I want to corner faster but how?

[Arctic Wolfe]

Go talk to 2-3 instructors, pick one you get along with and learn face to face.
You've been on a bike long enough to learn yourself, it hasn't happened, get a pro to help and be careful what advice you listen to on the interwebz...



So you're answer is to buy a car? Think you're preaching to the wrong crowd here mate...

Actually no . . . Taken from the comment that he finds he corners ower than cars . . . . .
Depending on the driver and the car, cars should in general be faster through a corner than a bike

SLLR -pronounced SLUR
S - Slow down
L - Look through the corner to the apex and beyond
L - Lean . . . yes lean the bike over move your weight etc etc . .
R - ROLE . . . . roll on the throttle . . . .at the right time

[Banditbandit]

I have been riding for about 18 months, though my Street Triple is new this week (before that I had tried a big scooter, and then an Aprilia Shiver which I actually found a bit too big in frame size). I absolutely love my Street Triple - lighter and smaller and integrated with me.

Here's the thing: I've been told that I can easily take corners faster than I do. But I am scared to. I understand some of the cornering theory and I have good lines, I look through the corner, I stay relaxed.... But I'm pretty slow - as in slower than a car would be (e.g. if a corner has a recommended speed of 65, you might do 70 in a car, and I might do 60 on the bike).

So does anyone have any ideas as to HOW I could get faster cornering? I realise this means getting more lean angle but HOW do you determine what it should be without getting it horribly wrong? Exactly HOW do I go faster when, despite understanding the mechanics, I am scared I will mess up and crash?

I've tried following my husband on his bike and I believe I am a bit faster then - like he's "pulling me through" the corner. Are there other ways I could get better?

Thanks in advance for your ideas!

Wot most of them said - practice ...

Tyres make a huge difference - not to road speed but to confidence. Have a go with different tyres .. none of them are "bad" but some are better than others .... and tyres suit bike/riding style. I run Continental Road Attacks on my 650 and they are awesome and give me a huge amount of confidence. But they may not suit your bike and your riding style. I suggest going with a soft compound Bridgestone or Continental and see what suits you. With more experience you can start to get selective about what tyres you want to use.

I also found that sitting a little further back on the seat made faster cornering easier. It only took about half an inch to an inch, but that changes your body position and the bike/rider centre of gravity, making it just a little lower.

Countersteering is great - but also drop your shoulder into the corner ... do this by bending your elbow a little, that will naturally drop your shoulder.

Also, make sure you are in the best gear (often lower than you might think) and don't be afraid to open the throttle in the corner ... the extra engine speed will hold the bike up .. but don't open it enough to pull the bike upright in the corner . Bikes corner differently, so don;t necessarily try to stay with your husband in the corner. Some bikes I have had corner better holding a steady speed, some bikes I have owned are better in the corner with the power on, and some I have owned I only powered on coming out of the corner to lift the bike up ... Find out what works best for you and your bike. My current bikes go best running into the corner with the power on, then adding more power as I come out of the corner .. (that's a bugger unless you shut down before the next corner - if you don't then within two or three corners me and the bike are running fast enough to be walking if the popo see it ...)

Apart from that - just practice ...

[HenryDorsetCase]

What i have not seen in these comments is the fact that a car will corner faster than a bike . . .

this is way way off topic for this thread.

OP: do as others have suggested. I endorse the "get some training and get some track time" approach. Also: good gear. And chill. have some fun. Nobody rides a motorbike because they have to. We do it because we WANT to because we LIKE it.

If you arent having a good time, no sweat, find something you do enjoy. An example... for a long time I was a very keen mountain bike rider. My partner and I used to go out a bit but she finally cracked and said "this is not for me, I dont like it". She now does other things and we are both happy. So dont feel bad if it isnt for you because life is too fucking short to do stuff you dont want to do.



Now, getting back to the car thing, yes, a 99% car driven at its maximum will have peak corner speeds higher than motorbikes. Look at some MotoGP vs F1 telemetry. F1 cars also brake harder, later: why? obviously a function of amount of rubber on the road and C 0f G. It is hardly relevant to anyone, even F1 and MotoGP.

Who cares though? bikes are bikes and cars are cars. And my Subaru is no F1 car.

Even further off topic, one of the better things that was on Top Gear was Richard Hammond trying to drive an F1 car: basically demonstrating how good the drivers are, and how hard they are to drive.....

[haydes55]

I also found that sitting a little further back on the seat made faster cornering easier. It only took about half an inch to an inch, but that changes your body position and the bike/rider centre of gravity, making it just a little lower.

According to Simon Crafars book Motovudu, you want to sit further forwards. That's a book specifically about sports bikes with an emphasis on race tracks.




Another thing for OP to consider is suspension. If the suspension is set up for you, the bike will handle like a dream. If not, I could be difficult to steer and actually dangerous to go fast. Look up youtube vids for setting up sag and fine tune rebound dampening etc. Best thing I ever did to my bike was play with my suspension.

[ellipsis]

You love regurgitating the twat comment eh twat!!!

...that's fucking obvious isn't it you imbecilic twat...do you finger yourself while you are beating up us dangerous, go a little faster than you can blokes who just love to wind wankers up...if you are a special needs person maybe you should get permission from your caregiver before playing with the keyboard or at least let them guide you...maybe they don't like motorcyclists either and can give you some better stories than you come up with...fucking twat...

