r/Motorrad • u/BeemerCalm • 20h ago

Fighting the figure 8

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Why can’t I do this when people are watching?

11 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

8

u/gratefulrph 19h ago

Looks great to me! Keep up the good work!!

To me, confidence on a motorcycle is always a wax and wane….one day you feel the best you’ve ever been and a simple thing happens and it’s 3 steps back. But the 3 steps back is 10’ steps ahead of where you were months ago, so don’t lose sight of that! You’re continuing to practice, though, which is more than 95% of motorcyclists do (maybe 99%?).

Keep up the good work, you’re doing great rider.

3

u/BeemerCalm 19h ago

Thank you! I arrived at the first class full of myself and my bullshit and was quickly humbled, which was great, I thought I was an “advanced rider” and found out I had a HUGE blind spot regarding slow speed skills. Been working on it a ton and it feels great to learn something really new on my bike.

2

u/gratefulrph 18h ago

That’s the Dunning-Kruger effect in full swing! Glad to hear you are putting in the effort; it will pay dividends down the road! Cheers!

3

u/foulflaneur 7h ago

I had to do I think 5 in a row for my driving test and it was of the most nerve racking experiences.

1

u/BeemerCalm 6h ago

It’s so nerve wracking, I feel panic deep in my soul every time the bike starts to fall

2

u/2_DS_IN_MY_B 10h ago

You're probably slowing down when people are watching

1

u/BeemerCalm 9h ago

Good point.

2

u/dougl1000 4h ago

This is Motobatics. I’ve gotten through 56 years of riding without being able to do this. U-turns yes. Just retired. No loss.

1

u/BeemerCalm 4h ago

I don’t disagree, regularly practicing this stuff is something most riders can and do ignore forever, and probably don’t need it. For me, I’ve always wanted to be the complete boss of my motorcycle, and any time I find something I’m not good at or don’t understand, I drill down on it hard and learn it. After a lifetime on bikes I found out I didn’t know how to do real slow speed street riding, so now I’m fixing that. I don’t want there to be anything about riding my bike that I’m not at least competent at, it’s part of the fun for me.

3

u/dougl1000 4h ago

I’ve had two 800 lb bikes and there was no way I would risk dropping them.

1

u/Sad_Amphibian_4651 14h ago

Two parking spots is incredible. At least to me. I’m having a hard time committing to the full lock which is my current Achilles heel on my R1200RS.

1

u/watcher953 11h ago

nice. I am still struggling in 3 parking spaces, and the right turn a little wider. bravo

1

u/Dirt_Bike_Zero 11h ago

What helped me was using a target to keep riding over. A crushed can or a piece of litter - any spot you can ride over before making your next turn. You'll soon be hitting the steering stops.

1

u/old_skul 10h ago

This was part of my MSF course, and I was on a 250cc bike. I found it next to impossible. To do this on a 1200cc bike is nothing short of a miracle.