Questions about turns/turning:

[nike_soccer]

As some of you may already know, I took a low side spill on my bike the other day in a turn.

Now I'm quite nervous about turning at the moment. Could you answer these scenarios so I know how I should approach these potential dangers? I'll answer the first one because I know this one for sure.

In these scenarios you MUST hit the area of hazzard in the turn.

Obviously it's a good idea to avoid all hazards but these are hypothetically unavaoidable.
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Turn (no debris at all): Slow down to desired speed, make turn, striaghten forks, accelerate.

Turn with sand across the road:

Turn with water slick (no puddle):

Turn with water puddle:

Turn with rocks (larger ones, like used in parking lots of baseball fields Ect):

Turn with little rocks, pebbles a.k.a. gravel:
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Feel free to add any hazards that I have left out!

[Kal]

This is based on my experience and as such although it works for me may not technically be correct.

Most of the hazards you named can be faced with the same approach.

If you absolutely cannot avoid the hazard then gently back off of the throttle and and perform the maneavour with an almost exaggerated care.

Keep it gentle and smooth, try not to brake and keep some power going to the back wheel. If you do need to use the brakes then again use gently with exagerated care and use the two brakes together as you would in the wet.

[Randy]

what Kal said. Remember what they said in the MSF course. Do ALL your slowing down before you enter the turn.

[ZooTech]

Every one of those scenarios requires the same action...you need to remain as upright as possible through the turn. This means taking the turn at a slow enough speed that you can handlebar steer through it, as opposed to countersteering through it. The more you lean through a debris/water covered turn, the more likely it will be that your tires will break loose causing a low side.

[jmillheiser]

All those situations require the same action. Make the turn with as little lean angle as possible. Which means slow down to the point where you dont countersteer, but give it a tiny bit of gas (this is where your clutch control pays off) to keep yourself stable.

[Dirtytoes]

this is what i do in every turn.

1. slow down as much as i can or until i feel like i'm at the right speed.
2. clutch out, gas it a little bit
3. lean towards the direction of the turn, keep gassing at the same rate, do NOT accelerate
4. keep head turned towards the direction i'm going and look wayy ahead.

here in woodland hills, i've never seen any "hazards" at turns except for cars stopping for no reason during a turn.......but i assume that if you see something like a rock or a puddle, just keep gassing at the same rate, do NOT let go or accelerate, straighten out, once you get passed the hazard, lean and continue the turn.

P.S. during a turn, the correct method is to lean, right? i NEVER EVER turn the handle bars. i hope i'm doing it the right way.

[Kal]

Thats the animal Toes, its called counter-steering because when you are leaning the bike over the hand closest to the floor is actually pushing the wheels in the direction opposite to the turn.

I dont know how /why it works - one of the other guys posted the physics behind it a couple of months ago.

To be honest I will still lean the bike through corners in the wet, depends on how confident/comfiortable I feel, I just ttry to do everything earlier and smoother.