U-Turn Help...

Experienced R6 riders:

My previous bike was a Honda Shadow and a Ninja 250. I now have had an R6 for 2 months and to get my Virginia license I have to make a 22' Right U-turn. I am finding this a little difficult because the turning radius of the R6 is less than my other bikes. Any advice on u-turns, balance, and ways to practice would be greatly appreciated!!!!

get some momentum like 10mph.
before you begin to turn, look already at where you should exit it. stay focused there.
lean the bike but not yourself. it should go pretty easy.

you'll see, you even can do it under the 22' radius.

On a really slow U turn, especially right turn they can by tricky at first. What you can do it take a trick form motorcross racing and it helps. When your turning weight the outside peg. IE in a slow turn press down with your outside foot on the peg. Turn your head and look exactly where you want to go and go there. Accel once your in the turn if you can. Practice that in a parking lot over and over and you will get the hang of it in no time.

Hope that helps. Im no pro.

Don't be afraid to ride the clutch and rear brake a little while practicing...

And when it starts feeling like it's going to fall over, it needs more gas -- seriously.

Gas yes, or just riding the idle i like to do, but getting on the gas if it feels unstable works 99% of the time, i try to stay away from the clutch, that leads to panic attempts

Ya, push on the high side foot peg...helps out sooo much. It will keep you stable and you won't have to worry as much about being ready to give it a little gas cause you feel like you are going to fall over.

When my friend is behind me when riding, sometimes I'll sit almost off one side of the bike, and then lean it the other way. He says it looks soo funny cause the bike is leaned a pretty good ways over, but yet it's still tracking straight down the road. I don't know, sometimes I get bored riding through town and I need something to entertain myself and others I guess.

No brakes while turning. Shouldnt be using a brake on any turns really. Not worth the risk. Well rear braking is ok but only if you know how to use the back brake correctly (most newbies dont). Andjust go practice. Thats all there is to it.

Oh yeah, dont look to the ground. Bike follows the eyes always. Rule one in MSF course.

Look to where you want to go and make sure you don't just use your eyes. Turning your head and body in the direction you want to go will automatically start turning your bike. The other posts about body weight are right on. Also make sure to use the clutch - NOT THE BRAKE -if you feel that you're going too fast. You really need to work the friction zone. Make sure that the bike always has gas. The minute you yank the clutch all the way in you'll go over or have to dab! Just stay cool and relax and you'll do fine. I had to do two consecutive u-turns in a box for my license... Talk about a real pain in the ass!!!

Thanks for all of your help!! I guess I'll just spends a few hours in an empty parking lot until I can master it.

don't look forward, look in the direction you want to end up pointing in. Don't look at the kerbs. I couldn't do these until the day of my test and then did it perfect. Relax as well (this is easier if its someone else's bike).

Well worth learning though; Speed trap> emergency stop > U-turn