Help with not cornering like a pussy

[Harrysf707]

My two (related)thoughts:

You are on too much bike.

You don't trust what the bike will do.


Wear leathers.

You might be right....

[Harrysf707]

Wear leathers. Half of your fear will leave once you do your first low side.

smartest recommendation. AGAT all the gear all the time.

After I started riding my motorcycle I ride my mountain bike so much harder now. I apply and practice on my mountain bike.

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2

Yeah, I am AGAT. Mesh Jacket, leather riding pants, boots, gloves, and Snell rated Helmet.

[reelrazor]

Aaaand, pick one of your riding buddies-the one with the most level head- and ask him to ride with you. One on one. Tell him how you feel and what is happening.


Have him lead you at a low-moderate pace on a road you both know. Pick a 1-2 mile section with four/five/six corners and run back and forth on it. stay on his line a four or five bike lengths back and pace him. You will prolly naturally get a little faster each time and teh repetition will help you feel more comfy.

At some point it will just 'click' and you will feel maybe overconfident, but definately more comfortable.

[_Will_]

I'll add to pick up "Total Control" by Lee Parks, I read through it multiple times when I first started riding. It sounds like you're fixating or not lifting your head enough.

The question I haven't seen is "why do you want to ride?" , I'm curious as to your answer.

[_Will_]

I'll add to pick up "Total Control" by Lee Parks, I read through it multiple times when I first started riding. It sounds like you're fixating or not lifting your head enough.

The question I haven't seen is "why do you want to ride?" , I'm curious as to your answer.

[Harrysf707]

I'll add to pick up "Total Control" by Lee Parks, I read through it multiple times when I first started riding. It sounds like you're fixating or not lifting your head enough.

The question I haven't seen is "why do you want to ride?" , I'm curious as to your answer.

Yeah, I will definitely check out "Total Control".

And as for wanting to ride. My dad has been riding for 37 years mostly crusiers/Harleys (doesn't anymore due to not having enough time) and I've always wanted one since I was a kid. Back when I was 17 I had enough money to either buy a motorcycle or buy a used car which my dad was willing to pay half (50/50). I chose a car because it was more practical at the time. Now that I'm 21 and have some money saved up I thought it was time to actually get one. Took the MSF course and had a blast. So I went out and brought home my cousin's FZR (free) and began fixing it up...rode my dads 1965 S90 for a month or so, and here I am.

[Genesis]

Aaaand, pick one of your riding buddies-the one with the most level head- and ask him to ride with you. One on one. Tell him how you feel and what is happening.


Have him lead you at a low-moderate pace on a road you both know. Pick a 1-2 mile section with four/five/six corners and run back and forth on it. stay on his line a four or five bike lengths back and pace him. You will prolly naturally get a little faster each time and teh repetition will help you feel more comfy.

At some point it will just 'click' and you will feel maybe overconfident, but definately more comfortable.

I was getting there.... just hate typing on my commando.

Pretty soon you will find your self driving your cage like your bike ; works better on right turns easier to lean, I keep hitting my head on the window on left hand turns.

[~JM~]

...Sorry, what I meant was I'm beginning to turn, and then tense up because I'm going faster than I'm comfortable with...even thought the posted speed limit for the turn is 35...I'm only afraid to use the front brake mid turn ( which I caught myself doing in a couple of turns....)

And yes, I have practiced quick/emergency stopping. I have no problem stopping, it's just that in some turns, when I'm in mid corner I tense up because I risk running wide and am about to cross the double yellow line.

I wouldn't be too concerned with the posted speed limits. As someone else mentioned, they are only guidelines that cover the average vehicle & driver. A bike can usually do 1.5X to 2X the posted limit.

Tensing up mid corner due to seeing yourself approaching the shoulder is natural. CHANGE YOUR LINE TO ALLOW YOURSELF MORE ROOM. That is why I enter the turn high (close to the double yellow, or shoulder) & exit low towards the center-line of the road. This gives me some leeway to swing wide if I overshoot the turn & still stay well clear of the shoulder. The closest I get to the shoulder is when I enter the turn & can sometimes only see the first half of the turn until I reach the apex, then I can see the end of the turn & hopefully the next turn in line.

This is very difficult to explain in printed form without hand gestures or diagrams. I hope that I was able to provide clear guidance. Someone else mentioned learning on a small dirt-bike. I feel that this is the best way to learn how to ride a motorcycle, period. I had amassed over 5-6 years of almost daily dirt-bike riding as a kid prior to owning a street-bike as an adult. I wasn't much older than you when I bought my first street-bike. It was an '84 Honda VT500FT. It was a great bike due to being laid out like a dirt-bike for the street. Racing dirt-bikes is where I learned to sit upright to use my torso as a wind break while entering turns & crouching down through the straightaway’s. If you can survive riding the constantly varying terrain on a dirt-bike, you can also ride a street-bike, but not the other way around. If you are able to, pick up a small 100 to 250cc dirt-bike or Enduro bike to practice on. It will really help.

Good luck & let us know what you learn on your next ride.

~JM~

[Harrysf707]

Thanks guys, really great advice! For the time being I'm going to avoid the really twisty coast/mountain back-roads, and spend some time on several other rural back-roads (Straighter w/ some varying curves). No need to rush things....I'm planning on being around for a while. Oh, and when I do decide to go back to the coast/mountain twisties, I'll let you guys know how I do!

