Cornering Help

[Villager]

I've always found turning tight corners quickly to be very difficult. I can do larger ones without a problem, and have no fear of leaning, yet when I do I feel little sense of control/comfort. It has improved in the time I've been riding, but I still can't take a medium sized roundabout at much more than 20mph.

Any advice?

[spc]

1: never do anything on a bike that you don't feel confident of your ability to do.
2:  There could be an almost infinite number of factors making you uneasy at higher cornering speeds, Let's break it down to two categories: Mechanical and Skll.
Mechanical: Almost anything 'loose' or improperly seated in the front end will make cornering at higher speed feel very unstable.
Skill:  God knows none of us would ever get a knee down on a public road because that's just wrong and completely reckless   but how's your form?  Do you even hangoff, though it's not necessary it does make cornering easier and once you figure it out, completely enjoyable.

[darb85]

practice practice practice.

Go to a parking lot and just practice as much as possible

have you taken the MSF class?

They help a ton

Brad

[gmark]

+1 on the msf class. I did the dirt bike thing and then the had a bike when I was younger theya re totaly different things. take an msf and then take it easy. after a few miles you will feel fine on your bike and until then that uneasy feeling will keep your wheels down    Just take it solw and have fun!

[Jay_wolf]

I learnt with time ,. the same journy to a from work , i take the corners and lil lower , a lil lower , and it just sorta clicks,  i feel like the whole bike is connected to me and i can *feel* where i am on the bike , a tight bike with good seals and good rubber makes u feel a whole lot better 

[ohgood]

practice practice practice.

Go to a parking lot and just practice as much as possible

have you taken the MSF class?

They help a ton

Brad

+1

Read magazines, use a grain of sailt, and practice in the lot. Lot practice has got to be some of the most rewarding skills to learn. Nothing like a perfect u-turn on wet cobbles in a 18 ft wide street to make you proud

[Tang]

yeah same here!

+1 on the MSF courses

and i guess my problem is not being confident enough or probably in the wrong gear when i'm turning cuz i get a jerk when i apply gas comming out of the turn.

[rnicholas]

all of the ideas you can find in the MSF course, magazines, books, manuals, and other riders are great but they are 0 substitute for practice and confidence.  I started riding and got too speed happy and corner happy and while I didn't do any major harm to myself, I've spent some cash on the bike that was unnecessary.  Now I am confident after much practice at cornering. 

I would say to find a nice curvy road that is near you and ride it every saturday morning for a while.  The more you learn it the better you will ride it and it will help you learn cornering.  Then apply what you learned to other roads/corners and you will be great..

Confidence breeds success on the bike.  When you aren't confident in what you can do, the bike acts like a horse and whips you around.

[Kasumi]

and i guess my problem is not being confident enough or probably in the wrong gear when i'm turning cuz i get a jerk when i apply gas comming out of the turn.

Check the pressure in your tyres as low pressure can cause a wobble as power gets applied to the rear tyre, also check your chain and sprokets - if you have a correctly tensioned chain it does no end of good for the smoothness of powerdelivery.

Also blipping the throttle (the equivelent of heel and toe in a car) on the downchange before entering a corner can help to utilize engine brakeing and keep you in the powerband without a big jerk from a downchange.

[lamoun]

I've always found turning tight corners quickly to be very difficult. I can do larger ones without a problem, and have no fear of leaning, yet when I do I feel little sense of control/comfort. It has improved in the time I've been riding, but I still can't take a medium sized roundabout at much more than 20mph.

Any advice?

Where are you looking, taking this turns?

Try looking more to the inside of the turn.

[Villager]

Much sage advice!

It may be a psychological thing - I came off three times on my 125 when fearlessly throwing myself into tight corners. That was partly due to it being the worst balanced, unstable bike ever built, but I do have complete confidence in my GS, and I'm not scared of kissing the tarmac again, so who knows.

I have some time off so tomorrow I will hit the car parks and roundabouts of Boston and keep going until I'm happy with it.

The strange thing is that I can turn in a VERY tight circle at low speed. It's those medium ones where you need to go from upright to leaning quite quickly, and then back again. I know about looking through the corner - I'll try to put it into practice more.

Don't think I'm reading for hanging off just yet!!

