Would softening the rear suspension assist in this self steering technique?

I run a Moto Gymkhana practice in New Hampshire. I am trying to build interest and grab eyeballs by using MGKh as a training platform. Would you care to collaborate?

Suspension adjustment is really an art. What is a good setup will not be the same for another person unless they have the same weight and height. Took me 3 years before I was happy with the suspension setup on my Versys. Good video Alex.

I love Dave Moss - 2 click ;-)

Great as usual. Is the floo when you move your back side to the other side of the seat?

I watch this on 1.5 speed. Great.

I wonder if SSB bars are made out of steel or some light alloy? Can't get them here, no shipping available. I make my own crash bars. 4 iterations already, some weren't sturdy enough, some weren't good for ground clearance, another let the bike to lie too low and i struggled to lift it afterwards. Front-back center of mass is important. IMHO it's best to drag your CoM as rearward as reasonably possible without inducing wheelies on acceleration. It makes rotations a lot easier. If you can also modify your swingarm to be shorter, it makes a lot of difference as both your wheelbase becomes shorter and your CoM shifts rearwards between your tires' contact patches without altering ergonomics. Careful, as the bike becomes more prone to wobbling at road speeds with rear CoM.

Be your own engineer 💪. Feels great to do your own work on bike.

Looking forward to this series

I love going to a carpark and trying low speed control and trying to perfect slow turns. I noticed sometimes i can use tank at higher speed to almost bend the bike in direction of travel, but you have put it into words and now give me something to actually yry perfect by including the footpegs. Many 🙏 thanks 👍. I hope I can get into this gymkhano and get better

First of all a great thank you for making me discover the channels of 'AntiPilotedeLigneDroite' and 'the amazing Kintaro'. They completely changed my understanding of turning on a motorcycle. Could you share your insights on how to decide which crash bars will be sufficient in preventing damage to the engine, frame and also prevent the motorcycle from tipping over? I just installed a Givi engine guard, put the bike on its side to check where it made contact with the ground and was pretty satisfied at first. But then I noticed that the bike could tip further over if it had enough momentum (like in a crash) and possibly create a contact point between the tank and the ground. Givi made an extra crash bar which protects more of the upper part of the bike and so I went and installed that one as well. It becomes difficult for the bike to tip over but it looks really awful on my bike (which is a Yamaha XSR 700). The reason it looks so bad is because they only make the crash cage for the MT-07, as it has the same frame as my bike but it's much bulkier on top with the fairings. So it's not a good fit and I'm looking for a better solution. Most crash bars are sold online and so it's often impossible to know how they will fit on the bike, which contact points they create with the ground in case of a slide and also if you need only need one part that protects most of the bottom half of your bike or if you need to install multiple guards. I also try to work out at which angle the bike should rest in case of a crash but it's difficult to work that out. Also, looking at the SSB crash bars, they don't protect your engine like a typical engine guard that really wraps around your engine. Would you feel okay with leaving the engine quite exposed and just going for an SSB bar for example? I'm a bit reluctant to remove the engine protection I have now but if I leave the engine guard, I'm not able to install another crash bar without doing some major modifications due to compatibility issues between different brands. The SSB bars seem to do the trick for motogymkhana and falls at lower speeds but for higher speeds or just commuting, I feel a bit scared that the engine and other parts are still exposed. And the SSB's are so expensive. I already thought about checking out companies who make custom metal parts in my neighborhood hoping they're cheaper than SSB but I don't know the answer to that yet. So I basically have some difficulty in evaluating when crash bars protect the bike sufficiently or not. I was hoping to get your insights on this.

How do you explain that the body lean back-front affects the turning radius? (given the handlebar turning angle and bike leaning angle stay the same)

Confused... I've heard some people talk about removing steering stops to increase steering radius, and I've also seen YT videos showing blocks added to decrease steering turn, as you discuss. Does this just come down to personal preference? My first thought would be that removing stops to increase steering angle would be more beneficial. But I do sometimes have an uncomfortable feeling that the front is over steering and tucking under the bike. Maybe adding blocks would prevent this? This uncomfortable feeling is usually when I'm too long on the front brake in a turn. If I get off the front brake and more on the back brake, I still get to full lock but the sensation is not uncomfortable.

My personal opinion, this should have been the 1st mod discussed in the series for the crash bars and ergo adjustment reminder. Still a great video series! Regarding seating position, look at the other Japanese riders with Sumo builds, they are actually seating as forward as possible to be able to easily maximize steering and accelerate harder without inducing wheelies. Maybe its the reason the complaints of forward sloping seats are mostly on Japanese bikes.

