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So I took the MSF course, had my bike for a week now, love it. I countersteer unless at low speeds. But if I need to lean over more in the middle of a tight corner (I'm aware this means I didn't ride a good line) it feels like pushing on the bar doesn't work. What's going on here? Do I need to push harder? I kind of suspect that I'm weighting the outer peg when I get nervous, which could sabotage my efforts to lean more. Anyone else run into this?

you've probably got one of 2 problems.

i really doubt ur doing what you said and not letting yourself lean with the bike, if the bike wants to lean, ur going to naturally lean with it. unless youre rocketing around a corner youre not going to even come close to falling over, so dont be afraid to lean.

what i think is your real problem is youre not looking into the turn. in my first week the only turns that i couldnt make tight enough were the ones that i didnt look into. a lot of times when youre starting out you look at the things youre afraid of hitting (like the side of the road outside a curve) and thats what you end up going into. look to where you want to end up and thats were youll go.

Are you keeping your knees together on the tank? Having your legs open, you may be subconsciously keeping yourself more upright. Bike is easier to control when you have your knees firmly on the tank.

I basically agree with everything Grand and Sharp said. Also, hold the countersteering push on the handlebar for a second. I've noticed there can be a little response lag when increasing lean angle in the middle of a corner. Keep applying the pressure and looking where you want to go, the bike will respond, don't panic if there's a slight lag.

You definitely need to be looking through the turn. This will position your body the way it's supposed to be. As was said above, depending on the weight of your bike, it may take some time for the C-S to kick in. And when it does, don't fight it.

As GrandGT and plasmabot guessed, I wasn't looking at the exit of the corner. But I realized the problem only shows up on turns that are greater than 90 degrees, usually when the road surface is out of sight (like a 15 mph switchback when going uphill, or an off camber turn). I look at the farthest point of road surface I can see, instead of the exit. Then during the turn I keep scanning the road surface to adjust my line around gravel/sand etc. Guess I need a lower entry speed if I can't see the road surface clearly, eh? Tough to do on tight uphill switchbacks though, so what's the answer for those?

CO_Tim wrote: I look at the farthest point of road surface I can see, instead of the exit.

basically you can look to where the corner "will" be or a delayed apex.

Just keep practicing those same turns. You shouldn't have any issues on an SV650.

You might want to pick up a good sport riding book like "Twist of the Wrist" vols 1 and 2. They have a lot of technique tips.

In Twist of the Wrist it says that most new riders are fighting the bars. They are subcontiously not countersteering. I think about putting my weight on the bar that is in the direction of the turn. In conjuction with looking in the turn you should have no problem with leaning and turning.

I've found that if I need to turn tighter, it really helps to PULL just a bit on the outside grip.

Seems to be more effective for me than just pushing harder on the inside grip.