Tips and tricks to tackle corners effectively and safely

Hi all,

I have been more of a tourer right from the beginning. Let it be a driving or riding. Its been around 10 years since i started riding and have enjoyed every bit of the time feeling the air in your face through the open gap of helmet like a dog with its face outside the car window.

Most of the tourings that i have done on 2 wheels is on plains and all the tours that i have done on hills have been on 4 wheels. So, I have never been a corner craver nor there have been any incidents for testing my cornering skills. But recently it changed.

Two months ago, I had taken a trip to Yercaud from chennai on HH CBZ Xtreme. This was the first time i am going to a hill station on 2 wheels. The ride from chennai to salem was as usual with stretches of wonderfully laid roads with me crusing at 80-90 having a relaxing time. But as i started climbing the roads to yercaud from salem, I started enjoying the curves like never before. I know the curves on the way are not as legendary as many other places. Since it was my first ride on curves i had an amazing time. I had found a new ecstasy when bending the bike and going around corners, which has opened a zeal to learn a new style of riding.

Ever since i have been back from the trip, I have been trying to learn how to tackle corners. I would like to get tips and learn from experts on handing the ride through corners. I have searched the forum for a thread which will give tips on how to tips to corner more effective and safely, with no luck. I had come across few discussion as in, there is an entry speed and exit speed, but it has been deeply explained. May be i have not been searching properly.

So, I have started a thread for discussions on cornering, so that, guys like me can try and harness new side of riding and open a new potential which might not have been tested.

Note to Mods: I didn't know which section this belongs to. If it doesn't belong here, I request you to move it accordingly.

Cheers
emm

Re: Bending and LeaningThread

Understood lot, very informative thread

Re: Bending and LeaningThread

Having gone thru this thread and lapping up advice by all the pros...all i can say is WOW i have a lot to learn and experiment on....thanks to this full blooded discussion I have now understood so many dynamics of biking guys...

Helmet's off to all of You

ok, i almost read the entire thread and learnt quite a few things theoritically, but to practice them practically, i would need to remove the main stand in my ride.

However, had a question.

Anybody tried power-slide (anti-steering)?? any inputs on those??

i have tried cornering several times and i guess most of the time i did it right (after reading the mentioned procedures which matches mine to a good extent) but have never tried power-slide.

Inputs awaited.

Thanks in advance.

Better safe than sorry, i myself am a cornering junkie but ,i only try cornering on bends which i am familiar with, and have a clear view of oncoming traffic (if any, but dont try cornering on any busy places). Forget about mid corner correction and shifting weight etc.. Just know this, one stupid scorpio in middle of cornering BAM!! And U are ketchup..

^^+1 to that...in such cases shifting back weight,braking,lowering gears all without losing traction and balance is all in all a tedious yet a skillful task....mastering it needs practice and good luck ! only a few can do it successfully and come out safe !

Well I am not much of a cornering person . But my best bet would be to avoid cornering on corners where you can encounter such surprises. Some times, for getting rid of your fear you need to face it . But face it responsibly. When you are cornering , you will have a split second to straighten your machine and take a detour to avoid an obstacle . But trust me , we humans are not accurate to a split second all the times.So best thing is to avoid corners when you doubt an obstacle.

guys i can corner fine... but can anyone tell me how to over come the fear of unexpected things around the corner. im mean cars coming from opposite direction, animals running off the road, bad road patch. how can this be avoided. also when i lean my bike i find it quite difficult to make mid corner corrections. have had many a close shaves.


suppose the road in this case was narrower, the bend was tighter such that i wouldn't see the car before im committed to the corner what is the correct braking technique to be used

They are all very very common issues. Were they posted up after you did the CSS??

Have you all gurus experienced this frustrating phase ?

One of the fun challenges of riding on the track is learning to focus amidst

1. Am I carrying the right corner entry speed ?2. At what rate should I turn in ?3. Am I gonna hit the apex ?4. Will I get a good drive out ?Now these are the thoughts that my brain is being overwhelmed with when cornering. Amidst all this my head explodes sometimes and then I am compelled to pull over and rest for a while. There isnt much of any consistency nor do I find myself going any faster. I just cant gather/muster up the courage of increasing my corner speeds cause I am never done with the calculations well before taking a corner and I always seem running out of time. All this results in cornering in a rush and as well all know if you arent smooth and rythmic in cornering you arent fast!

So do I just need more practice or am I doing something fundamentally wrong ? How can I grow the balls to go faster in a corner ?

i don't know if you guys know this but i read somewhere that spreading some talcum powder on the seat would help you move your ass left and right easily.hope itt helps


PS-This is not a joke.

with so many track-days taking place, no updates here:|

yes it is. a stripped down 675. Interesting you noticed it coz almost nothing on it is left stock.

amazing bikes and pics Csgup.. Pardon my ignorance but is that naked bike a Triumph?