Cornering tips

[kaka]

Hi Iceman,

If I get the chance i would love to go for a blast with you,but have a two week old baby & a 2 yr old toddler.
Not a pro but been riding non stop for 28 years & have cooled down since having kids(responsibility).
Working on being out on Thursday on me battered zx9 so may see you out then.
Main thing is to be relaxed & let the bike & tyres do what they are made for.
Position yourself where you can see furthest round the corner staying within your lane on a left hander.
If there are no chevrons on a bend usually it is not very sharp
DONT QUOTE ME ON THAT THOUGH
that is what i go for anyhow
There has been a few articles in various mags covering this issue which can help but experience is best & use these as guidance.
Again this is my view & i have never been on a advanced course so am no expert

[Kevinb]

Iceman have you thought of going on one of the Bikesafe days, they are very good.

Cheers

Kev

[sburv]

Bike safe comes highly recomended, and can lead to cheaper bike insurance too.
I've got mine booked for July and really looking foward to it.

[hotdog]

Would add to all this great advice that's it's really worth buying and reading a copy of Roadcraft. This is the system that the police train and ride to and that they'll talk to you about on a Bikesafe day. If you go on to do any sort of advanced training/riding then again, it is THE system of advanced riding.

Regards,

[schwee]

Bike safe would be great to improve your technique.

I've never done one, but being a plod myself, am trained to drive to the system of car control etc and a lot of what is written in car Roadcraft is the same for bikes.

The key ingredient to safe biking is learning to read the road, using all the information around you. There is a lot more than you think:

Hedge rows - which way are they going/are they obscuring your view of the road ahead/can you see high vehicles above them
Telegraph Poles - you can see these above most hedgerows so give an idea of which way the road is bending/are they getting shorter (downhill) or taller (up hill)
Road signs - tell you about junctions/camber/hazards/degrees of certain bends
Chevrons - warning of a tight bend ahead/or tightening up of a bend
Line markings - do you know what all the different ones mean?

short lines long gaps - normal road, no hazards
Long lines short gaps - hazard area (junction/hill crest/bend)
solid line on your lane, broken line on other lane (no overtaking, oncoming vehicles may be overtaking
broken line you side, solid other - if you find this one mid bend - get the power on as the road is about to open up.

Next time you go out, have a good look around and start to read which way the road is going. The key is slow in, fast out.

Find a piece of road you enjoy, and keep practising on a series of bends you know.

Most of all, relaxe and have fun

[hotdog]

Should have said. I'm talking about Roadcraft for motorcyclists...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorcycle-R.../dp/011341143X

Regards,

[Ghost]

Bikesafe is good and cheap as chips (free) California Superbike School level one is very good (but very expensive) one extreme to the other and lots of other training available at all sorts of costs in between.

[Iceman]

Spent a few days concentrating on Counter-steering and have really picked up the pace feeling more confident! Now,just got to see about getting my knee down on the local roundabouts!

[Sue600]

Well done! Keep practising....would you like to borrow my knee sliders?? I want them back after so I look cool though once they are all scuffed! :

[hotdog]

Well done! Keep practising....would you like to borrow my knee sliders?? I want them back after so I look cool though once they are all scuffed! :

Just drag them down a wall Sue, or if you'd like the really convincing look, lend them to me...

... 30 seconds on my grinder and they'll look real cool lol.