Railing tips....please

[soccersteve]

So last night, i was riding on hte freeway, and got off at one of the more fun exit ramps. well, i downshifted coming up on the ramp and got up to about 80 because nobody was in front of me. i lifted my butt off the seat a little and went to hang off a little.....to the right... anyway, my back tire did something weird, it started to bounce or jump a little bit. any idea what caused this? could i have kicked it out a little bit, wheel needs balanced? new tires? or is it normalish? thanks guys.

[SlytlyDeranged]

sounds to me like you got your weight too far forward maybe and the back tire might have been slipping out some.

[HS2020]

You were experiencing tire hop. When you get to much weight on the front and make the back end light. It is no big deal. You will do it more than you know it once you get comfortable leaning over. Just practice and keep a mental note on what is working and what is not. I would recommend Twist of the wrist video if you can find it. I have the vhs tape and I had it burned to CD. They actually use a pre98 Katana 600 in the video for most of the cornering techniques.

[Anonymous]

HS...copy to computer...turn on AIM...and host for apples.

[ThAzKat]

AWESOME FEELING ISN'T IT!!!!

Get use to it especially when you run hot into a turn!!

No don't get used to it, it will happen when you run in too hot some of the time. Is your rear tire aligned right?

[stevnmd]

Awesome feeling? You're telling someone who's relatively new that rear wheel hop is a good thing? What are you trying to do, kill the guy?

Your rear shock sucks. That's part of the problem. Poor body position may very well have also been a contributor. Also, what tires are you running?

[ThAzKat]

Awesome feeling? You're telling someone who's relatively new that rear wheel hop is a good thing? What are you trying to do, kill the guy?

Your rear shock sucks. That's part of the problem. Poor body position may very well have also been a contributor. Also, what tires are you running?

Steve knows me, I am kidding!!! Anyway, Steve did you get your tires put on right this time?

[stevnmd]

Well, others commented that he should get used to it, too. That's plain bad advice. If your rear wheel is hopping and losing traction, SOMETHING is wrong. Either with your body position or bike. Correct the problem. Even if that means back your corner speed down.

[2Wheeltours]

I have a question. Was it doing that right after you down shifted or while you were leaned over and on the throttle. Big difference between the 2. During downshifting can be expected if you're not using a slipper clutch. Not good but not bad either. If it's while on the gas and leaned over, bad bad bad. Correctable but not something to make a habit of

[md86]

Step 1 : Buy Sport Riding Techniques
Step 2 : Practice some of the techniques !
Seriously though , how close to Cincy are you ? You one of the guys Jason has hooked up with ? If you're close enough , I have a copy of that book with alot of the important stuff highlighted that I was planning on making him read ...

[stevnmd]

Good question, 2wheeltours... If, in fact, you'd downshifted WHILE in the corner, shame on you. Set up for the corner BEFORE the corner. Do your braking and down shifting BEFORE you commit to the turn.

[soccersteve]

thazkat- i know you were kidding. and yes, they're finally mounted correctly.

stevenmd- i've been riding for about 4 years and you may consider that to be fairly "new", i respect that. i just never had the intestinal fortitude to really lean the bike over in turns and stuff. also, would tightening of loosening the rear shock help?

2wheeltours- it started slipping/hopping when i was leaned over in the turn. i set up for my turn well before i was at the turn. i down shifted a sped up a little because i was only going about 65 on the freeway beforehand. and what is a slipper clutch?

all- thank you for the input. and if you have any other ideas as to the cause of this, let me know.

[md86]

Well , a slipper clutch basically allows you to downshift without blipping the throttle , so the back tire won't lock up on rapid downshifts . Dunno what could've cause the slipping . I guess LOTS of things COULD'VE (road , shocks , tire , rider error) , so it's hard to say , I guess . BUY THE BOOK !

[Zukiman]

I've had it happen on the Kat a few times. The first time freaked me out. Then you watch those AMA superbike racers and it's amazing how the bike corrects itself. Sometimes.

[Paladin]

I watched some corner working a track day and I thought some of it was locking the rear wheel. They would fly by on the straight and setup for the corner and the backend would start to bounce up a little.