Slow speed straight riding

In this exercise, you ride approximately twenty meters at walking pace in a straight line.

It sounds simple, but low-speed riding says a lot about how well you actually control the motorcycle.

In real traffic, you encounter this much more often than you might think. Think of a busy parking area, traffic jams, a fuel station, or an event site. Moments where everything moves slowly, but your control needs to be very precise.

How do you do it?

You ride slowly in a straight line, at a pace close to walking speed.

The motorcycle stays stable through a slipping clutch. This gives just enough drive to keep moving without stalling or accelerating too much.

At the same time, you use the rear brake to keep your speed under control. In first gear, the bike naturally wants to go faster than this exercise allows, and the rear brake balances that out.

It is not about speed, but about calm and control at very low speed.

Where do things go wrong?

Most mistakes start with your vision.

If you look too close to the front wheel, everything feels less stable and the bike becomes harder to balance.

Tension also plays a big role. Stiff arms make the motorcycle feel less stable instead of more controlled.

And sometimes riders correct too much with the handlebars. At low speed, this usually has the opposite effect — the more you steer, the more unstable the bike becomes.

Tips

• Look far ahead toward the horizon
• Keep your head steady and facing forward
• Relax your arms
• Lightly grip the bike with your legs
• Use the rear brake to control your speed
• Allow small movements instead of fighting them

My experience

At first, this looked like a simple exercise: just riding slowly in a straight line.

But in practice, it became more difficult the moment I started thinking about it too much.

On normal rides, it often went naturally. But during the exercise, everything suddenly felt more controlled and less relaxed.

Only when I stopped correcting too much and kept my eyes far ahead did it become stable.