Cornering on a motorcycle

When it comes to approaching corners on a motorcycle, most of the time you instinctively get a feel for every corner and automatically adjust your speed and approach accordingly. There are in fact lots to remember when tackling a particular bend or corner and we’ve put together a few tips on what type of corners to look out for and how to pull them off safely and with ease.

Approaching the corner

When you’re out and about on your motorcycle, the first thing to remember is to look at the road ahead of you in advance. You should ask yourself: Am I about to approach any corners? Are the corners quite sharp and appear difficult to tackle or large and open?

This way, you can judge each corner and consider the entry speed at which you’re going to approach it as well as the gear. You may feel familiar with the scenario that when you’re riding along and the corner takes you by surprise, you suddenly don’t know what gear you should be in and whether you should shave off your speed or increase it. This is why judging the corner before your approach – where possible – is crucial.

Sometimes however, you may not be able to see ahead at all. In this case, pay attention to the vanishing point of the road (the point where the inner and outer sides of the road come together). If you happen to notice that your distance to the vanishing points in getting increasingly bigger, this means that the corner is widening. If the vanishing points get closer then you’ll know the corner is getting tighter and you can begin shaving off your speed by gently using your back brake. If you completely forget to observe the vanishing points and a corner takes you by surprise then use the back brake gently – remember not to panic and brake too hard!

Practicing corners

It’s worth practicing on a stretch of road that has multiple corners that you are familiar with. This way, you’ll become familiar with learning to adjust your speed and gears to suit those corners.

Tackling the corner

After you’ve prepared for the corner, now’s the time to enter it.

You should enter the corner slowly and at a speed you feel comfortable with. You’ll know that you were travelling too quickly if you feel the need to use the brake or close the throttle during the corner.

Use the throttle bit by bit throughout the whole corner and lean your motorcycle into the corner by shifting your body weight in that direction. For example, if you’re approaching a corner to the right then you should lean rightward.

If for whatever reason you need to brake during a corner then gently use the rear brake. If however, you need to brake for an emergency then use the clutch and the front brake but only very carefully! Remain shifting your bike into the corner.

Tags: cornering on a motorcycle, motorcycle training, motorcycle training in london, top tips

This entry was posted on Monday, January 9th, 2012 at 3:14 pm and is filed under Articles, Training Guides, Training Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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