Sometimes, depending on where I am in the lane.Question for all; anyone flinch or change your line when cars/bikes come at you in the opposing lane?
Sometimes, depending on where I am in the lane.Question for all; anyone flinch or change your line when cars/bikes come at you in the opposing lane?
I'm still pretty careful with entry speed into corners, particularly blind corners because I'm not comfortable with gravel or other road hazards (squirrel).
I liked Misti's questions. I think, for me, the visual element is the biggest factor. I still have to work at looking through the turns and not getting distracted by scary cliffs and guard rails and rocks right in my path! Throttle control seems more natural to me than looking at the space next to the rock/hole/squirrel that appears in my line.
When my line of sight is clear through the whole turn, I'm a happy Hoon!
What I would like to learn is the technique for increasing my turn in speed.
I have a roundabout on my commute that I can exit at 80kph, I am not at the limit of the tyres or traction at this speed. I believe that if I could increase my entry speed I could come out much quicker. It's a mind thing. How can I improve this?
We have all had this type of corner issue, a lower gear feels too slow and in the wrong part of the power band and rolling on the throttle feels to aggressive as the bike accelerates through the top end of the power band.
Conversely a higher gear seems to lack the correct engine braking and the balance feels strange and roll on seems to be to neutral lacking the drive required as the rpms are just below the sweet spot.
Nelly:thumbup:
Body position.
I personally would stay in the lower gear to take advantage of the torque coming out, flick the bike in and get my body turned into the corner, knee out and a half a butt cheek hanging off. As soon as you hit the apex and see the exit out on the throttle and let the bike stand itself up allowing it to go back to the outside. But I'm still a noob, maybe a racer can tell us
But how can you work on improving your visual skills so that you are able to pick a clear and distinct line through corners? How do you ensure you don't get distracted or target fixate on something scary?
Question for all; anyone flinch or change your line when cars/bikes come at you in the opposing lane?
Hi Misti, I think it's a combination of things:
Getting the entry speed correct.
Forward observation.
Setting yourself up (as in body position) so your not busy trying to make lots of mid corner adjustments.
Practice.
Faith in the bike.
Courage.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4
Question for all; anyone flinch or change your line when cars/bikes come at you in the opposing lane?
:thumbup:I have started doing this recently. I usually ride clockwise around a loop, and recently tried the anti-clockwise loop and found it way too difficult to ride compared to the usual route. I could not navigate any of the corners confidently like before. Worse - the back wheel slid a couple of times, and I found white/grey gravel where it slid. This has spooked me enough that I dont look far ahead now to plan the next turn. Because of this, I keep running wide at the turns and flinch when I see another vehicle on the road. All in all, one mistake has led to another and now I am totally spooked to navigate the awesome curves that I used to enjoy every weekend. Maybe there is more gravel in this area, or maybe its all in my head. Or maybe I am trying too much on a new route too early.
Whatever the reason, I plan to keep riding this route until I feel confident with my riding again.
Hi Misti, I think it's a combination of things:
Getting the entry speed correct.
Forward observation.
Setting yourself up (as in body position) so your not busy trying to make lots of mid corner adjustments.
Practice.
Faith in the bike.
Courage.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4
Great points! Entry speed is huge as is forward observation and getting yourself set up nice and early.
I agree that faith in the bike and courage play a roll but I really think that things like improved visual skills and improved overall technique will help you have more courage and trust in the bike.
So let's look at entry speed as a good starting point. How do you go about making sure that your entry speed is set correctly? What kinds of things help make sure that you get it right?
Great! Glad you like the questions and I think it is good that you take care with entering turns that you aren't really comfortable with. I'd also agree that the visual element of choosing your line and not getting distracted is the key to holding your line.
As you said, when your line of sight is clear you are happy.
But how can you work on improving your visual skills so that you are able to pick a clear and distinct line through corners? How do you ensure you don't get distracted or target fixate on something scary?
Someone answered that body position would help with improving your corner entry speed and while I agree that body position is important I'm not sure I follow how it will directly help improve your corner entry speed.
What do you think is the number one reason why some people can haul ass into a corner and some are more timid? Do you think they are looking at something different in the corner? Are they seeing things better? Are they flicking the bike over faster? Is it a combination of both?
Misti
For "basic" street riding, I don't see a need to hang cheeks and its more likely to upset the bike and blow you line thus causing real issues. A little too aggressive approach for learning the streets IMO.
Scan ahead, verify your clear for good grip w/out deviating from your position, your line is now set, so prep the bike by adjusting speed and gearing. Be smooth and keep looking ahead as you roll on the throttle past the apex.
There as so many variables its all about practice. Q? What stands out there is worthy of fixating on?
How many of you keep your line under all circumstances? More specifically; Until a recent tire change I found that I kept my line (visual forecast of our trajectory) 98% of the time (within an inch/2.5cm). Including situations where you literally thread the needle between pot holes in a corner. Street riding only. No track references here.
I pride myself in never going places I didn't intend to and as mentioned a recent tire change made me very aware of not keeping my intended path or forecasted trajectory going through a corner. For me being off by 6" means I failed to keep my line. On a recent 200 miles ride I found this happened about 4 times where before this, it was twice per season/5000 miles.
EDIT: REFERENCE is your mental line where you want the bike to be, which includes obstacles you must avoid. No track reference or lap times.
Just ran down US129 and it was all I could do to keep swiveling my head around to follow the next turn. I really can't say I maintained a line at all, per se, but rather entered a corner "close enough" and focused as far forward as I could see (which is very little). I didn't have time to care where I was on the pavement, except to notice that when I didn't worry about my line, I made it through the turns much more smoothly (and in my lane).
TBPH, I was probably riding entirely too fast for the road (45-70mph). There was a lot of "Oh $hit, hard right" followed by " Oh $hit, hairpin left", repeat, repeat, repeat.... and the rest was up to the subconscious.
My buddy, who was out there as well, almost tested his Harley's suspension on the side of a cliff. After the ride he asked me if I noticed the crazy dropoff's, etc, on the route. I didn't. I couldn't tell you what ANY of the surrounding terrain looked like - I never saw it.
Is it normal to get that intense "road-only" tunnel vision when you are riding hard through the corners like that?