Stopping

1769 Views 9 Replies 10 Participants Last post by WLB :>), Dec 28, 2004

lilleyen

Discussion Starter · Dec 28, 2004

Getting a 650.
In the showroom with a level floor, I can just reach the ground on the balls of my feet, or if I lean a little can put one foot flat on the ground and one on tip toe.

Doing a lot visualizing/dreaming about riding my new (or pre-loved), burg in the spring.
Here is one thing that wakes me up in a sweat at night.

The scenario;

Have to pull over onto the side of the road. Have little or no choice about where I'm stopping. It's a secondary road, hard dirt or gravel surface.
It has a sloped shoulder. (I'm in Canada, we ride on the right right side here)

Having stopped, I can only reach the ground on my left side with my short 29" inseam(riding a 650)

What do I do now? How do I get off? :?

Left foot is on the ground, right foot is on the footrest.

Can't put down the side stand with my right leg.

(Not sure the scoot would be leaning over to the left enough to stay upright anyway as the slope is so steep.) Probably would though.

Can't shift the weight over to put the right foot down as I will fall over the other way into the ditch

Help!

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Twinrider

· #2 · Dec 28, 2004

If the height really bugs you just take a little foam off the seat. But I think you'll get used to it. Just be careful where you park. On my 1100GS once I put my left foot down at a stop only there was no road there. The whole bike with panniers, girlfriend and all ended up tire side up :shock: Took three of us to upright it due to the slope it was on

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DonRich90

· #3 · Dec 28, 2004

lilleyen said:
The scenario;

Have to pull over onto the side of the road. Have little or no choice about where I'm stopping. It's a secondary road, hard dirt or gravel surface.
It has a sloped shoulder. (I'm in Canada, we ride on the right right side here)

Having stopped, I can only reach the ground on my left side with my short 29" inseam(riding a 650)

What do I do now? How do I get off? :?

Left foot is on the ground, right foot is on the footrest.

Can't put down the side stand with my right leg.

(Not sure the scoot would be leaning over to the left enough to stay upright anyway as the slope is so steep.) Probably would though.

Can't shift the weight over to put the right foot down as I will fall over the other way into the ditch

Help!

Keeping the bike leaning slightly to the left and with your left foot planted firmly on the ground, dismount it like a horse by swinging your right leg over the seat. Then you can lower the sidestand with your right foot. Make sure you keep the bike leaning slightly left of center and that you squeeze the left brake lever during the manuver to keep the bike stationary until you lower the sidestand.
Practice this type of dismount on level firm ground until you get the hang of it. Just make sure you do not lean the bike to the right of center to the point you can not keep the bike upright. Depending on your size, it is usually tough to keep a bike from falling in the opposite direction once it starts to fall in that direction. If it starts to fall and you can't hold it, let it go. You can really hurt your back trying to hold the bike up while you are in a rather awkward position.
Don

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wasions

· #4 · Dec 28, 2004

Possibly the most important thing about dismounting the Burgie is making sure either or both brakes are engaged. My wife is 5'2" and has no problem whatsoever stopping or getting off when riding alone.

Steve

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NormanB

· #5 · Dec 28, 2004

Rick
If you are dismounting you do not have to stay with your ass glued to the seat! :wink:

In your scenario. stop, keep brake applied, left foot down, slide forward off of the seat (still with your left foot planted). Then, rock the bike over to the other side taking weight on your right foot, using left foot - kick the stand down and rock the bike over onto the stand and with your left foot acting as a 'saver' while you satisfy yourself the stand has a good 'footing' with all the bike weight on it.

Dismounting like its a horse without a stand down is a risky proposition in my opinion and will lead, at best to panel damage and at worse physical harm to yourself (and others?) as you attempt to save it.

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Lapine Rider

· #6 · Dec 28, 2004

I'd like to add my own personal .02 worth...

Part of the reason I selected a 400 over the 650 was becasue something rather similar to the scenario described happened to me on a test-ride. The dealer was located in an unfamiliar neighborhood, and I rode a 650 off of the high-traffic-volume main road in order to find a quiet place to turn around and head back to the dealer. (Up until this point, the 650 was heavily under consideration for purchase.) The side road I chose ran straight up a hill and ended in a heavily-slanted, heavily-gravelled parking area. Indeed, the slant was so bad (left to right, as I recall) that at first I found myself totally unable to turn the bike in a safe manner even at crawling speed; indeed, it was almost all I could do simply to hold it up, with my feet continually trying to slide out of control.

(Keep in mind that up until then, my total experience was on a 150cc scooter. I fully acknowledge that this was likely part of the problem.)

