Wurn Posted February 17, 2009 Report Posted February 17, 2009 Hey guys. I am confused. Recently i went on a one on one advance riding course with a bike teacher. He was highly recomended. I did learn ALOT from him on how to enter/mid corner and exit a corner. Body positioning, braking etc... This week i spoke to a friend of mine who owns a bike shop and who also is very very fast on a motorcycle (been riding for years). He basically gave me different advice on how to enter a corner. He has a good reputation of being very good but also a bit of a wild rider. As seen in the picture i have attached, the marking in red is the Teacher's lines of entering this left hander and the blue my friends advice. Now depending on the type of corner and so on each entry will be different. Basically i am confused again. Both of them had something to say about one anothers riding styles and both of their styles works for me. I must admit that i prefer the teachers way seeing that its very smooth and not so aggresive but that could also mean that riding his way will keep me in and not let me develop and reach my full potential. I have been riding for yrs myself but always felt that i can go faster through a corner. I will be honest that riding fast in a straight line is not that exciting to me, its taking a corner as fast as i can that interest me and gets me going. SO if anyone can give me some reallly really good advice id appreciate it. ANd lastly i have a racing suit which i wore on the day of my road riding lessons and no matter how low i got to the ground and how far my bum cheek was off the seat i could not get my knees to drag on the ground. I know this is not the be all end all of biking but atleast id like to achieve this one day by going through a corner correctly. Thx in advance Quote
stuman Posted February 17, 2009 Report Posted February 17, 2009 I just want to clarify a couple things before I attempt to answer your question. 1) In the photo you attached would be we riding into the photo, making a left hand corner? We would be riding away from the camera into a left corner followed by a right off in the distance? 2) Are you aking how we should approach this corner on the street or how we would aproch it if it was on a race track? 3) Have you ever been to the Superbike School or read any of Keith's books? Quote
Cobie Fair Posted February 17, 2009 Report Posted February 17, 2009 I just want to clarify a couple things before I attempt to answer your question. 1) In the photo you attached would be we riding into the photo, making a left hand corner? We would be riding away from the camera into a left corner followed by a right off in the distance? 2) Are you aking how we should approach this corner on the street or how we would aproch it if it was on a race track? 3) Have you ever been to the Superbike School or read any of Keith's books? I second all of Stuman's questions, the exact ones I would have asked (and like to know). CF Quote
Jaybird180 Posted February 17, 2009 Report Posted February 17, 2009 I just want to clarify a couple things before I attempt to answer your question. 1) In the photo you attached would be we riding into the photo, making a left hand corner? We would be riding away from the camera into a left corner followed by a right off in the distance? 2) Are you aking how we should approach this corner on the street or how we would aproch it if it was on a race track? 3) Have you ever been to the Superbike School or read any of Keith's books? I second all of Stuman's questions, the exact ones I would have asked (and like to know). CF I had the same thoughts. PLUS, if this is street, what side of the road do you ride on in your town? Quote
mike kromjong Posted February 17, 2009 Report Posted February 17, 2009 A few questions. 1. Why would'nt you start next to the white line at the right hand side? 2. At what speed are you riding there? 3. Why would you want to give up your line of sight to the second bend thats coming up by driving on the wrong side of the road? Mike. Quote
hubbard_28 Posted February 18, 2009 Report Posted February 18, 2009 Another question, and the first one that pops into my mind, is: are you going to ride on the street or track? Was your instructor with you on the street or track? Is this an entry from a straight, or another corner? Does the racer instruct also? Some people have a much harder time translating what they know how to do into words. You may get a few different answers on this site as well, though. Either way, if you clarify on your questions, your going to give us plenty to discuss, and allow for a great learning opportunity for some. Quote
Wurn Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Posted February 18, 2009 OK first off, thx for the replies and the questions. I will see if i can answer them for you before my lessons begin OK i am talking about road riding here, and yes i have read some of Keith Codes article but that was yrs ago. I live in South Africa and very much doubt if i will ever have the oppertunity to learn from someone like Keith or guys like yourselfs, person to person. We drive on the left hand side of the road, so i will be traveling from bottom of the picture towards the top of it, hence my left hander comment in earlier explanation. As for being to a superbike school the answer is no, only had one lesson with the teacher guy on the road. SO yes i would like to know more about which will be the correct angle of approach for a corner like the one in the pic. THe red line or blue line approach. The blue line approach is more late braking and squiring off the corner where the red line approach will be going earlier into it (making sure that whoever is behind you has to take you on the outside to overtake), and following the curve and accelerate on the exit point and focussing your eyes on the next corner coming up. Also apologies for responding so late to your questions, being in South Africa and you guys in the US, well the time differance will always keep me laggin behind. Another thing the dvd "A Twist of the Wrist, Video or NEW DVD" is that a good buy to learn about cornering. I mean is it very descriptive with lots of clear cut movie shots of corners and so on? Is it a good buy basically? Quote
