Hey Folks!  Total newbie here!  I'm not licensed yet, but have been practicing in a very safe parking lot in anticipation of taking the BRC next summer.  I bought my used 2001 Savage about a month ago--I love it-perfect for me as a beginner.  By the way, when I practice I am wearing all the appropriate gear, including steel toed boots, which were important the other day.  

I have been practicing slow speed skills--starting, stopping, turns, relatively slow counter-steering, figure 8s, normal stuff described in various riding books I have read and what my friend (an experienced rider) has shown me.  

The other day I was practicing fairly tight figure 8s.  I shifted my wieght to counter balance and leaned the bike over in the the turn and scraped my left peg on the ground (that in itself was not a problem, I know that sometimes happens).  However, at the same time, I caught my toe on the pavement and bent my foot back under the peg.  It felt like my foot bent in half backwards and pulled/strained all the muscles/tendons and ligaments in my lower leg all the up to my knee.  I am seriously limping now, primarily because my foot is killing me.   I'll live, but it will take a while to get back to normal.

Questions:  In analyzing what I did wrong here I narrowed it down to a couple of things.  

First, when I do these tight slow, turns with counter-balancing I turn the bars significantly in the direction of the turn (of course), but not to the full extent of bar travel.  I have watched videos of expert police riders doing these maneuvers, and it appears they lock out the bars all the time (without, it appears, really counter balancing that much).  For all of you with lots of experience in these maneuvers, do you turn the bars to lock when executing these types of turns?  I feel as if the bike is gonna go down if I turn the bars too much.  Maybe I don't trust the counter balancing enough. Thoughts?

Second, Right now I can easily make these tight figure eights and 360s in about the width of a single lane of a two lane road (I haven't measured it--probably15-20 feet or less I'm guessing).  Am I trying to get the turns to tight if I am already scraping pegs occasionally?  I want to be competent before I either take my class, or get my license, then take my class, it will depend on when the class is available.  

Sorry for the length of the post, but I want to make sure my thinking/analysis is correct so I am not pushing myself to do something I don't have to do to be competent at the maneuver.    

Thanks, Joe

the "standard" for the figure 8 box is four parking stalls, two side by side, end to end with two others. 20'x40'? dropping or catching a foot is a problem with forward controls, i try to use the toe of my boot dragging as a yellow light warning, that i'm getting close to dragging a peg. you should be able to make those tight manuvers without laying the bike over that far, but it sounds like you're doing just fine. my gut instinct would be, that i typically dont need to lock the bars to achieve the figure8, but i'd have to go out and do it, to confirm, i might be wrong. you are already miles ahead of the rest of your class. keep it shiny side up

It sounds like you are going to pass the class with no problem. With more practice comes confidence. I am also glad to here about the safety equipment. Don't think that you will never go down, it will happen sooner
or later from your own mistake or someone elses. I seen a guy on a bike this summer that blew my mind and I keep seeing them more often. Big V twin, with
wind screen. He was wearing a fishnet tanktop, baggy shorts that were opened up like a funnel, and of all things he was wearing shower flip flops on his feet.
If your that hot pop the wind sreen. I would have loved to see him run into a swarm of honey bees with those shorts. I guess the guy never heard of MR' ROADRASH.
Keep practicingand good luck on your test. When you get your license and get out on the road remember to watch out for the other guy. the best driver is a defesive
driver.

Thanks for the replies thus far.  The folks on this site are always helpful for us new guys.  

Hutch, believe me, I am in no way over confident.  At this point I ride/practice like every maneuver is a potential time that I will spill the bike.  Fortunately when my toe hit the pavement I did not panic and keep the bike up.

I guess I learned a lesson, but am hoping other folks here would give me some insight.  I appreciate the posts.

Looking forward to seeing any other replies that folks might have.  

Joe

When I did my MSC, we were  advised against steel-toed boots.  So, I bought tall work boots without steel toes that I use for riding.  Not sure why steel toes are bad though.

Anyone else know whether steel-toed boots are good or bad for riding????

DianeS

Joe,

It sounds like you're great, except for the part where your toe got stuck between the peg and the pavement.  

Seriously, that could have been pretty bad.   Maybe you should back it off a notch.

Steve

Thanks everyone for the replies and the notes of encouragement.  I went out yesterday after a week off and practiced a bit--back on the horse kind of thing.  Did the same turns with more attention to my feet, the extent of lean, etc.  Did fine.  I have definitely learned a lesson with this incident.   Still have some pain, and not back to running my usual 3x a week, but will be soon.

I'll let you all know how things go with the test/class, etc.

Great group . . . really enjoy the discussions.

Joe

Did the MSF in Pennsylvania, took almost two hours to get thru on the phone to register for the class. Just kept hitting redial untill I was able to get thru. Was at the point that I was riding but was clueless which is very dangerous when on a bike. Noticed lately that I've been hitting my heels when cornering, must be the way my feet sit on the pegs with the forward control plates. Enjoy the classes and keep your feet up