Suggestions needed

[ZX-12R]

Just this past week, my fiancée took and passed her basic riders course in NH. The SV650S I picked up for her seems to fit her well and she did much better than I expected when riding with me on Friday and Saturday especially considering she has never operated any form of motorcycle prior to the course.

Her biggest difficulty is immediately turning left from a stop (left turn at a T intersection). In addition to repetitions of left turns in a parking lot, does anyone have drills or teaching techniques that could help? I think it is mostly a mental issue so I'm looking for something that can help her build confidence in her abilities quickly.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Zolden]

It is indeed mental, and I would say the only thing that will cure the left turn oddity will be time. let her ride more and tell her to always use counterweighting especially on those left turns, all my oh-shit-almost-biffed it turning situations (when I was new) have been going left from a stop and not counterweighting enough to keep the bike rightly balanced.

I never focused too hard on it, like practicing over and over in parking lots. I would say not focus on it and let it become just as easy as right hand cornering and turns.

[bbhzx10]

Get in a truck and drive toward her from the left while she's attempting the turn.....
All she needs is a little motivation!
J/K, practice makes perfect.

[Ken C]

Tell her to turn the handlebars, lean the bike slightly in the direction she wants to go and LOOK throught the turn.

This is the way the MSF used to teach it.

[richw]

Go easy

don't make it work keep it fun

Eventualy it would go away unless you fixate on it

[akira700]

I know that counter steering is the way to teach folks but really it only operates ABOVE 20 MPH or so.

So maybe this is confusing her.

Below 20 MPH its like I3uddha said
turn the bars the way you want to go and ease the clutch out and lean. Treat it like a bicycle.

[benVFR]

It's all in the eyes...

The wheel should be turned slightly to the left from a stop when taking off at a left hand turn... she should have been taught that in the MSF class.

But the big thing is that head turn, people want to look straight when they first take off.

I had this a bit when I first learned. only in my case it was left hand turns from a stop heading up a hill. Those really messed with my head the first year or so I was riding.

It just takes practice, keep on her to keep her head turned as she leaves the stop but she probably won't overcome this overnight.

[NinjaSwan]

+1 in it's all in the eyes... I remember that being my problem when I first started out. I wasnt keeping my head up enough.

you look down you go down!

and with anything. +1 on practice makes perfect!

[slaps76]

Yup, just look up where you want to go, make sure she's not looking down at the ground.

It eventually goes away, I hated turns from a stop when I started riding too.

[JeffL]

Yeah, definitely stress the look where you want to go. That alone should help greatly. Have her looking down the road to her left where she wants to end up, and that is where she will end up.

[Cheese]

I agree with all those that said she needs to look where she needs to go and not down or any other close in spots to slow her turn radius or cause a loss of balance.

Try setting up on an abandoned rural intersection. First you can stand out there where she should be looking and talk to her making her look at you. Just remember to get your sorry ass out of the way as she comes at you cause she may target fixate and run you over. After that you could pull your car into the right lane and make her take the left around it. That way it's almost a blind left turn as she'll need to make the turn mostly blocked by the car. I'm sure you can think of other ways to simulate what she might encounter on the road and let her practice it on a quiet street with no pressure.

In the mean time she can make it easier on herself while learning by setting up for the turn early. She can come to the intersection to the far right then make a slight left turn while stopping. This will leave her stopped and heading left. Hopefully that will make it seem easier and she'll be more relaxed to do what she's been taught.

[mzdagrl]

Originally posted by Cheese-GSXR

In the mean time she can make it easier on herself while learning by setting up for the turn early. She can come to the intersection to the far right then make a slight left turn while stopping. This will leave her stopped and heading left. Hopefully that will make it seem easier and she'll be more relaxed to do what she's been taught.

I still do this for sharp turns, especially if I know I'm going to be U-turning at the light/stop sign. This is very helpful, as it makes the turn wider and easier to manage. Let her know (I assume you ride behind her) that you will give her as much room as she needs while riding. She may not do it out of courtesy, especially if you pull up next to her at stops, and make sure you give her plenty of time to go before you take off after her. Another big thing that I have since gotten over was if I couldn't see my "followers" in my mirrors, I panicked that they were right next to me, and I got nervous around the turn. That was something that, with time, I have gotten over.

[ZX-12R]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. She is certainly getting better and I think saddle time is the biggest reason for that. I've been riding for so long that I don't have a true appreciation for the anxiety a novice rider faces.

I'm thankful she is gung-ho about learning how to ride properly.

[TheIglu]

Also, try having her move her ass to the OUTSIDE side of the seat. This will lean the bike a little more without having her lean much at all. Every notice how traffic cops turn around a huge harley in one late?

Works like a charm. Completely opposite of what you do at speed but around walking pace it is perfect.

[KB]

Get a chatterbox so you can coach her real time.

Jen got freaked out down at the gap and I coached her through a few turns and she settled right in. It really worked out great and gave her the confidence she needed to tame the dragon and the roads around the dragon. It was a great tool.

KB

[Tabby]

I still do this to keep my parking lot skills in shape. Have her practice full lock turns. I would do 2 or 3 circles turning left, then 2 or three circles right. Depending on the bike, I would slide my butt to the outside, like others have noted, and again as others have noted, ALWAYS look where you want to go. It helps with your low speed control in general. She can work on smooth control modulation too! Back in 92, when I went to MSF instructor training, Ray Gaulin, one of our chiefs, used to leave little black circles with the footpegs of a Suzuki GN125. Butt WAY off to the outside, head cranked as far as he could, and made it look sooo easy. Good fun to boot!!