When riders are learning slow speed maneuvers they have a hard time finding the friction zone
and trusting that they're in the friction zone. So in this quick video I'm going to
give you a really simple tip that will help and you probably haven't heard this one so hang tight.
Hey guys I'm Paul the motor guy and welcome to my channel where I pass on riding tips practice
drills and defensive riding strategies. Now I'm a rider coach a motorcycle sergeant and owner and
instructor at Prorider central Texas where we teach police riding skills to civilian riders.
Now before I talk about the tip let me lay some foundation. Now if you watch any YouTube
channel that talks about slow speed maneuvers they will all say, to be in the friction zone
whenever you're doing slow speed maneuvers such as u-turns. Now the good channel will explain the
friction zone as the area when you're letting out the clutch and it starts to engage and transfers
power to the rear wheel and the motorcycle starts to move. So why is this so hard? Well this is my
theory. Now I think that when riders start out learning slow speed maneuvers it's hard
for them to distinguish between having active power to the rear wheel when making their turns
and coasting. I believe that our mind thinks that if the motorcycle is moving we must have
power to the rear wheel, which isn't always the case. Now the more you practice you'll be able
to feel the difference between coasting and having active power to the rear wheel. So how do we take
the guesswork out of whether or not we're in the friction zone? So here's the tip drum roll please
listen to your bike. Now I can imagine look on your face right now and you're probably thinking
what does that mean, so let me explain. Your bike will have a certain sound when the clutch reaches
the friction zone. S if you learn what that sound is for your bike you will never have to guess if
you're in the friction zone or not. Now for this next demo I'm going to use my concourse. Now what
I'm going to do is slowly release the clutch lever until I engage the friction zone and I
want you to listen to the sound change when I finally reach the friction zone.
So let's head outside. All right so now I'm going to rock back and forth so you can hear
the difference in the sound when I engage the friction zone and some have steady rpms.
In this next video I'm gonna ride a couple figure eights so you can hear the sound while
I'm actually riding in exercise. All right so now I'm doing figure eights what I'm going to
do is I'm going to disengage the friction zone once I make my turn and the bike is straight up
and down. And I'm going to re-engage it prior to leaning the back over so you can hear the sound.
Now you can talk to many more officers and good civilian writers and they will tell you all kinds
of different techniques they use but it all boils down to being in tune with your motorcycle. So
when I'm doing slow speed maneuvers one of the ways I know that I'm in a friction zone is by
the sound of the motorcycle. Now when I ride on the street I wear earplugs but when I do my cone
exercises I take them out because the sound of the motorcycle is different with the ear plugs in.
Now I know this may sound crazy but this is how much I use the sound of the motorcycle.
Now as I said earlier in this video everybody has your own thing and this may not work for everyone
but I think that this may help some of you have more confidence when it comes to being in the
friction zone. I hope this video helps some of you that struggle with the friction zone.
Now if you found value in this video smash that like button
and don't forget to subscribe now until next time practice practice practice and ride safe you