FIRST TEN FEET

by SPEEDSLUG

All righty now, you've got your first year behind you and most everything makes sense these days. Except ... the first ten feet from a standing start. Why is it that the front wheel goes in every direction except straight? You engage the clutch slowly, you're pointed straight ahead, you feed some throttle and wiggle, wiggle, wiggle off the line. If ya wasn't paying attention you'd be across two lanes of traffic. Not all bikes react that way but some do. I have no scientific explanation, but I have a way to help the wiggles.

Presuming we have both our feet on the ground. Make sure your legs are either next to or behind the pegs for safety reasons. As you take off, don't place your feet on the pegs immediately. Just let them dangle for about, well 10 feet. Keeping the legs off the pegs seems to act as ballast and absorbs the unsteadiness of the take off. Keeps the front tire pointed forward and the bars tend to steady themselves. Once you get momentum going secure your boots.

Before you worry that I'm advocating some dangerous trick riding stunt, give it a try. Realistically, the delay from start to putting your boots on the pegs is only delayed for a few seconds.

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