Big girls blouse!

[Knottie]

Hey guys wanting some advice about how to overcome my fear of corners, i know I'm a woss but if you have any tips or hints for better cornering it would be much appreciated.
Thanks 'the chicken'.

[chanceyy]

get a mentor & go for a ride so they can help you with issues you might be having .. it surely is a learning curve & been there very recently myself can understand where you at as well

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

Hey guys wanting some advice about how to overcome my fear of corners, i know I'm a woss but if you have any tips or hints for better cornering it would be much appreciated.
Thanks 'the chicken'.

Most definately a confidence thing, get a mentor and maybe do a Ride Right Course that will give you the knowledge know how and some confidence. Then just simply practise.

My main thing I tell my partner (she is still learning) is relax, if you tense up you end up fighting what the bike wants to do naturally around a corner...

Avoid making sudden movements, (unless you really really have to) slow mathodical when cornering will help build your confidence, will help you learn what the bike is doing, and less chance of you making a bulls up. Relax... Once you have the confidence you will find that you will start to flick the bike into the corner and slowly building up of speed. Relax.

Look where you want the bike to go, look around the corner follow the vanishing point of the road. Use the road markings as a guide and try and pick the best line. Use your whole lane you paid for it... ie; on a left corner follow the solid white edge road marking as a guide and on a right corner using the centre line (tho try not to put you head over the centre line when cornering). Relax.

Tilting your head can do a couple of things, it gives a sense of balance and can counter the feeling that you leaning the bike to far...(even tho your not) Its an inner ear thing... Relax.

Ride your own ride, and don't be forced to try and keep up with others... if you are uncomfortable with riding in a group and others, know the destination and tell them you will met them there. Relax.

Find someone you trust (mentor) and follow them, try copy their lines around the corner, take note of what they are doing... (but keeping an eye on the road and corner etc) Then get them to follow you and see how you are going. Realx.

It is a confidence thing and practise... before you know it will all just click. But again relax. Golden rule for corning, slow in, fast out...

[Her_C4]

Most definately a confidence thing.............etc etc to end of post...

Really good advice - all of it.... bling awarded...

To reiterate one part of this and other advice given, the best thing that helped me was meeting Lynda and Hamish as mentors, while I was still on a 250 and trying hard not to ride in gutters and keep away from cars!!!

Hamish would ride slowly in front of me to start, and I would follow his lines until I was confident to ride a reasonable (and safe!) line on my own. As my confidence increased, so did the speed - but always at my pace.

Every so often he would change and ride behind me ... two main reasons for this were if I were nervous about other traffic he woudl hold it off so to speak, and secondly he would critique my ride, lines, style and give me pointers to try next time.

Can't get any better than that

[Lteejay]

The nerves will pass and you will get better at it, you just need to practise practise practise. Good advise above about mentors. Soon you'll be seeking those corners out, when you realise just how much fun they can be.

[Defiant]

yep what they all said....

[magicfairy]

When learning I found it helpful to play round with the way countersteering works. Find a road that has gentle bends (e.g. round the bays - Oriental Parade Evans Bay Parade) and ride round smoothly, not trying to force the bike round corners, but guiding the bike gently by pushing on the bar to feel what happens when you turn the wheel in the opposite direction you want to go (if you dont know what I mean, read up on countersteering, find a mentor, it is a revelation)
Feeling how easy it is to actually steer a bike round corners, using countersteering, and how little effort it takes really increases your confidence.
Then move onto bigger corners, all the time trying to be smooth and gentle in your cornering.
My 2 cents

[ManDownUnder]

My advice... three little words.

Just ride more.

With experience comes a lot of things. I recall watching KeyStone tenderly wobble her way home one night - there was a cross wind and some rain. She wasn't so long on a bike at the time - and it was quite possibly a dangerous ride for her. I'm a long time road rider - I followed her to make sure all was ok - and it was... but it wasn't the best ride I've seen her on.

Now - well... I think her (literal) track record speaks for itself, and I'll freely admit she'll leave me in her wake every single time. Why? She's done the time and gained that experience.

Ride ride ride. Know your weaknesses and cater to them, seek advice and ride with others, but above all - know your limits and stay within them. Test them sure - but don't let you bike outride you.

I recall doing a driving course once where the instructor gave us all the lines in and out, this that, things to look out for etc... then sompleted that section with a warning about corners - succinct, and accurate forever.

"The bottom line is this - if you go too fast - you will fall off"

He was talking about falling off the road in a car. We also only have two wheels so it's doubly applicable.

Go for it!

[Nasty]

Heya
You are Lower Hutt based and there are some really good riders out that way who are great with cournering ... one of them is Riffer .... great with courners and puts you at ease at the same time .... if he is unable to help PM me and I will find some other names.

[yungatart]

1 Do RRRS course
2 Get a mentor
3 Slow down, get your cornering really smooth first, then the speed will come (so I'm told anyway, have yet to experience it...)

[Knottie]

Thanks everyone,
gee so many good tips to use and i think my main problem is confidence, must ride more! as scared as i might be at first, i've been a cage driver for so long it feels unnatural, anyway thanks heaps guys!

[Xaria]

I agree with all of the above. I am not very long into having my learners and my first bike.

The difference even I can see in myself in a couple of months is astounding, so it is mostly practice that will help you.

I really recommend you PM some of the riders in your area that have been mentioned, cos I know it really helped me having someone behind me as it meant I only had to be concerned with the corners and road ahead of me, not of any nasty cars behind of me. As I am getting more confident having someone ahead of me to learn lines is also useful. So a big thanks to the Dunedin crew and especially Nighthawk for all your help.

I don't know how many times I have consciously told myself to relax after a gust of wind or a big truck or - back on topic - a corner. I just take a big breath, release the newbie death grip of the handles, drop my shoulders down and keep going.

Enjoy the summer and try to get as many kms as poss while the weather is nice.

[Knottie]

So easy to say so hard to do, if only i could have a burbon to ease the nerves
Just wish this stupid wind here would die! Thanks again good positive vibes i'm feeling my way!

Oh yeah forgot to say my man has been trying his hardest to be my mentor and is still learning to slow down a bit for me to watch and learn, cheers

[TDC]

Hey guys wanting some advice about how to overcome my fear of corners, i know I'm a woss but if you have any tips or hints for better cornering it would be much appreciated.
Thanks 'the chicken'.

There is a lot of good advise here, plus one thing missing, and that is have the suspension set up of your bike checked out!

With the bike set up to be as friendly as possible you just may find that when its working with you rather than against you, you just might find progress is a little easier to come by!

PM me is you want it looked over, its only a couple of minutes effort and easy for me to do, if it helps you out you can buy me a coffee / coke / mountain dew (is the addiction obvious ;-))