Down hill decreasing radius bends?

[bugjuice]

Yes , those signs are good. Add something to the higher ones (I've found it pays to be careful on the 25kph ones. Often they DO mean 25kph). But as you say, the real benefit is when what looks like a nice 80kph is signposted as 35kph, And the similar looking corners before it have been signed at 55. Hm, something gonna be odd here.

nah, 25khp - 50kph are potential knee-down corners, and should be taken as tho. Anything higher are 'wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee' corners.. Apart from 'Swanny' corners, which go something like: 'Wheeeeeeeeee ooooooooooooo aaaarrrrrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhh fuuuuuuuuuuuukkkkkkkk ouch ouch oo ouch arrrgh ouch bugger.'

[White trash]

P.S. W.T. Wasn't that your mangled helmet I saw posted yesterday ?????????????

You misunderstand, I was merely advising what "should" be done, not what I can do. Obvious from the helmet damage.

[eliot-ness]

Sorry WT couldn't resist it.

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Plan to be spontaneous,...........Err......tomorrow... maybe

[Fryin Finn]

I got some practice on decreasing radius downhill turns last monday riding over the Hope Saddle towards Nelson. I did it twice just to make sure

[TonyB]

Hmm, so far no one seems to have a definative answer, which is a bit of a worry eh! WT, your technique sounds fuggen cool but if you can't do it then what hope do I have???

To be honest I'm not 100% sure what I do either, but I THINK this is what I TRY to do: If I know the road, I brake deep into the corner- not cornering as such but not straight up and down either, more of a gentle curve to position myself on the road. Then I stop braking, lean it over staying out wide till I can see or almost see the exit, then I cut in and apex very late while rolling on the gas. I find you have to have a hell of a lot of confidence in the front end to ride a DHDR (Down Hill Decreasing Radius) Bend at any sort of pace.... hence I get eaten alive by cars on such corners....

[Artifice]

i find the hardest part is letting go of the front brake lever. it handles so much better once you let go and of course gets mostly rid of the chance of the front washing out. but it dont make it easier to let go of the brake.

[XP@]

In theory you should be able to stop, on your side of the road in 1/2 the visible distance.
Hmm... not really the same in practice is it!
So what you going to do about it?

Basically slow so you don't get caught out. REALLY IMPORTANT if you don't know the road & bend and you can't see the exit.
Both Brakes
Gear down to a gear which will allow you to power through the corner
Delay the apex to give as much visibility as possible.
Eyes just past the vanishing point.
Plan to use no more than 50 - 60% of your cornering ability at the given speed.
Aim to exit the bend on the center of the lane.

Then if the radius starts to tighten counter steer harder you will still have heaps left in reserve.

Even if you know a corner it can unexpectedly turn in to a decreasing radius... a sheep in the middle of the road, a car cutting the corner and you will have to decrease your radius.

So when you enter a corner plan for your line to be changed.

[Motu]

Good point XP@,all corners are decreasing radius if you have to change course - so expect all corners to be so and allow for it.I ride dirt bikes so have much more body English to use and can push down and pick up the bike easier and with more effect,but yeah,decreasing radius and off camber are nasty and can catch you out.For me the worst are gravel down hill off camber right handers - you have to go wide to be safe...but that's where all the loose stuff is and so it's always slowly does it.On an open corner I can see through I will cut to the inside apex and this changes the camber and radius,on left handers with visable exit I go wide to the gutter,again changing the radius.Naturally you only do this if you can see clear road with enough room to change tack again if needed....sometimes it only needs a little bit of extra road for the anal spincture to release the seat cover....

[Lou Girardin]

What you do is you head in far too fast, as you start to turn in, bang your motard down two gears to many to facilitate a "compression lock" of the rear wheel. This will allow the rear to swing waaaaayy outta line with the front, thus scrubbing more speed. Slide your inside foot up in front of you along the tarmac as you lean further to scrape the peg in order to emulate your hero, Boris Chambon.

Once at the later apex of a decreasing radius turn, get HARD on the gas to spin the rear wheel and thus keep it "hanging out" on the exit.

Piece of piss.

In other words, just normal commuting technique.

[Lou Girardin]

I got some practice on decreasing radius downhill turns last monday riding over the Hope Saddle towards Nelson. I did it twice just to make sure

Great, aren't they. You wouldn't believe how fast this chickie pedalled her Nissan Pulsar through that stretch when we were down there.

[Ixion]

In other words, just normal commuting technique.

Well. no because you don't have any cages to foot off for direction changes

[TwoSeven]

A decreasing radius turn is always done with a slow entry, constant progress and fast exit - doesnt matter what the slope of the turn is or the camber. The most common mistake is picking where the entry is - many of them are at the end of a normal radius corner forcing a throttle action which throws the bike off line.

Downhill simply means your front is loaded up, the way to unload the front is to either be on the gas, or more simply off the brakes - I find constant throttle often helps.

A quick corner is one where you get the bike down, turned and up as fast as possible - a long radius in the turn means the bike has to be leaned over which prevents opening the throttle until after the apex. Remember, changing the throttle action mid corner buggers the line.

So that gives you only one option for a decreasing radius turn - you cant be on the gas because you'll have the long turn until the exit point, you need a slow entry - so it kind of implies you need to hold a constant throttle (it will have weight on the rear).

Thats how I work it out. Stick a nice off camber there and you'll really find it interesting.

[Lou Girardin]

Well. no because you don't have any cages to foot off for direction changes

True. Does a knee into the door count as 'knee down'?

[Motu]

A decreasing radius turn is always done with a slow entry, constant progress and fast exit - doesnt matter what the slope of the turn is or the camber. The most common mistake is picking where the entry is - many of them are at the end of a normal radius corner forcing a throttle action which throws the bike off line.

Downhill simply means your front is loaded up, the way to unload the front is to either be on the gas, or more simply off the brakes - I find constant throttle often helps.

A quick corner is one where you get the bike down, turned and up as fast as possible - a long radius in the turn means the bike has to be leaned over which prevents opening the throttle until after the apex. Remember, changing the throttle action mid corner buggers the line.

So that gives you only one option for a decreasing radius turn - you cant be on the gas because you'll have the long turn until the exit point, you need a slow entry - so it kind of implies you need to hold a constant throttle (it will have weight on the rear).

Thats how I work it out. Stick a nice off camber there and you'll really find it interesting.

A touch of rear brake will give rear weight bias...if you're up to it,rear brake and throttle at the same time helps steady the bike.

[TwoSeven]

A little squat always helps

Specially after a good curry...