Advice need for riding downhill and sharp bends

[MaxBandit]

I'm new to riding and tbh I am still quite nervous when it comes to riding downhill and riding through s bends on the road.

There is one particular c bend in my town that I just can't take in any gear other than first, I know I should be in second with low revs going through it but I just can't.


Any advice is appreciated.

[China Greg]

WHAT'S THE RUSH?

-Take your time! If you can make it in First... do it in First.
- It's always important to check your speed BEFORE entering a corner. Work UP to speeds.. don;t worry about (I'm not going FAST enough.. unless people are honking at you from behind!)
- Don't slam your brakes on during cornering, (or ANY time, really.. gotta stay SMOOTH).
LOOK at the approaching corner
CHECK YOUR SPEED by smoothly rolling-off the throttle and squeezing the brakes SMOOTHLY and STEADILY, until you feel your speed for the corner is controllable.
Once you are halfway through the corner, crack the throttle open a tiny bit. The bike will turn smoother with the throttle cracked-open, but only ine the LATTER HALF of the corner. Racer's all know this trick.

The important thing is not to get too eager, or loose your sense with speed. Most of my early crashes (35 years ago), were due to excess speed going into a corner. This leaves you with two options:
1) You straighten the bike up and run straight off the end of the corner, hoping there isn't a phone-pole, cop, or cliff waiting by the edge of the road. If you're really LUCKY, you'll just run into a field and fall over in the mud.
2) You HANG ON to the bike, leaning it farther-over than you ever thought possible. How to do that? a) Big Balls b) Don't panic c) POINT YOUR VISION THROUGH THE CORNER... "through the mountain". The bike will lean over a lot farther than you imagine. Just stay smooth and NEVER CHOP THE THROTTLE OFF SUDDENLY. This causes the front-end to un-load, upsetting the bike's balance. This could result in the infamous "High-Side", where the rear-end slides out, then catches, potentially flipping you off the bike.

Stay Smooth, keep your speed down to comfortable levels, and if you are a new rider, by all means...
TAKE THE MOTORCYCLE SAFETY COURSE in your area. It's only a couple of days, and could well result in saving your Bacon.

Hope some of this helps.

[PaulVS]

Yep... what Greg said.

Take it slow, because if you don't.... you may not get a chance to take it fast.   

A great practice is to work out the areas you have problems with in a vacant parking lot.  That way there's no pressure, and you can find out where your weaknesses are.

[pmackie]

I'll echo what Greg says as well.

Speed will come later. You need to ride in control first. Practice being smooth. Do your braking when the bike is straight up and down, then lean and counter steer to initiate the corner. Once you reach the middle (apex) of the corner, accelerate slowly to complete the corner. Look ahead, through to the exit of the curve. You should be looking where you want the bike to go, not where the front wheel is.

[PitterB4]

Great info above. 

Just my $.02...

If there are other people taking the corner quicker they either - have been riding longer, are stupid, or both.  Relax.  Take your time.  Run through the same corner over and over.  Once comfortable, try to maintain a little more entry speed and/or get on the throttle a little sooner.

And really...  RELAX.  Get some confidence by doing the above and RELAX.  Don't strangle the bike.  Get it set up for the turn and let it turn.  Countersteer with pressure from the inside hand and RELAX the outside hand.  Don't fight the bike. 

Be safe and have some fun!

[LowRyter]

I am just a hack rider, so I don't rush it.  If you're comfy in first gear that's OK.  I am usually a gear down from many others in my riding group, you get more compression braking as well as better pull coming out of corners.  How fast will first gear take you, 60 mph?  Some guys like to glide through with higher gears.  I have the most trouble in left hand hairpins.  I think you're best to slow down entering a turn can laying the gas on coming out.

The only advise that's universal: keep your head up and look exactly where you want the bike to go.  Crane your neck as wide as possible.  Don't look down at the road just in front of you, don't look at the scenery on either side, only look as far down the road that you can see.  As you scan, you should see any debris.  If you see debris, slow down and go around it.

[dpturner]

Not that I'm any great pilot, but patience is key.  "Become one with the bike".  It sounds hokey, but time will teach you your limits.  If you let it. 

One thing I question though:

NEVER CHOP THE THROTTLE OFF SUDDENLY. This causes the front-end to un-load, upsetting the bike's balance. This could result in the infamous "High-Side", where the rear-end slides out, then catches, potentially flipping you off the bike.

