On Sep 2, 11:31*am, Twibil <nowayjo...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Not only does the DMV supply written materials showing exactly what
> the riding test requires, they even took the time to upload a video
> showing you how to do it.

Mea culpa. Turns out I was wrong. The DMV uploaded and entire
*series* of videos on the subject.

Looks as if the "secret" of the California DMV's motorcycle riding
test is no longer a secret.

(Free hint: It never *was* hidden knowledge.)

On Sep 2, 11:13*am, Poison Pete <nowayjo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sep 2, 2:26*am, jm <jm1...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> > Yes, in "normal" riding, you look ahead; but you can not possibly do so
> > on this 'circle' because 20 feet ahead is about 90 degrees to your side..
>
> It would have really helped your thought processes to use the real
> figures (see above) instead of just pulling random numbers out of your
> ass.
>
> Q: Did you think that nobody else had ever heard of Pi, or did you
> sleep through that part of your math class?

jm is correct. 20 feet ahead *is* approximately 90 degrees to the
rider's course at any time, and it wasn't necessary for you to be so
typically nasty to him.

On Sep 2, 11:31*am, Tim <tomorrowerolsdot...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Maybe you *should* take the MSF class. *There, they will teach you to
> look *through* the turn to see where you INTEND the motorcycle to
> go. * If you were looking OUTSIDE the circle with your head straight
> ahead (or down at the ground as the krusty kritter suggested) then of
> course you couldn't maintain your intended path of travel AROUND the
> circle.

Looking at the pavement too close in front of you is a recipe for
disorientation.

A Los Angeles group that I used to ride with invited a CHP motor
officer to lunch and he talked about how to turn really tight u-turns.

He said that you wanted to twist your body around so you could see
your tail light (or the police radio, on a CHP motorcycle), then raise
your eyes to the horizon, and proceed to twist the throttle and
feather out the clutch and make your tight turn.

He calls this approach "maintaining a high horizon."

One of my distant cousins publishes a free motorcycle newspaper called
"Friction Zone."

She has published this officer's accident analyses on several
occasions and he frequently speaks of maintaining a "high horizon."

On Sep 2, 9:51*am, "Vito" <v...@cfl.rr.com> wrote:

> Yup! *Everybody who thinks a bagger can't do tight turns otta watch some
> Virginia (and other) motor cops do it. *A rally I attended in DumphriesVA
> had a course sort of like you describe. *If you hit a cone you got excluded.
> After each 'set' they made the turns tighter and ran again. *All the foreign
> bikes dropped out then the last Sportster leaving - you guessed it - three
> motor cops on their FLHP Harleys. *Amazed me.

Yup. Cops on Harleys can be pretty impressive.

Now what would be awesome though would be
hearing from somebody who passed on a chopper,
preferably with a fat square rear tire and kicked out
forks.

On Sep 2, 11:48*am, "?" <breoganmacbra...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> jm is correct. 20 feet ahead *is* approximately 90 degrees to the
> rider's course at any time, and it wasn't necessary for you to be so
> typically nasty to him.

Oh dear.

Attend closely: Using *your* figure of a 25' diameter circle, we
simply multiply 25' by Pi (3.14) and get a circumference of 78.4' for
your 25' circle.

To find out what angle you'd have to cock your head at when using a
sight-line 20' ahead of your path all we have to do is divide that
same 78.4' by 4 to find out exactly how long 1/4 of that circle would
be.

Turns out the answer is 19.6, and that means that when you're when
riding in a 25' circle 20' ahead of you is only a bit over 1/4 of the
way around the circle, and if you were looking 90 degrees to either
you left or your right you'd be looking circa 40' ahead of your path,
not 20'.

Get it now?

Rob Kleinschmidt <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Now what would be awesome though would be
> hearing from somebody who passed on a chopper,
> preferably with a fat square rear tire and kicked out
> forks.

<Puzzled>

But that's all of them isn't it?


--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Honda CB400Fx2 Triumph Street Triple
Kawasaki GT550x2 Suzuki TS250ERx2 GN250 Damn, up to ten bikes!
Try Googling before asking a damn silly question.
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com

? <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> One of my distant cousins

*YAWN*


--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Honda CB400Fx2 Triumph Street Triple
Kawasaki GT550x2 Suzuki TS250ERx2 GN250 Damn, up to ten bikes!
Try Googling before asking a damn silly question.
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com

"jm" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:i5luds$eun$(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:02:24 -0700, Twibil wrote:
> > anyone who can't pass the basic riding test required by the State of
> > California ... shouldn't be ...trying to ride a motorcycle
> > on crowded California streets or freeways.
>
> You're joking, right? Have you ever taken the idiotic California DMV
> riding test? ...

This has got to be one of the stupidest questions I've ever seen.

Of course our Governor can ride a motorcycle. He does so WITHOUT a stunt
double (for most scenes) in the Terminator movies. Even if he were to
fail, he'll be back! ;-)

(Now, passing the written test would be a different issue!).

On 9/2/2010 12:48 PM, ? wrote:
> On Sep 2, 11:13 am, Poison Pete<nowayjo...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Sep 2, 2:26 am, jm<jm1...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>>> Yes, in "normal" riding, you look ahead; but you can not possibly do so
>>> on this 'circle' because 20 feet ahead is about 90 degrees to your side.
>> It would have really helped your thought processes to use the real
>> figures (see above) instead of just pulling random numbers out of your
>> ass.
>>
>> Q: Did you think that nobody else had ever heard of Pi, or did you
>> sleep through that part of your math class?
> jm is correct. 20 feet ahead *is* approximately 90 degrees to the
> rider's course at any time, and it wasn't necessary for you to be so
> typically nasty to him.

Ummmm...in a word, no.

Let's run through the numbers one more time, going slowly for those who
have to remember that "pi" doesn't mean something with a crust, shall
we?

We're assuming a circle with a nominal diameter of something like
25-28 feet, right?

The circumference of a circle is pi times the diameter.

Pi, for those who haven't used it since high school geometry, is
about 3.14.

Pi times 25 is 78.5. Pi times 28 is just shy of 88.

So "20 feet ahead" on your intended path, which presumably IS
along the circumference of the circle and not straight ahead, is
just about a quarter of the way around.

Now, here's the really hard part, so try REALLY hard to visualize
this, OK? If you are at any given point in a circle, and want to
look at a point in the circle that's about a quarter of the way
around, you're looking off at about a 45 degree angle from
"straight ahead."

If you were looking at "90 degrees," you'd be looking at a
spot exactly opposite you on the other side of the circle, or
in this case about 40 feet along what we have to assume is
your intended path. I would humbly suggest looking there is
not a particularly productive thing to be doing as opposed to
looking about 45 degrees off, or a *quarter* of the way around.

All clear now? SO glad we could clear that up for you...

Bob M.

On Sep 2, 3:32*pm, Bob Myers <nospample...@address.invalid> wrote:

> If you were looking at "90 degrees," you'd be looking at a
> spot exactly opposite you on the other side of the circle, or
> in this case about 40 feet along what we have to assume is
> your intended path. I would humbly suggest looking there is
> not a particularly productive thing to be doing as opposed to
> looking about 45 degrees off, or a *quarter* of the way around.

That's debatable, considering what the CHP officer had to say about
twisting his body to look back at his tail light (or police radio) and
then raising his eyes to the horizon to maintain his orientation.