Finally learned how to turn...

[Maki]

I have been riding for a couple of weeks and I have been trying to figure out the correct body position for turning. Till now it has felt awkward and wobbly. Yesterday I watched this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCg3BMGe52M

I put it into practice this morning, and wow what a difference. Now the bike feels more stable and it corners like on rails. Have any of you had the same experience learning to position your body correctly? I made the mistake of twisting my body and the video tells you not to do this.

I don't feel ready to put my knee down, but I can see how it would naturally evolve from this. "Imagine you are looking around the side of a door"

[YellowDog]

Nice one Maki.

I had the same feeling after a couple of Golfing lessons!

[Aero165]

Well done mate. Keep it up and the next the thing you know you'll be passing me on the outside:banana:

[NighthawkNZ]

I don't feel ready to put my knee down, but I can see how it would naturally evolve from this. "Imagine you are looking arond the side of a door"

Whats with all this I gotta out my knee down shyt personally its a big wank factor, your not on a race track you don't need to on the open road, makes no difference...

[Maki]

Whats with all this I gotta out my knee down shyt personally its a big wank factor, your not on a race track you don't need to on the open road, makes no difference...

It's not about putting the knee down. It's about correct body positioning. I can now see that the way I used to ride was wrong since this feels so much better.

[NighthawkNZ]

It's not about putting the knee down. It's about correct body positioning. I can now see that the way I used to ride was wrong since this feels so much better.

Ok I'll give you that then congrates that your feel more comfortable, the rest will come naturally as you will be more at ease not fighting what the bike wants to do in a turn :)

[Gregd17]

I'm always learning. :rolleyes: The more I ride the better I get. But watching videos like this I get better faster. Thanks for posting it.:2thumbsup:

[Romeo]

NEWB OBSERVATION - senior riders ignore

I've only ridden 800kms total and I've sort of figured this out on my own. If you move your ass across a little, take your weight on the pegs and lean your body into the corner a bit, you then don't have to lean the bike over so much. In essence, what was covered in the video - but not to such extremes!

Obviously I'm not trying to do anything ridiculous, nor am I trying to push any boundries. It just feels a lot more stable and it gives me a bit more confidence knowing that I've got a lot more lean left in reserve should I need to change my line.

I'd recommend learners give it a go, though I'd wait for one of the senior riders to flame me out about my technique first!


//EDIT: My bike will scrape the pipes before the tyres let go, but my brain would normally prefer to run wide rather than commit to a tighter line - the technique described above gives me a lot more confidence to lean harder should the worst eventuate.

[dipshit]

Whats with all this I gotta out my knee down shyt personally its a big wank factor, your not on a race track you don't need to on the open road, makes no difference...

True, he does say that near the end of the video. "don't worry about that (knee out/down) for your normal riding".

The important bit is getting your upper body inside the centre line of your bike in a corner, as your C of G is about in the middle of your chest.

Many people who try to hang off the seat to get a knee out, actually end up moving their upper body back across to the outside of the bike in a corner and end up doing more harm than good.

Your upper body has more influence on the bike in a corner than your ass and knee has.

This video also explains it well. Especially the very end bit.
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[blue eyed savage]

dont get to carred away and have ur ass all the way of the set, i go one cheek on one off and it works well. and thats if im going for it. try to "kiss the mirror" to
that helps ( left mirror when going left and right one when going right)

[Mental Trousers]

There's some excellent stuff in both of those vids. This lot below is aimed mainly at high performance riding/racing. But once you get the ideas they transfer back to road riding, just more subtly rather than exaggerated.

Arms: Too much weight on the arms is bad. Everybody knows it but most people still do it. So when braking, pushing on the pegs and putting your weight through the petrol tank is the go. As the 1st guy in the second vid said, if you're riding properly your legs are farked after a lap (a newb that is) and you can barely walk when you get off.

Upper body: In a corner your upper body has a hell of a lot of influence over how fast you can get around a corner. Watch any onboard camera shots of MotoGP riders etc. They gradually move their upper body further and further off the bike as they get into a corner. Once they apex they start moving back in.

Hips: One of the most common mistakes people make is to move their hips too far out to the side. This is bad because the outside leg pulls your hips around so they're facing the wrong way. This makes you body twist and that puts your weight over the bike instead of inside the bikes line. Another common mistake is to let your hips droop when you're off the side. By that I mean the inside hip is below the seat. This again makes your spine twist, but in a different direction and makes people counter lean. So pushing up on the inside foot peg so that the hips are level with the seat stops this and gives you a hell of a lot more control.

Legs: Inside leg goes out and the outside leg is locked into the tank. Best way to lock your leg into the tank is point your toes downward. This locks that leg into the tank and helps take weight off your arms when you're braking and stops you from falling off the back of the bike when you're accelerating. Make sure you're not resting on the seat with the back of your leg. You should be touching the seat but not putting weight through it.

Feet: up on the ball of your inside foot on the peg (which is turned outwards so your knee is out) and the outside foot has the peg under the middle of the foot. If your outside foot is up on the ball of your foot you can't use the peg as effectively when accelerating.

Head: Always on the inside of the line of the bike. Always.

So basically, your knee is out nice and wide, your hips are in close to the bike, and your upper body is gradually moving further and further out, as is your head (which is inside the line of the bike even before you start turning). Anything that makes your spine twist is bad.