tips any for reverse

[1Boostin]

Still pretty fresh into the euc world(just tipped over 70 miles of riding), Ive been playing with reverse riding and turns. 

Any pointers on how to ride more consistently backwards. 

and turning in reverse too?

Currently I can toss it backwards and ride around 10 ft, but i don't quite have that stability to feel confident yet.

[tudordewolf]

I've had luck backing up with a shopping cart to practice, I still haven't mastered reversing in any meaningful way though, and I've been riding more or less daily for over 3 years and 7000 miles... all going forward. Sometimes I wonder if I've got more of a "wall" there now because the muscle memory for which way to pivot/lean is so ingrained in muscle memory and you need to reverse that response to ride in reverse, I think. 

Edited May 2, 2020 by tudordewolf

[mrelwood]

I’m also a long time forwarder, but I have a little success in reversing and doing three point 180• turns. What I’ve found that reversing gets a lot easier for me if I slowly wiggle the wheel left and right a bit. For some reason it makes the corrections much easier for me to handle.

[xorbe]

Man, I have been trying to ride backwards for quite a while.  It took a long time to go from 10 feet to 40 feet.  The problem I've got now is that once I start turning ... I can't straighten it back up, I can only keep turning left and right, lol.  And only on the MTen3, I can't ride my other wheels backwards yet either.

I think it might help to learn to "idle" first (on a wheel that won't explode when you do that).  Then, instead of reversing from backwards to forwards ... just keep going backwards.  The MTen3 is good for idling, the little wheel changes directions faster than my other wheels.

Edited May 3, 2020 by xorbe

[stephen]

I think my big mistake when learning to go backwards was - from forward to nearly stop then trying to reverse I leaned back which made me set off at speed backwards 😬 I soon learned to just come to a halt and lean back and let the wheel get back under your body (center of gravity) and the steadily carry on backwards from there, your brain and muscle memory soon work it out just like when you learned to go forward , persistence is good 😁 once I learned it on my 16x I can do it on any wheel.. Don't try to go to fast at first and carry on leaning back ,,get the wheel back under your feet first 👍 to turn I just twist my body and lean,,I can't explain that one but look at the videos and you might see 👍👍 once it clicked I progressed quickly

 

Don't give up

 

 

[EUC Custom Power-Pads]

After 1 year EUC riding, only forward, 1600 km on the V8 2500 on km 16X, I did a 2 days intensive training a few weeks ago.

A total of 5 hours, whoever is interested, here amateurishly cut together to 12 minutes.

I did all the time only these practices until it clicked in my head and now I can go backwards until my neck hurts.  

 

 

[George Iliev]

1 hour ago, buell47 said:

After 1 year EUC riding, only forward, 1600 km on the V8 2500 on km 16X, I did a 2 days intensive training a few weeks ago.

A total of 5 hours, whoever is interested, here amateurishly cut together to 12 minutes.

I did all the time only these practices until it clicked in my head and now I can go backwards until my neck hurts.  

So, for those of us that watched the whole thing - What's the secret?

Edited May 3, 2020 by George Iliev

[EUC Custom Power-Pads]

8 hours ago, George Iliev said:

So, for those of us that watched the whole thing - What's the secret?

You haven't been paying attention to what the practices is! 

The secret is to practice both curves backwards and not just the one that works best first around. That was my mistake why I always failed after 2 meters.

Here are the two practices from the video. I admit, it was hard to see what I was trying to do all the time, but between minutes 8:10 - 9:10 you can best guess. 

After I had done that, it was the first time I managed to ride several meters backwards in a snake line.

Edited May 4, 2020 by buell47

[.....]

I can only ride backwards on my 18L, if I start from a stop. I just havent quite gotten to the point I can toss my skinny ass backwards with enough oompf to change directions. I can ride backwards on the mten and idle regularly now. How i figured it out was... abandon all fear, spend 30mins-1hr trying the 'reverse 360 challenge'.  Dont think as fear may creep in. Just freaking go for it. Either something will click or something will break... tis a fun game. If you are having trouble with the fear part, illicit the help of Jose' Quervo or one of his buddies. With Jose' you may not figure it out, but you may not care either..

Here's a tip: Don't look down...

Edited May 4, 2020 by ShanesPlanet

[xorbe]

2 minutes ago, ShanesPlanet said:

I can only ride backwards on my 18L, if I start from a stop. I just havent quite gotten to the point I can toss my skinny ass backwards with enough oompf to change directions. I can ride backwards on the mten and idle regularly now.

Same here so far mostly.  I believe the trick is better balance through the transition, not a faster transition.  The MTen3 transitions so quickly.  But the bigger wheels don't.

[EUC Custom Power-Pads]

2 minutes ago, xorbe said:

The MTen3 transitions so quickly.  But the bigger wheels don't.

With me it was the other way round, the sluggish V8 or 16X was not manageable after the change from forward to backward. It didn't work until I stood on the 14" V5F of my 5 year old daughter and realized that this underpowered cucumber is much nimbler when changing direction and everything was much easier. 

[xorbe]

1 minute ago, buell47 said:

With me it was the other way round, the sluggish V8 or 16X was not manageable after the change from forward to backward. It didn't work until I stood on the 14" V5F of my 5 year old daughter and realized that this underpowered cucumber is much nimbler when changing direction and everything was much easier. 

