It
can be confusing when the guys start jabbering on about
things you've never heard of. Read this lot and don't be
in the dark again. Tackled in alphabetical order.
Please send
your suggestions in. |
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| Backing
it in An advanced move made by racers or advanced
tracksters which involves some rear tyre slide into a corner
in order to pick the bike up more quickly and accelerate away
more quickly on exit. |
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| Baffle
If you look down the end of your exhaust silencer (or can)
you'll see some gubbins which prevents you looking down the
length of the silencer. This keeps it within the noise regulations.
If you can see straight through then it means you have a race
can - unsilenced - which is intended for race use only. |
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| Blipping
the Throttle This is a quick twist and let of of the
throttle to smooth out gear changes. It sounds cool too. Find
out more in the riding tips section. |
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| Can
(or end can) The end of the exhaust pipe which you can generally
remove to fit an aftermarket can. Otherwise known as a silencer.
If there's no baffle it's known as a race can. |
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| Clipons
Handlebars on sports bikes (ones that "clip" around
the top of the forks) |
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| Chicken
Strips The unworn portion of the sides of the tyres |
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| Cissy
Bar The large metal protuberance at the back of a pillion
seat on cruisers |
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| Cage
Car |
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| Headshake
Phenomenon where the front end and handle bars shake from
side to side |
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| Hero
blobs The blobs of metal on your foot rests which will
get worn away if you scrape them on the ground (preferably
without following through with the rest of your bike) |
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| Highside
A nasty occurance which is likely to be followed by a metallic
scraping sound - this is when a rider fails to recover from
a tank slapper and the whole
bike wobbles from side to side uncontrollably. The rider is
thrown upwards and the bike can totter along on its own until
it hits something solid. A highside is often caused by the
rear tyre losing traction then regaining it a moment later....
seen in racing and trackdays. |
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| Lid
The familiar term for a crash helmet |
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| Lowside
The rear or, more often, the front tyre loses grip when the
bike is decked over, with gravity doing the rest and the rider
getting more than just a knee down. |
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| Quickshift
The process of changing gear quickly - usually without the
clutch. Find out more in the riding tips section. |
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| Rake
This describes the angle between the forks and the chassis.
The greater the rake, the further the front wheel is away
from the bike - most custom bikes have long rakes. A short
rake is associated with sporty bikes and quicker steering. |
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| Reverse
Steering Pulling on the handle bar to improve cornering.
Find out more in the riding tips section. |
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| Tank
Slapper Extreme version of headshake
where the bars turn fully left and right and "slap"
against the sides of the tank |
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| Vertical
Vernon A rider who doesn't lean but stays upright round
corners |
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