Noob and Practice on Little Sportster
 

I talked to a mechanic and he said that doing slow maneuver practice was okay if "aired" out in less than an hour. I asked because I was concerned about being air-cooled. Sounds like a long period of time with low rpms and a lot of clutch work.

What do you guys think is a reasonable amount of time to spend practicing low-speed maneuvers? I am a brand new rider and really want to spend some quality time getting intimate with the controls and such. So I really want to get good "walking" the line, u-turns, emergency braking, swerving, etc in a controlled environment before "getting out there with all the cages" :D.

Any recommendations on how to do that on a little sportster, xl883, without burning up the motor or clutch?

**Like an idiot I posted this over on the Touring Forum by mistake :D**

You should be ok. . .an hour is a lot of practice time in a parking lot. I would recommend getting a small "course" down. I.E. ride to your parking lot, practice some low speed maneuvers, ride a lap or two on the street and come back to the parking lot, repeat and enjoy. For me, all the starts and stops of riding in a residential area were great for clutch control, turning from a stop, etc. Kind of the best of both worlds since the end goal is to ride it some distances. Just my $.02.

Some states offer rider's courses, to learn those very same basic skills. It might be worth checking into, plus it's their bike, and not yours,getting the abuse.

I'm pretty sure that '94 and up sportsters have a wet clutch. If that's the case for you then you shouldn't really have to worry about your clutch. It's covered in oil and can take a little more abuse than most.

If you're doing a training course its likely to be short riding spells plus breaks for tuition? Even if not the bike really is not going to suffer! Go ahead and enjoy.

My 1991 has a wet clutch. I think only the big twins have dry clutches, that's why you see them with the primary cover removed sometimes.

John

Thanks guys. Keep it coming :D

BTW...I already took the MSF course a few weeks back...I am just looking to do basically the same things with my own ride :D

**being that this girl is like 200lbs heavier and 600 more ccs...the course didn't show me how this girl will handle :D**

She is really small, but she is huge compared to the little toys from the course. :)

But then, I guess every bike is going to be unique...

get a dirtbike

nope... they are all wet clutches (from the factory) except where folks have changed them out

Haha, nah, my girl will only be a dirtbike if I leave the blacktop by mistake :)