Okay...as some of you might know. I'm pretty much a newb when it comes to bikes. I took my riders course, etc. I've been taking it pretty easy too. Mostly I ride weekends and out in the middle of nowhere, nice sweeping curves and plenty of scenic little roads.

Well...short story shorter;
My bike is no corner carver or speed demon, but I came into a turn a with a little more speed than I should have. It was a two lane, pretty sharp, blind right curve with a decreasing radius. I was probably doing about 45-50 when I should have been doing 35 tops. I know you're not supposed to apply breaks while turning, right? But I needed to either scrub off speed quickly, or really lean the bike to make the curve. As this was occuring I had to make decisions fast....either try to lean the bike and risk taking the turn too wide and traveling into the oncoming lane where a car could be around the curve, or I could straighten up the bike traveling in a straight line, and then apply breaks to slow more rapidly, doing so would also cause me to steer into the oncoming lane.
I chose the later...thinking at least this way I could swerve back into my lane faster.

As I straightened up, there was a small road to my left, at the curve's outside...I was now much slower having pulled up and I quickly glanced and was able to veer onto that little road and then was able to straighten up and slow down some more.

All this happened so damn fast. It really scared me. It was the first time I felt almost out of control. Had there been a car in the other lane I'm not sure what I would have done.
Had there not been that little rural road to my left I would have went off roading for a bit.

I didn't think I was going too fast for the turn as I approached it...and I didn't trust my skills to really lean the bike into the corner when I discoverd I was going too fast. In hindsight it proabbly would have stuck fine if I leaned it over to make the curve, but I was afraid to lean it that far.

So question is....how do I practice leaning the bike to take faster curves and learning the bike's and my limit without endangering myself?
Currently I'm thinking of taking some intermediate and advanced rider's courses at MRA.

What would you do? Should I have just applied more break while trying to negotiate the corner at the same time? Can't that cause you to wreck? Thanks for any input or advice.

-Newb

 

more seat time

body position (get off the bike/kiss the mirror), you will be surprised at what you can do on a bike with better body position, sportbikes have way more lean angle than what most of us are willing to learn (espcially on the streets).

you will also be surprised on how much speed you can scrub off with the front tire just by leaning a lil more,

always know the roads that you are going to haul butt down, if ya dont know the road than you shouldn't be going that fast

start looking on local forums for rides, there is one that has a Sunday ride just about every weekend, tag along, get use to taking the twisties and each time out try to improve on 1 or 2 things,

read up, twist of the wrist, twist of the wrist 2, and there are a few more

bring it to the track, things you can learn @ the track can intrun make you a better rider on the streets

btw, never try to apply more brake while lean'd, you dont have as much of a contact patch and would cause the front to lock up and wash out from under you

 

Short answer... a track day will do you some good to explore more lean if you want to get to the limit in 1 day...

or just wait, with time the same roads come to you a bit easier. Before you know it you are leaning more over time.


You can trail brake into an apex, but this requires you have good feedback from your front end (confidence) to know when you are grabbing too much. Some times a light application of front break will get your through a corner.

On left handers opt for the rear instead, the bike will turn a tighter radius with the rear brake, but too much in the rear is often a disaster. The key is to develop a feel for the feedback to your foot to know when you are applying too much. This has become hard for me with the track boots...

 

all very good advice from Wolfey & Raul....the only other thing i can say is...buy the book "Twist of the Wrist 1 & 2" by Keith Code and read them like a bible and try a few of Kieth's lessons....

glad to hear it came out ok......most of the time, the best thing to do (on as sportbike) is....KEEP THE GAS ON AND KEEP LEANING.....although, that is not what your mind thinks is correct and will instantly make you want to do otherwise (Code calls this a Survial Reation) and you can train your mind to ignore the reactions....sounds crazy, but damn if it doesnt work....

 

Wow...thanks for the advice! I do try to get as much seat time as possible. I thought I knew these roads pretty good. I guess my big mistake is that I tried to take the curve at speeds I know I can manage in a car safely. So the speed felt right, but I took for granted my limited skills on the bike. And the bikes inability to manage as tight a turn as my car.
I'm not trying to be a hotshot or anything. I was just enjoying the ride and got in over my head...very quickly. I'm sooo thankful there wasn't another car coming around the bend. I'm also glad I mnaged to keep my cool.

I'll check out those books and look into track days....though I'd be the slowest guy out there on my oldschool bike. Still would be a fun way to learn more. I find autocross racing my car over the years has really helped me develope better skills in adverse situations on the street. Seriously thanks for the tips.

Any other suggestions I'm all ears.

 

come out and ride a few runs with some of the guys on the site (Danny OBrien has been doin lots of North Runs) and i post lots of rides that are open to all skill levels....main thing is, you will get seat time and street time...hopefully we will see ya around...

ride safe and ATGATT.....

 

do not apply what I am about to tell ya until you have more experience!

when I rode the streets (n. run) and I was coming into a turn, no matter if I knew the road or not, I would look for the signs, is it a left or right and normally it would post a speed just below the arrow indicating which direction, well I would double the posted speed because the posted speed is the speed tht a 4 wheels vehicle can travel thru at a safe rate of speed - ex. if a right hander can up and the posted speed for that turn was 45, I would try to take that turn at 90mph with the right body position and lean and and experience you will be able to do it to. but it takes time,

remember to take baby steps. ride within your limits, dont go out and push them, if you think you are going in to fast slow down, but try to brake while the bike is still upright

 

btw, waht kind of bike do you have???

no matter what biek you have the first thing you need to do is get the suspension set up for your weight! then put on a good set of rubber. those two things are like camparing night -to day!!!

 

one other thing, no matter how old a bike you have and how much seat time you have, you can bring it to the track, Jennings welcomes new riders all the time,

I am a control rider for Jennings Gp, there have been a few changes recently and its geared to helping the newb riders.

 

+1 to track riding. Once you've discovered what you're actually capable of on your bike, the situation that you just experienced simply will not happen. You'll have already shown yourself that the bike can handle it, so you'll just apply more pressure to the inside handle bar and simply make the turn. Nothing to it.