[Banditbandit]

According to Simon Crafars book Motovudu, you want to sit further forwards. That's a book specifically about sports bikes with an emphasis on race tracks.

That may be so on a sports bike (I don't own one) .. I just know I certainly corner faster sitting a little further back ... it means I am not sitting us upright as I was - not by much but enough to make a difference ..

Another thing for OP to consider is suspension. If the suspension is set up for you, the bike will handle like a dream. If not, I could be difficult to steer and actually dangerous to go fast. Look up youtube vids for setting up sag and fine tune rebound dampening etc. Best thing I ever did to my bike was play with my suspension.

Yeah .. tightening up the suspension on my 650 certainly improved the handling and the speed in corners ..

[Blackbird]

It's hard to know what good or bad traits you've picked up during the experience you've had so far but have you thought about about a 1 day course with a professional instructor on a 1:1 basis? There may be others but I know that these trainers in the Wellington area are Roadcraft-trained and have good reputations:

http://twobaldbikers.co.nz/ and http://www.roadsafe.co.nz/about-roadsafe . Both Andrew and his wife Lynne are instructors. They would be able to help in a real-world road situations.

BTW, congrats on your choice of bike . Have just clicked over 60,000 km on mine.

[TheDemonLord]

FWIW

I found that the Twist of the Wrist DVD (well Youtube video) really helped my cornering, particularly rolling on the throttle through the corner and body positioning through the corner.

That and as everyone else said - Practice, experience etc.

[Hugo Nougo]

I think kaz has given up on this thread, if she's smart ( and I think she is) she has already sifted out the useful and left the rest of you dribblers to talk amongst yourselves.

[Stirts]

I agree.

She looked in and got hit by the wave of utter BS that some have posted. And her head fell off.

[Paul in NZ]

I have been riding for about 18 months, though my Street Triple is new this week (before that I had tried a big scooter, and then an Aprilia Shiver which I actually found a bit too big in frame size). I absolutely love my Street Triple - lighter and smaller and integrated with me.

Here's the thing: I've been told that I can easily take corners faster than I do. But I am scared to. I understand some of the cornering theory and I have good lines, I look through the corner, I stay relaxed.... But I'm pretty slow - as in slower than a car would be (e.g. if a corner has a recommended speed of 65, you might do 70 in a car, and I might do 60 on the bike).

So does anyone have any ideas as to HOW I could get faster cornering? I realise this means getting more lean angle but HOW do you determine what it should be without getting it horribly wrong? Exactly HOW do I go faster when, despite understanding the mechanics, I am scared I will mess up and crash?

I've tried following my husband on his bike and I believe I am a bit faster then - like he's "pulling me through" the corner. Are there other ways I could get better?

Thanks in advance for your ideas!

Oh wow - did this wake up the natives...

OK - I'll jump in if it helps... First off, do you need to go around corners faster? I mean are you being left behind or monstered from behind by old ladies in Morris Minors?? If not then don't stress, you are doing fine. There will always be someone who can ride faster than you and actually - its not compulsory that you try to keep up.

Trying to constantly outride your ability is a recipe for disaster...

If you have come to riding later in life you will need to face the unpleasant truth that you are very unlikely to develop the natural affinity someone who started at 12 will have. They made all their errors when their bones were made of rubber and their brains were 99% adrenalin. But you can learn to ride safely and still have fun.

To ride faster in the corners you need to learn to ride smoothly. Just concentrate on riding the bike smoothly, tipping it in and holding it with the throttle and accelerating out gently - you will get faster and feel better.

Last thing - make sure your suspension has been adjusted by a competent person for you size and weight...

ABOVE ALL have FUN... If its not fun why on earth are you doing it...

[haydes55]

I agree with you it has got off topic as far as her initial question was especially when one poster started rambling about statistics and other who said it was safe on occasion for him to take 60k bends at 95ks when the question had nothing to do with how fast do others take bends. If anything as a few others have said as well as me I hope poster 1 has lost any feeling of pressure to "Keep Up" with the others they ride with.

Bare with this post, I found some insults online and I'm finding some funny ones.


You are:


A few slices short of a loaf


A few cans short of a six pack


A few flowers short of a bouquet


A room temperature IQ (in Celsius)


A walking argument for pro choice


A few light bulbs short of seeing

As useful as a sidestand on a horse

Born at low tide in the gene pool


Full throttle with a dry tank

A goalie for the darts team.



Some more gems:


Your clutch is slipping


During evolution, your ancestors were the control group


Barrier arms are down, the lights are flashing, but the train isn't coming

Your head whistles in a cross wind

[Maha]

kaz, I will hazard a guess that you are looking to corner earlier than you should, to make to corner 'flow'. By that I mean, your position on the road before entering a corner is such, that you throttle off to enable a 'safe' entry/exit? You probably have said to yourself ''I could have gone through there quicker''? and you could have, quicker (in this instance) translates to position on the road/gear selection.

Tracks have no centre line, no oncoming traffic, no fence's, not road kill etc. So if you ever make it to a track day, treat as a bit of fun, as most do.

[Pound]

My observations are that nothing seems to create more controversy in the riding community than the debate on correct rider technique, road safety skills, and speed than what is being discussed here.

[skippa1]

And your pissing in the wind!!

You're