Confidence in the corner

[robboFZ6]

Hi guys,

I've just returned from a 150(ish) mile ride out today with some lads from work & I've had a awesome day.

Just a quick question, I've only been riding for a matter of weeks and I'm still not very confident on cornering at a quick speed. I find myself lacking confidence in myself & the bike as I've felt my back end twitch a few times. I was wondering how you learned to take corners at a quicker speed? I'm not talking illegal speed, I mean things like long sweeping 60mph curves etc. I tried to follow other riders lines into bends today but I just didn't feel 100% going into them. I know you never stop learning & that a lot of the time confidence comes in time but any tips you could share would be really appreciated.

 

[rdrManny]

http://www.600riders.com/forum/track-tech-riding-techniques/45399-bike-cornering-bible.html

 

[outasight20]

I find myself lacking confidence in myself & the bike as I've felt my back end twitch a few times. .

All in your head man. The confidence will come with time, don't rush it. Best advice is stay loose on the bars at all times.

 

[ChevyFazer]

The only tip that I can give that I can think of right now other than just practice practice practice and might not be mentioned in the above thread is NEVER try to follow and try to keep up to other more experienced riders in the corners, that's how people get hurt. Just ride your ride and it will come to you in due time.

 

[darius]

• Don't enter the corner faster than you're comfortable.
• Don't mess up corner entry. Start wide.
• Beware attempting to follow more faster riders.
• Confidence comes with experience.
• +1 A Twist of the Wrist AKA Cornering Bible (posted above)

 

[rivettm]

How old are your tires? You can find other threads on how to determine their age.

Take a course and practice lots.

 

[CNY Fizzer]

The only tip that I can give that I can think of right now other than just practice practice practice and might not be mentioned in the above thread is NEVER try to follow and try to keep up to other more experienced riders in the corners, that's how people get hurt. Just ride your ride and it will come to you in due time.

+1 !!!!!! :thumbup:

 

[JimStl]

Make sure you know counter steering, if you don't know this, it's going to be a game changer.



I saw this video for the first time on this forum and it was big help for me, it's a little corny, but great info,


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWH_QiXw5n4&feature=player_embedded]Bike Cornering Bible - YouTube[/ame]

 

[minerman]

saddle time is everything...your caution indicates your head
is in the right place, even if you've been riding for decades every
now and then you find yourself anxious in a corner for any number
of reasons, experience will teach you not to panic, even while your
sphincter is clenching....counter-steer through it then remind yourself
to back it off a bit.....panic will result in a crash.....and if you're riding
with a group that is too fast, and push you to keep up, find new friends

 

[mayassa]

Make sure you know counter steering, if you don't know this, it's going to be a game changer.



I saw this video for the first time on this forum and it was big help for me, it's a little corny, but great info,

This is twist of the wrist II video, worth every cent...

 

[Cali rider]

Riding a motorcycle, playing an instrument, speaking in public, learning to read, etc.....

Honestly, it's no different than any other task: Practice to gain confidence and skill.

 

[robboFZ6]

Thanks guys, much appreciated!

I find myself looking for any excuse to get out & get riding providing the boss (the Mrs) lets me.

It's not that my mates ride too fast & encourage me to keep up but I've got this awfull thing where I just want to be the best I possibly can be within weeks, I'm so impatient!

Within 1 year of training BJJ I wanted to be a black belt but I'm still not there yet & I've been training 6 year! I can't help it.

I'll be sure to just keep practicing & learning all the time. :thumbup:

 

[pottie]

Cornering is heart beat
First is body position, arm & shoulder must be relax, I do the chicken dance before I enter corner hihihihi....
Give a little huge on the knee and toe on paddle, by this time you already adjusting your entering speed to corner, with all this prep then look where you going and let the bike lean and follow your eye direction...
Find your correct routine and stick with it and you ll better next time, our body has muscle and they smart to memory...:thumbup:

 

[JoeSTL]

Thanks guys, much appreciated!

I find myself looking for any excuse to get out & get riding providing the boss (the Mrs) lets me.

It's not that my mates ride too fast & encourage me to keep up but I've got this awfull thing where I just want to be the best I possibly can be within weeks, I'm so impatient!

Within 1 year of training BJJ I wanted to be a black belt but I'm still not there yet & I've been training 6 year! I can't help it.

I'll be sure to just keep practicing & learning all the time. :thumbup:

After my first group ride, I was probably more nervous about the twisties, becuase I was always trying to keep up with the pack. The next weekend I did the same roads by myself and honestly had so much more fun just doing my thing and not worrying about speed. After several times in the twisties, I'm not sure if I'm any faster, though I'm much more confident than I was the first time! Good luck, and spend time in the saddle!

 

[rdrManny]

After my first group ride, I was probably more nervous about the twisties, becuase I was always trying to keep up with the pack. The next weekend I did the same roads by myself and honestly had so much more fun just doing my thing and not worrying about speed. After several times in the twisties, I'm not sure if I'm any faster, though I'm much more confident than I was the first time! Good luck, and spend time in the saddle!

i understand what you r saying. sometime i screw up corner in group ride, especially in the beginning. Trick is look where you want to go, not the rider in front of you. let peripheral vision take care of that. keep good space between you and rider in front. Also when you are in group ride your own ride. never try to keep up with the fast riders. if you think you are slowing down riders behind you, let them pass. Group rides are safe and fun!

