The Box

[LDS]

The Box

Those two words often inspire apprehension, dread and sometimes outright fear in the minds of BRC students. The Box. The Dreaded Box.

“What is the box?” you may ask. If you haven’t taken the MSF BRC, let me take a moment to explain what it is. The box is an area roughly the same as four parking spaces - two spaces long and two spaces wide. The dimensions are 20” wide by 60” long. The idea is to enter along the right hand side of it, do a u-turn to the left, come back to the entrance point, do another u-turn to the right, and exit along the left hand side – without going outside the lines or putting a foot down.

· Is it really that big of a deal? Simple answer – no, it’s not.
· Is it a skill that will save your life in a bad situation? Not really.
· Is it a skill that comes in handy? Absolutely.
· Is it a skill that shows you have better than average control of your motorcycle? Absolutely.
· Is it something that every motorcycle is capable of? As far as I know, yes. I’ve seen it done on everything from the smallest bikes to the largest. Full Dress Harleys, Gold Wings, dual-sports, sport bikes, just about anything with the exception of big long choppers.
· Is it something every motorcyclist is capable of? With proper technique – absolutely.

What does it take to be able to successfully do ‘the box’? I like to break it down to three things:
· Head turn
· Counter weighting
· Speed control

Head turn.
It’s all about the head turn. If you don’t look where you want to go, you’re just going to end up going where you look. So many times, I’ve seen people doing great, then the look down to see where the line is or look outside the box, and just like magic, they’re off track and running over the line. When you get ready to do the first (left) turn, turn your head way around and look over your left shoulder back at the point where you entered the box. Keep looking in that direction until you’re ready to begin the second turn. As you begin the second (right) turn, look way over your right shoulder to the exit point. Often times with a full face helmet you may actually have to raise your chin a bit to clear the shoulder. Try it right now if you’re sitting down. Pick a spot to your right, barely within your peripheral vision, and turn your head as far to the left as you can, trying to see that same spot. Feel those neck muscles stretch? That’s the head turn you need.

Counter weighting.
Counter weighting is simply leaning the motorcycle in one direction while shifting your weight the opposite direction. There are many ways to do this, from standing on the pegs and leaning to the outside to sliding your butt over off the seat to the outside, to simply pressing down on the outside peg with all of your weight.
Why counter weight? The problem is that if you try to lean the motorcycle over at a very low speed, it can fall over. At low speeds you don’t have the gyroscopic effect of the wheels helping to keep you upright, so you have to work a little harder to maintain balance.
What is the best way to counter weight for the box? In most cases, shift your butt to the outside of the bike, and stay as upright as possible. It’s going to feel really funny at first, but it works. A word of caution, though. As you’re shifting your weight to the outside, do it with your legs. Lift your weight up off of the seat with your legs as you shift over. Do not use your arms! If you use your arms, you’ll more than likely end up transmitting unwanted steering inputs through the handlebars. The same thing when you go to center your weight afterwards– use your legs, not your arms.

Speed control.
Speed control is a vital and often overlooked ingredient of doing this exercise successfully. If you go too slowly, you’ll end up putting a foot down or falling over. If you go too fast, you’ll end up turning too wide or scraping motorcycle parts. So, how do you get and maintain the optimum speed? Again, that’s going to depend a lot on what motorcycle you’re riding. Let’s look first at the venerable Honda Nighthawk, a bike familiar to many people who’ve been through MSF classes.
On the Nighthawk, I personally like to idle through it in first gear. If the motorcycle idles fast enough to pull itself along without additional throttle, and the ground is nice and flat, you can get it rolling with a little throttle, ease back off of the throttle and just concentrate on your head turn and counter weighting. Others have good luck using second gear and a slight bit of throttle.

On other bikes it gets a bit trickier. Let’s go from the Nighthawk to another extreme, a large v-twin. On most other larger V-Twins (like Shadows, V-Stars, Boulevards, Harleys, etc.), it’s almost impossible to just idle through in first gear. The power delivery isn’t smooth enough at idle, it will be jerky and quite likely stall. This is when a good feel for the friction zone is vital. Get the bike rolling without fully releasing the clutch, and use a combination of clutch and a light drag on the rear brake to keep the bike’s speed constant as you keep the RPM fairly high. CAUTION!!! YOU MUST HAVE AN EXCELLENT FEEL FOR THE FRICTION ZONE BEFORE YOU TRY THIS METHOD. More than once, I’ve seen people accidentally let go of the clutch quickly with the RPMs high and go wheelieing off in an unintended direction. Make sure to practice this method in a straight line (kind of like the ‘clutch control lanes’ in class) and get a good feel for it before you attempt it in tight low-speed maneuvers.

Putting it all together.
OK, I’ve tried to outline the basic skills and techniques needed, let’s see if we can put them together for a successful run through the box.

Here we go, entering the area that some people fear as much as that big SUV with the LCD TV screen mounted in the driver’s visor. We’ve got a nice slow speed, the motorcycle feels stable, and we’ about two-thirds of the way through – it’s time to shift your butt over to the right hand side of the seat and start that head turn. Placing your weight firmly on the pegs, lift up slightly off the seat and slide on over, being careful not to lever yourself with the handlebars. At the same time, start looking over your left shoulder to see if you can get a good look at the spot where you came in. At this point, go ahead and turn the handlebars hard left. Remember, this is a low speed, tight turn – we’re counter weighting, not contersteering. If it feels like you’re getting ready to tip over, get a little more weight to the outside, and make sure you’re not slowing to a stop. Maintain a steady speed, and the next thing you know, you’ll be right back where you started, ready to turn the other direction.

