I certainly would not take plod as aparagon of virtue in anything , and certainly not in driving !!! Fast or otherwise .
You have to ride to the bike and the road as well though. I can't hang off my KTM. It upsets it. But its a supermoto, not a sports bike. The mass is centralised with less loading over the front wheel and its got long travel suspension. If I hang off it pitches and wallows. I can stiffen the suspension to make it cope but that upsets it in other situations, particularly under braking and if the going gets bumpy, leading to skittering, understeer and fishtailing. You have to ride it differently. I do lead into corners with my upper body though to keep mass as low as I can and then it will hustle any sports bike. The Streetfighter is easy to hang off. Its rock solid stable and has the correct ergonomics. I'm very much still learning but to avoid the dreaded body twist I tuck my inside elbow in tight to my body, extend my outside arm and slide smoothly off the seat keeping my body in line with the axis of the bike and my head and line of sight leading the bike towards the exit. I trust I'm doing it right. I've never had tuition except from a mate who is a road race and track day veteran. Pushing the bike lower than your nerves tell you is safe (like someone desperate to get rid of their chicken strips) has got to be a recipe for disaster. If you body position is correct, ie low and leading the bike into the bend with you eyes focused on the vanishing point, the angle of lean will feel less acute rather than exaggerated and faster cornering speeds will come naturally (and the strips will go by themselves). Another one I try regularly as well as avoiding braking is to try and accelerate right through each bend. Not aggressively, just maintaining a steady throttle and increasing it when the exit comes into view, rather than going from on to off. Gives the bike much better grip and a more planted line but reinforces the need to read the road and plan ahead.
Interesting perspective there ,,,, for me riding style /road craft is not about track driving / racing but all about proceeding at a decent rate in a safe and enjoyable manner ,, far more important to exit every bend safely that get ft out of some .
when i was about 18 i was driving down a country road i had done 100 times late at night and decided to see if i could keep it a constant speed the entire length. I ended up backwards in a hedge. I don't play games or set myself tasks on the road after that. Regards body position, id rather be hanging off and not need to be than not hanging off and get half way round the corner and need to change body position, that'g going to upset the handling and if you are in a position where you need to do it you don't want to be upsetting the handling at that point. But having never seen myself ride, i'm probably hanging off half as much as i think i am.
Exactly, and one of the key points in achieving that is is leaving a margin for the unexpected, speed needs to be proportionate to the distance you can see and you need to be able to stop in the road you can see. I don't disagree, but unless you can stop in the road you can see you are playing Russian roulette and sooner or later you will loose.
While the right thing to do its just not possible if you want to be enjoying yourself. I would be going slower than cars as cars stop quicker than bikes, especially round corners.
Yes, good point about setup and bike context - anything I've said should be taken in the context of superbikes. I do use body position on my adventure bike, but nowhere near as much, and only if pushing along a bit. The 848 is designed to work with this kind of riding style. Good one about accelerating through the bend (which is what game #2 is all about). IMO throttle control through the bend is the key and it took me quite a while to work it out properly. I knew it was the right thing to do because I'd read twist of the wrist, but actually putting it into practice and having the penny drop was a revelation. I now think of my right hand primarily as my 'grip control' when cornering, it only becomes my speed control once I'm exiting. I 100% concur - you need to be on the throttle as soon as possible in a corner, because that settles the bike and gives you the maximum grip (40/60 front/rear weight distribution). Not hard exit throttle, but just enough to set the balance correctly, then roll on smoothly (sometimes neutral throttle is necessary, depends on the corner). If I throttle off during a corner I know I'ver fucked it up. This is all classic TOTW stuff, which is a good starting point, but you do need to make it your own because every corner is different.
I completely agree with you. But I don't want to ride with guaranteed safety, if I did I wouldn't bother riding at all. But I try to be sensible and minimise the risk, but a risk it certainly is. I go out riding with an ex TT winner. He's 72. He still pushes along bloody hard. I heartily recommend the ride safe plod course and I still use those techniques too (1 2 3 road positions etc), I stick to 30s and 40s, sometimes even 50s, I'm always looking out for junctions and positioning the bike to minimise risk. I never overtake when there's a right turn coming up, etc. I push on roads I know well, on corners I can see round. I won't say I'm never a bit naughty on blind corners, but 90% of the time I don't risk it. The objective is to improve my riding technique so that I'm faster on the track, and that can be done at much slower speeds on the road - physics doesn't change on the track.
The physics may not change but the dynamics do ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,it is also interesting to watch the different techiniques between motogp riders and that of road racers ( eg . Iom tt , ni nw200 ) the road racers tho practicing the body lean into the corners are much sooner off it again ,,,,, suppose the proximity of brick walls , raised pavements , lamp posts !!!!!! hedges etc has some influence on this !!!
Forces are smaller, but the vectors are similar - you're trying to manage the forces in the same way is the point I'm trying to make so the same basic techniques work in both environments. I was going to mention these style differences, but didn't want to confuse things. My observation is that road racers don't carry as much lean or hang off as much as moto gp riders. My guess is that its because track conditions are controlled to a much greater degree, grip is different, there's run off etc. But I think road racers are more extreme and taking much greater risks given their environment despite their style seeming less extreme than motogp. Are you really going to hang off that much with your head a few inches from a brick wall at 150mph? Also I could imagine that a tighter line is faster than hanging off and taking a wider line.
Sure some of the forces are the same ,,,,, but ( as i am sure that you know ) the " forces " are only apart , yes maybe a major part , of road riding , but it ois the unknown and changing dynamics of road riding which we have to consider , especially on an unknown road , that is why , going back to specifics r than general saftey , i prefer to hang into a corner , especially unknown one , than commit to bike angle . ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, re road racing , see prev post .
Oh, I see what you're saying. Yes, I'd rather lean less wherever possible on the road and use body position more. Or just slow down if I was feeling unsure.
