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How
to Corner
Contributed by Will
Pattison
This is based on a discussion about cornering on a four-stroke but
generally applies to all bikes.
March 6, 2000
Squaring corners is more about momentum, timing, and body position
than anything else.
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Pick your gear before you hit the corner.
Ideally, you should be able to do a lot of your braking on
compression alone. If you should stall, and it's positioned
right, you can recover with your decompression release (this
sentence is aimed at the larger four strokes, not all of us have a
decompression release).
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With that said, I should also say that you
shouldn't brake too hard. Part of "backing it in"
is carrying enough momentum that the rear tire will break loose.
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Yank the clutch in just before the front wheel
enters the corner, get your weight over the front end, and hammer
the back brake as the front wheel hits the apex.
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Shift your vision to the exit of the corner.
As the back end comes around and you get pointed in the right
direction, steer into the turn until everything is pointed where
you want to go.
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A 4 stroke clutch should be used like a light
switch, not feathered like on a 2 stroke, or you will roast it
quick. Once through step 4, drop the hammer and release the
trigger. Roost on to glory...
Thanks Will for letting me reprint this!
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Additional
tips
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Keep your body perpendicular to the ground even
when the bike is leaned way to the side. Look at the picture on
the right, his body is perpendicular to the ground even while his
bike is at almost a 45 degree angle.
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Keep your elbows up and out for maximum control
and ease of turning.
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Weight the outside peg - the further you lean the
bike, the more weight you put on the outside peg. This goes along
with keeping your body straight up, as you lean the bike your
outside leg has a shorter distance to the foot peg - push down
like you're trying to straighten your leg out.
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Think of a sharp u-turn type corner as a
horseshoe:
As you enter the horseshoe sit down ON the tank,
lean slightly forward and put the "crack" of your butt
on the outside "crack" of the seat so that your body is
pointing in the direction you want to turn. At this point all your
weight is on the front wheel. Your inside foot should out in front
next to the bike (knee NOT locked) unless there is an obstacle on
the course making this dangerous. All your braking is done at or
before this point.
At the apex of the turn, use your rear brake to do
a "brake slide" which lets you square off the corner.
As you reach the straight part of the
"horseshoe" accelerate.
As you reach the end of the "horseshoe"
stand back up.
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