gymkhana \jim-ˈkä-nə, -ˈka-\: a meet featuring sports contests or athletic skills: asa: competitive games on horsebackb: a timed contest for automobiles featuring a series of events designed to test driving skill (from www.m-w.com)
If you are a commuter biker and you’re pretty impressed at your traffic dodging abilities, have you ever wished there was an Olympic competition just for that? Well, it’s not in the Olympics, but these low-speed highly-technical competitive motorcycle events are gaining popularity in Japan and on YouTube… called motorcycle gymkhana. You’ve probably seen these videos with jokes about them being DMV road tests. These skills, however, are no joke. Amazing throttle control and quick leans. There are scooter versions of these competitions as well…many scooter clubs (and motorcycle police units) do low speed less technical versions of this already.
Before you find yourself an empty parking lot to work on your motorcycle gymkhana skills, consider this: First, none of these bikers use clips ons, even the sport bikes have bar risers. Second, there is no way to get good at this without dropping your bike at some point. The tricky thing about low speed maneuvers is, a tiny loss of traction can bring you down. At higher speeds a tiny loss of traction means your wheel skips a step to clean pavement, here there’s not enough momentum for that, which is part of the challenge.
“How can I get started on my gymkhana skills? ” I have no idea, but you can check out this guy doing some “simple” practice turns on his 600rr.
Hey Zac – what’s at Market and Van Ness, San Francisco?
Ridley – part of the challenge of the course is that the rider has to memorize the correct route around the cones. Makes me want to buy a car full of cones.
I’ve been learning to ride a motorcycle since June and spent half my time in a parking lot. I bet a lot of other riders in the U.S. would work on these skills with a little encouragement. I suspect the motorcycle industry hesitates because they’d rather sell Americans bikes that are too big for gymkhana because they are more profitable. In many of the youtube gymkhana videos there is a Dunlop tire tent in the center of things–likely sponsors. I can say from experience that practicing tight turns wears down the outside edges of front tires but it’s a lot of fun, almost addictive, to be able to maneuver the bike.
Charlie has gotten me interested in this sport, at least to a lower level. I have no interested in going to levels where I might fall, but increasing speeds somewhat is sure interesting.
The only problem is, there is almost nothing written on learning this sport. Those that know it seem to only speak Japanese.
So, my plan is to set up a course and practice and see what I learn. I might not do it the right way, but it should be fun.
Market and Van Ness is just a busy intersection in SF on my commute to work. It also happens to be the center of the universe for lost/clueless drivers that require dodging at speed. Lemme tell ya, morning commute with timed lights and cranky cagers is better than coffee.
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Wow, this guy is my new hero. I need to hone those skills for Market & Van Ness
Was he just making up that pattern as he drove along, or was that a required path he had to follow.
Either way, nice job!
Hey Zac – what’s at Market and Van Ness, San Francisco?
Ridley – part of the challenge of the course is that the rider has to memorize the correct route around the cones. Makes me want to buy a car full of cones.
I’ve been learning to ride a motorcycle since June and spent half my time in a parking lot. I bet a lot of other riders in the U.S. would work on these skills with a little encouragement. I suspect the motorcycle industry hesitates because they’d rather sell Americans bikes that are too big for gymkhana because they are more profitable. In many of the youtube gymkhana videos there is a Dunlop tire tent in the center of things–likely sponsors. I can say from experience that practicing tight turns wears down the outside edges of front tires but it’s a lot of fun, almost addictive, to be able to maneuver the bike.
Charlie has gotten me interested in this sport, at least to a lower level. I have no interested in going to levels where I might fall, but increasing speeds somewhat is sure interesting.
The only problem is, there is almost nothing written on learning this sport. Those that know it seem to only speak Japanese.
So, my plan is to set up a course and practice and see what I learn. I might not do it the right way, but it should be fun.
Market and Van Ness is just a busy intersection in SF on my commute to work. It also happens to be the center of the universe for lost/clueless drivers that require dodging at speed. Lemme tell ya, morning commute with timed lights and cranky cagers is better than coffee.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1424/664567322_cc28535ad4_b.jpg