[rubberhead]

I keep getting my foot lodged between the road and the shifter. It's a bugger when you need the lean more, but can't because of friggin' toe jam. I know the obvious solution would be to get the foot out from under the shifter before getting into the corner, but sometimes you need to shift. I can't accept it's a VFR design flaw.

 

[coolio]

Sounds like you could use some clearance. I have the same problem with my bike but no problems when I'm not shifting in the corners. When not shifting in the corners, just put the balls of your feet on the pegs.

 

[michael]

I know the obvious solution would be to get the foot out from under the shifter before getting into the corner, but sometimes you need to shift.

I'll jump in iwth the obvious before anyone else does.
Get all yer braking and shifting done before the corner!:laughing

Seriously, I haven't owned a motorcycle that wasn't capable of bouncing my foot off the pavement, into the shifter, in the middle of a corner. A little "apex," shifting was enough to change my religion, so the foot isn't under the shifter anymore.
Oh wait, there was this one bike.....footboards, couldn't get foot under shifter.

 

[Danke]

I'll jump in iwth the obvious before anyone else does.
Get all yer braking and shifting done before the corner!

Keep the ball of your foot on the peg, and yes like Micheal said get it done before or as you're peeling in. Big inputs like up or down shifts will just upset the suspension and if you're at full lean you'll be sorry.

Devil's advocate now, rearsets will reposition the pegs with more ground clearance. Also on some Honda's jacking some ride height on the rear will work wonders for clearance and adding some speed to turn in (cranking up the rear on my 51 transformed it, but it also needed a steering damper when I was done). Check some VFR boards to see what others are doing.

I bent my foot under the peg once grinding the pegs on a R65, and after that I learned to stay on the balls of my feet!

 

[savagebovine]

If for some reason you feel the need to have your foot on the shifter mid corner -which you shouldn't- you could switch to GP shifting and get another inch or two of clearance.

 

[adam112]

yikes, I can imagine catching your foot in there mid corner could get messy. Be careful

 

[dhouldsw]

Ya, GP shifting... pick your gear coming into a corner and if you have to shift up a gear mid-corner, you click down on the shifter.

;D

 

[kuldip]

Sounds like you could use some clearance. I have the same problem with my bike but no problems when I'm not shifting in the corners. When not shifting in the corners, just put the balls of your feet on the pegs.

When the fuck did this happen?
How come I understand Coolios posts.
Did the old Coolio forget wheel weights and fly away and was replaced by a Coolio that completed high school?

 

[Jaybo]

as Micheal said get your shifting done before mid corner. It sounds like you might also have a case of commuter foot, trying riding more on the balls of your feet or on your toes. I only feel comfortable in the corners on my toes, I might drag peg and boot a bit but never have i jammed my foot.

 

[flowrider]

Maybe,
Less bike lean and more off the bike?

 

[michael]

Maybe,
Less bike lean and more off the bike?

Another viewpoint:
Reg Pridmore doesn't "hang off," on the street, and very little on the track...seemed to work for him as AMA champion in times past.

He pounded it into my head early on in his classes, "get braking and shifting done before the corner."
"But Reg," I protested, "how does one maintain smoothness when braking and downshifting?"
"Easy. Downshift first, then brake. You should be on the throttle in the corner, and exit on the throttle."

 

[savagebovine]

I would say downshift and brake at the same time. I don't know what this downshift first is all about. That's not even possible without over-revving the bike.

You maintain smoothness when downshifting and braking by blipping the throttle while hard on the brakes and shifting all at once.

 

[Jaybo]

on the street i'm like Michael suggests. I don't rush into corners so fast that I need to be downshifting and braking at the same time, it's all about being smooth and conserving traction...on the track, that's another story...

 

[nutcracker]

Why the hell would you be shifting in a corner ?

 

[kuldip]

Sometime you have to.
For example heading east on MArine and getting onto the Queensbourgh bridge. You can head into that corner in third but depending on traffic you may have to shift into 2nd. You can't judge traffic there until your into the corner and people tend to slow down fast for no reason there.

 

[michael]

You maintain smoothness when downshifting and braking by blipping the throttle while hard on the brakes and shifting all at once.

Reg disagrees, but then again his son does pretty well using his methods.

Mere mortals may ride any way they want!:laughing

 

[savagebovine]

Reg disagrees, but then again his son does pretty well using his methods.

Mere mortals may ride any way they want!:laughing

I don't know anyone who races like that, although I haven't personally spoken to that many racers(maybe a dozen) about their particular corner strategy, but Race school here definately teaches otherwise. As Jaybo says, that's fine for the street. But, first of all, in order to maintain traction going into a corner you don't want to brake all before the corner and only be on the gas mid-corner. You want to brake before and gradually let off as you dip it in, and at the apex, be fully off the brake and making the transition to throttle. You can see this in action in GP when they show those red & green bars for braking & throttle respectively on TV. The idea is to not be bouncing the forks by braking(fork compresses), letting off the brakes(forks rebound), turn in(forks compress again). Not to say Pridmore doesn't do it, if that's what he says he does, but I have a hard time seeing smooth corners any other way. Secondly, like mentioned before, I don't imagine you could downshift before any braking is done or you'd be revving that engine past redline.

 

[Danke]

Get too happy down the gears on anything but a 2-stroke or a 4 with a real slipper clutch (inspect and rebuild almost every 2 weeks). Then throw in being leaned over so far you're dragging bits on a surface street not a swept clean and predicatable track and the result will be you seeing ground, sky, ground, sky, ground, sky, and so on. Same thing snapping a quick upshift while you're grinding hard parts

If you find yourself in a spot where you're in a long curve and it's time to shift then get used to pushing the bike up while you move your body further down. This isn't dragging a knee or any other 10/10ths MotoGp technique, this is simply positioning the bike so you can find an extra shift and then moving back to your normal position after.

 

[heisenberg9]

You should really change the title of this thread.

Definition of "toe jam"

 

[rubberhead]

You should really change the title of this thread.
Definition of "toe jam"

Ya, it is kinda gross. Foot jam just doesn't seem much better.