cornering

[solman]

One of the riders in my group went down.  When coming into a turn, body position and head direction can play a big part in cornering.  With a sport bike, you are already leaning forward, so all you have to do is turn your body into the turn and most important look into the turn.  I noticed when riding my B12 today how much a difference leaning forward and moving your butt over a bit makes.  I just did a few basic readjustments and for the first time I actually felt like I needed to down shift one more in that same turn.  I took the turn so much better that I actually bogged the motor a bit on the same turn that I taken so many times in the past.  Cornering on a bike that is more upright requires a few different things to make cornering better due to our different riding position. The other thing is head/eye direction.  A fellow rider came into a turn too hot and instead of continuing in looking into the turn, he looked straight.  I know that I have been guilty of the exact same situation and it is really difficult to do that.  Difference in looking straight and looking into the corner can make the difference of making or not making the turn.  Watch a AMA race and watch their body position and notice that they always look into the turn.

[dgm0967]

Excellent post. You go where you look. And when riding in a group, remember to look thru the turn and not at the bike in front of you.

I know there are alot of more experienced and better riders than myself on this board.

[solman]

Same here.  I know the rules, but sometimes it is hard to force yourself to do them.

[Raphy]

Same here.  I know the rules, but sometimes it is hard to force yourself to do them.

Ya, i had an "oh shit" moment when riding in PA one time, it was a tight down-grade turn and right at the apex - long and behold... gravel !!! ... I caught myself staring at the gravel rather than looking thru the turn, so i freaked out and straightened the bike up and hit the brakes.... l ended up stopped on the side of the road... luckely the bike stayed up and luckely noone was coming in the opposite direction...  

[KenB]

Speaking of oh &!@$ moments, I had to avoid a 10' fiberglass ladder in the passing lane of the freeway last week. If I had not been a few car lengths back of the vehicle in front of me, it could have been ugly. Always keep your distance to allow reaction time and always know your outs. Be care and smart out there!

[Katamaniac]

The technique we teach our students in the MSF BRC course is to Slow, Look, Press and Roll.

Slow down before the turn.
Look through the turn.
Press on the handlebar in the direction you want to go.
Roll on the throttle to stabilize the motorcycle through the turn.

You want to have all your speed adjustments made before the turn to avoid braking in the curve. If you have to break while in the curve it robs the traction needed for cornering and could cause the tires to loose traction.

[wristwister]

The technique we teach our students in the MSF BRC course is to Slow, Look, Press and Roll.

Slow down before the turn.
Look through the turn.
Press on the handlebar in the direction you want to go.
Roll on the throttle to stabilize the motorcycle through the turn.

You want to have all your speed adjustments made before the turn to avoid braking in the curve. If you have to break while in the curve it robs the traction needed for cornering and could cause the tires to loose traction.

Well put Katamaniac! Big mistake many beginning riders make is assuming that hanging off the seat and dropping their knee makes them corner better. I mean, the pros do it on the race track, so it must be good, right?

Get the basics down first, the exact 4 steps above. Step 3, countersteering, is in my opinion the most important one, because this will save you in a panic situation, but only if you're so used to active countersteering that it becomes a natural reaction.

Once the four basics are down pat, then the hanging-off and even the knee dropping will give you that slight extra margin, but don't underestimate how much practice and time in the saddle it takes to truly master the 4 basics!

[H2RICK]

And I'd be the LAST guy to help with this thread....
although I will advise that it's VERY unsafe to turn around to adjust your load while underway......especially if the road takes a sudden turn while you're looking backwards.