Short Motorcycle Riders - Balance at Slow Speeds, or Slow Race

[@stevewilson8752]

Great skills on display here 🏍😊👍✨️

[@kmatsdaddy5338]

Ran into your "partner in crime" today and he pointed me at your channel as a shorter newer rider who is working on slow speed balance. Great content! Cheers!

[@LanaOnWheels]

I'm happy you found this channel. Ping me if you have questions.

[@HankOnWheels]

Glad you found it!

[@bluewickedburner]

Fantastic! The slow race is a favorite at many rally events. This video has so much practical value all riders should watch it. For those riding a DCT, the rear brake is your friend since there is no cluth to feather. Also, check your 6 (rearview) if you practice this before light and stop signs on the roads because car drivers are often inattentive. Another grat video.

[@amin7581]

This helps a lot. Hope your channel get bigger so more short people can learn to ride bikes.

[@LanaOnWheels]

I hope so too!

[@mgb5170]

Lana - I'm 4'11 (well...4'10 + a bit) and have been M-licensed and riding for a year. I have a honda rebel and had a Kawasaki z650 (it was stolen); I've covered a few thousand miles in the past year. The short of it is - I love your KZbin lessons. It would have been great to have found them a year ago! My former friend (a German) had been riding for a long time and suggested most of what you are explaining. I am sharing with other short women riders. thank you.

[@LanaOnWheels]

Thanks for sharing! I'm happy this was helpful.

[@rafaor2920]

MG B How the Z650 fit short rider? if it's comfortable? thank you in advance.

[@X26-u5d]

thank you for yr tips!

[@jh9855]

Howdy! This is what I do with my bicycle so I do not have to stop at a traffic light! Nice exercise. Thank you!

[@mustafauslu9389]

Thanks dear Lana

[@COOLCABMAN]

Excellent videos..

[@avarria587]

Another very helpful video. Thank you for posting this. I found it very helpful.

[@yeokat7802]

just found you channel. its great thank you . keep going. k

[@RayGreen94510]

Thank for sharing you tips and time Lana. I am a 5ft9in GSA rider and appreciate all of your tips.

[@LanaOnWheels]

My pleasure!

[@ertansagnak-x2j]

çok faydalı bilgiler çok teşekkür ederiz :)

[@shillongstorytellersgeorge118]

Very helpful lessons thank You As a small rider there are things I found myself in uncomfortable situations for instance 1. uphill stop then either left or right turns after that. 2. Having a pillion rider and keeping the centrifugal weight. 3. Parking my motorcycle in an unhill scenarios and starting the motorcycle. It'll be of great help if you can make a lesson for that.

[@LanaOnWheels]

I talk about stopping, including uphill, in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/m6XUoq2AZZuFb5I. Unfortunately can't help you with pillion advice since I always ride alone. As for parking, I plan to discuss it in a future video, so please stay tuned!

[@shillongstorytellersgeorge118]

Looking forward great job 😇👍🏼

[@cherine777]

Hey! I too am 4’11 and just got my BMW G 310 R for a run around. Only riding around the block now to get comfortable. So glad I found this channel. Been feeling a bit defeated

[@LanaOnWheels]

Hi Cherine. Thank you for sharing your story. Don't worry, this is normal and this is a smart way for our body to tell us that something is potentially dangerous. Keep up with training and practicing. People forget how long it takes kids to start walking and talking. And we continue practicing these skills every day, right? Bikes are the same. To make it even more challenging, bike skills are highly perishable. This is why at the very beginning, it feels like starting from point 0 every time you get on a bike. But this will improve with time and consistent practicing. Just make sure to add one step at a time in terms of complexity and always practice in a safe environment.

[@cherine777]

@@LanaOnWheels Hi there, thanks for the message and words of encouragement. Yeah, every time it feels brand new. I’m ok with balancing and when moving but when coming to a stop, I have to do so much more to make sure I do it right with my height. Other thing that is freaking me out atm is the thought of hills (up and down) and stopping on them lol. Also, still getting to learn the bike and her revs so that I can gear change correctly etc. But at least its December now and I’m nearly on holiday, so will be able to practice much more and be ready by January to travel to work (holding thumbs)

[@LanaOnWheels]

yah, all right concerns. Hills add 3rd dimension, which requires a slightly different weight distribution. You will get there. As Saadi said: Have patience, all things are difficult before they become easy. If hills could be avoided, I recommend to practice more on flat surface before adding slopes. Only the elements that you feel really comfortable with, try them on slopes. Start with light slops. That will be enough to feel the difference.