Yeah, also the weight has a huge play at 0 mph.

[.....]

24 minutes ago, xorbe said:

Same here so far mostly.  I believe the trick is better balance through the transition, not a faster transition.  The MTen3 transitions so quickly.  But the bigger wheels don't.

I KNOW I will do it eventually. I think you are right, its not so much the speed change as it is MY ability to maintain balance longer thru the transition. I'm sure the fact that it takes MORE weight to enact a response on the 18l vs the mten, is a big factor, but in the end... practice will solve it. Trying something you arent good at is scary and dangerous...  yummm good stuff. Side effect of this, even tho i cant do the transition yet, I can now mount and dismount either leg, go backwards from a stop, and the wheel feels more comfy to me like a skateboard. Rolling starts are pretty badass, glad that finally just HAPPENED. 99% of my progress is an unintentional side effect of trying something else entirely.

Edited May 4, 2020 by ShanesPlanet

[xorbe]

I also don't want to drop my shiny new heavy Nikola.  Maybe I should have kept the 16X as a heavy beater wheel ...

[.....]

2 minutes ago, xorbe said:

I also don't want to drop my shiny new heavy Nikola.  Maybe I should have kept the 16X as a heavy beater wheel ...

either cover it or drop it already. If you aint reselling, get your money out of that tool bro! Sadness is quickly replaced with relief, I promise!

Edited May 4, 2020 by ShanesPlanet

[mrelwood]

@stephen, that was SMOOTH! Very natural looking, relaxed and great control. I don’t think I will get there anytime soon...

 I practiced the transition by first going forward, stopping, and continuing forward. Then instead of just stopping I reversed just an inch, then continued forward. Then 5”, 1’, 2’, and so on. Doing a little snake while reversing helped me go past 10 feet.

 Only then I started practicing the 2-point turns that @buell47 nicely explained. I can only do them in one direction though, so I’ve got a lot of practicing to do.

 Already my off-road obstacle skills have improved a whole lot! The fact that I can stop and change direction lets me use much less speed, so I can be more relaxed, and focus and aim much better.

[pico]

1 hour ago, buell47 said:

It didn't work until I stood on the 14" V5F of my 5 year old daughter and realized that this underpowered cucumber is much nimbler when changing direction and everything was much easier. 

[pandel]

I am also on my loooong journey learning to go backwards... I made some progress, but I am stuck atm. It feels as if I am simply unable to go straight. Most of the time I end up going a bit straight but then starting to turn immediately to the right, nearly made up a whole 360 (not on purpose, for sure) but was simply unable to catch it and go the other way round. Tried to work out pendulums first, but even though I am getting better, most of the time it feels impossible for me once going backwards to stop again to go forwards. 

Today I decided to stop practicing it every day, might be too much. Perhaps my mind needs a little longer to adjust settings  

[Daley1]

Find a big open space with nothing to hit ,then you have to really lean back in the transition when u have slowed and have the confidence the euc will catch you.Its a mental hurdle leaning backwards and just try and stay upright.Dont even bother trying to turn yet as once you can stay upright then you can try turning and looking where you are going ,but that's another kettle of fish.Also have a look at Choochs video on youtube.He explains the transition better!

[Daley1]

My bad, Ian speedyfeet does a good reversing video and not Chooch!

[pandel]

15 hours ago, Daley1 said:

My bad, Ian speedyfeet does a good reversing video and not Chooch!

Yes, absolutely, watched it many times to find more about posture and what he is doing exactly. Very helpful!

[pandel]

On 5/19/2020 at 2:34 AM, pandel said:

I am also on my loooong journey learning to go backwards... I made some progress, but I am stuck atm. It feels as if I am simply unable to go straight. Most of the time I end up going a bit straight but then starting to turn immediately to the right, nearly made up a whole 360 (not on purpose, for sure) but was simply unable to catch it and go the other way round. Tried to work out pendulums first, but even though I am getting better, most of the time it feels impossible for me once going backwards to stop again to go forwards. 

Today I decided to stop practicing it every day, might be too much. Perhaps my mind needs a little longer to adjust settings  

To quote myself... I really couldn't resist to just practice a little bit a day, too tempting to simply not practice at all and what can I say? I think I solved the Gordian knot in my head. Today I drove my first 20m a couple of times backwards and did not feel uncomfortable! I LOVE IT! I will definitely go on trying and trying and tryi... :-)

Just a quick tip: try to outsmart your brain! Sounds difficult, is easy! While going backwards try to focus on something completely different. Example: I am practicing on a small dirty road with little to no traffic, but some nice wooden gates to the fields. So what I do is, I look for a nice gate, drive up to it, stop and reverse, and the moment I begin to go backwards I start counting the holes in the gate LOUDLY! Sounds totally silly (and people may think you're nuts) but it is enough to refocus. Your brain simply hasn't enough time/power to count, speak AND think about what could go wrong driving backwards :-) - this won't work for everybody for sure, but for me it was great. Today was the first day I didn't had to do this, but could watch the amazing sunset, so it's really only a matter of time and perseverance.

Conclusion, to everyone out there who is beginning to fall into despair over this backwards disaster: practice, practice, practice - there is a light at the end of the tunnel (and it's not a train  )