[Teek]

Villager, that's funny, I have no trouble in the medium quick leaning turns, I love those, but I found the key is not entering too fast, apexing correctly for the turn's radius, and keeping my head level and looking waaay through the turn while staying realaxed, especially in my arms and shoulders. Then it's really a smooth effortless feeling.

On the other hand, low speed tight radius turns I am only good at if I don't think about it before I do it, and don't look down, or at the parked cars I have to miss, LOL! So I'm doing regular parking lot practice to keep looking over my shoulder an letting the bike turn under me and staying relaxed. Somehow I'm better if I don't have time to psych myself out, I think it must be that tension thing; the tighter one hangs on to the bars, the stiffer the steering response. The more relaxed the rider, the more effortless the turn.
You do want to be in the right gear before those bigger turns so that you can roll on maintenance throttle as you lean over to keep  the bike up on it's suspension, then be able to roll on more to accelerate out smoothly. That's where blipping before you downshift makes for a smooth transition, and the engine braking helps you with entry speed.

It's a nice feeling.

[frankieG]

make sure your tires are warm, they stick much better then.  sound like it just might be a confidence thing...not to worry it will come with time

[oramac]

Mechanics of a turn...
1.  brake and downshift before entering the turn (this will help with the 'jerkiness'.  If it's jerky, you need to be in a lower gear, or practice your throttle control

2.  find your apex...read a book on this...it's too hard to explain without diagrams or real world references.

3.  LOOK WHERE YOU WANT TO GO.  Look as far through the turn as possible.  If it's a roundabout, look as far through it as you can.  If it's a u-turn, look over your shoulder where you intend to go, not where your bike is going.  This is the thing that takes the most practice.   For me, I had to overcome the instinct of looking where I was going, and I had to learn to look where I want to go.  This is also called target fixation...you find yourself looking at a tree, pole, car, curb, etc., and you suddenly find yourself running into any or all of the above.  You go where you look.

3.  Press the bars in the direction you want to go.  If you want to go right, push the right grip, if left, push the left grip (aka countersteering).  This is also counterintuitive (when you go right, your wheel should be facing right...right?  WRONG!)  The more you press the bars in this manner, the more you will lean, and the faster/tighter your turns will be.

4.  As you go through the turn, gently roll on the throttle keeping your eye where you want to go.  Never brake in the turn unless you have no alternative.  Don't worry about 'hanging off' until you master these steps.

5.  To straighten the bike, press the opposite grip (in a right handed turn, press the left grip to stand it up.

Now, practice turns and figure eights in a parking lot until you get it down...or, take a msf course.    

[Kasumi]

I had a 125 and 50cc bike and they were terrible too, i had more than one fall of one of those in a turn but they are too lightweight  so they don't seat in the corners, the slightest bump throws you off and the tyres are far too 'tall' and skinny and dont grip enough. Unless your paying shed loads of a new YZF125 or Aprillia 125 then you don't get a decent sporty 125

[Garethbourne]

I always find that speed and positions when entering the bend is the key, to good cornering, to fast and you will end up braking, to slow and you could end up steering the bike as apposed to leaning, and wrong positions in, is never a good idea,
Familiarise your self with the roads you will be travelling on and build your speed up over time..
Practise getting your speed and entry positions, you can do that by using the vanishing point technique.

Speed, Where the white lines down the centre of the road appear to disappear on the road is what's called the vanishing point and you need to keep that point about the same distance from you all the time, if it starts to move towards you, your going to fast for the corner and if it starting to move away from you, its possible to increase your speed if you feel confident enough.

Entry, when cornering to the right, position the bike about 2ft from the far left of your half of the road and as you go through the corner you should find your self pulling in to the right hand side of the road, as you go into a left hand corners position your self about 2ft from the far right of your half of the road you should then find yourself moving back over to the left of the road as you go through the bend. This should straighten the bend out for you a little and allow you to corner faster, try to avoid braking or opening and shutting the throttle to quickly as that could cause you to lose control of the bike, especially if there is any damp or debris on the road.

Remember the road is not your personal race track so please. Ride safe and live long, and a word of advice, it is not necessary to get your knee now or hang your ass of the bike seat in an attempt to shift your body weight when cornering on the road, if you feel like you do need to do so, your going way to fast, !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
           (((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( use a race track )))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))