[@cherine777]

Thanks so much for everything!! Will practice and update u once I’ve gotten the hang of it. Perhaps u can add to ur series with hills? Thanks again 😊

[@LanaOnWheels]

I hope this will be helpful: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m6XUoq2AZZuFb5Isi=n0MvzwVkMpd6HaKa

[@onsapplikasies8620]

Thanks so much

[@boxofmoles4057]

I have the same bike and play the same game with traffic lights. I'm pretty dang good at it.

[@garyrowe5984]

I like the gloves you have in this video , I couldn't quite make out the brand name. Could you tell me the brand please ?

[@LanaOnWheels]

The gloves are REV'IT! Sand 3.

[@samiaguabi8415]

I'm still an amateur rider, but I've leant so far (#Motojitsu, how to take off quickly and why it's important to practice) is that we need to be on the front line at the traffic signal, and we should take off quickly to avoid drivers behind us to hit us from the back. Aside from that, the lesson 3 is awesome and handy. Slow ride is so important and extremely helpful.

[@LanaOnWheels]

In places where lane splitting is allowed, getting to the front of traffic is helpful. If you cannot lane split, like where I live, you should be watching your mirrors and have an escape route planned. I talk about this in the last part of this video where we get to the street. Thank you for watching and I'm happy it is helpful.

[@jude.25]

One caution when being the first in line is to be sure cross traffic is stopping. Too many people try to beat the yellow light...

[@paulconnell1309]

Ok really confused here. I was taught to keep the revs up a bit sit on tne rear brake and ride the clutch. The steady engine revs allows the bike to be smooth with carefull us of the friction zone and the brake controls speed. The spinning engine creates geoscopic force so the bike tends to stay in a straight line. You can move very slowly and smoothly like this. Less tricky balancing.

[@LanaOnWheels]

Hi Paul, another great comment, thanks. You are right that “keeping something in a bank” helps to manage the bike. This is a separate skill on its own. Not every motorcyclist understands or uses this concept. I’ll make a separate video about it later. The “slow race” skill is easier to practice with even beginner skills of throttle control. Slow race is one of the low-hanging fruits for bikers that immediately improves balance and ability to stop in a more controlled way. And to choose which foot goes down.

[@jude.25]

I play the game at every redlight. A couple of weeks ago, I was moving so slowly but when the light turned green, the car in front of me did not move. So, does that count for a win? LOL!

[@LanaOnWheels]

Fantastic! That does count as a technical win because the driver broke the rules. With more time and practice, you'll notice that you can hold the balance longer and longer. You will get to the point where delays from cars will mean less to you. Feels like you are totally in control.

[@armentanosebastian1]

So, my inseam is I believe about 77cm. Will I fit on a completely regular GS? I know yours is 30" so we are about the same. Also, the thing that interests me is how you kick your stand up and down? 😅 I'm struggling to understand that. If you hop on one side, are you still able to kick the stand down and hop to that side? And how do you kick it up if you stand on the other side? Because the stand down would be now quite further down 😄 Thanks for the videos though! Very helpful for me to choose a future bike

[@LanaOnWheels]

Yes, my inseam should be close to yours. On my bike, I can reach - just barely - the kickstand with my left foot for both up and down when I'm standing on the right foot. However, my bike has the sport suspension and my seat is set to the high position. Each of those things adds 20mm to the total height. If you take a standard suspension GS (not GSA - the standard suspension on GSA is the same as the sport suspension on GS) and set the seat to the lower position, you get back 40mm compared to my setup and shouldn't have a problem with the kickstand.

[@sharonvukojevic9437]

Check out Moto iKandi or Jocelin Snow, they both cover that topic

[@shaspaz]

We used to do this on horses Swap ponies ❤

[@yasirnaimi6675]

Hug the tank with your inner thighs as you you look far way, i got this tip while i was doing my A license here in Sweden and it saved me from redoing the slow manoeuvre track.

