Confidence Boost
Discussion
I had a fall on my bike a few days ago where the back tyre slid out and ended up in front of me, was doing 5 – 10 mph at the time and the back wheel was covered in mud and oil. Now that I have the bike working again I have noticed that my confidence on corners has been completely smashed and end up slowing right down so I can take them at a fairly upright position.
The bike I have is a 1998 Suzuki GSXR 600 W, I just need to know in all your wise opinions. How much will I be able to lean this bike on good tyres, as I am new to the biking scene and don’t want to risk leaning in to a tight corner at 95mph and not being able to come out of it. I take it a track day would help me in this respect also?
The bike I have is a 1998 Suzuki GSXR 600 W, I just need to know in all your wise opinions. How much will I be able to lean this bike on good tyres, as I am new to the biking scene and don’t want to risk leaning in to a tight corner at 95mph and not being able to come out of it. I take it a track day would help me in this respect also?
For me, my confidence comes from knowing the road not the limits of me or the bike. If the road is smooth, deisel and grit free, dual carriage way (wider for run off space) I've found I can run the same stretch leaned over more each time and therefore go faster on it each time. I'd suggest finding a nice smooth quiet local bit of road you can ride both ways on easily. Then ride it over and over again until you feel like you are as far over as you can go.
This is where my advice has to stop.
I've no idea either how to tell how far over I lean, let alone you...could be 10 degrees, could be 45, I really have no idea...
Anyone?
This is where my advice has to stop.
I've no idea either how to tell how far over I lean, let alone you...could be 10 degrees, could be 45, I really have no idea...
Anyone?
Best advice I have is to relax. In your current state you are pretty much unsafe because you’re tense and so upright which will seriously compromise the way the bike handles. I’d move your bum off the seat together with your head slightly away from the screen (more the faster you get) and don’t tense your arms or grip on the bars – arms should be bent and not straight. Also, use the pegs to help the bike steer – give them a push as you corner. You’ll be surprised at how much more control you are the more relaxed your body is – this will make the biggest difference and get your confidence up. Do you counter steer – this will really help as well and there are plenty of articles out there but really it’s very straightforward? Also... look where you want to go and if you think you’re not going to make it around a corner, try anyway as normally the bike will make it but it’s the fact you tense up which causes the crash. Maybe ride a familiar stretch of road several times – each time increase your speed until you feel like you’re improving.
And by the way, if you're that upright - I doubt you're leaning more than 10 degrees
And by the way, if you're that upright - I doubt you're leaning more than 10 degrees
Something that no-one else has mentioned - lean angle and grip will depend on road conditions and tyre temperature.
Don't go out and try and get your knee down without warming your tyres up first, otherwise you'll be sat on your arse in the road again!
On that bike on an ideal surface with sticky tyres, you should be able to scrape the pegs, assuming that you want to!
Don't go out and try and get your knee down without warming your tyres up first, otherwise you'll be sat on your arse in the road again!
On that bike on an ideal surface with sticky tyres, you should be able to scrape the pegs, assuming that you want to!
Momentofmadness said:
What Dave said.
You just need to remember that on a reasonable surface, the bike will be better than you
I could be talking rubbish, but I'm sure I read that a lot of crashes on corners could have been avoided, if the rider hadn't been afraid to lean the bike more.
You just need to remember that on a reasonable surface, the bike will be better than you
I could be talking rubbish, but I'm sure I read that a lot of crashes on corners could have been avoided, if the rider hadn't been afraid to lean the bike more.
Or if the rider hadn't been locked up in fear, or if the rider hadn't been afraid to *steer* more. I'm not a cornering god by any means, but I've learned a lot from reading Keith Code's Twist of the Wrist, I've read book 1 and 2 and IMHO they're well worth having a look at.
I still find it difficult / scary to put some of it into practice, but at least I've now got a better idea of why I'm so slow
Cafuddled, how about booking yourself onto one of the California Superbike School days, or do a track day with a high proportion of instructors? You'd probably learn more than just doing a generic track day....
