skills? On a level road I can move very slowly without weaving. If I had to guess I would say that the tilt was at least 15 degrees.

It's definately not like a level road. The bike always wants to not just turn but also to "fall in". I think the thing to do is to try and hang off a bit more on the uphill side to balance the bike, and like you said, drag the rear brake a little.

[dantama]

I'm thinking that it was just a situation that you weren't used to. I sometimes find a large truck loading dock to do some turns in, the kind that go down at a fairly steep angle for about 50 feet and ends at dock and an overhead door.

At first it feels odd to be turning in a figure 8 on a slope, but then it becomes no big deal.

I was riding across this before I stopped to take a picture.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/dantama/IMG_1127.jpg


Not that you would ever need to do this, but it shows what kind of angles you can ride on.

I think if you rode in a stop and go fashion on a road like you were describing, after a while it would be no problem and you wouldn't need to drag a brake or do anything different than you would on a flat level road.

[Cajunrider]

I'm thinking that it was just a situation that you weren't used to. I sometimes find a large truck loading dock to do some turns in, the kind that go down at a fairly steep angle for about 50 feet and ends at dock and an overhead door.

At first it feels odd to be turning in a figure 8 on a slope, but then it becomes no big deal.

I was riding across this before I stopped to take a picture.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/dantama/IMG_1127.jpg


Not that you would ever need to do this, but it shows what kind of angles you can ride on.

I think if you rode in a stop and go fashion on a road like you were describing, after a while it would be no problem and you wouldn't need to drag a brake or do anything different than you would on a flat level road.



OMG, Dan is that pic for real???

Hah! you shoulda been there when he did THIS:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/SillyPutty/mesa-1.jpg

[jussmatt]

Terrebonne....not that I've been at qhite the angle you're refering to...I do have a spot in my neighborhood where we've got a similiar roadway... It's at an intersection to boot....and traffic is always backed up there. The intersection is where a 'finger' road cuts into another road, right in the middle of a turn!! It's kind of weird to explain...but I do know what you're talking about and it's not the easiest part of a daily ride, that's for sure!! What usually makes it more difficult is with all the stop and go traffic, there are always puddles and oil on the road!!

[dantama]

OMG, Dan is that pic for real???


It is real, but I was using it just to show what a Nomad can do if your comfort level is there, but certainly nothing that you will ever need to do.

Once you get comfortable with the angle, the road you were talking about won't be a problem for you. A lot of what seems to be a problem on a bike is mental.

I couldn't do parking lot turns that drag the floor boards on my bike no matter how hard I tried until a police motor officer got on my bike and showed me that it could. Once I knew that it could, I could do it. The bike could do it, it was me who couldn't, but I was sure it was the bike till he showed me that the bike would no problem.

The only problem that I can think of in your situation that would need extra consideration is the extra distance to the ground on the down hill side if you put your foot down.

I've noticed the Nomad is harder to manage riding 2up at slow speeds. It seems really wobbly to me around 5 mph. However at high speeds I find it rides much better 2up and seems more responsive.

[Cajunrider]

I noticed the same thing Wolfman. I thought it was me or the terrible Louisiana roads.

Naw..It's just that the Nomad is tuned for the highway. Because of that it gives up a little stability at low speeds. There is no free lunch, ya know.

[Scoot]

Going fast 2 up is a lot more fun. A couple years ago that wife and I went to Talladega's raceway and got to ride on the track. Got it up to 100 on the speedo. The weird thing about it was the bike stayed straight up even in the curves and they had a 33% incline so was only riding on half the tire. Only bad thing was they wouldn't let you got to the top in the curves. I did get over half way up. Was way cool.

I've noticed the Nomad is harder to manage riding 2up at slow speeds. It seems really wobbly to me around 5 mph. However at high speeds I find it rides much better 2up and seems more responsive.

+1 I've noticed the same thing, wolfman.

I noticed the same thing Wolfman. I thought it was me or the terrible Louisiana roads.

Terrebonne,

Don't make fun of our pristine roadways here in Louisiana ::). Where else could you get into your car with a glass of milk and ice cream. Ride about a mile, and have a milkshake? http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif

I'm thinking that it was just a situation that you weren't used to. I sometimes find a large truck loading dock to do some turns in, the kind that go down at a fairly steep angle for about 50 feet and ends at dock and an overhead door.

At first it feels odd to be turning in a figure 8 on a slope, but then it becomes no big deal.

I was riding across this before I stopped to take a picture.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/dantama/IMG_1127.jpg


Not that you would ever need to do this, but it shows what kind of angles you can ride on.

I think if you rode in a stop and go fashion on a road like you were describing, after a while it would be no problem and you wouldn't need to drag a brake or do anything different than you would on a flat level road.



You da man, Dan !!