We live on a relatitivley quiet street...So at least 5 times a year I Practice my slow balance manuevers on Dixie...This is important
because there are times as ya'll know you have to make a tight turn at 5/10 to 15mph as well as come to a quick stop...

Get some cones or something you can use to setup a riding course, something that if you hit one it wont do damage to you or your bike.

1...Setup cones in a line for slow zigzag manuvers .
  1.1 Practice at 10 to 15mph.
    1.2...As you get better increase to 20mph

2...Setup cones in a circle to practice turn around manuevers..start with a larger circle then downsize
   2.1...Look in the direction you are turning
     2.2...Travel as slow as your comfortable with.
       2.3...Use your back break only...
            Note...If you hit your front brake while turning 
                      you will go down in the direction you are turning

3...Set up cones for stopping lane to practice quick stop manuevers.
   3.1...Setup a 50 foot lane.
     3.2...Approach the lane at 50mph " Goal is to stop within that 50 feet without skidding the back tire.
       3.3...Use 90% front brake, 10% back brake. for training only.
          Note...Highway n street riding braking is 70% front 30% back

             Safety Note...Wear full protection including long sleeves

       This is the training we went through with the Portland Police Training Center
      
  ***REMEMBER, YOU N YOUR PASSENGER ARE DEPENDING ON YOUR SAFETY SKILLS
  TO SURVIVE A CRASH!!!

Ice Bear...Train Well...   

Yep living at close to the end of our road I was just doing this yesterday on my bike, and was going to go up to the school where they do the Motorcycle Safety Course next weekend (Friday or Saturday evenings) before the classes start.

lol

If ya ever get a chance to watch a Motorcycle Police competition it is well worth your time. My hat comes off to those Guys!!
Dragon

Good reminder. Sometimes we forget the skills we don't use that often... and hopefully never will have to use. Most riders, even the most experienced, are real good at riding on just about any type of road, but have no idea how good they would handle an emergency situation, because hopefully you don't get a lot of experience in emergency situations - unless you ride like an a-hole in the first place and find yourself being an expert at panic stops and swerves :-)

In more than 30 years riding over 500,000 miles I can say - thankfully - that I have only had to emergency brake or swerve a handful of times. Which is why I practice it when its not an emergency.

I practice hard braking a lot. Always good to know exactly how much brake pressure you can apply before locking up. I also test my braking on wet pavement. Something most people probably don't have a good feel for is how much brake they can use on wet pavement before locking up.  So go out in a controlled environmet and lock up your tires on a wet surface, then you know its just a little less brake than that.

I don't practice the zig-zag too much, but I do practice quick swerves without braking. I go to a parking lot and head straight for a man-hole cover at around 50 mph, then try to avoid it at the last minute without braking.  It's important to be able to miss a road hazard when there is no time to brake for it..

And the final thing I always try to practice is panic braking in a turn. I want to make sure it is engrained in my brain to get the bike vertical and then brake! I go into a parking lot, do a kind of tight sweeper at around 40 mph and see how fast I can get the bike vertical and brake hard to a stop.

I also take the advanced riders course about once every two years. It's a great place to practice in a controlled environment maneuvers I will hopefully never need or do on the roads. Plus its good to have an instructor point out anything I may be doing incorrectly or could improve on. Here in CA it's pretty inexpensive and in my opinion well worth it.

I go to the MSF range 3 - 4 times a year and play. Try to get the boys to come too. The younger usually does on his Suzi. The "box" is our favorite. A 22 X 45 box within which you ride figure 8's. as well as all the above.  I use orange discs or frisbees instead of cones.  Hit one and nothing happens except laughter from the kid.

Many of them on U-tube including some partner stuff.



     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Csf3OmGD8UE&feature=related />

Yeah really, this guy could chase down a rabbit with his Road King!!!

I was practising just the other day....my right turns are harder to make then my left turns. As well as from a 'dead' stop - they're harder yet....most of the time I must be rolling to do them...
....glad y'all posted this....reminds me to take the safety course....great vids too ~

I've tried some of this on my own and one of the secrets is to stay on the back brake a lot to control tight turns. I say let's see how good thoses guys would be with 16 inch apes on thoses bikes!

Belong to the Legion Riders - One of our members, since moved away, was a retired Police Motorcycle Instructor

Once a year we would sent up a training session

The retired instructor would usually invite an active NYS, Motorcycle Trooper with his ride.
Yeh those guys could ride. - The would go thru the course just fast enough to keep their floor boards scraping the whole way & morroring eash others movements - Have a C/D of our last session - Will have to figure out a way to make it into some short clips

The sessions were open to the public and we used to advertise the sessions everyplace but only the Legion Riders ever attended

Did ya notice the "two riders" were latched with a tether?   Did ya notice "lone buddy" didn't knock over ONE freakin' orange cone...???  Dang, them guys are GOOD.  I thought I was good cause I could keep my feet up almost all day, if I timed things right.   Sheesh...amateur.  I'll be over here, eating some humble pie, now...

As for practice,  I'm going to take the advanced course, AS SOON AS I'M BACK IN THE SADDLE.  Always planned on that.  I wouldn't consider ridin'...
without it.

Ride Free
Tweek

Ok If thoses guys want to impress us Turn em loose on the course riding an old pan head with apes, a suicide clutch and a jockey shift!
That would cool

Practice is okay but experience is, as usual, the best teacher and sadly sometimes they are painful lessons.i have been at it for a long time and have made my small share of mistakes and came across some sudden surprises.its just knowing how to handle them that is important.sometimes there is just nothing you can do.one time i was on the garden state parkway in NJ and the average speed is 75-80.there was a blazer in front of me at a good distance and it swerved. i right away became extra alert thinking there was something in the road in front of me,but instead out from in front of the swerving truck came a motorcycle in my lane doing about the same speed as me.we passed each other in the same lane doing what, maybe combined speed of 150 MPH?i was in total disbelief that this just happened and the outcome was totally out of my control,because it happened so fast.point is you just can't prepare for everything, but experience and caution will work most cases.
my philosiphy is to stay away from all cars as best you can and always anticipate that they will do the wrong thing.simple rules like dont tailgate,keep eyes up ahead of you NOT RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU will let your brain have a chance to help you know what to do next.never ride alongside cars or trucks in their blind spot,speed up and pass them whenever possible.dont split lanesand if you have to go faster than cars to stay away from them then do it or they WILL tailgate you .
so to sum i all up, it is mostly up to you to stay safe, but it may just be something you can't avoid that might arise.if so experince is the best practice you can get.i have learned from my mistakes and am fortunate to have survived my accidents.and learned from them.the more you ride the better you should be,but the the more you ride the greater the chance that something unexpected could happen.SO RIDE ALOT AND BE SAFE AND ALWAYS THINK THE GUY INTHE CAR EITHER DOESN'T SEE YOU OR DOESN'T CARE!!!

Good words, great idea and cool movies. I do some 'parking lot manuvers' but I try to practice avoiding, braking and swerving while riding. Manhole covers, swerve... Traffic light, hard braking and slow speed turns... and I try to practice staying alert and direct the thoughts in my mind only upon the road... Not the Ex wife, roommates or any other crap that floats thru yer brainpan while riding.

Oh, I use my front brake while turning as a tool, to turn harder into the turn I went into too fast. The rear brake throws me out of the turn, the front keeps me in it. Mebbe not for everyone, but that's how I use it.

Live4TheRide,

EdgeWalker