It must have taken me twenty minutes to get out of this ridiculous mess; finally I crossed my fingers and feathered the throttle ever so gently, turning downhill around a huge-- maybe 100 yards/meters-- half-circle. Once I was out of the situation, I swore that I wanted a lighter bike than the 650, one that I could manhandle at least a little at need. Since I test-rode the 400 next and it also pleased me morethan the 650 in many other ways, I immediately bought it and have never looked back. Maybe someday I'll buy something a little bigger in the motor department, but I'm fairly sure I'll never buy anything _heavier_.

For what it's worth, I have a 29" inseam and weigh 320 pounds. I do physical labor for a living; it wasn't lack of muscle and bulk that caused me such terrible trouble. It was simply inexperience and a certain element of bad luck, combined with a bike that I still see as being heavier than what I care to be responsible for. Therefore, I applaud the author of this thread for thinking ahead, as I failed to do on the test ride, and I hope that others will learn as a result.

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chuck807

· #7 · Dec 28, 2004

Lapine Rider said:
I'd like to add my own personal .02 worth...

Part of the reason I selected a 400 over the 650 was becasue something rather similar to the scenario described happened to me on a test-ride. The dealer was located in an unfamiliar neighborhood, and I rode a 650 off of the high-traffic-volume main road in order to find a quiet place to turn around and head back to the dealer. (Up until this point, the 650 was heavily under consideration for purchase.) The side road I chose ran straight up a hill and ended in a heavily-slanted, heavily-gravelled parking area. Indeed, the slant was so bad (left to right, as I recall) that at first I found myself totally unable to turn the bike in a safe manner even at crawling speed; indeed, it was almost all I could do simply to hold it up, with my feet continually trying to slide out of control.

(Keep in mind that up until then, my total experience was on a 150cc scooter. I fully acknowledge that this was likely part of the problem.)

It must have taken me twenty minutes to get out of this ridiculous mess; finally I crossed my fingers and feathered the throttle ever so gently, turning downhill around a huge-- maybe 100 yards/meters-- half-circle. Once I was out of the situation, I swore that I wanted a lighter bike than the 650, one that I could manhandle at least a little at need. Since I test-rode the 400 next and it also pleased me morethan the 650 in many other ways, I immediately bought it and have never looked back. Maybe someday I'll buy something a little bigger in the motor department, but I'm fairly sure I'll never buy anything _heavier_.

For what it's worth, I have a 29" inseam and weigh 320 pounds. I do physical labor for a living; it wasn't lack of muscle and bulk that caused me such terrible trouble. It was simply inexperience and a certain element of bad luck, combined with a bike that I still see as being heavier than what I care to be responsible for. Therefore, I applaud the author of this thread for thinking ahead, as I failed to do on the test ride, and I hope that others will learn as a result.

I had a similar problem at first, and my immediate experience prior to the 650 was with a 50cc scooter (after a 30 year hiatus from a regular motorcycle). It took months before I was comfortable making the kinds of turns you described and I found myself in various situations where I thought it was hopeless (ie: I thought for sure I'd drop the bike trying to make a U turn on a narrow road that came to an end). All it takes is experience. I have no problem with it now and I'm quite comfortable with it. But I remember those first few months - wishing I'd have gotten something smaller! Experience & practice... that's all it takes.

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Randy

· #8 · Dec 28, 2004

One bit of information I may have missed in reading the above posts is once a foot is down (or before you stop).
Slide yourself forward on the saddle, you will find the narrow front should let you "touch Down".
I have a short inseam myself and find this works even on bigger bikes.

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Jim

· #9 · Dec 28, 2004

I found stopping on a side sloping grade is the most difficult, espically if it slops to the left, your leg gets shorter. When I park, I try and find a level or slightly uphill area, in case I have to back up, keeping 1 hand on the brake while I dismount. Much easier for me having gravity working for you.

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WLB :>)

· #10 · Dec 28, 2004

Something I've learned the hard way a couple of times, although it never resulted in my dropping the bike: Never, NEVER lock up a brake when engaged in a tight, creeping turn (barely moving). Twice now I've almost dropped the bike doing this. It's amazing the downward force this generates; fortunately I'm tall enough (6'2") I was able to counteract the forces this produces. One of the times I got a good shoulder wrench as a reminder!

There's no doubt the AN650 is a heavy piece of machinery, given its overall size, compared to a Goldwing, for example. It's not so easily tossible as anything 50cc, and I try to keep that in the back of my mind whenever I'm on it. I'd like to see regular motorcycle tires on it, or else the engine/tranny combo offered elsewhere in their motorcycle line-up.

As far as seat height goes, one of the reasons I prefer the AN650 over the AN400 is that I sit higher on the AN650. My legs were too scrunched on the AN400. Wouldn't it be great if Suzuki would offer an adjustable seat height mechanism?...

WLB

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