14. Slow control

SLOW CONTROL IS ESSENTIAL

Perfecting your slow control skills is vital to your road safety, as slow control comes into play in a wide variety of situations. Mastering the clutch, throttle and rear brake is essential to you being in full control of the motorcycle at all times. It can be used when riding in slow moving traffic and traffic queues, along with approaching busy junctions. Other situations where you require slow control include when you are filtering, riding in congestion, riding or pulling away on an incline and riding in car parks.

DELICATE USE OF CONTROLS

This skill requires you to become confident in controlling the speed of the motorcycle by feathering the clutch to maintain the biting point. This requires you to use delicate  clutch control, which means holding the clutch midway between being engaged and disengaged.  The power is controlled by applying more throttle to prevent the engine from stalling. As the clutch is released the engine tone dips, this is when more throttle can be applied to raise the engine revs. By balancing the use of the throttle and clutch you can control the amount of drive delivered to the rear wheel. The rear brake can be used to slow the speed of the motorcycle as required.

SLOW CONTROL RIDING

Slow control riding is usually around walking speed and generally around 3-4 mph. Any slower than this and you may experience balance issues and become wobbly and any faster you will be relying on the throttle to control the speed of the motorcycle.

USE THE FOLLOWING FOR SLOW CONTROL

• Head position – Look up for vision, balance and stability
• Clutch – Use the clutch to control the speed
• Clutch bite - This determines the amount of drive to the rear wheel
• Throttle – Throttle controls prevents the engine from stalling
• Front brake – Do not use 
• Right foot - Use the rear brake to slow the machine if travelling too quickly
• Left foot – Only needed to engage first gear ready to pull away