Nice video! Trail braking while leaned up to full steering stop with the front fork compressed and staying compressed after removing the brakes is one of my favorite riding sensations and really very satisfying to nail. Regarding brake overheat, what are the calipers used on the Ninja and BMW? The one time I overheated my rear brake, instead of locking the caliper it lost brakes. Its the stock Nissin on the 2016 Versys 650. I just find it interesting that overheat affects brakes differently. Personally, I don't mind the rubber hoses at the rear but I'm so tempted to upgrade the front hoses as I find precision control on the front brakes helps the timing on trail braking to max steering angle. The stock brake hoses feels different in the morning practice compared to the afternoon and I have not tried a steel braided hoses yet and wonder if the upgrade is worth it since its hard to find locally.

I've been running into the jackknife situation with my wr250 right when I feel like I've hit the magic moment. I could feel the potential of it but it's way to sensitive for me to make use of it. I love that your more-steering-stop idea especially for a beginner like me. Still looking forward to your technique video tho.

Whoa! I also got a Sakata Sport Bumper on my 2018 GSXS-750! We're SSB bros!

I will also provide these lists of episodes on the Warsaw MotoGymkhana Warsaw website. You're talking about what I spent almost 2 years discovering while learning on my own. You hit the spot.

"Forget the brakes. Forget about gear ratios. Forget about pressures. Build/set the right frame." The cheapest and most important motorcycle modification to make it reusable in MotoGymkhana. The right protection for the SV650N is just being created.

You describe most of the problems I experienced when starting GYMKHANA. Even the steel braided brake line "came out" of the metal end.:-)

Thank you for the videos. As someone looking to get into gymkhana these are super helpful. Could you do a general video on what types of bikes work best?

Hi Alex, thanks for the great content! I just started doing Gymkhana a couple of months ago... I have an XSR900 and have been using stock tire pressure... With doing tight loops all the time, I'm getting the front tire completely worn out with a profile like this after just 700km: __------__ _ / \ _ _ / \ _ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ _ / \ _ __ / \ __ __ / \ __ Have you experienced this effect? Back tire is worn nice and evenly (still almost new) How many km can one expect to get from tires in your experience? Thanks!

I’m trying to figure out how hard this is. You make it look easy.

This whole series is great!! Most things I was aware of, but it could have been useful when I was starting. Great series!!

One tip that was thought to me, when using screwdriver or pistol grip (similar to what Sakuta-san does), you can use the bar end weight as additional reference and stabilize throttle control hand. It's the technique that really helped me tame the on-off feel on the Versys 650, and made me fall in love with my Versys again. Best of all, it's free! BTW, another good explanation on the mods for engine smoothness.

It's so sweet to hear the bikes with I4s scream accelerate and engine brake from cone to cone. much more accessible than MotoGP or even trackdays (at least where I live). Good video Alex. 👍🏽👍🏽

For the other viewers, Alex's tips are for easier learning and ekking out time for competition. Most Japanese bikes can do MotoGymkhana bone stock even for intermediate level riders. My Versys 650 is bone stock (engine and sprockets) and can do decent even at 1400-1500 idle rpms. If budget is tight, its better to focus on actual training sessions than modding (don't let lack of mods stop you from training and enjoying gymkhana). The instructors at the honda school I go to use all kinds of bikes bone stock since mods are not allowed on the school bikes. I've seen them ride gymkhana cb150r up to cb1000r, Africa Twins, even crf150 with knobbies (ok maybe not the supersports with the low clipon handlebars, I concede those need modding for gymkhana). I'm actually trying to attend as an audience one of the instructor competition they do and upload some videos. Hopefully I can attend the one set for this year. Here is a sample but its not a competition so this was a chill run for the instructor on the course kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fNV9Z8eD07u-f6c.htmlsi=vzaq7flLmoEWz4ip BTW, good video on the explanation @Lexco

I have seen changes in the efficiency of raiders after changing gear ratios. This thread that indeed has a strong effect on the way the motorcycle handles. A bigger sprocket at the rear gives another plus - a slightly shorter motorcycle length. The wheel goes closer to the engine. This allows for slightly tighter turns. Thanks for your materials. Let me link them on the Polish site for one of the MotoGymkhana groups.

This season I am learning MotoGymhan on a Suzuki SV650N. The fun with RPM is ongoing. I'm currently at 3k free revs. Probably as I gain skills I will be on higher speed and higher rpm.

