Thats nothing to do with 'lines' thats road positioning, including being on the opposite side of the road on entry to open the corner if safe and appropriate. Lines is more of a track thing imho as man holes, pot holes, puddles, junctions, deer in a field, birds etc etc affect where you are best placed on the road rather than a good line
Its the best time to do it. Watch anyone surfing to get knee down and they will be hanging off like a gibbon.
hanging off like a gibbon to get your knee down is great fun on a roundabout, its not necessarily the fastest way around a corner though...
It sounds like you need to relax your arms. With the weight on your wrists its easy to lock your elbows to take the weight of your body. This stops the bars turning as they need to to get round the corner (you counter steer to get the bike to drop to the inside, then the front wheel needs to be able to turn into the corner). I've often had to do a 'chicken dance' with my elbows to get myself to relaaaaax. Try to take the weight of your upper body using your core muscles rather than arms and wrists so that the bars can move as they need to. It'll feel silly at slower speeds but try and get your fore-arms horizontal from the bars and see how it feels. In terms of sweepers, getting the bike set up for you should help this. It will feel more settled and you'll feel more comfortable with the bike.....just don't feel that you have to go as fast as the guy in front. Good luck whichever route you choose but be safe and enjoy yourself.
thanks guys. Yeah, I'm likely too stiff on the bars. It's going to take some more learning to get into the right position. What about front/back positioning? I find the seat a bit slippery so I've got my nuts on the tank when breaking in the twisties, but I do slide back and tuck in for sweepers. I notice that when I get in the zone I'm mostly well forward on the bike, tank tucked up under my ribcage: that and my legs give me a bit more upper body feedom and takes the weight off the bars since my forarms are mostly parallel with the ground, but not sure if it's the best way. It's next to impossible to ride like that at slow speeds though. I think that's why roundabouts are a problem, because as ET pointed out I'm probably going too slow round.
Nope. Bike is stock. Will be having the suspension adjusted on the weekend but that's it. It's quite snatchy in town but it's really only an issue after a long ride when I've lost most of the power in my grip for fine throttle control.
On track they teach you to lock your arms straight for braking. If you do this, you shouldn't slide forward.
Ah I see. So only brake in a straight line? I'm problalby braking too late too. Then again on the road you don't always have a clear view of the corner, whether its decreasing radius etc. Should I not brake at all through a corner?
i always try to enter the corner at a speed that i think i can go round it, as the corner opens then increase throttle coming out, watch whether the hedgeline is tightening or opening and adjust accordingly at least if you enter slow, you got the opportunity to speed up, if you enter too fast you'll probably be mugged by a moped
Who teaches that??? you never lock your arms as you lose fine control over the bike, both CSS and Simon Crafar teach you to use the tank to stop you from sliding (albeit Crafar likes to hug the tank whereas CSS teach to grip the tank with your knees to take the weight off your arms). on track with practice and a careful touch you can brake right up to the apex of a corner (reducing the brake pressure as you increase lean angle) I wouldn't suggest you try trail braking on a road though...
How old is the bike and tyres? From the sound of not feeling like it wants to lean, going to dropping in on a roundabout I would be looking at the tyres and tyre pressure 1st. Even tyres with loads of visible tread can be out of shape. Suspension set up is a good idea and can make a huge difference. I would hold back on revalving etc until you have identified and dealt with the more obvious things. Once you have the bike feeling right it will all just come together. As to riding with groups I would say, go at your own pace and don't be drawn in. I can go very quick when the mood takes me but will happily make people wait at the next junction if the pace is too quick for my mood or the road.
Mostly agree, but a badly set up bike will run wide. My gsxr was always way off where I expected on corner exit until the bike was set up properly. Some really good pointers in ''Roadcraft'' for quick and safe road riding, road position is a major factor. Like you say, if you follow some one with bad lines through the bends it really shows. ''Redsail'', I used to do exactly the same thing with turning in to soon and also looking to close, instead of further ahead. In fact I still sometimes have to tell myself to look further ahead. Once I do it all comes together.
Oh god this is getting confusing. Will you lot make up your minds! :tongue: Seriously though, if the above is correct technique then I'm already doing that, which is good (tank hugging under breaking, or should that be ball-crushing...), but not consistently so I need to work on that. It feels right to be honest. What I've got to not do is think too much with all this new info, that'll screw me up. As I said getting in the zone takes me some time, but it seems to be a completely thoughtless process, everything just clicks and I'm not really thinking about it.
Steve parish for a start. Oly when upright though setting up for a corner. It transmits a lot of the braking force to your shoulders, taking the stain off your arms, tiring them out less.
No pro racer brakes only upright, for starters they use the squish in the forks to aid turning. And if one is teaching that, I'm not sure I'd be listening to anything else either, regardless of who it was. Arms are for steering, plain and simple. Ideally anyway...
