Problems with falling off

When at a standstill

A motorcycle is naturally unstable. It does not want to rest in the vertical position. It wants to fall over. Constantly! So you are in what can seem to be a battle of vigilance making sure not to let the bike lean too far to one side or the other lest you not be able to bring it back to the vertical.

Find the limit of your capability by gently and gradually exploring lean angle limits whilst staionary.

If this does happen to you, you might feel embarassed and immediately judge yourself, but it can happen to a beginner relatively easily. Even a little twitch and turning the head or looking down can trigger it. It does not need to be something to fear and eventually you will be able to relax with the bike with one foot on the peg and the other on the ground. You should keep the bike very slightly leaning to the side of whichever foot is on the ground to minimise the risk of the bike falling randomly to the opposite side. If your are always needing to drop your other foot to the ground too, try to regather and lean the bike a little to the same side as the foot on the ground. Being too upright here is incorrect, a little lean is needed when stationary.

Unexpected stall during gear changing and turning.

If you are not sure when to change gear, you may be changing up too early. What is too early? Basically before you have gained sufficient speed. This can lead the bike to stall. For example: take the case of being in second gear and you slow down slightly. Now you should be able to hear this as a low rumbling noise, but because you are totally new to this and freaking out about just having to turn the bike, you may miss it and go too slow on the corner and stall, which is the worst, because you are leant over and then are simply faced with a heavy bike on its side with no centripetal force keeping you upright. This is one of the reasons why in the beginning you are told not to change gears whilst cornering, do it in the straight line. Stalling in a straight line is a lot more manageable than when you are leant over.

When coming to a stop

The biggest reason for falling is trying to stop the bike when the bike and you (but more so the bike) are not upright and nor are the handlebars straight. If the bike is not sufficiently vertical and you hit the front brake, that is almost a guaranteed drop. Even the strongest most experienced rider will struggle to keep the bike upright in this situation. There are 3 ways this can happen and all 3 involved some combination of bike not vertical and handlebars not straight.

Firstly, this happens when we have an some idea that when something goes wrong, I have to stop immediately at all costs (eg foot coming off peg when riding). This is incorrect. So, just relax. When something goes wrong, keep your head up, regather yourself and the bike bringing it upright and handlebars straight, then try to stop again. There is no pressure to stop instantaneously. Don’t stress. Keep your head up and simply regather and stop using the proper technique: Bike upright, handlebar straight, brake. This will grow into a habit. In the beginning, try using the rear brake when you are going slow as it is not as powerful and will permit you to stop smoothly and more in control, before progressing to front brake.

The second cause of falling when coming to a stop is that when you are about to stop and the bike slows - to around 2 or 3 km/h - we begin to frantically turn the handlebars to keep the bike upright. We end up getting caught with the handlebars to the side and the bike not upright.

Solution:

• Keep even pressure on your arms and
• stop quicker.

Try to not give the bike a chance (or rather give you a chance) to start over-steering to try and correct balance by stopping quicker. When the bike is upright with handlebars straight, brake and then try to gradually brake even more to slow down quicker.

You cannot entirely relax your arms, but just keep an even pressure on both sides trying to avoid moving handlebars as you brake and tense up. Relax

The third cause of falling when coming to a stop is trying to force or unnaturally aim to stop everytime with your left foot on the ground. Its good if you can do it, but some people come in trying to end up with the bike leaning to the left as they are braking. As you brake this gets worse and more and more weight comes on your leg. Solution: Aim to stop as upright as possible and do not try to lean to one side to pre-empt the stop. We will speak now about how to do that and then be able to lean the bike right at the end, stoppin on your left leg.

How to come a stop

Rather than falling into a lean as you stop and hope your leg is strong enough to keep the bike upright, try this more advanced way and be able to stop putting your left leg out evertime

Be as upright as possible, bolt upright. Brake, and as you are slowing, keep it upright, and relax and just before you come to a stop, add a little extra pressure on your left handlebar moving it forward slightly. The bike will lean slightly to the left and simply stick your left leg out.

The pressure you need is a very small amount. You cannot do this when stopped, you need a little bit of speed. The timing of this key. If this is done at the right time, even with a gentle pressure you will make the bike lean to the left as it stops and onto your left leg, exactly where you want it to go. Start from vertical, do not try to lean left with your body.

Summary: Come in totally upright, and apply a gentle left handlebar pressure just before stopping.

That covers that if you need more help, check out our videos, or get in touch and we can possibly source you some refresher lessons to help you along.