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First ride, first crash. Sorry OFG....

You might be on to somthing there with the brake lever position and my wrist position. I will check the brake and clutch positions when I pick up the bike. Actually, my hands are kinda smallish (compared to my overall size) and I'm sort of reaching for the clutch. What little clutch control I have learned at this point is pretty coarse at the end of the lever's travel. Gonna see if I can have it brought in a touch, thanks.
 
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Larell said:
Thanks guys for all of the sage advice. And thanks moderators for keeping people on topic!

Yeah someone telling me to practice more before hitting the streets is not helping me. I mean hell, I've got to "hit the streets" to get to a parking lot in the first place!

So what I was really looking for were suggestions on what to practice and HOW to practice it.Thanks a ton!

The one thing I dot have a "way forward" on right now, is how to get off the bike if this happens again. Any advice on things to keep in mind when you have an impending crash? For instance, one thing I always keep in mind on my mountain bike is that once the situation is beyond recovery, I clip out of the pedals. Anything like that for a motorcycle??
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I do a lot of mountain biking, and you should compare motorcycling to road biking in terms of crashes.

Every year, on my mountain I usually have a few falls, maybe one spectacular crash. But the ground is soft or if I am going "extreme", I am wearing pads.

It has been several years since my last road wreck. I hit a curb and I planted on the sidewalk at about 15mph. It wasn't pleasant.

Of course, on a motorcycle you are doing 30-70mph, not 15. I don't think telling you to practice rolls or keep your hands in is great advice. Not crashing is.
 
Larell said:
Thanks guys for all of the sage advice. And thanks moderators for keeping people on topic!

Yeah someone telling me to practice more before hitting the streets is not helping me. I mean hell, I've got to "hit the streets" to get to a parking lot in the first place!

So what I was really looking for were suggestions on what to practice and HOW to practice it.Thanks a ton!

The one thing I dont have a "way forward" on right now, is how to get off the bike if this happens again. Any advice on things to keep in mind when you have an impending crash? For instance, one thing I always keep in mind on my mountain bike is that once the situation is beyond recovery, I clip out of the pedals. Anything like that for a motorcycle??
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i dont plan on leaving the bike unless i am pulling a mad stoppie to try to avoid a collision, and ill bail at the last second.

practice the MSF, clutch friction zones, 1,2,3,4, or 4,3,2,1 whatever they taught, you should be able to feel the friction zone by slowly moving the clutch lever in sequences of 1,2,3,4 or 4,3,2,1. It should grab normally in the 2,3 or 3,2 sequence, usually in the middle of the stroke, if not adjust it to your liking.

you should also adjust your brake levers, to your liking and reposition the angle to the throttle like others have mentioned.

finally, if your able to wheelie the msf bikes, there is something wrong with your technique, do you have any friends that ride?

I always suggest to hookup with "THAT FRIEND" that got you into riding in the first place and use him/her as a mentor for the 1st year, there is alot to learn especially at slow speed maneuvers, rolling up to nasty inclined gas stations, start and stopping from a hill, lane splitting, navigating slow moving traffic, how to park etc etc etc.

other then that have fun, :ride
 
Hmmm...never heard of the 1,2,3,4 technique. I'm assuming you divide total travel into fourths and mentally label accordingly? I have some people I can ask questions of and intend to continue to do so.

I will check the levers when I get the bike back, thanks! After thinking about it more it makes sense that if the brake lever is in the right position it will force me to keep my knuckles high. I mentioned the lever reposition thing to my local shop and they said its just personal preference. I will re-read the other poster's advice on repositioning them to achieve the desired result!
 
Larell said:
The one thing I dont have a "way forward" on right now, is how to get off the bike if this happens again. Any advice on things to keep in mind when you have an impending crash?
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Don't give up the ship. Seriously. I'm trying to save it the whole time. Randy Renfrow said, "Motorcycles don't crash. Their riders wrestle them to the ground." Sometimes the best way to save it is to allow the moto to save itself.
 
Larell said:
Hmmm...never heard of the 1,2,3,4 technique. I'm assuming you divide total travel into fourths and mentally label accordingly? I have some people I can ask questions of and intend to continue to do so.

I will check the levers when I get the bike back, thanks! After thinking about it more it makes sense that if the brake lever is in the right position it will force me to keep my knuckles high. I mentioned the lever reposition thing to my local shop and they said its just personal preference. I will re-read the other poster's advice on repositioning them to achieve the desired result!
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yes, your on the right path, try to sequence your clutch movement and eventually you will have muscle memory where you should be able to pull the clutch in and be able to release to the point where it is about to engage, roll on throttle and smooth release = no herky jerky, or power wheelies.
 
Practiced some today on my inclined driveway and it went pretty good. Gonna try to do an hour or so tomorrow. The clutch is engaging between 2,3 and is very predictable. Thanks again for all of the good advice!
 
