Low Speed & Tight Turns

Whilst you never forget how to ride a bike, it takes a while to learn about your new machine's particular quirks and behavior.

One characteristic of the Honda XL700 TransAlp that has taken me a little by surprise is its alarming tendency to 'dive' heavily towards the ground when making tight turns at low speed! I'm pretty sure that this was a contributing factor in my fall yesterday.

A friend of mine has the previous model and he say's it does the same, and that it has caused him to drop the bike also. So the point to take away here is to obviously avoid making tight turns at low speed, especially in slow moving city traffic when there is a tendency to 'weave' a little behind a slow moving vehicle in an attempt not to come to a complete standstill; it's essential not to stop whilst in the middle of a turn or there's a good chance you 're gonna go down!