the "trust" factor when cornering

[Duke of Rogan]

As a rookie who is still learning to stay upright, I'm not trying to offer any riding advice, but just sharing an idea

During my last decent open road weekend ride on a dry day, I experienced a corner that felt different, so much so that I and the bike turned more than I expected, which got me thinking about this.

When taking a corner at speed (or minimal use of the brakes) there are 3 important things that the rider must trust in order to complete the turn successfully

1. trust in the road conditions / environment

2. trust in the bike's mechanics and tyres

3. trust in your own ability, or failing this no fear of falling off


usually when riding I have no trust in the road or my own riding ability (yet) and I'm often thinking about my tyres, but this one corner from the other day was different and it felt good!
I can't wait to go through it again

[MikeL]

Originally posted by Duke of Rogan


When taking a corner at speed (or minimal use of the brakes) there are 3 important things that the rider must trust in order to complete the turn successfully

1. trust in the road conditions / environment

2. trust in the bike's mechanics and tyres

3. trust in your own ability, or failing this no fear of falling off

I think trust comes from experience. To start with, you shouldn't trust any of those 3 factors and so you take the corner much slower than a more seasoned rider. With experience you can start to trust the 2nd and 3rd, but the 1st is always problematical unless you only ever ride familiar roads. I suspect that many of us take a calculated risk on unfamiliar corners more often than we would admit.

[Kwaka-Kid]

i ahve as much faith in my tyres as they have in me.

im sure the tarmac provides more grip to my tyres then my tyres provide to the tarmac

if that makes sense in anybody else's head but mine.

[Marmoot]

trust in my footpeg.
If it drags the road, the road is good.

Sorry, just kidding.

[MikeL]

Originally posted by Kwaka-Kid
I have as much faith in my tyres as they have in me.

Which explains a lot

[Lee Rusty]

1. trust in the road conditions / environment

2. trust in the bike's mechanics and tyres

3. trust in your own ability, or failing this no fear of falling off


Hmmmmm It all comes down to you.

1 YOU must read the road -
2 YOU are responsiblie for your bike maintainence and tyres
3 YOU must leaarn to ride well enough to trust your ability.

4 Falling off means you have done it wrong, so is not a real option.

I have been training riders for 20 years and the most common thing I run across is that riders don not look far enough through the corners. Followed by lack of understanding of countersteering.
If you can get these sorted you will feel at ease and ride smoother, smoother equals faster.

Where are you located - If your Auckland based I can show you a few things.

[wkid_one]

Originally posted by Marmoot
trust in my footpeg.
If it drags the road, the road is good.

Does that include dragging along the ground when the bike is rapidly shedding fairing without rider?

[wkid_one]

Agree with Lee - this brings back the whole - you can't ride a bike without countersteering argument......

Bikes typically don't have accidents - riders do. A bike won't run in to a merging car coz it wants to - rather coz the rider didn't see it.

ToTW2 goes through the 7 deadly habits of motorcycle reading (rolling off throttle, grabbing brakes, hunting etc) - which is well worth a read if you are new. 

I thought I was doing well having 6/7 of these, then turned the page and he said you don't want to display any!!

Road conditions is always dicey - especially in NZ - where we share the roads with Cattle/Sheep/Farmers/Lorries etc and agree with Mike that often we 'over-estimate' our safety margin here.

Lee's offer of riding training would be well worth while - in fact if enough KB decide to take it up - we could hire a track and make a day of it ( and it worth Lees time).  I know I would pay for that.

[Lee Rusty]

Can I ask a question ?

Do you understand the term Countersteering and the principals that are involved?

I have spoken to hundeds of riders who know the term but thats it.

[Lee Rusty]

Also can I ask how you brake?

FOr instance Front first, back first, both together?

One finger, two finger, four finger on front, etc ?

[MrMelon]

I've just read a twist of the wrist 2, and it's pretty helpful. I might read it again next week before it's due back at the library. There's lots of good stuff in there, and after you read it, you start consciously noticing all of the bad things that you were doing, but you know how to correct them. Eg. having too much weight on the bars, letting off the throttle in corners, having stuff arms.. stuff like that.

I'd recommend anyone who hasn't read it to take a look at it.

[Coldkiwi]

Lee, perhaps you could add a post to the FAQ section about 'what is countersteering' and a few pointers on 'what is the correct way to apply the brakes'.. although I guess the second section could get a bit lengthy!

[Duke of Rogan]

Originally posted by Lee Rusty
Where are you located - If your Auckland based I can show you a few things.

yup, I'm in Auckland and it sounds like I need to pay you a visit!

I don't know all the principals involved in countersteering, but understand that when travelling above 30km/h (or so) turning the handles one direction results in the bike going the other, and using this with the appropriate amount of leaning results in better cornering.

cheers

[Slim]

Originally posted by Lee Rusty
Can I ask a question ?

Have you ever done the Southern Cross Run on a GN250 with a load of steak along for the ride on the Southern leg???

Have you ever owned a bike with a sidecar unit?

Enquiring minds would like to know.

[Lee Rusty]

guilty

yep thats me - I won $5 bet by taking the GN on the SCRR

had to carry the BBq as well

Still got Honda outfit - same chair different bike.

so whos the enquiring mind

CBR600 - COuld be a Warwick -???