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.

  1. 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).

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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

  1. 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.

  2. Keep your elbows up and out for maximum control and ease of turning.

  3. 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.

  4. 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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