Figure-Eight and Quick Stop in a Hot Lot
You are practicing on a 2022 Honda CB300R in an empty high-school lot in Las Cruces at 2 p.m.; pavement is 115°F, air 98°F. Your permit skills test is next week. You set up a 20-foot-wide figure-eight, a quick stop from 15 mph, and a swerve. On the figure-eight, you use the front brake lightly while leaned at walking speed; the bike lurches and falls to the inside. You pick it up. On the first quick stop, at 15 mph, you grab the front brake lever with four fingers and the rear pedal at the same time; the fork dives, the rear tire lifts about an inch, and you stop in 14 feet. The test standard is a controlled stop, no skid, within 20 feet. On the swerve, you turn your shoulders instead of countersteering and run wide.
1. Why did the bike fall to the inside on the figure-eight, and what control sequence should you use instead?
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At walking speed, the front brake is a poor balancing tool. When the bike is already leaned and the handlebar is turned, a front-brake grab loads the front contact patch abruptly and can make the front wheel tuck or the bike lurch inward. The fix is to control speed with the rear brake and the clutch friction zone while keeping light, steady throttle. Look through the turn toward the exit, keep the handlebar inputs smooth, and use the rear brake to trim speed. If you feel the bike falling in, a touch of throttle and less front brake will usually stabilize it better than grabbing more brake.
2. The quick stop is inside 20 feet, but the rear tire lifts. How do you evaluate and correct it?
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Stopping in 14 feet meets the distance standard, but the rear-wheel lift shows the front brake was applied too abruptly for the available traction. At 15 mph, weight transfers forward quickly; grabbing four fingers of front brake can unload the rear enough to lift it. The correction is to apply both brakes together, with the rear pedal firm and the front lever squeezed progressively rather than grabbed. If the rear starts to lift, ease the front lever slightly and keep your knees against the tank and your head up. A controlled stop is judged on stability and no skid, not just on how short the distance is.
3. How should you execute the swerve, and why did turning your shoulders fail?
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A swerve is a countersteering maneuver, not a body-turn. Turning your shoulders steers the bike only slowly and shifts your weight in the wrong direction, so the bike runs wide. Instead, press the grip on the side you want to go: press right to go right, press left to go left. Keep your body centered, look at the clear exit, and separate braking from swerving; brake first if you must, then release and swerve. In the lot, practice at 15–20 mph with a defined obstacle so the input becomes a press, not a shoulder turn.