Taking Curves Safely

[M109R]

I think that this is a great topic for the new riders to review. Encourage the experienced riders to post their suggestions for new riders to take curves more safely and confidently.

One of the things I noticed when I first got back to riding was 'tensing up' when I thought I hit a curve too fast or the curve was longer than I expected. You know, that feeling deep in your gut of "OH SH*%^T how do I get out of this...."

Found out that I was either looking too short into the curve or hit the curve in too high of a gear and too low of rpms, etc... By repeatedly practicing and reminding myself of lessons from my MSF course of RELAX, BRAKE B4 CURVE, PRESS, HEAD UP, LOOK THRU THE CURVE, TURN HEAD TO POINT TO WHERE YOU WANT TO GO, etc.. rapidly improved my riding and skill thru the curves.

Now the curves are much more like the regular part of riding rather than an obstacle or challenge to overcome. Practice - Practice - Practice

Again, welcome your tips for helping new riders get comfortable with one of the most fun part of riding a bike.

[VermilionX]

take it easy on blind corners. even if you've been there so many times. it can still take you by surprise.

in a warm day... it takes about 3 miles to warm up your tires. on a cloudy day, around 5-6 miles, on a cold day... i think you need at least 10 miles. take it easy until your tires reach the right temp.

discipline your eyes... you need to form an imaginary line and follow it.

don't target fixate on the rider in front. if he goes down, you will follow him.

i'll let the others pitch in for some other advice



anyway... for me, the hardest part of cornering is getting the right entrance speed. i don't think judging entrance speed can be taught. you just have to learn it as you go on.

the other thing im gonna start to work on is trail braking. i noticed today that i can't speed too much on straights since im not confident yet on my trail braking to enter the corner.

[sharpmagna]

Already some good advice here.

In my short time of riding, I've learned that you need to give yourself some maneuvering room in case trouble arises. This is especially crucial in a turn where your options are more limited.

I've been through a couple turns where all of a sudden gravel shows up in the middle of the turn. I don't ride at the edge on the streets so I had room to change my line and avoid the gravel. Different obstacles can come at you in a turn and your traction is limited already.

Also if you can't judge the speed of entry, it's better to error on the side of slow. You could always speed up through the turn, but you may not have the time or traction to slow down if you've misjudged.

[ofblong]

take it easy on blind corners. even if you've been there so many times. it can still take you by surprise.

in a warm day... it takes about 3 miles to warm up your tires. on a cloudy day, around 5-6 miles, on a cold day... i think you need at least 10 miles. take it easy until your tires reach the right temp.

discipline your eyes... you need to form an imaginary line and follow it.

don't target fixate on the rider in front. if he goes down, you will follow him.

i'll let the others pitch in for some other advice



anyway... for me, the hardest part of cornering is getting the right entrance speed. i don't think judging entrance speed can be taught. you just have to learn it as you go on.

the other thing im gonna start to work on is trail braking. i noticed today that i can't speed too much on straights since im not confident yet on my trail braking to enter the corner.

wow on cold days id be practically at work by time the tires got warmed up.

[Kim]

I have that same concern. Should I brake more before entering a certain curve, etc. or did I enter it too slow?

If I've come in too fast, I let off throttle just a tad and then lean and get on the throttle to get through the curve. You don't want to brake once you're in the curve!

Important part is LOOK THROUGH THE TURN WHERE YOU WANT TO GO. I can't stress that enough. Don't look at the woods in front of you or the white line on the right. Look for a line in front of you where you want the bike to go. It's amazing how that works so well.

[VermilionX]

actually, you can brake while on the corner. you just have to know how much brake to use, or if you can even use it.

it's all about managing traction. you need to manage your traction between lean angle, throttle and brake.

it's easier said than done though since there's so many variables that affect how much traction you actually have... like tire temp, tire thread, tire grip quality, road surface etc.

[bok]

you can brake in a corner. it's just not the best way to do it (even though i still do it sometimes).

for corners it is best to come in slow, look where you want to go, lean the bike over, and roll the throttle on so you maintain a constant speed through the corner. (our BRC here uses SLRR pronounced Slur, as an acronym for how to take corners)

the rolling on of the throttle isn't really gaining you any more speed, because the bike is leaned over and you lose some speed due to the lean and cornering. the rolling of the throttle lets you maintain your speed though which is pretty critical.

as has been said, entering a corner too slow is much easier to handle than entering a corner too fast.

entering too fast or not looking through the corner correctly can put you dangerously close or even over that yellow line, and we all know how easy it is for a cage driver to creep over that yellow line when trying to "cut the corner".

[Sev]

If you enter a corner to fast, the only thing you can really do is tear your eyes off the curb you're approaching, look through to where you want to be, drop your shoulder and hip into the turn and stay on the throttle.

You'll end up:
shifting weight to the inside of the turn
picking your exit point
stiffening the suspension - increases your clearance
and exiting the turn smoothly


If you don't know the corner, then you're better off taking it to slow and doing it again at speed next time. Rather then entering to hot and finding yourself in a median, or even worse in oncoming traffic.

[blues2cruise]

If I am approaching a curve I can't see around I always downshift before I get to it. I had a few experiences of entering a curve too hot and then had trouble regaining control.
As soon as I can see what the rest of the curve is, I can upshift if I need to. It's easier than trying to downshift once you've entered the curve.

The highway signs are a good indication of what speed and gear you need. Follow them until you are really confident of your skills.

[jmillheiser]

heres 2 things that work well for me.

1. keep your speed constant until you can see the exit of the turn then accelerate.

2. shift your weight to the inside (as it get your butt off the seat), this reduces your lean angle which conserves traction. This even works on cruisers (could be the difference between scraping and not scraping on a cruiser). this mostly applies to tight turns