[xroadsterx]

Hey everyone....i'm definitely new to riding ... i took the msf course about a year ago....but it wasn't until last month that i actually rode my own sportbike. I bought a 99 r6. I have roughly put around 500 miles on it since i've gotten it....mostly around my neighborhood, and a little bit on the highway. (i love it by the way.....the r6 has always been my dream bike)

Here's my question...i've read up on how you're supposed to take corners "correctly" but i keep finding myself entering into a turn at around 15 - 18 miles an hour but i always let up on the gas in the middle of the turn. I feel that if i keep the throttle rolled, i'll end up in the opposite lane. How do you guys do it? I'm talking about a normal 90 angle right or left turn. I know that one of the big factor in accidents...bikers turning into oncoming traffic.

Sorry for the long post, but i'm just trying to get some tips for my own safety. oke :cheers

 

[z31maniac]

Go to a parking lot and practice, practice, practice. If your not confident making 15-18 mph turns you really have no business being on a public street, endagering yourself and others.

You want to ROLL ON the gas starting at the beginning of the corner and slightly increase the throttle THROUGH the corner.

Letting off the gas in the middle of the corner is an easy way to lowside, because all of a sudden your putting a bunch more weight on the front tire, the tire becomes overloaded and slides and you end up dropping your baby screwing it up.

At street speeds your not likely to get into trouble, but you don't want this to become a habit, because if you chop the throttle in a higher speed turn your a lowside waiting to happen.

 

[xroadsterx]

Thanks maniac....i'll start practicing in a parking lot. But what speed should you take a street corner at? i thought 15-18 miles was normal.

are there any specific routines i should practice that are good?

 

[danrivito]

Practicing in a parking lot has got to be the best thing I've done. All in all, I've probably spent about 4 hours practicing in a parking lot over the last couple weeks. Just starting from a stop and turning. Slowly turning, and just getting an overall feel for the bike at low speeds. The more you practice the better you'll get. It's that simple.

 

[Liqour_Poker]

The best place to learn is at a Trackday. They have professional riders out there that can show you what you are doing wrong and what you are doing right. Yes, Trackday can get expensive, but it will save your ass. You don't have to worry about cops and other cars while you are working on your cornering skills.

The most important thing to do is to trust your bike. Your bike will always out perform you. The day you can out perform your bike, you need to go and start racing AMA or MotoGp. One thing that I have learned on cornering is, the faster you go, the more you area able to lean on your bike, which in turn makes you take the corner sharper. But before out go out and get all crazy on your ride, check your tires, pre-load and damper. Make sure that they are set for your weight. Otherwise you can lowside or worse, highside because your freaked out.

But I recommend spending the money and go to a Trackday in your area. Just one day out there you will learn so much about how to corner. Where your breaking point is and knowing how to get a proper line. All of which you can use on the streets.

 

[xroadsterx]

Thanks for the info liquorpoker....i'm definitely going to look into signing up for a track day. Do you think I should take the msf advanced course first? or just jump right into the track day?

 

[z31maniac]

Thanks for the info liquorpoker....i'm definitely going to look into signing up for a track day. Do you think I should take the msf advanced course first? or just jump right into the track day?

Track days are an excellent idea. But it sounds like you still need to get an overall feel for your bike, Do you know what countersteering is yet? Have you practiced you emergency braking? You need to learn the fundamentals before you can hone them on the track. Low speed stuff is the trickiest and how most new guys drop their bikes.

Pick up a couple of books such as, Proficient Motorcycling, Sport Riding Techniques and Twist of the Wrist.

BTW most guys I have talked have said that if you can countersteer and brake at the threshold then the MSF advanced course is pretty much worthless, you still never break 25 mph, get your fundamentals down and save up for a track day. But you need to get some SIGNIFICANT seat time before you think about a track day. Even the MSF advance course wants you to have like 3-4k miles of street time.

Good Luck and take it slow. You will be able to carve up the turns before you know it.

 

[stunt_girl]

start with the MSF, they will teash you basic operating skills, after a few months look into a track situation

 

[Liqour_Poker]

You have to look into the Trackday in your area. See if they give instuctions at the beginner level. I know that out here in Arizona, they have all day track instructions on and off the track. If they do offer on and off track instuctions, then I would say go ahead and do a Trackday. If not, then I highly recommend that you get more seat time before you hit the track. Riding track and riding street are two different worlds. Concept and technique are the same, but your way of thinking and reacting changes....at least for me that is.