God, anyone would think I was on commission
You're in a catch 22 situation. Go back to basics. Slow corner/trailing rear brake. On normal corners practice getting your weight on your legs and not your a$$. Position your body as mentioned above a bit later for now. Go into corner extra, extra slow, and from the apex out to the exit, practice accelleratng gradually harder. You will find that you're starting to generate "feel" through the bike. Thats whats missing from your current riding, no feel = no info from the bike = nothing to make your decions on. This "feel" with be the route to getting you confidence back.
cafuddled said:
I had a fall on my bike a few days ago where the back tyre slid out and ended up in front of me, was doing 5 – 10 mph at the time and the back wheel was covered in mud and oil. Now that I have the bike working again I have noticed that my confidence on corners has been completely smashed and end up slowing right down so I can take them at a fairly upright position.
The bike I have is a 1998 Suzuki GSXR 600 W, I just need to know in all your wise opinions. How much will I be able to lean this bike on good tyres, as I am new to the biking scene and don’t want to risk leaning in to a tight corner at 95mph and not being able to come out of it. I take it a track day would help me in this respect also?
The bike I have is a 1998 Suzuki GSXR 600 W, I just need to know in all your wise opinions. How much will I be able to lean this bike on good tyres, as I am new to the biking scene and don’t want to risk leaning in to a tight corner at 95mph and not being able to come out of it. I take it a track day would help me in this respect also?
The best thing you can do is stop trying to go fast. As has been said, you need to be relaxed when riding and if you are trying to go fast you will not be relaxed.
In the dry your tyres will handle just about anything you can throw at them and even in the wet they’ve got loads of grip.
Take corners at speeds YOU are happy with, even if you think you are going slowly. Ensure you have all your braking and down shifting done before you start the corner. Work on your positioning on the road and on getting the power down on the exit. Slow in, fast out. Enjoy the feeling you get from having put together a few bends and don’t worry about how fast/slow you are going. It won’t take long before your confidence is up and your sweeping from bend to bend.
I think track days are great for learing bike control but they don’t teach you how to ride on the road and with corners in particular, track techniques are very different to road techniques. I would advise getting some advanced road training and fully understanding the difference between road and track before looking at a track day.
Ride safe and enjoy.
cafuddled said:
I had a fall on my bike a few days ago where the back tyre slid out and ended up in front of me, was doing 5 – 10 mph at the time and the back wheel was covered in mud and oil. Now that I have the bike working again I have noticed that my confidence on corners has been completely smashed and end up slowing right down so I can take them at a fairly upright position.
The bike I have is a 1998 Suzuki GSXR 600 W, I just need to know in all your wise opinions. How much will I be able to lean this bike on good tyres, as I am new to the biking scene and don’t want to risk leaning in to a tight corner at 95mph and not being able to come out of it. I take it a track day would help me in this respect also?
The bike I have is a 1998 Suzuki GSXR 600 W, I just need to know in all your wise opinions. How much will I be able to lean this bike on good tyres, as I am new to the biking scene and don’t want to risk leaning in to a tight corner at 95mph and not being able to come out of it. I take it a track day would help me in this respect also?
A track day would be good but in your state of mind ensure it is one that is novice based where you can start really slowly and work your way and speed up.
Focused Events do a Chequed Flag day aimed at this.
Also MSV and most track day companies do novice only days.
Take your time and it will come back....promise.
Edited by scobby17 on Tuesday 3rd April 10:50
Thanks for all your replies, I’ll try and take it easy and gradually build up my confidence by leaning in to things a bit more. My tyre only has about one third of the of its centre being used by the looks of it so I guess I have got a fair bit more ground clearance than I would have thought. It’s just hard getting over that initial dip in confidence you get after taking a spill. I might try taking it up to nock hill for a novice track day to see how I get on. Hopefully it might help kick start me back to the nutter I was on the bike to start with…
I’ll keep an eye on the tyres from now on too, to make sure there is no more crap on it before I set off.
I’ll keep an eye on the tyres from now on too, to make sure there is no more crap on it before I set off.
Just take your time and get more confident as you ride.
Don't try to go faster than you're comfortable at, and counter-steer for corners.
The bike will lean pretty easily to get you round the corners and just ease off a bit more in the wet.
You'll probably find that, like me, the bike is far more capable of getting round the corners than you think.
Don't be put off by what's happened, just don't put yourself under any pressure and enjoy the ride.
- and chill!
Don't try to go faster than you're comfortable at, and counter-steer for corners.
The bike will lean pretty easily to get you round the corners and just ease off a bit more in the wet.
You'll probably find that, like me, the bike is far more capable of getting round the corners than you think.
Don't be put off by what's happened, just don't put yourself under any pressure and enjoy the ride.
- and chill!
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