road recognition?

[VermilionX]

so i went riding at some twisties the other day, the sharp hairpins, i could see it but not good enough to take it faster.

but on other wider turns where i couldn't see the whole turn... i slow down as well before entering.

so my question is... how much do you depend on road recognition while riding?

me i depend a lot on it... i don't go fast on turns that im not familiar w/.

but i wonder if others are just so good that it doesn't matter even if it's a blind curve... they can adjust midway.

[Dirtytoes]

for me it depends on the turn.......if it's VERY sharp and i've through it hundreds of time but i still can't see through the turn, i'd still go slow because you never know what might be going on at the end of the turn...

tho if it's sharp but i can see ahead of me what i feel is enough and i know the road...then i'll go through it fast...

[shane-o]

every corner has to be weighed and measured no matter how many times ya been through it

things change everyday


surface changes, traffic changes, weather etc etc etc


must always survey and interpret your surroundings whether they are familiar or not if ya wanna stay alive

anyone who throws their bike at a blind corner at speed is taking risks, im not syaing dont do that, im just saying if you do, there is a good chance ya could end up seriously maimed or dead or with a big smile on ya face out the other side

upto you what ya do

[CNF2002]

My rule of thumb is that I try to never put myself in a situation where I would be unable to stop. If its a sharp enough curve and there are things blocking it so I cannot see anything on the other side I will come to an almost complete stop.

It doesn't waste that much time or gas to slow down and get going again. There could be anything on the road that wasn't there 10 minutes ago, a person/animal/tire/hubcap/tree branch/etc etc etc.

I use road recognition to remember regular things I come across like potholes, so I can know to avoid them. But I don't pay 'less' attention to my ride with road recognition.

[scan]

I watched a guy go down a perfectly clear hill into a decreasing corner. He was new, learning, and excited to take the corners faster. He had done the corner before. There was no debris in the road. He went wide and busted up his high priced sports bike. He had only been riding for a couple years. The proved the numbers that say a lot of riders will bite it in the first 24 months. Use caution.

[Sev]

If I can't see what's around the corner I take it a little slower. People around here have a nasty habit of not securing everything they have in their truck bed. So far I've randomly come across: a couch, a swing set, boxes, toys, pieces of a table, bags of garbage, pieces of garbage, car bumpers, car mufflers etc etc. Not all were on my bike, and not all were at once, but you get the idea. I don't like the thought of coming blazing around a blind corner at full lean and realizing there's a couch in the middle of the road.

If I know the road and I can see what's up ahead I'll go fast as I think I can legally get away with. If I don't know the road I'll go a little over the speed limit. If I cannot see what's up ahead, I'll make sure that even going around the corner I'll have time to stop or adjust.

[Kal]

Great story from my instructor today about his nephew.

Rode a bike for years, lived in the same place for years, went to work at the same place for years. Would come home on his bike, click down a gear, throw it round the final left hander straight up and on to his drive.

Lefthander and up on to his drive. Left hander and up onto his drive. Year in, year out.

Came home from work a few years ago threw it round the lefthander and ran straight into the skip that wasn't there when he went to work.

Course although the bike stopped he didn't, at least not until is 'lower torso' impacted the steeringhead which flicked his body down onto the edge of the skip.

This is a happy story though because despite a couple of months of walking gingerly the nephew has since married and sired children.

Moral? Everytime you take a blind corner you are taking a chance.

I know a couple of less happy stories involving blind corners too.

[Motofiend]

I would take a blind corner on a bike with the same caution i would use driving a car. I dont know many ppl that redline their car when they cant see where they are going.
Actually i would use even more caution since I only got liability ins on the bike