Fighting the temptation to gas it…
Aug 4th, 2009 by Leo
People talk about warming up the tires…but for much of the year (in the north east) the tires never really get fully warmed up in City riding (you’re just not going fast enough to keep the tire temp up). It’s different in the summer though. Not only do your tires get up to speed after a few miles, but the asphalt is piping hot after long days of soaking up UV rays. It’s the super-traction time of year: whether you’re braking or acceleration or corning, all the sticky goodness of your tires are available for thrashing. And if you’re anything like me, this sometimes brings certain temptations. Like the temptation to really get on the gas in a corner…
The main way newer riders drop their bikes is by forgetting to straighten out during hard barking. Or coming to a full stop with the bars slightly turned. Intermediate riders tend to crash their bikes in corners: you get into a corner too slow, and since you could have gone much faster you start to gas it… Experienced bikers make a mental note and remind themselves the next time that they can do the turn a little bit faster. Less-experienced bikers (like me!) have to fight the urge to try to increase corner speed by applying more throttle. So fight your inner squid and remember: lean + heavy throttle can equal trouble! You set your corner speed before leaning into the turn, not after. Cheers!
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Hi… on a cornering related topic do you have any advice for when you get into leaning around a corner and find you suddenly have to straighten up or stop? I only ride a little scooter at the moment and I have had a couple of close calls when going around a corner and having a car coming the other way partially on my side of the road and when I sat up the bike nearly went off the road. But what do you do? Is there a way to better control in a situation like this? I’m currently taking my big bike licence to be able to ride 125cc and higher which won’t be as easy as controlling a 50cc scoot!
Hey Foxsden,
One way to avoid that is if you can start your turn later. It’s instinctive for most people to start turning really early to make a nice gradual turn that almost hugs the center line. What you can do instead is find a line where you can go straight further into the turn (staying away from the center line where the traffic is coming in the other direction) so that you can see what’s coming – then make a sharp turn. [Sorry - this would be better with a diagram...so I hope it makes sense.]
This might be hard at first, and it doesn’t seem like a natural line, because it forces you to slow a little more than normal, and make an even sharper turn… It also keeps you on the outside of the lane so people who aren’t confident in turning tend to want to stay closer to the center line. But going straight and turning later is the best line on any public road (even if it’s a one way street, you want to see what’s on a road before you commit to a turn leading you onto it).
If you’re not confident with the sharper lean angle you can fudge it a bit and do something called “squaring off” a corner… You can make two turns. So if you had to make a 90 degree turn, you could slow down and make a quick 45 degree turn, go straight, and another 45 degree turn – if that makes sense… This is second best, but it’s easier than making one sharp turn late into a corner…
Even in advanced riding courses instructors have to drill this into people’s heads, you don’t commit to a turn until you can see what’s on the other side…because once you’re leaned over you have fewer options… And if a car does come into your lane, the best anyone can do is straighten up and brake and try not to run off the road.
So hope this helps! Cheers!
Cool thank you and thanks for the post you’ve done to follow it up. I think I’ve heard the ‘squaring off the corner’ referred to as ’50 pencing it’ over here (in the UK). If you’ve ever seen any of our currency coins we have a fifty pence coin that has 7 sides and resembles part of the diagram you drew showing the line to take around the edge of a corner…. http://www.geogizmo.com/images/item/69.jpg I’ll try that next time I’m out as I have several sharp bends between here and my office.