Cornering question

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fixxervi6
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Cornering question

Post by fixxervi6 » Tue Nov 16, 2010 12:11 am

Maybe I'll get flamed for asking but hell with it bring the fire

I find myself doing something I'm having a hard time breaking, when taking turns that are sharp, I'm looking at the pavement for dips, bad pavement gravel etc, after I'm sure the curve is clear I finish looking through the curve, I only have this issue with tight curves, or high speed sweepers, the other ones I evaluate quickly and then look through the curve no problems keep a good path.

So as I enter a turn, I'm (still) checking the pavement and when I do this it pulls me to the inside too fast, so I throttle back, finish looking through the curve after I'm happy with the pavement, move out some and get back on it, it puts me in a bad path, I would draw it but I'm sure you guys know what I'm talking about, that is if I'm expliaing this right. In terms of speed, I'm not going so fast that I can't adjust my path in the curve, I've dodged bad pavement and gravel in curves doing this so I'm not pushing speed and losing control in that sense.

The problem it causes is I'll go way inside too much too early then move to the outside too fast so I'm not able to accelerate out of the turn properly and it annoys the piss out of me as I know my first issue is I'm not looking far enough through the curve so I lean in too early, once that happens the rest is just sloppy so I stay out of the throttle cause, you know I don't want to risk scratching the bike.

This is super apparent to me when I took a ride down through victoria Sunday on those twisites, on the way out I was going in too early and same issue occured that I know about that is annoying me cause I'm looking for gravel and other nasties, I know I'm not looking far enough through, but, those little rocks suck so I really want to know if they are there.

On the way back through I knew the pavement was good on certain curves and I executed it the way I wanted to, was able to concentrate on body posistion, looking all the way through, good curve entry accelerate out of the curve and wham I nailed it good, always wanna giggle a lil bit inside when I roll open in a curve and it pulls right out smooth and fast.

So what the hell is the secret, do you assume the pavement is good, assume it is bad until you know the road? To me knowing the road doesn't seam like that will do the trick unless you do it twice in the same day, just because its good one day doesn't mean it is good the next.

How the hell do you look all the way through a curve but also make sure the road is ok on a texas twistie.. god I miss roads up north all good pavement not this crap we have in Texas.

Is it just a quick glance and if nothing stands out just go for it?

Do you just use the force? Maybe my midichlorian count is low
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Re: Cornering question

Post by U-Turn » Tue Nov 16, 2010 9:16 am

Victoria TX ?
You rode down to the coast and back Sunday?
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Re: Cornering question

Post by fixxervi6 » Tue Nov 16, 2010 9:25 am

hmm, I've been to victoria down south and it wasn't that far down, maybe it was victor or something I just saw a sign down in the area that said vic something, down below mansfield.

AH VENUS yes venus, I knew it started with a V
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Re: Cornering question

Post by milesmiles » Tue Nov 16, 2010 9:29 am

lol victoria ahahah
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Re: Cornering question

Post by DarcShadow » Tue Nov 16, 2010 9:32 am

lol
As for the corning thing, I try to scan my view from the pavement up through the turn and back down. I keep doing that through the turn doing the best I can to look through the turn while also keeping an eye out for rocks and such.
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Re: Cornering question

Post by fixxervi6 » Tue Nov 16, 2010 9:38 am

blackjanuary wrote:lol victoria ahahah
I've been to victoria once, they had trees growing in the middle of the road, you had to drive around them, seriously, and when we called up the local strip joint the guy at the place said go to another town that the girls there where dogs...
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Re: Cornering question

Post by fixxervi6 » Tue Nov 16, 2010 9:44 am

DarcShadow wrote:lol
As for the corning thing, I try to scan my view from the pavement up through the turn and back down. I keep doing that through the turn doing the best I can to look through the turn while also keeping an eye out for rocks and such.
Hmm, I've tried that, one thing I've tried to force myself is point my head through to the exit so my eyes naturally want to go there too then keep flickin an eyeball down to pavement then back out to the exit point, I find I keep having to "correct" my path when I do that after I flick an eyeball down to the pavement scanning for evil rocks.

Sounds like I just need to log more hours then.
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Re: Cornering question

Post by Firewa11 » Tue Nov 16, 2010 9:54 am

Looking through the corner doesn't necessarily mean getting tunnel vision and focusing directly on your exit point while going through a corner. It means to turn your head, have that body position down, but don't be afraid to scan around you while you're in that turn. Just keep your head in position to go through the corner.

On the track, at speed, you pretty much do focus almost entirely on your visual cornering marks. On the street, you shouldn't focus everything because you'll miss those important cues that you don't have to worry about on the track (animals, debris, cars slamming on their brakes, semis drifting into your lane, broken pavement, gravel / sand, etc).

That's what it means to never ride more than 85% percent on the street. That doesn't mean JUST 85% to your lean angle. That means your own abilities... Slowing down a bit on the street to give you more reaction time to respond to those unexpected things in the road. And relaxing a bit so you're not so focused on your cornering cues that you have tunnel vision.

I think as with anything, practice will get you smoother faster. I would highly recommend a track day, as it will get you more comfortable with that speed, so when you get on the street, you have more 'in reserve'.
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Re: Cornering question

Post by fixxervi6 » Tue Nov 16, 2010 9:58 am

Firewa11 wrote:Looking through the corner doesn't necessarily mean getting tunnel vision and focusing directly on your exit point while going through a corner. It means to turn your head, have that body position down, but don't be afraid to scan around you while you're in that turn. Just keep your head in position to go through the corner.

On the track, at speed, you pretty much do focus almost entirely on your visual cornering marks. On the street, you shouldn't focus everything because you'll miss those important cues that you don't have to worry about on the track (animals, debris, cars slamming on their brakes, semis drifting into your lane, broken pavement, gravel / sand, etc).

That's what it means to never ride more than 85% percent on the street. That doesn't mean JUST 85% to your lean angle. That means your own abilities... Slowing down a bit on the street to give you more reaction time to respond to those unexpected things in the road. And relaxing a bit so you're not so focused on your cornering cues that you have tunnel vision.

I think as with anything, practice will get you smoother faster. I would highly recommend a track day, as it will get you more comfortable with that speed, so when you get on the street, you have more 'in reserve'.
Thanks for the response, I will do a track day one day for sure, its a matter of when not if.
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Re: Cornering question

Post by sckego » Tue Nov 16, 2010 10:06 am

I've found that, for me, "look where you want to go" doesn't have so much to do with your eyes as your head. When keeping up a fast pace, I'll have my neck craned all the way around as if I'm looking all the way through the turn, but I'll be constantly flicking my eyes everywhere, from right in front of me all the way as far as I can see, scanning the entire road for hazards. I've also found that you can look too far through a turn, and when I do that, I tend to drift to the inside of the turn. You need to adjust how far ahead you're looking to the pace you're keeping... if you find yourself running wide, either slow down or start looking farther ahead; if you're having to correct your line because you're hitting the apex too early, either add speed or focus on a point closer to you. I've found that I can adjust my line, mid-corner, just by where I'm looking. I remember following snail down 51 once and hitting that RH by the church at the south end waaay hot, and I was certain I was going to go wide into the other lane... just kept craning my neck around to the right till I was actually staring straight at the bushes along the side of the road, and I came out of the turn right in the center of my lane. Kind of a cool feeling... :icon_eek:
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