[@LanaOnWheels]

I met people who teach totally different approaches for this. Some say hold to the bike with your thighs to have more control, other say stay disconnected from the bike because this helps you balance on it. With such opposite instructions, I prefer to focus on looking ahead, clutch control, and listening to my body/bike balance is and making minor corrections as needed.

[@bobkelly2447]

here's a thought you should think about young lady.... if it takes you weeks to learn HOW to ride that motorcycle perhaps it is not the right bike for you.... you Need to be able to touch the ground flat footed with both feet while astride the bike...if not it is too tall for you ! so all you have to do is LOWER it and you and the bike are much safer . instead you promote learning riding skills BUT that does not take away the danger to you when riding a bike that is too tall.... (or damage to the bike) there are short bikes that will go over 100miles per hour so you can travel on them.... the Kawasaki Ninja 250R for one it has a 30" seat height mine is 28" because my inseam is 30" if the bike you have is too tall then for pity's sake lower the darn thing ! lower the rear and the front both so the handling is not effected !

[@LanaOnWheels]

On this channel, we value learning and improving our riding skills. We don’t listen to other people telling us what we can’t do because we’re too short or too young (thank you for that btw) or we’re women. We do what we want no matter what it takes. As for potential dangers, riding 100 miles per hour on a highway is much more dangerous than anything that might happen to a rider just because they can’t flat foot.

[@bobkelly2447]

@@LanaOnWheels Ok Experience here is the Key , I have ridden motorcycles all my life and I am now 70 years old... and I know from experience not being able to touch the ground is a bigger threat to rider safety than your giving it credit ! Yes you can learn the skills we all know that... but it is Not better than being able to touch the ground and have those skills too... it's a very humbling experience to come up to a stop sign and fall over on your side because the bike is too tall , your skills too rusty and the bike is too heavy.... I know I've done that!... motorcycle riding is one of the things that takes constant refreshing of skills of learning weight management and all that BUT Nothing will replace simply being able to touch the ground.... it can be expensive to lower a motorcycle but it is far better Money spent than anything you will spend on the bike..... You will have to make a lower link section in some rare cases if you can't find them for sale but that is rare now days... Example : 2001 Honda XR650L 37" seat height ( My play bike) I bought a cheap $38.00 adjustable Lowering link for it on line it was supposed to lower it 2" it actually lowered it 3" I backed off the preload nuts to the top of the rear shock ,then I lowered the front by raising the forks in the triple trees (an easy job ) and can now flat foot the XR650L and I am short with a 30 " inseam.... just a little determination will make your too tall bike alot safer and easier to manage.... I can't help you with the weight because a heavy bike is a bad bike in my opinion if that weight is high your in real trouble ! it is not that hard to lower a bike ... you have to do it to understand the benefits believe me !

[@colour16]

I am an MSF instructor for motorcycles. Doesn’t matter how many years you’ve been riding. Means nothing. You have been only riding in your comfort zone. The bike you ride the gear you wear none of that or it is important as the skills you have on the bike. 92% of motorcycle accidents in the United States are people who have been self taught or taught by family or friends. I agree with you that you should be flat footed on a motorcycle when someone is a new rider, but Lana trains and is very skilled. Watch more of her videos you might pick up a thing or two. I work at a dealership and I see people that come in that have been riding all their lives and they’re still duck walking into a parking lot. So if you think balancing the bike with your feet is what’s most important then maybe you need to come in and take a skilled class.

[@SaintsPurgatory]

How about you ride your ride @bobkelly2447 and do not tell others how to train? Obviously you are not an instructor or you'd be bragging on that. Let the professionals do their training to help others and you keep on doing what you're doing, which appears to be condescension.

[@bobkelly2447]

@@SaintsPurgatory How about You THINK for a second , lowering a bike is not that hard or unsafe to do, yet no MS instructor says to do that ! WHY IS THAT ? simply because MS instructors are almost always no better riders than the average person they just go by what they read... getting a piece of paper does not make you an expert ! LOWER your Motorcycle and see how much better life can be on a bike !