ありがとう、そして平和を . BR form Poland ;-)

maybe just follow what the experts have done

Thanks for these new series of videos mate. As a person getting into gymkhana it's proving to be invaluable information for me. Videos are also super clear and concise, which is really appreciated.

My favorite

After two bum steers, could you just provide the KZfaq channel link to the Yoshida San videos?

I get it that there's more flex with low tire pressure but how are you going to put some heat in them with such low speeds? On the track that's the point of lowering pressures. Because they air volume will increase due to the increased temperature.

Hi Alex! This is a list of suggested session topics I would like to see for setting up a bike for Motogymkhana: 1. Introduction to Bike Setup for Motogymkhana: Importance and overview 2. Choosing the Right Bike: Best models and features for motogymkhana 3. Tire Selection and Maintenance: Types, pressure, and tread patterns 4. Suspension Setup: Adjusting forks and shocks for optimal performance 5. Handlebar and Controls Adjustment: Positioning for control and comfort 6. Brake System Tuning: Ensuring effective and responsive braking 7. Throttle and Clutch Setup: Smooth and precise control adjustments 8. Weight Reduction Techniques: Modifications to improve agility 9. Foot Peg Positioning: Adjusting for better balance and control 10. Chain and Sprocket Setup: Optimizing for torque and acceleration 11. Engine Tuning for Motogymkhana: Enhancements for performance 12. Customizing the Seat: Comfort and stability considerations 13. Installing and Adjusting Sliders and Crash Protection: Protecting your bike 14. Electronics and Gadget Setup: Useful tools and tech for riders 15. Cooling System Optimization: Preventing overheating during practice 16. Exhaust System Modifications: Balancing performance and noise levels 17. Routine Maintenance Checklist: Keeping your bike in top condition 18. Pre-Ride Inspection Routine: Ensuring everything is set before riding 19. Common Setup Mistakes to Avoid: Tips for optimal bike preparation 20. Advanced Suspension Tuning: Fine-tuning for different courses 21. Upgrading Your Brake Pads: Choosing the right materials 22. Installing Performance Air Filters: Improving engine efficiency 23. Gear Shifting Techniques: Enhancing speed and control 24. Anti-Lock Braking Systems (ABS): Pros and cons for motogymkhana 25. Adjusting the Wheelbase: Impact on handling and stability 26. Using High-Performance Oils: Benefits and recommendations 27. Ergonomic Adjustments: Tailoring your bike to your body 28. Installing a Quick Shifter: Advantages for motogymkhana 29. Upgrading Your Radiator: Enhancing cooling efficiency 30. Aftermarket Exhaust Systems: Selecting the best options 31. Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems: Maintaining optimal pressure 32. Lightweight Components: Materials and modifications 33. Swingarm Adjustments: Impact on bike dynamics 34. Setting Up a Remote Kill Switch: Safety enhancements 35. Using Data Loggers: Tracking and improving performance 36. Rear-Set Foot Pegs: Benefits for aggressive riding 37. Custom Brake Lines: Improving braking response 38. Fine-Tuning Throttle Response: Enhancing control 39. Steering Damper Adjustments: Reducing handlebar wobble 40. Optimizing Fuel Mapping: Achieving the best performance

Interesting! With the rear wheel focus of the self-steering technique, it makes so much sense to draw inspiration from our cousins in the stunting world.

Awesome! I recently started moto gymkhana on wr250x and your videos helped me a ton! Thank you especially for introducing me to self steering and the Japanese riding style that I also find very compatible.

Awesome video

Man, so glad you're back! Desperately waiting for your level 3 instructions as I've loved the first two, so thoughtful, on point and super useful. Thank You!

🙏❤️ Love from Scotland ❤️🙏

I just found your vids. They're great 👍

Alex! I love the vids man. Great work.

Remember that Harley rider that got hit on j st by the freeway? He drove right into that Toyota on the other side of the road.

This is amazing. I am a new rider, watching a lot of videos for low speed maneuvers, but this one was really important. I want to learn Moto Gymkhana maneuvers, because I think, it increases the confidence and feeling for security a lot. This video was well explained. I have two questions: 1. Is Moto Gymkhana possible with a scooter (Honda Forza 125cc), because of its variomatic? 2. If we talk about low speed (for a beginner), which speed is meant? I felt safe at 10-13 km/h for u-turns.

Did you change your sprocket set up since you last posted videos?

I need to see these sick slow speed maneuvers on a sportsbike like a gsxr

Super nice😄😁👍👍

Nice man

welcome back man!!