Marat Kankadze Lessons: One Hand

The One Hand is a beautiful and spectacular trick, no matter which of the rider's hands is raised.

This trick is for intermediate stunt riders who have long been comfortable with the rear brake duplicator. The difficulty of the trick is that you won't be able to control the throttle, so you'll have to raise the engine revs to the point where you can move slowly but confidently in a straight line or in a circle without adding any throttle at all.

Keep in mind that street and sport motorcycles with four-cylinder engines have a greater crankshaft rotational inertia compared to single-cylinder supermotos or pit bikes. In this respect the trick is easier on a sport motorcycle, because single-cylinder engines are more prone to stalling at low revs.

Many experienced riders do this trick standing with both feet on the seat. I prefer a different position and do it with my left foot on the seat and my right foot on the right rear peg. This gives me a larger range for front-to-back body balance, and controlling the motorcycle becomes a little easier.

When I started practicing this trick, having found the right engine revs, I learned to let go with my right hand, count to two and then put it back. All the while I worked the brake duplicator very smoothly, not letting the motorcycle come down onto two wheels. After repeating this about 100 times, I moved on to counting to three, four and so on until I had fully mastered One Hand No Throttle. The difficulty was that when losing control, you had to grab the handlebar with your right hand without accidentally opening the throttle and come down onto two wheels safely. Persistence and the desire to master a new move did their job, and now at shows I can not only greet the audience but also shake hands in style with my teammate Yura Verkhovnikov.

I hope my tips help you avoid unnecessary crashes and injuries. And remember: a sober head, patience, hard training in full riding gear and courage will give you the result you want! Good luck!