As you cross over the middle and get straightened out, you need to get ready for the second (right hand) turn. You should now be almost back to the entrance point and close to and traveling parallel with the outside line to your left. This weight shift is a little trickier, since you’re way over on the right hand side of the seat. Very carefully, lift yourself up off of the seat and shift your butt all the way to your left. As you do this, look way back over your right shoulder to the exit point, and start turning the handlebars to the right. The next thing you know, you’ve done it!!! The box has been conquered, and you’re wondering what all the fuss was about.

Now all that being said, don’t get all broken up if you don’t get it right the first few (dozen) times. No one is born knowing how to do this stuff. It takes practice. If you find yourself constantly having the same problem, closely examine all of the things you’re doing, or better yet, have an experienced eye evaluate your technique (shameless plug for MSF classes).

What can go wrong? As long as you have the head turn, counter weight, and speed control down pat – you’ve got nothing to worry about.

What are some common mistakes?

Looking down. Don’t look down. The ground is there, the lines are there, and the motorcycle is there, trust me. Looking down is just an invitation to put your foot down.

Not looking where you want to go. Often people will be doing fine, but have an urge to look to see where the line is or have an overwhelming urge to know what’s happening outside the box. Results? Running wide or running over the line. Look where you want to go.

Braking – whatever you do, stay away from the front brake at this point. The easiest way to induce a horizontal parking incident is to squeeze (or worse yet, grab) the front brake with the handlebars turned. A slight pressure to drag the rear brake in conjunction with use of the friction zone is OK, but don’t touch that front brake!!

Not counter weighting. It feels really weird at first, but with some practice, you should be able to lean the motorcycle way over and still be very stable. A lot of people will slide their butt over enough, but still keep their weight on the inside peg and lean into the turn. If you have to put your foot down often, improper counter weighting is the most likely cause.

Any questions? If not, get out there, find a nice big open parking lot and practice. Pretty soon, you’ll be riding circles around your riding buddies, literally…

[SeqArtMark]

Wow. That's an outstanding topic to start a thread for. I'm taking the course in a couple of weeks and it never hurts to have insider knowledge. Thanks.

[ithaca]

good stuff! I actually need to go out and practice this again. This is where I got points in the test. Stupid test anxiety!

[OMRebel]

Great post. My biggest challenge was that I would glance down to see where the line was at, and most of the time whenever I looked down, my foot would follow. Keeping my head up and turned to where I wanted to go was really hard to mentally make myself do, but once I did that, I was able to navigate the box properly.

Also, staying away from that front brake is a really big tip. If you tap that break while you're making your turn, then chances are you're gonna end up stopping and having to drop that foot again.

The best advice that I can give, having taken the MSF this past weekend, is to get out in an empty parking lot, put down some tennis balls cut in half (they make great cones), and practice doing the two U turns (a figure 8). Just concentrate on making it with just using the friction zone and don't worry about going outside the lines. Once you get that going where you are comfortable with keeping your head up, looking back over your shoulder (you'll need to look all the way back to the tail when turning), and counter weighting, then start focusing on keeping inside the line.

And just keep repeating to yourself - keep the head up and stay off that front brake!

[TS80]

Strange, the box was one of the easiest for me.

From the first time, never put a foot down, never crossed the line.

However, that 90* turn after you stop and talk with the rider coach and the slow speed weaving really screwed me up. Must be a psychological thing.

[UberGoober]

Great, insightful post. I don't stick too many threads because I don't like the way they build up, but when something is as good as this, it gets stuck until something better comes along.

[hjyy]

When I did the box the first time, it was a struggle. Definitely do not look down, exaggerate looking through the turn, and use clutch control and real brake to control your speed. About the 3rd time I did it, it was pie.

[sqchram]

Holy crap 20" wide by 60" long? I'd never make it - shoot I wouldn't even be able to fit my shoulders in.

Great post.


Oh also 'The Box' never instills dread, at least in my mind, but rather anticipation.

[Getsome122]

Very well done post. I am impressed.

[mnsport]

I would agree that head turn is the most important part of the box. I have seen way to many students cross the line because they refuse to turn their heads.

[CBRWildChild]

another tip for practice...i believe that lee parks mentions it in total control...is just doing low speed circles and tighten them up and lean more...


for me the box was only difficult for the right u turn as it puts my hand right on the ram air covers...but with minor adjustments it was a breeze...

keep a few Rpm's like about 2k and role in and out on the clutch...i almost made it in the small box...i wasnt even close to the lines...

[Czolgosz]

Hey. This isn't the cubby hole.


*wanders off

[clockworkjon]

I hated the box and touched my foot down on the second turn. I then gladly scooted away to the next section and never looked back. I probably should have turned my head more. Oh well!

[Rick_72]

I had a lot of fun doing the box. It wasn't worth much for points on the test, so we didn't spend a ton of time doing it. I thought it really drove home the point about looking where you wanted to go, and carry's over well for normal and high speed cornering. If you practice this exercise I think it can help build muscle memory for looking where you want to go and using periphial vision for everything else.

[Woozy]

The box was fun. Could have been smaller. Just for fun. LOL!