Seems to me if you chop the throttle, weight transfer should increase the load on the front, decreasing the load on the rear, which could lead to a rear slide, which then could catch, which then could high-side, etc.  So, does the front un-load if you chop the throttle mid-turn?

dt

[China Greg]

Ahh, yes, DT.. of course you are correct:

if you chop the throttle during a turn you will LOAD the front, which could cause the front to slip.
At the very least, it upsets the bike's front-rear stance.

I rode for years before I ever realized some of the cornering basics.... I used to drag my brakes into corners too hard, then roll through the turn without any throttle. I really pushed the limits of tire adhesion many times as well as the bike's engineered capabilities, until I read Lee Parks book.

While we're on the subject, I was doing trackdays down at VIR Raceway in Virginia one time. An Italian told me, "Stick your elbow towards the pavement!"
Man, did that improve my lap-times.

But for now, First things First-
Keep your speed DOWN when entering the corner, look UPWARDS, and be SMOOTH.
You'll catch your other buddies soon enough.

[PitterB4]

While we're on the subject, I was doing trackdays down at VIR Raceway in Virginia one time. An Italian told me, "Stick your elbow towards the pavement!"
Man, did that improve my lap-times.

YUP!  Inside elbow towards the pavement and relax the outside hand.  I try to make sure the inside part of my outside elbow is draped over the tank.  I had a coach suggests drumming your outside fingers on the handle bar to relax that hand.  I do it all the time now. 

The other thing that helped me even when I was a new newbie on the street was trying to apex later.  Drive in deeper and then dive to a point further along the inside of the turn than you would typically think was right. 

There are some good book on riding better/faster.  I forget the name of the one I liked best.  If I can put my fingers on it when I get home, I'll post....

[andrewsw]

Allow me to repeat what the others have said: RELAX!

The reality is that the motorcycle will most likely corner way past anything you'd consider sane. That is, it can handle lean angles and speeds that are far in excess of what you can imagine, at least as a new rider. Certainly, if you're going through the corner slower than a car, you have *tons* of wiggle room. So, when you're coming into a corner and it seems like too much... assuming your past the point of straightline braking, i.e. too late!, then relax and countersteer and let the bike lean more. Most likely, she'll
do it just fine and you can pull over and recover your sanity safely.

But if you find yourself having to do that a lot, then you *need* to find out why and fix it. Are you braking too late, not aggressive enough? Are you generally riding too fast? etc.

One more thing. given a choice of single-vehicle accidents in a corner, I think it's far preferable to lean the thing so far you roll off the edge of the tire than to panic and high-side the thing. And in the case of relaxing and letting the bike lean past its limits, that is what will happen -- a low side spill. Fighting the bike will lead to the upset suspension dynamics that contribute to a high-side. Do others have comments on this last paragraph?

A

[Sven]

I agree with everything everyone said above.  And moreso:
 
It wasn't but a few years ago I was going through what you are now, and the two key phrases above, "relax" and "go your own pace" are the only two keys you'll need.  My problem with "relax" was "trust".  I didn't TRUST the bike to take curves at higher paces even though I'd seen it done.  Over time, I found that I quit thinking about it, and it just happened.  The less I thought about what I was doing, the easier it got.  A little tongue in cheek here:  Ride like you've had a couple beers.  (We're talking *imaginary beers*!)
 
Around that same time I found out that the best way to control the bike in curves was to pretend (you can tell I am big into pretending) I didn't have brakes...let the engine speed control the bike.  If I need to brake, you have to do it *before you enter the curve* and then power out of the curve.  And now I find I do that in the car too.  (I am gonna roll that CR-V one day taking a curve a little fast!)  So now, I am still not crazy fast on curves, but I am often outrunning my buddy!
 
Believe me, I am not a natural at riding, but I've got a lot of people fooled at this point!

[China Greg]

While we're all eagerly patting ourselves on the back for learning the intricacies of turning left, I wonder if our Instigator on this subject, Max Bandit is actually SEEING any off this.

hey MAX... still there?
Busy out practicing on those treacherous, downhill C turns...?

[Sven]

While we're all eagerly patting ourselves on the back for learning the intricacies of turning left...

Well, I did eventually learn to turn right also...

[andrewsw]

heh, right turns are easy, at least for those who drive on the right... many more practice opportunities and the rights are always tighter. Lefts are a pain because of the oncoming traffic...

[bngboyd]

Lefts are a pain because of the oncoming traffic...

LMAO!
I don't know where you ride but we have oncoming traffic here when we turn right or left.