Wurn Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Posted February 18, 2009 Another question, and the first one that pops into my mind, is: are you going to ride on the street or track? Was your instructor with you on the street or track? Is this an entry from a straight, or another corner? Does the racer instruct also? Some people have a much harder time translating what they know how to do into words. You may get a few different answers on this site as well, though. Either way, if you clarify on your questions, your going to give us plenty to discuss, and allow for a great learning opportunity for some. He was on the street with me first letting me go ahead to see what i could or could not do. Then he pointed out my mistakes and told me to follow him riding my pace. I then practise it and then he followed to see if i understood what he was saying. SO it was a very hands on approach from his side. Yes the entry is from a straight. The racer guy is not really a racer just a friend who has as i said a very good reputation of being very very fast around corners. Even on a track he is blindingly fast, BUT to be honest although he is my friend i would never ride or learn from him. Its as you said he translates his ideas a bit differently than the teacher guy. He tends to be a bit of a wild rider, almost no fear of falling or dying. GHost Rider comes to mind. As for getting different answers here on the site well i just have to mix tehm up and practise on the road to see which fits me. As for now i am still using what i learned from the teacher guy but did he teach me the correct things or can i do even better is what i am trying to find out. Pls understand that i can ride and ride pretty fast, been riding for years as i said, but i am no way near as fast as my friend or alot of riders out there. I just want to take any corner at its best possible angle and speed. if i can learn from what you guys know then id be very gratefull. Quote
stuman Posted February 18, 2009 Report Posted February 18, 2009 Glad I asked!!! HA ! I was wondering why the lines were on the "wrong" side of the road I like the red line much better then the blue. I try not to cross the middle of the road, ever. The red line uses all of the road so you will use less lean and make make the most open radius you can. The blue line starts on the wrong side of the road and seems to run pretty wide all the way through. Don't worry too much about dragging your knee. It will probably just happen sooner or later and it isn't really something I would be trying for on the street. If you have a race track near you give that a try, I'm sure you would have a great time and maybe even drag your knee there. draging your knee requires more speed and that is not something you want to be pushing to hard for on the street. Have fun! Quote
hubbard_28 Posted February 18, 2009 Report Posted February 18, 2009 I'd say the red line also. The apex is farther into the corner, and it won't push you out, which will set you up for the right hander ahead. The blue one is out there, and something I would picture watching a new rider doing. And, as Stuman said, dragging your knee is something that will come. Slowly increasing speed will force an increase lean on the bike, and sooner or later you'll drag. I have a subconscious safety that won't let me push it on the street. Quote
Jaybird180 Posted February 18, 2009 Report Posted February 18, 2009 ...I try not to cross the middle of the road, ever. While I wouldn't advocate it just for the purpose of finding the best line like in this case, I would be wary when people advise hard rules like that. Sometimes it can be a last ditch maneuver where it's necessary. If your brain sees the yellow line like a solid wall, then that piece of asphalt is ALWAYS unavailable to you. Quote
Cobie Fair Posted February 18, 2009 Report Posted February 18, 2009 Firebeast, The Twist DVD is very good, based on the first book. It was made 20 years ago, so looks a little dated, but the material still works just fine. The 2nd book (working on a DVD version now) is very different, and there is some material in there I think you'd like quite a lot--particularly on turn points and how to choose them, which has everything to do with what line you take. That's Twist of the Wrist, Vol 2. Great book, easy to read. Sounds like you didn't know, but our European branch of the school has done schools at Kyalami in South Africa, and will be going there again in Septermber. They are trained by us and run the same program. Best, Cobie Quote
Wurn Posted February 19, 2009 Author Report Posted February 19, 2009 Firebeast, The Twist DVD is very good, based on the first book. It was made 20 years ago, so looks a little dated, but the material still works just fine. The 2nd book (working on a DVD version now) is very different, and there is some material in there I think you'd like quite a lot--particularly on turn points and how to choose them, which has everything to do with what line you take. That's Twist of the Wrist, Vol 2. Great book, easy to read. Sounds like you didn't know, but our European branch of the school has done schools at Kyalami in South Africa, and will be going there again in Septermber. They are trained by us and run the same program. Best, Cobie OK thx to all of you for responding and i will follow then what the teacher guy said, which was the red line approach. For dragging my knee on teh road i know its not something that will come easy or something i should worry about. I have been on the track before and did manage to scrape my hero blobs on my cbr600f2 yrs back. There's an advance school day on the racetrack here where i am from once every month. I am going to attend one soon. ive also read that Andy Ibbot has been in South Africa a couple of times but unfortunately the racetrack he attends is 1200km away. I live in Cape Town and our racetrack is called Killarney and not Kyalami. One thing i will definately do thsi year is try to attend the MotoGP at Kyalami in April. OK then i will wait a bit for the new dvd to come out or maybe get the older one. Once again thx for help and i will keep a very close eye on this forum for more tips. Quote
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