 

[ckrockets]

Tires...Tires...Tires...Tires....Tires...

Did i mention...Tires?

These high mileage touring tires most people are running on the FZ6 are not adequate for cornering.

If you go out and try to aggressively ride corners with these types of tires you are asking for it.

If you plan on riding corners aggressively you need to be running a performance/supersport/sport tire. Yes you will get less than 10,000 miles on these type of tires. You may get 2-3 times more miles out of a touring tire but tires are cheap enough these days there is no excuse to not run a soft tire.

Unless you are one of these straight line riders who puts 1000's of miles per trip you should not run touring tires.

I know people are not going to agree with this but I've got a lot of experience with motorcycle twisties touring.

A very important part of this equation is changing your own tires, that way you only have the expense of the tires and the convenience of changing tires at any time.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Motorcycle-trucks-Changer-Demount-Changers/dp/B00772VYTA/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1344299951&sr=8-7&keywords=motorcycle+tire+changer"]http://www.amazon.com/Motorcycle-trucks-Changer-Demount-Changers/dp/B00772VYTA/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1344299951&sr=8-7&keywords=motorcycle+tire+changer[/ame]

 

[banjoboy]

The only tip that I can give that I can think of right now other than just practice practice practice and might not be mentioned in the above thread is NEVER try to follow and try to keep up to other more experienced riders in the corners, that's how people get hurt. Just ride your ride and it will come to you in due time.

^THIS^ (Though it dun took me 'bout 30 yrs 'n 300K mi.! :spank: )
Butt these days I'm always comfortable on the bike. Even with the stock suspension, the FZ6 handles purdie damn good; very confidence inspiring. :thumbup:
Just relax ride yer own ride, and ride a lot.

 

[Karate.Snoopy]

A very important technique that was skipped in my MSF Class and not covered in detail in a lot of the Motorcycle books out there is "Downshifting while or before cornering".

Questions to ask self : Should you be taking a corner at a higher gear and low RPM's? Example: Taking a corner at 35 mph in 5th gear and say about 2800 rpms versus 2nd gear and 8000 rpms.


I have learnt from a few experienced riders that while you are braking to slow the bike down, you should also be changing down through the gears to keep the engine running at a moderately high speed so it will be able to accelerate as quickly as possible on the exit of the corner. As a rule of thumb you should aim to have your rev counter at about 70% of maximum when you turn into the corner. In other words,very elementarily you always want the engine spinning at a speed so that you have the correct amount of acceleration coming out of a corner.

The following Race method but may be applied on street by some one with experience. Each corner is different, but in a basic simple flat single apex turn. You brake and downshift before the corner to the gear that will allow the engine to be just below the power band at the apex. This allows the throttle to be opened immediately thereafter the engine at this point will deliver less than max power softly and controllable. yet give you room to run the revs up as you stand the bike upright before up-shifting.

For a novice though on the street, if you do that, it may well be the wrong choice. Do you have the fine control to modulate peak power at the exit? does the bike have the grip? do you have a way out if a car changes lanes on you, or one ahead hits the brakes?

When it's wet out, for example, I'm nowhere NEAR peak torque. Why? mostly for the reduced torque angle. grip is diminished, and if anything happens, like say, a throttle excursion due to water in the intake, it's much less likely to break the rear end loose. I'm also not going to be trying to maximize speed through the turn, because grip might be reduced even more than I think, even with "safety margin."

Most importantly give yourself time by giving yourself room, Distance is time i.e. stay a good 3-4 second distance behind a vehicle. People do some crazy **** in corners , you do not want to be caught too close behind them with your pants down.

Oh and it is usually not advisable to shift in a corner either up or down. But both can be done with practice.Basically you do not want to introduce any other forces that may upset the bike's suspension.

Practice your slow turns, I can't tell you enough horror stories of folks who stalled or dropped their bikes whilst making a slow speed turn.
Giddy up ride that pony and make that trip to the parking lot

Also your tires, get them warm enough before you start leaning the bike too much when you hit them twisties and like some one else pointed out earlier , use a real tire and not those touring tires to get decent grip

I would love to get more input from the more experienced riders on this topic.

 

[tejkowskit]

Practice makes permanent. Practice doing it the right way and your confidence will gain. Don't go outside of your comfort zone. That's how you'll get hurt. That video posted is very good and has some awesome explanations.

 

[GNH1241]

Do you know about "the limit point" of a corner?

This is the point where the near and offside kerbs (edges) meet to form a point. As you approach a corner watch this point, and if its not moving, ease off or brake. As you get nearer, eventually the point will start to run away and you can apply some "maintanance" throttle to maintain speed and keep the bike balanced through the turn.

This also promotes good forward planning and vision.

Ease and squeeze with the throttle, smoothness is your friend.

This helped me, along with the fact that our bikes have more grip than we really need at sensible speeds on our roads.

Oh and as stated, following your mates isnt the best idea; their mistakes will multiply the level of yours.

Maybe catch you at Hartside cafe if your out and about in the dales