Disclaimer: Don't be stupid. Respect traffic. Respect the dangers.
Also, this is my third riding season. I am not an elite veteran. Take everything I say with a grain of salt.
I've found one great thing to work on that's not ludicrously dangerous on city streets....rate of dive speed. Well, it's dive speed and other things, but mainly dive speed.
A proper cornering technique is to quickly get to the right lean angle and coordinate that dive into the corner with throttle and brakes. On the streets late-entry to corners is a good idea for safety reasons. Combining these two, you have a GREAT little drill you can run on every corner, right handers from their own turning lane or halfway in the lane beside it if there is no traffic. For those 70-90kph short sweepers that have their own curb around them, or left through intersections (assuming traffic is not an issue and there are no sewers, etc.), this is pretty fun, helpful, and not terribly squiddish. Speed on the left handers is obviously slower, but the same thing applies.
What I do is line up the corner, assume the position, trail brake gently then transition onto the throttle when the corner is all but upon me. At this moment, I know the lean angle I need so quickly dive into it and make sure no readjustments will be needed.
I like this because:
1) it isn't really that dangerous since your speeds are pretty close to the legal limits, and you can just hold the speed when you come out of the corner so youre never really moving like a bat out of hell through traffic.
2) it is REALLY effective at dismantling that panic-trigger of over-shooting a corner. The more I practice the more my senses and muscle memory clue into the fact that when on the brakes trailbraking into a corner, it will always come to a point when you need to take the load OFF your front tire and get back on that throttle and dive into the corner at the same time in one quick, smooth motion of body and wrist.
3) Keeping within 20kph of speed limits, for me, works out to riding at 70% of my skill level, so I learn something about my form every time I do this. White-knuckled peg dragging is a thing left in my first and second season of riding. Besides, even at 70% now I'm pretty sure I'm way faster than my white knuckled peg dragging from my first 2 years, lol.
4) It is a stable way to learn to handle a rear tire stepping out of line as you hold steady on the throttle or keep the roll-on if it's not so bad a step-out. Unless you are being stupid and diving into a corner in poor traction conditions or with poor traction obstacles like sewers in the rain, or even dry for that matter, your rear shouldn't step out that much for a itty-bitty patch of gravel. This also assumes you are not being a nut-ball with your speed.
The confidence and overall feeling you have when hitting that perfect lean angle quickly and holding it without adjustments, while rolling on that throttle making your exhaust sing and straightening out......is amazing.
Also, this is my third riding season. I am not an elite veteran. Take everything I say with a grain of salt.
I've found one great thing to work on that's not ludicrously dangerous on city streets....rate of dive speed. Well, it's dive speed and other things, but mainly dive speed.
A proper cornering technique is to quickly get to the right lean angle and coordinate that dive into the corner with throttle and brakes. On the streets late-entry to corners is a good idea for safety reasons. Combining these two, you have a GREAT little drill you can run on every corner, right handers from their own turning lane or halfway in the lane beside it if there is no traffic. For those 70-90kph short sweepers that have their own curb around them, or left through intersections (assuming traffic is not an issue and there are no sewers, etc.), this is pretty fun, helpful, and not terribly squiddish. Speed on the left handers is obviously slower, but the same thing applies.
What I do is line up the corner, assume the position, trail brake gently then transition onto the throttle when the corner is all but upon me. At this moment, I know the lean angle I need so quickly dive into it and make sure no readjustments will be needed.
I like this because:
1) it isn't really that dangerous since your speeds are pretty close to the legal limits, and you can just hold the speed when you come out of the corner so youre never really moving like a bat out of hell through traffic.
2) it is REALLY effective at dismantling that panic-trigger of over-shooting a corner. The more I practice the more my senses and muscle memory clue into the fact that when on the brakes trailbraking into a corner, it will always come to a point when you need to take the load OFF your front tire and get back on that throttle and dive into the corner at the same time in one quick, smooth motion of body and wrist.
3) Keeping within 20kph of speed limits, for me, works out to riding at 70% of my skill level, so I learn something about my form every time I do this. White-knuckled peg dragging is a thing left in my first and second season of riding. Besides, even at 70% now I'm pretty sure I'm way faster than my white knuckled peg dragging from my first 2 years, lol.
4) It is a stable way to learn to handle a rear tire stepping out of line as you hold steady on the throttle or keep the roll-on if it's not so bad a step-out. Unless you are being stupid and diving into a corner in poor traction conditions or with poor traction obstacles like sewers in the rain, or even dry for that matter, your rear shouldn't step out that much for a itty-bitty patch of gravel. This also assumes you are not being a nut-ball with your speed.
The confidence and overall feeling you have when hitting that perfect lean angle quickly and holding it without adjustments, while rolling on that throttle making your exhaust sing and straightening out......is amazing.
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