Sorry to hear about your mishap, but glad you and the bike are mostly fine.

It sounds to me like you started out with too much throttle and too much clutch slippage. If you're used to riding a low-torque 250 (MSF bike), this would be the natural thing to do. But on the Duke, you can almost dump the clutch at idle without stalling, kind of like a diesel truck. Throw in a too-far-forward wrist position, and it sounds like exactly what happened here.

The suggestion to adjust the levers is good. I personally have huge hands and normally run my levers pretty low.

Also, take it from someone who sucks at wheelies, they always feel way bigger than they actually are. :laughing
 
sanjuro said:
...Every year, on my mountain I usually have a few falls, maybe one spectacular crash. But the ground is soft or if I am going "extreme", I am wearing pads.
...
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I used to mountain bike a lot and the ground isn't soft. I remember thinking (while I was sliding on dirt in what seemed like an eternity) that... hmmm, when am I going to stop? I hope I don't hit this and that.

In mountain biking, do you do wheelies? Not just some front wheel hoist over some obstacles, but a more extended wheelie (e.g. you have to pedal a bit). I think the cause that directly lead to your crash isn't clutch control but a scare caused by a wheelie making you perform suddent bad adjustments. (Sure, the clutch control may have caused the wheelie, but lots of folks don't fall from a wheelie. It is your panic... causing you to apply whatever weird inputs into the bike.)
 
OFG
Yeah man I can tell that this thing has a ton of low end torque. I'm going to check with a friend and have him look at my position. I will adjust the lever position if needed at that point. Still trying to find a comfortable riding position and definitely need to work on that too. FYI, the bike is still pretty (if you could have ever called it that) but has a little scratch on one of the cans. My knee and ankle are sprained but otherwise I'm fine!

sv2007
Yeah I'm sure panic was a good part of the problem as well. No, I don't do wheelies on my MTB's. Maybe I should start haha! Either way, I should have taken a few minutes to get used to the bike before setting out for the first time. I had somewhere to go and allowed myself to feel rushed. I've got the bike at the shop now for a safety inspection (buddy says it looks like my front wheel is warped). Once I get it back I'm going to explore the Duke a bit in a more controlled environment...with the help of some experienced friends!
 
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Underdog said:
That's actually gravity.

Have you considered letting go of ego, and trying a more forgiving bike?
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What exactly would be more forgiving than a thumper with a torquey powerband that crashes well? I don't see any problem with his choice of bike. :dunno
 
Just a thought but does the KTM have a Rotax motor with a vacuum activated slipper clutch like the Rotax 990 in my Aprilia Caponord does?

These Rotax motors have a novel silpper clutch which is activated by off throttle induction manifold vaccum.

The "friction zone" on my Aprilia Caponord (Rotax V990 powered) has 2 distinct stages depending on what you are doing with the throttle.

From a stop, the first part of the friction zone feels like a conventional clutch with a good range of controllable slip. However if you roll on the gas agressively the clutch grabs quite abruptly as manifold vacuum is lost. Its great for intentionally hoisting the front to get over a rock/log/kerb. But it would be pretty intimidating if you didnt know about it.
 
No, it has a standard hydraulic clutch.
 
Not crash analysis but check your owners manual for a engine map selector switch. On my 690 enduro you can switch to low power mode. I don't know if it's only for the off road bikes but the duke may have it. You can tool around in low power mode until you get more comfortable taking off from a stop. I've never run in low power mode but I use the medium setting because in the highest setting the throttle is twitchy. I may try it agin now that I'm so comfortable with the bike.
 
The Deanster said:
Not crash analysis but check your owners manual for a engine map selector switch. On my 690 enduro you can switch to low power mode. I don't know if it's only for the off road bikes but the duke may have it. You can tool around in low power mode until you get more comfortable taking off from a stop. I've never run in low power mode but I use the medium setting because in the highest setting the throttle is twitchy. I may try it agin now that I'm so comfortable with the bike.
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His bike doesn't have that.
 
OldFatGuy said:
His bike doesn't have that.
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You sure? I haven't checked the manual but Google found this:

Speaking of which, as soon as your Duke is broken in, find the little switch that selects the engine mapping and go for position #2 (full power and full response, all the time). I didn't like position #3 (softened response). The computer felt like it was fighting with the engine, and there was a definite increase in power at 5,000 rpm. Now it kicks everywhere, from idle on up. Note: avoid position #1, which limits top end power as well as softening throttle response.

Read more: http://www.visordown.com/reader-art...-on-riding-the-ktm-690/618.html#ixzz1tHDhc4kE

What year bike is it? Here is a post from 2008 with the switch location: http://www.ktmforums.com/forums/duke/170-690-duke-map-select-switch.html#post368



Edit: just read the original post... 2000 MY. Never-mind (Gilda Radner voice) I know nothing.
 
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