PS: Although I would love to buy a small 250cc bike to learn to corner with and to thrash on...I just opened a student loan since I ran out of money to fund my college education (Parents are running on hard times too so they can't help as much). It also doesn't help that the freaking senate didn't do a thing and let the damned interest rate shoot up to 6.8% ( unrelated to motorcycling, but yeah...)

[ragedigital]

Track Days... Track Days... Track Days... You're in Cali and there should be plenty of them. Get on a track that has no cars, rocks, people, trees, etc.

You just need to build your experience and faith in your bike. That's all. You already know how to ride, you just need the place to hone your skills.

My first Track Day was miserable looking back. Now I could run with the Expert group. Tell me if you see a difference (in the 2 pics below) as I enter the corner - not at full lean yet on GSXR (my knee slider would be down and my boot slider would be scraping). See how I look through the corner on the GSXR and not when on the FZR?

I cannot preach Track Days enough. Take your friends - you will have a blast! Everyone learns something at Track Days, not matter how experienced they think they are.

Darrin

[old_school]

Lots of great advice here.. Some thoughts- fzr being to much bike??? I'm not buying into that.. The FZR is the perfect bike to learn to be a racer. You have the right bike but don't expect it to keep up with an R6 or CBR without some mods.

" I can't keep up with my friends". First and foremost, ride to your ability .. Trying to keep up will get you killed especially in Cali where they don't believe in guard rails. Practice by yourself and increase your ability.. Riding is a lot like skiing/ riding a snow board.. You do a run and keep doing it until you do it right.. Find a road with some curves and do them until you are happy with he results. There are many times we are riding we'll stop and re-do a set of cool curves for an hour.. That bumps up your game.. Bmiller ( a former site legion) would setup and take pictures of him and his buddies doing a set of curves they love. Pictures/videos help close the gap of what you think you look like to what you actually look like.

Don't drop speed with your front brake while entering/ or in the turn... Scrub your speed with your back brake.. It lowers the profile of your bike and keeps the weight from shifting .. Use your front brake only if you really have to.. Once you enter a turn, you transition almost immediately from decelerate to accelerate

Finally rage's suggestion of a track day, is a safest way to learn without playing in traffic.. Every time you go, you'll get better

Happy riding

[~JM~]

Did you go riding over the week-end? If so... How'd you do? You should see a bit of improvement every time you go out.

I used to ride Palomar Mountain every chance that I had, back when I lived in that area. Ortega Highway is another great ride. You have to excercise caution on these roads though. I never had any close calls, but I often saw the Life-Flight Helicopter hauling someone less fortunate off the Mountain.

~JM~

[fzrbrandon]

I went through this whole thread just to make sure that someone didn't mention track days before I suggested it. Finally, Darrin did pretty emphatically. THAT'S where you should be learning how to ride beyond what would be considered "normal" for the street. A canyon with car traffic is NO place to be learning your limits on the bike.

Regarding this:

Some thoughts- fzr being to much bike??? I'm not buying into that.. The FZR is the perfect bike to learn to be a racer. You have the right bike but don't expect it to keep up with an R6 or CBR without some mods.

Although the FZR may be somewhat sedate compared to newer 600s, it still has enough power to intimidate someone who may be in a similar situation as Harry. If you're intimidated, you're scared. If you're scared, you may not be able to think through a situation properly... It may well be that he would gain skill and confidence more quickly on a Ninja 250 (or similar). So... I think Reelrazor made a valid point.

As for keeping up - Like many others have said (more or less) - Ride your own ride. If these guys just want to leave you in the dust every time you go out, you may be better off finding different riding buddies because "trying to keep up" can get you killed quickly.

[Harrysf707]

Great advice everyone!

Yeah, I am looking at track days. I just have to plan everything out first, get a couple of friends together. Question about track days...is it cheaper to go through a third party like Kiegwins or Zoom Zoom? Or do you guys just show up at the track when nothing is going on and pay a fee to use the track? Kinda confused on this aspect....Zoom Zoom offers a track day with a school section for $300 is this reasonable? (it's the Novice section)

As for the 600 being too much bike...
I'm still indecisive as to whether or not it is...I mean I feel totally comfortable riding around town, and on some less curvy back roads. Maybe I bit off more than I could chew when I went out with some more experienced buddies on some very twisty roads (that I've never been on)? I don't know... It was probably (or is) a dumb decision on my part that I put myself in that position in the first place... [Also..that riding buddy although a good friend, he's also a major showboat and kinda an asshat.]

Also:

A ninja 250 would be insanely nice, but sadly getting another bike is almost impossible (financially). Although selling the FZR did cross my mind in favor of the 250, however with all the time and money I put into it selling it isn't an option. I would be taking a major loss. Going rate for an FZR around the Bay Area is $1500, and Ninja 250's are $2000 at least....


It may seem like I'm making too many excuses in justifying keeping the FZR....I don't know....I guess all I can do is be smart, safe, take it easy, and avoid group rides. Also As mentioned several times in this thread Track Days!

-Thanks Everyone!

[ragedigital]

A typical Track Day here in the Midwest is around $150 a day. That is usually 4 - 20 minute sessions. More than enough to kick your butt. They also have a Test the Track, here in St. Louis, which is $40 and they let you run around the track at a set pace for a couple sessions.

The $300 you mentioned also has a school, so that must be the extra cost.

Fair warning - once you start Track Days, you will be addicted...

Darrin