ST1300 Turning Radius?

Joined
Dec 29, 2020
Messages
59
Age
60
Location
Cape Town, South Africa
Bike
2012 PCX150
It would be interesting to know the ST1300's turning radius (an actual measurement rather than links to motor officer videos showing their amazing skills). If I can't find the spec, I'll have to resort to the trusted tape measure.

I also ride a Honda PCX150 and see it has a very tight 1.98m turning radius, it should thus be able to comfortably turn within 2 parking bays (ours are 2.5m wide - line edge to line edge - slightly narrower than US bays at 9 ft.).
 
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Note that the turning radius changes with the angle of heeling of the bike. There is a video that shows this dramatically, of a guy inching into a U turn with the bike at full lock and completely vertical, then he does the 180 with the bike heeled far over, skillfully using the foot brake and clutch. The only way to get there is the same way you get to Carnegie Hall - practice. Take your bike out to a shopping center (they do have huge parking lots in South Africa, don't they?) when there are few cars and start turning using old, nearly worn out painted parking lines as markers. Check the paint - you don't want a glass smooth surface with minimal traction.
 
Honda didn't publish the minimum turning radius like they do for some motorcycles but it's comfortably within 17 feet [5.2 meters] at a good lean but without dragging footpegs.
 
Honda didn't publish the minimum turning radius like they do for some motorcycles but it's comfortably within 17 feet [5.2 meters] at a good lean but without dragging footpegs.
I think what I'll do is park the bike on a solid line, walk it round 180 degrees with the handlebars at full lock, then measure the distance and divide by 2 to get the radius. That should provide a figure which can be improved upon when leaning.
 
Try adventure bike standing technique to lean the bike over and use your body to counter balance with weight on the foot peg outside the turn.
 
Take your bike out to a shopping center (they do have huge parking lots in South Africa, don't they?) when there are few cars and start turning using old, nearly worn out painted parking lines as markers.
Yes, we have parking lots. Some still think we have to dodge lions and other wildlife in our streets. :biggrin:
 
Try adventure bike standing technique to lean the bike over and use your body to counter balance with weight on the foot peg outside the turn.
This.

I like to drop the bike to one side or the other while stationary, and pick it back up again using the clutch. Old habit that I picked up from somewhere along the years. Feels nice when done right.

Then weight on the outside of the turn, control speed with the back brake, positive throttle & clutch balance... the slower you roll the tighter it'll be.

Never measured it though.
 
Yes, we have parking lots. Some still think we have to dodge lions and other wildlife in our streets. :biggrin:
I found it interesting that in the USA standard parking spaces are 9' x 18' by code and in SA they are 8.2' x 16.4' because the dimensions of cars in our respective countries differ so much. Our enclosed building (parking garage) spaces are 10' x 20' but I could not find a SA code for enclosed building spaces.
 
As I've said before, the "trick" is to practice seeing how slowly you can make tight turns, not how quickly.

Remember that the tighter the turn, the faster the front wheel is rotating relative to the rear.

That's why slipping the clutch helps, or else you have to ride too fast to keep from lugging the engine.
 
Yes, we have parking lots. Some still think we have to dodge lions and other wildlife in our streets. :biggrin:
I meant huge parking lots - like those found at malls here in the USA. Ours stretch for literally a dozen acres, and you can almost always find a section where there are no parked cars or obstructions. (Any part of the parking lot more than 150 feet from a mall entrance will be empty of cars :biggrin:.) I was thinking of one in particular near me, where Walmart closed a big store only to relocate and open a mega store about 2 miles away. Anyway, the old enormous Walmart lot is vacant and you can practice high speed stops, u turns, whatever you wish - just keep it legal because City Hall and the PD are on the other side of the shopping mall.

As far as wildlife, you can dodge large rats in NY city, so why not lions and elephants in S. Africa?:rofl1:
 
As I've said before, the "trick" is to practice seeing how slowly you can make tight turns, not how quickly.

Remember that the tighter the turn, the faster the front wheel is rotating relative to the rear.

That's why slipping the clutch helps, or else you have to ride too fast to keep from lugging the engine.
It's almost pointless going into great detail, because while technique matters, everyone has their own individual comfort level, and there are more than one way to turn successfully. Some with good balance can perform slow tight turns at incredibly slow speeds, but more of us will rely on a bit of speed / momentum to stay upright.
General tips I have noted before:
Head turn. BIG head turn, like over your shoulder looking back to where you want the bike to go. This is not a natural turn of the neck / head for non-riding humanoids.
Clutch -- also known as the Friction Zone in the MSF BRC. @Larry Fine and others call it "slipping the clutch", or "feathering the clutch." Call it what you will, but you MUST master control of the clutch and throttle. Steady on the throttle, and use the clutch alone to release the power to the rear wheel. YOU are in control of this, or should be.
Counterweight. Shift your weight to the outside of the turn. Some slide their butt over, some will not. Weighting the outside footpeg may also help.
Turn the handlebars. With proper control of clutch / throttle, you should be comfortable (or become comfortable) at full lock, even with a lean angle.
Moderate your speed with the clutch. This beast will NOT stand up by itself, especially with any lean angle, but a bit of momentum will prevent it from falling down. We all know how heavy this thing is.
As mentioned, a little rear brake action may help you as well. Lightly! Yeah, the front brakes will engage as well, but we're not using the front brake lever itself.
Don't try to stop with the handlebars turned -- it's almost a guaranteed gravitational encounter. Square the bars when stopping, or better, release the clutch and straighten the bike up; you can try over again if you mess up and miss the line or cones or cut-up tennis balls, or whatever you're using as boundaries.
Most riders will start with relatively large circles, and as they become more comfortable, they gradually tighten the turn until they succeed.
These are the principles, and while most riders can accomplish this if they want to, I rarely see big bike riders doing it exactly like someone else. Find what works for you, and keep practicing. It will be worth it.
 
Most riders will start with relatively large circles, and as they become more comfortable, they gradually tighten the turn until they succeed.
That's exactly what I'm addressing. Doing that ends up with their speed being what limits their turning radius.

I'm suggesting that it's easier to speed up navigating given tight turns than it is to tighten turns at a given speed.
 
After being off a bike for dozen years and getting back into it 6 months ago, I need three spaces on the ST1300. My memory is that I was much tighter on my ST1100. I have a lot of work to do to get more comfortable. But I also need this damm winter to end to get back out there!
John
 
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