Hello forum!
Back into riding with my new to me R1200R after a long pause, I find myself needing to re-adapt to a new bike, new techniques... One thing I'm trying to do is gain in ridding comfort but also in control and precision.
First hurtle : throttle control
I found it hard to have "fine" control of the throttle. My traditional full hand on throttle switching to 4 fingers braking just didn't work the way I was expecting it to.
My throttle control was just bad, not precise and jerky as soon as the road started to be rougher.
I found two solutions:
Second objective: brake control
Two vs. four fingers on the brakes:
I find the braking power of this beast to be remarkable. I can definitely stop this thing hard with two fingers. It is almost like I actually prefer the lighter two-fingers touch compared to my more traditional four-fingers position.
On the flip side, I hate "leaving" those two other fingers on the throttle and can see myself wanting to squeeze the brake handle to the point where I crush my own fingers...
My early conclusions
The beginning a solution
Beside the obvious "the more relaxed, the better", I also started researching the web regarding the ideal lever position and found this interesting video:
Again the obvious next step is to set the controls in the best possible way in order to maximize precision and comfort:
I found myself tilting the levers slightly forward.
Curious to read your reactions and learn from this forum's experience!
All comments are welcome!!!
Back into riding with my new to me R1200R after a long pause, I find myself needing to re-adapt to a new bike, new techniques... One thing I'm trying to do is gain in ridding comfort but also in control and precision.
First hurtle : throttle control
I found it hard to have "fine" control of the throttle. My traditional full hand on throttle switching to 4 fingers braking just didn't work the way I was expecting it to.
My throttle control was just bad, not precise and jerky as soon as the road started to be rougher.
I found two solutions:
- Keeping one or two fingers on the brake lever
- Pro: keeping the lever in touch allows me to have a much more precise touch on the throttle. Acceleration exiting a curve becomes way more precise and a real joy. The other advantage is the fact I have two fingers ready to brake at all time and that can lead to much better reaction time for emergency braking, also a good habit to learn in prep for more advances trail braking techniques...
- Con: I found the position a bit tiring (hence the change in lever's position)
- Sliding the right hand to the outside of the throttle control on the handlebar.
- See picture below, the pinky sits on the handlebar and outside of the throttle area
- Pro: I use the pinky on the non-rotating part of the handlebar and again feel like gaining a lot of precision in throttle control.
- Pro: more comfortable than keeping fingers on the brake, less risk of accidentally "jumping on the brakes"
- Con: not yet ideal in term of comfort
Second objective: brake control
Two vs. four fingers on the brakes:
I find the braking power of this beast to be remarkable. I can definitely stop this thing hard with two fingers. It is almost like I actually prefer the lighter two-fingers touch compared to my more traditional four-fingers position.
On the flip side, I hate "leaving" those two other fingers on the throttle and can see myself wanting to squeeze the brake handle to the point where I crush my own fingers...
My early conclusions
- I need a LOT more practice (this is the obvious part of the conclusion).
- There is no one-fits-all (or everyone) solution.
The beginning a solution
Beside the obvious "the more relaxed, the better", I also started researching the web regarding the ideal lever position and found this interesting video:
Again the obvious next step is to set the controls in the best possible way in order to maximize precision and comfort:
I found myself tilting the levers slightly forward.
Curious to read your reactions and learn from this forum's experience!
All comments are welcome!!!