General Introduction

If you are taking your bike test, good news this now done as part of the Module 1 Test.

Lets look at this in more detail.

Some side roads can have areas where the road has subsided by the kerb, it
might be wise to move forwards to a position where the road is flatter.

Are you relatively close to a junction?

Either the end of the road or a side road, do you have enough distance between
you and the junction so that you can see a great enough distance to see a
vehicle that may turn into your road and still have time to complete the U turn.
Consider moving away from the junction.

Can you see clearly where you are positioned?

Do you have parked vehicles, or a bend limiting your vision, again consider
moving to a more advantages spot.

Think about where you want to finish the U Turn, it is hard to turn in the road and
stop opposite where you started, so don’t, always plan to ride out of the U turn
and make pulling up to stop a separate manoeuvre. You will need to stop clear
of accesses to property, and 10M away from a junction, bear this in mind before
and during the turn.

Observations before moving off.

There are two things going on here. You are making observations to check out
the situation to make sure it is safe to turn, and almost as importantly you need
to show the examiner that you have made the observations. For this reason it is
not enough to look ahead and do frequent mirror scans, and then move off
knowing that it is clear. You must also put in a good blind spot check so that the
examiner can see that you have checked. So look well ahead, scan the mirrors,
if both are clear, make a good blind spot check to the right and move off.

How do you want to do the U turn ?

Sounds a silly question, but you can either carry out a rolling turn, or turn where
you are. A rolling turn sounds easier, move off, get balanced, get throttle, clutch
and brake  nicely balanced. So far so good. The draw backs are that you may be
on a narrow road, forcing you to keep near the kerb to maintain turning space,
the camber can cause problems if sharp, parked cars might prevent you from
doing the U turn this way, the traffic situation can change as you move forward
and you must do another blind check before you commit to the turn. If it works for
you fine.

I think it is easier and less likely to go wrong if you carry out the observations,
and when clear go straight into the U turn.

Your choice at the end of the day, remember was it safe, was it controlled, this is
what counts.

During the U Turn.

Rule number one DO NOT look at the opposite kerb, the bike WILL go where you
look, we do not need to stop opposite where we started, and we are planning to
ride away from the turn, so look back up the road to where you want to be. It can
be very useful to decide what to look at before you start the turn.  As you turn
look farther and farther up the road and ride out of the U turn.

Rule number two, keep the throttle on, do not throttle off, as you move off the
bike and you will lean into the turn, this lowers the centre of gravity, to come out
of the U turn and raise the centre of gravity to straighten the bike up and ride
away needs energy, this has to come from the engine, it can’t come from
anywhere else!

Use the clutch only to control the amount of power going to the rear wheel,
slipping the clutch, means you can have plenty of power available by keeping the
throttle on, and still move steadily, ( note I did not say slowly ).

Use the back brake  to control the speed, ease on the back brake to slow, keep
the throttle on, keep power to the back wheel with the clutch, ease off the back
brake to go faster. Controlling the speed on just the back brake is crucial, if you
throttle off, and pull in the clutch to slow, it will take to long as the bike falls into
the turn to get the revs back up and feed out the clutch just enough to give the
power needed to smoothly pull out of the U Turn.

You can largely ignore the slope of the road during the U Turn, do not try and
use the camber to roll out of the turn, drive the bike round and out, throttle on,
clutch slipping, holding the speed on the back brake.

Ride out of the turn, pick up a little pace, get the bike upright and balanced and

make the stop a separate manoeuvre.

It can be useful to sit upright and lean the bike into the turn, this seems to help

some people and confuse others watch the video closely and you will see Iain

in some of the clips shifting his weight to do this, I do not normally bother to

do this except were I very short of room, sitting up and putting extra lean into

the bike will let you turn more tightly.

Common Problems and how to solve them.

Looking at the opposite kerb, this will draw you to the kerb no matter how wide a
road you are on. Choose what to look at, back up the road before you start the
turn, fix your gaze on that, and as you turn look farther into the distance. You do
not need to know where the kerb is, you will have room to turn, it is typically
possible to turn in half the width of the road examiners use for U turns.

Poor throttle control during the turn, this can be caused by your elbow wedging
into your waist as you turn the handle bars, if this happens shift your right wrist
up to change your grip on the throttle. This will free up your hand and maintain
control at full lock. You will need to do this before you start the turn.

Shutting the throttle to control the speed. Think about moving off in a straight
line, you  could pin the throttle to the stop ( I do not recomend actually doing this
) and with good clutch control move off at a crawl, and squeeze a little back
brake to stop, still at full throttle. The throttle controls power not speed.

Pulling in the clutch 2/3rds of the way around the turn, usually done as the
throttle is shut, to loose a little speed, don’t. Simple as that, 2/3rds into the U turn
is exactly where you need to put a little more speed on to ride away from the
turn. Shift your gaze farther up the road and ride into the distance.

Putting a foot down. Usually caused by a lack of pace, you need speed to
balance the turn and power to lift the bike out of the turn. Lack of pace generally
happens because the clutch has beeen pulled in to coast, use the back brake to
control speed.

Poor observation. Normally caused by a lack of confidence and being to busy
with the bike, to realy see what else is happening around you.

Tried all of the above and still having problems ?

Break the U turn down into small elements and practise each part before putting
it all back together.

Practise slow control in a straight line, change speed on just the back brake,
make a note of how much more stable the bike feels if you hold the speed with
the back brake against the clutch. It will not feel as balanced with the clutch in
coasting.

Find a car park, choose a quiet spot you should be able to turn easily in three
parking bays, comfortable in two and a half bays, and if you are good in two
bays. Measure the width that you are turning in, it should be 6 to 7 steps across.
Go back to the road you had trouble in and measure that, you might be suprised
how wide it really is.

Do not the put U turn into a box all by itself with a label attached that says
PROBLEM. Slow control is slow control, a neat turn at a junction into or out of a
side road is actually half a U turn, Turns at tight mini roundabouts, guess what
more slow control needed to keep it tidy. Hill starts, let me see, throttle clutch,
back brake, sounds familiar ? Moving off round a parked car is another
opportunity to practise slow control.