Most Trackday they don't allow passing in the corners, so this gives you the freedom to find your braking point, line and speed to take the corner without worry of someone coming up behind you and passing you in the corner. But if you don't have any type of instruction time on or off the track, then it will be worthless to go. All that you will end up doing in improving on bad habits which later on in life could lead to a low-side or even worse, a high-side.

If there is no type of instruction time for Trackday in your area, then it is highly recommended to take the MSF advance.

Everyone has a different way of learning, but the key thing is, learn. The only way to learn is to have some teach you. If you have friends that ride a great deal and knows how to handle their bike, have them follow one day with a camera mounted on their bike. I think that the best way to learn to is to see what you actually are doing wrong. This also will show you what your line looks like.

 

[twistad]

You know you might be going to slow, there is a point where it is harder to control a bike when you are at a slow speed and then likewise it gets harder when you are going to fast. Slower is not always better.

 

[Ed]

Thanks for the info liquorpoker....i'm definitely going to look into signing up for a track day. Do you think I should take the msf advanced course first? or just jump right into the track day?

MSF Advanced is basically the basic course except it's with your bike. I wouldn't recommend it if you want to learn sportbike riding techniques.

 

[RockyR6]

Stay off the track until you know you can handle your bike.

Here is where I think you are failing to make the connection. When we say "roll on the throttle" we don't neccesarily mean accellerate. You just want to roll on enough so that you are maintaining the same speed through the corner. I call this "maintenance throttle".

To practice this, go to a parking lot and start doing some circular turns. If you keep your throttle position the same, you will notice that you slow down a bit. To keep the same speed, you have to apply a LITTLE throttle. Practice getting a feel for SMALL throttle inputs.

When you are out on the street, brake until you are well within your comfort zone for a corner... set your maintenance throttle and keep it that way through the turn. As you get more comfortable, start to add a bit more throttle as you bring your bike upright coming out of the turn.

When doing this you will find something interesting. The way the geometry works on a bike, when you give more throttle while leaned over coming out of a turn... it actually TIGHTENS your turning. It has to do with putting more weight on the rear contact patch.

Take your time. Oh, and relax out there.

 

[adobo]

you know what helped me a lot with this problem? when you take a turn, put your wait on your pegs!

slightly get off your seat, or press down on your pegs with your feet, almost as if you want to stand up.

this way, your center of gravity is a lot lower on the bike and you get a lot more control taking those tight corners.

try it out, i'm sure it will help! :cheers

 

[xroadsterx]

you guys are great....i love this damn forum!!!!

 

[Drooder]

Only thing I would add is, make sure you can keep the throttle steady (no slowing down) and then worry about the lines you take through corners... not that you wander around in a lane where possible incoming traffic might be an issue. Again, parking lot is your best friend. There you can practice different variations under a controled environment finding out what the bike feels like when you let off the throttle in a curve (as opposed to corner0 as well as keeping the throttle steady.. then slightly increasing the throttle

Try this trying to hold various lines through the curve(s). Then try different things for corners (ie, 90 degrees, hairpins, etc)

 

[njk27]

I had a friend that I was teaching how to ride. he was having trouble with turns too. I just told him push down on the peg that is on the side you are turning to. he said it helped him a lot, also remember where you look is where you are going to go.

 

[ToggleBreakpoint]

This helped out a lot i took my bike on the highway for the first time and hitting a sharper turn on the e-way doin 70 was a little scary cause I wasn't too sure how far i could lean the bike with out it coming out from underneath me but from what i hear it can lean farely far and i know not to get too crazy. I just wanted to hear from other riders that the bike is capable that and i am learning on cold roads right now i think that is part of the fear.

 

[njk27]

The more you ride the easier leaning will become.

 

[ToggleBreakpoint]

leaning is definately something that you have to get used to

 

[njk27]

^When I first was learning I would go to empty parking lots and do figure eights and circles. Try to keep them as tight as you can, if your getting used to it the circle will get smaller anyway. I got to the point where I could hold the bars all the way to one side and do circles with no throttle and just idle.