Me too hardcore Initial D fan, and have been trying to replicate it for the past 3 years, but in vain.

^^^^So, youve actually tried it out on a mountain course?? IIRC Takumi trained for 5 years BTW...so, dont lose heart yet.

Cant manage to get it done on plain road's, so mountain roads are strictly out of the question, I believe the reason is cause Takumi did it on non-powersteering car, where as mine's a powersteering one, and the counter force from the steering always causes the water to spill during mid corner. AND, now since you pointed it out,we ai'nt got any mountain roads in Kollam, Kerala.

Well OF, We might be able to hold it during light acceration and light braking.. But it sure will be impossible to hold it during even a little spirited cornering... If You have heard of "Initial D", the series from which this idea comes from, I believe its exaggerated quite a bit... If you really HAVE to contain the water in the cup, You ll have to be driving really slow!!!

Being born sometime in the late 60's, I do realise I belong to a different era but this 'Initial D' thing has truly taken the cake . I had no idea what it was till a few moments ago when I finally googled and found out. Didn't respond to 2strokerama's initial post on this cause I didn't actually get it then .

This was something I used to do some 15 odd years ago. Guess 'Initial D' wasn't there in those days but then its not so outlandishly a creative idea in any case. Can occur to anyone giving thought towards smoothness feedback while driving. And I did manage to spill very little or no water after a few weeks of regular practice to and from work. Yes, traffic was less and I'd be driving at a speed that let me move with the general flow and not slice through traffic. But it does teach you a lot about graded transitions and power balance.

In old aircraft, there used to be something called a 'Turn and Slip indicator. A 6-8 inch long banana-shaped tube filled with glycerin and a ball floating inside it. If the pilot took a well-coordinated turn, i.e. the ball would stay centered. An outward slip (due to less banking or imprecise yaw input from the rudder) or an inward slide (due to excessive banking and again wrong yaw) would make the ball move inwards or outwards. And a majority of the pilots did always manage to keep the ball centered. Even in fast fighters like the Spitfire and the Hurricane that flew at speeds in excess of 350 mph.

All said and done though, lets stick to the topic here and focus on 'cornering on motorcycles' .

Sadly, I'll have to pull out of this ride due to a recent injury I have got on my foot. Unable to ride/drive(else would have come in a car)/wear shoes for another 7-10 days.
If anyone is coming in a car, then I can surely come as a passenger.

No updates? I thought there'd be a discussion on the conclusions..

^^^ +1

Id hate to see this topic die....so, in hope of continuing the discussion on braking and cornering, how useful is ABS for "performance street riding" considering our local low capacity machines? Does it really blow your competition to dust as the rtr ad says?

Ive consistently held some fairly high speeds and subsequent hard braking on a few backroads and downhill runs. I've had no problems till now unless under panic braking where Ive only locked my rear. The only occasion I remember of locking my front was under enthusiastic braking on a tiled parking lot.

So, how much of a difference does ABS make in real world riding conditions under some spirited riding? Anyone tried a head to head test on the track with an rtr or cbr abs and non abs?

Guys, I have been following the thread closely, reading a lot, and it surely helped me understand a lot of things, Esp OF's and TenHut's Posts.

What If you are riding on the road and off the road both!!!

I remember a discussion on the cbr250 thread which was on similar lines..

Since this thread is about cornering, I'll talk about braking when cornering - Just for the sake of argument.

So you're attacking the curves at comfortable speeds and mera bharat mahaan a cow apparates outta nowhere! Its right in the middle of your lane with a nice and big and fat SUV coming down the opposite lane and lady luck is shining down on you so you're at a nice and deep lean angle.

Neurons fire, muscles contract and you slam on the rear brake hoping the ABS saves you. But physics (as I understand it) says otherwise and you end up in a ditch if not on the side of a hill.

Now that the story's over - when you brake in a straight line, ABS has a nice and easy job. But while turning there's (lots of) force pushing the bike and hence the tires to the outside of the turn. ABS might stop the wheel from locking but with say 50% of the available traction being used up to help you slow down, there's not much left to keep you on your line so the tire does what you do on slippery floors and *crash*!

So its not much of a help on corners I suppose..

My 2 cents: Off road is much less predictable, offers much lesser traction (at least, if you're on road tires) and makes the front brake pretty useless..

I'm half scared to death when I have to use the front brake off road but all the comes with practice I'm sure..

About body position: I don't know how the motocross guys do it when they're bouncing about like that but I'm sure there's a different technique to it..

Forget all the discussion, it may confuse you even more.

Bottom line, go to a riding school and learn on a track, this will prepare you for the street.

Can't find a riding school? then plan B will be required, buy or download yourself a copy of twist of the wrist (book) and twist of the wrist 2 (video) read it and watch it again and again, then practice, then read and watch, more practice, keep doing this until everything is second nature.

Twist of the wrist is also know as The cornering bible, if you are serious about your riding, then this should be your only reference.

With regards to ABS (anti-lock braking system) for those who think that brakes are better on a vehicle with ABS vs without, in normal conditions and proper skills, it will make zero difference, if you ride with an ABS bike and you find the ABS kicks in often, then you need to address you riding skills. ABS is a useful tool to have, don't let it be there to cover up poor riding or driving skills and certainly don't rely on it, it can malfunction even without a warning light.

So a year will be done for this thread soon has our Shrinath Rao "Thread starter" understood the concept of cornering? please reply sirjee!!!

seems like you have been waiting for it to near that one year mark

my input :
I have captured lots n lots of images of people cornering there, studied them, compared them to mine, corrected body position, watched carefully how they moved. Tried them on pulsar, pushed till she gave correct feedback, and then kept rectifing it. Bottomline, I can not still tell, when I brake, when apply clutch or remove it, nor can i tell all other physics, but Presently when i compare at pics in feb 2012 n speeds i used to corner, to present , personally i definitely feel improved
In novice and layman or common man term, on your bike, you understand its capability combined with yours more than anyone else, push it till it gives you confidence, pull out when it doesn't. And more than theory, practicals helps more ...pictures also

just noticed one more thing - my dp, proof : it's of feb 2012 n m all over the place..lolzz..need to change it asap

Re: Cornering: Use of brake and throttle. A spirited debate...

I just have one query.. Whe exactly do you "practice"??

Sent from my WT19i

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