Taking Corners Help!

[nicholas900]

Point your head right where you want to go. This will change as you roll through the turns. Stick your neck out and keep your head level. Be easy rolling back into the throttle.

And like mentioned above.... try the push steer. Gently push the bars right to turn right and vice versa. It helps in long sweepers or emergency maneuvers. I'm always push steering. Definitely throw that into your bag o tricks.

But pointing my head into where I wanted to go resulted in the biggest impact in my riding when I was just starting out with a few years under my belt.

 

[nicholas900]

@konarider94, although a bit corny that is a great vid. Guess I call "counter steering" "push steering". Same thing. Thanks for posting that. Just watched the first 10 minutes. Gonna make sure to watch it all when I get a chance. Rep.

 

[Gloomshadow]

Its real hard to write down or explain to someone "how to ride a bicycle".. you just get a feel for it and you do it. There really doesn't seem to be "one way" to get a bike around a corner.. sometimes I do it one way then another time Ill catch myself doing it another way and I cant really explain why I changed up.. it just "felt better" for some reason to do it one way or the other. Sometimes Im "dirt biking it" sometimes Im "sport biking it" around corners.. in general, Ive found that at least for me, it doesn't feel right to stay glued to that seat.. let the bike slide underneath you and sometimes you slide down the inside of that seat and hang off of it a bit..

I don't think its jus me either, because Ive seen pro racers change up how they got around a corner also... I and I bet he cant explain why it felt better one way vs another either. It could be just an emotional "heat of the moment" thing too.. blowing off emotional steam because youre "getting down"... I don't know, I don't think about it anymore, I just let it happen...
anybody else out there know what Im talking about?

 

[Bullettooth023]

1. Get suspension set for you.
2. Get a good set of tires.
3. Get to a track day if you can. You'll learn more in 1 track day than in a year of regular street riding.

Suspension was the biggest help to me. You can go one step further and get a race oriented setup which makes the bike feel even more planted, it's not entirely necessary though.

 

[Jfletch]

Again, thank you for all the help with this. I feel like I have a good starting point to get on a path to better confidence in the twisties. If anyone is located in northern Texas let me know. In a few years i'll be back in Sacramento Ca, if anyone is there.

 

[go cytocis]

Heres to 3 pages of ******** coming. I dare you guys to prove me wrong.

I dunno, since you asked, I think the multiple suggestions above for the OP to take advanced rider training is some of the best advice you'll find in this forum. Youtube's OK for learning guitar licks, but I'd rather be taught to corner a bike on a track by an instructor.

 

[Bullettooth023]

Something to remember that I'm not sure was mentioned before. If the bike is set right for you 95% of the time you are not maxing out what the bike can do.

 

[WIGGLE2]

Point your head right where you want to go.

Very true. Do NOT fixate on anything...look THROUGH the corner. I do NOT know why, but the bike will go where you're looking....they call it 'target fixation'.

Gently push the bars right to turn right and vice versa.

By this, I presume you mean 'PUSH on the RIGHT SIDE bar to turn right.'
This is proper 'countersteering'. Like I posted earlier....we DO this to turn...period. But It was ONLY years ago, when I learned that actually DOING this, (on a nice straight open road try it....push on the RIGHT bar...it WILL turn LEFT). Goes against common 'logic'. I WAS always trying to force the bike to turn right buy turning the bars right, (In essence....PUSHING the LEFT bar). Once i found out about this....WOW! It was a whole new world! One thing I did during 'training' myself of this, (until it becomes second nature!), was to tell myself...."PUSH! - INSIDE!" . Meaniing....PUSH on the bar that is on the INSIDE of the turn.

 

[nicholas900]

^ yup. That's what I meant. Covered very well in the first few minutes of Kona's vid he posted.

I call it push steering. Push the right bar to turn right (actually turning the handle bars left). Push the left bar to turn left. After a few years of thinking about it while riding, now it's just second nature. I learned that in my second year. Wish I knew it right off the bat. Exactley opposite of how you turn the steering wheel in a car. This effect happens above around 15 mph or so.

 

[jetlee]

I'm surprised counter-steering requires so much explanation. I learned that riding a bicycle as a little kid.

 

[Gloomshadow]

yeah its the only way to initiate a turn.. the only other thing that you can do differently is the "body English" that goes along with the counter-steer , you can lean over into the turn or you can do the opposite and let the bike tilt under you until you get on top of the bike like something you would see a dirt rider do.. or you can stay planted in the seat and just stay along the center line of the bike as it tilts over but that always felt "bad" to me.. I don't know about you guys but I don't really think about it at the time Im doing it, Im just looking where I want the bike to end up and as long as It felt good and I got there I just go with that.. ha ha Its like trying to explain how to ride a bicycle... its hard because I don't think most guys are really aware of what they are doing at the time they are doing it bc your mind is on other things when youre riding .. youre focused on where you want to go, not what you are actually doing.. I don't know, maybe its just me?

 

[Jfletch]

All, I understand the aspect of turning and counter-steering. I was referring to taking tight corners where I'll be leaning the bike over and the fear of the ground being too loose to hold the tires.

 

[Gloomshadow]

naa.. in general you would have to lean over so far that you would start dragging pegs before you run out of tire. As long as you got the right tire and your suspension set right for your weight, you wont really have to worry about that... worst that could happen is that youre leaned over and you hit a patch of oil, sand or pine needles and you lose front-end traction ..if you start to lose your front end, whack open the throttle to straighten the bike back out and regain control..
you are deployed right now and youre thinking too much.. when you get back to the states just find a good place to practice and just ride it..

 

[Fatty SS]

I just got home after a full day at an advanced riding school (Zalusky Advanced Riding School in MN) today. This was my third, and my confidence in the corners has doubled with each class. I'll post a pic here for you after the photog posts them later this week or early next.

 

[Fatty SS]

This was from early in the day, in level 2 (of 6) that the school offers. By the end of the day, my upper body was much more loose. That was the biggest thing I needed to work on yesterday, along with leading my body transitions with my head. Those two things shaved a solid 5 seconds or so off my lap times by the end of the day.

 

[Notorious]

I watched the video (a twist of the wrist) and man... I noticed a lot or things I need to work on like throttle control. I was pretty skittish on it on Saturday but I did calm down a little on the way back and evened it out and was able to push myself a little.

Thanks for posting that.