Scary corner

[Mole_C]

Nearly had my first crash today. Was going for a ride just out past albany by Paremoremo i think and got into a tight windy bit. Now this is my first time on tight windy roads so i change down a gear and slow down what i think is a good slow speed. There are no signs but i can see its pretty sharp. I take the first right hander just fine, no probs there. I start heading into the next left hander which looks just like the last but i look for the exit and oh shit its not there. The corner tightens up heaps and im drifting just over the centre line i feel my fingers reaching for the brakes but managed to get them back down as ive read that braking is the worst thing you can do in this situation. Instead i just keep going, hoping noting will come the other way.To make it even worse im leaning further than i have before and my shoe hits the ground.

But i made it, im still alive

So what do you guys do in this situation? I think i need to get my feet in a better stance so they don't hit the ground again but there most comfortable when there pointing sideways a bit and it makes it easier to move them to change gears and brakes.

Any advice to keep me from another near crash wld be good

[TerminalAddict]

so far so good
If you're gonna crash why not crash trying to take the corner, rather than trying to escape the corner.

I kind ride on tip toes, and move my foot for gears/brakes

[paturoa]

.... im leaning further than i have before and my shoe hits the ground.

Lots more to go yet, toe touching is fine (fun). Have a look at your tyres there will still be plenty of unused tread.

If you have good tyres, go find somewhere dry and clean where you can see that there are no cars coming the other way / car park etc, and gradualy practice leaning further and further. (Make sure that your tyres are warm first!)

[beyond]

When in too hot, all you can do is lean and lean some more. A modern bike will lean a whole lot more than you think.

But, you have to give it a chance to lean. Having your feet down like that means the first reaction most people have when there boot hits the ground or their pegs, is to stand the bike up a bit which means you are going to go wide. On a left hander you will cross the centreline with possibly disastrous results. On a right hander you will be looking at the scenery a lot closer than you really want.

So, once you get to know your bikes cornering capabilities, you should already be in the gear you will take the corner at and I always ride through corners on the balls of my feet on the pegs. You have much more control, your boots will last a lot longer and your bike is safe to lean right to the pegs.

If you are leaning so far that the pegs touch down, let them. Most modern bikes have peg feeler bolts for this purpose and the pegs fold up as well.
So, even with the pegs bucking under your feet, you won't come off unless you either brake, use to much throttle or start getting down on harder parts of your bike or your tyres are crap or cold. Once the hard bits touch down the weight comes off your tyres and at this stage, you are way to hot and will lowside, which is a lot better than going straight off the road at speed, as long as you don't hit anything.

To get more cornering clearance and more corner speed, you can also hang off the bike but leave that one alone till you know what you are about with normal in the seat cornering.

[skelstar]

Good on ya for doing the right think (not braking). Took me months and months to get out of the habit. Awesome.

Now find someone who is a good rider and ride with them for a while. Learn their lines. Sit down with some paper and a pencil and look at drawing a few corners and what lines you should take, and what you should be doing in the corner at different points.

Awesome

[rocketman1]

One of the golden rules of road biking, is slow in and fast out, especially when you dont know the road, or else one day it will catch up with you, or when some farmer on a back road has parked his tractor half way round a blind corner, ride to survive...good luck

[gijoe1313]

Good to hear you did all the right things and kept it rubber side down! And now you're sharing it with us so we can benefit! Yeah, know what you mean about the boot scraping - first time it happened, I was puzzled then when I left the corner...it was like - "No way, whoa. Crap! Was that meant to happen?" etc.

And what beyond says is true about the cornering ability of bikes! I've had about a cm of chicken strips left on my rear tyre and yesterday when I went for the Oko run with a bunch of experienced riders, I had the benefit of seeing how they did their runs into corners at speed!

So, I followed and had a few pucker moments but trusted in the bike and did my thing and all was well.

Wasn't until I got home and checked my bike over when I was like And, oh yeah, I did cross the center line once which made me very reflective about what I needed to do right!

Keep it rubber side down and don't outride your Asphalt Angel!

Great post - I've learnt some more from this!

[BNZ]

Yeee Haaa, good stuff mate - nice save. Gave myself the shits once when I was learning with a simmilar experience.

If you can, get down to Frosty's track day at Taupo. You will then get a chance to see just how far your bike can lean over!

[McJim]

I'd love to quote them by name but can't remember who said it but...

If you realise you've gone into a corner too hot and don't think you're gonna make it stick your face in the inside wingmirror and it'll pull the bike into the corner.

Oh and I ride with the balls of my feet on the pegs to keep me boots outa the way, resting lightly on the inside peg in a turn so it it touches it just lifts instead of biting the ground.

But I'm a noob so if I've picked all this shit up wrong please tell me!

[Finn]

There is no such thing as a scary corner. Just scared riders.

[The_Dover]

There is no such thing as a scary corner. Just scared riders.

What about downhill left handers?

[Finn]

What about downhill left handers?

Them and those nasty straights with clear visibility, dry roads and no traffic.

[Drum]

Well done on keeping those hands off the brakes Mole.
This story could've had a different ending if you hadnt!

Keep up the good work.

[carver]

Nearly had my first crash today. Was going for a ride just out past albany by Paremoremo i think and got into a tight windy bit. Now this is my first time on tight windy roads so i change down a gear and slow down what i think is a good slow speed. There are no signs but i can see its pretty sharp. I take the first right hander just fine, no probs there. I start heading into the next left hander which looks just like the last but i look for the exit and oh shit its not there. The corner tightens up heaps and im drifting just over the centre line i feel my fingers reaching for the brakes but managed to get them back down as ive read that braking is the worst thing you can do in this situation. Instead i just keep going, hoping noting will come the other way.To make it even worse im leaning further than i have before and my shoe hits the ground.

But i made it, im still alive

So what do you guys do in this situation? I think i need to get my feet in a better stance so they don't hit the ground again but there most comfortable when there pointing sideways a bit and it makes it easier to move them to change gears and brakes.

Any advice to keep me from another near crash wld be good

im probably going to cop some flack for this, but i always use the rear brake when going in too hot, because it slows you down and pulls you in tighter.
the front makes you run wide.
If you want to corner like me, i go in too hot, use the rear brake as soon as the bike is at its max leaning point, or just before, then power out.
dont go hard and "supermoto" it on the rear, just gently let it pull you tighter.
it works for me
I use this alot when on the dirtbike!

[BNZ]

im probably going to cop some flack for this

Im sure you are Rossi. Now where is your helmet in your profile pic