How Do I Get Over The Fear Of Leaning/Cornering?

[RipTrip1]

I've been riding for like 10 years now and I'm still not happy with my cornering.

I ride a big cruiser motorbike with floorboards, so you'd think I'd be scraping the boards on every corner, but no. I've probably scraped them 5 times in 6 years of ownership and over 20k miles. Guys I see on Youtube can really lean cruiser bikes right over effortlessly with sparks from ground footpegs all through the corner. I want to get closer to that.

Is trail braking the answer? Should I lean my body over more? I typically don't lean my body much at all, my body position is the same as on a motorway, I just look where I want to go and go there, all at a much slower speed and much less lean than anywhere close to the bikes limits...

[Rubin215]

Are you happy with the rest of your motorcycling?

Cruisers aren't really designed to corner hard so, if it's hard cornering you are after, you are maybe on the wrong bike.

Test a few other bikes and see if you like them more.

[Krikkit]

2 thoughts spring to mind:

1- do some training like the i2i courses which will build your confidence


2- get out one evening and find yourself a double roundabout separated by a dual carriageway which is quiet and has a decent surface, then practice it on that small section to build up your confidence in getting the bike cranked over properly

[Patrick Star]

I suggest training. I’ve only had a full licence for less than three years,and one of the first things I did was the i2i courses. Even just level 1 will improve confidence no end. It’s not just for new riders either,the majority on my course had more experience than me.

https://www.i2imca.com/

[RipTrip1]

Rubin215 said:

Are you happy with the rest of your motorcycling?

Cruisers aren't really designed to corner hard so, if it's hard cornering you are after, you are maybe on the wrong bike.

Test a few other bikes and see if you like them more.

Absolutely. I know it can be done, I just don't have the skills. Not that I would do knees out but this vid shows how effortless it can be:

https://youtu.be/vDGoBSSw3oQ

I'm actually learning a lot from his videos especially his one on U turns. I didn't even know you're supposed to shift your weight far on the opposite side of the turn before doing a U turn.

[Krikkit]

Definitely get yourself on an i2i MC1 course, sounds like you'd pick up loads

[lukeyman]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Yep. Only in Mad Max films.

[five50]

I found similar with skiing and track days - there are mental limits that your brain doesnt always want to push through from a confidence perspective irrespective of whether or not there is a real physical limit.
Sometimes it takes an external input to make you go through such as instructor or following someone else with similar machinery.
Otherwise, its a question of building up yourself. Does the bike show any physical indication that it is at its limit? Normally there would be some physical sign - a twitch etc. If that is not there, there is a decent chance that you are not at the edge of the envelope - as per the roundabout comment above, take some time and see if you can build up a bit at a time.

[Dr Jekyll]

On tip that worked for me was to put weight on the outside footpeg through the corner. I can't remember what the theoretical advantage was but the feeling that I was having to hold the leaning bike down rather than hold it up made me feel much more secure.

[black-k1]

This is very easy to solve. You are looking in the wrong place. You need to look through the corner at the vanishing point. And I mean have the focus of your attention on the vanishing point, not just glance at it periodically while concentrating on the tarmac 20m in front of you. Do that properly and you won't have an issue with corners.

[Tam_Mullen]

Obviously cruiser bikes aren’t really made for that kind of riding. But personally speaking when I got my SV650 the suspension was so soft and floppy (doesn’t help that I’m a big chap ~130kgs) that I just had no confidence. I upgraded the springs and shock made it a lot stiffer and the confidence it gave me was incredible. It also was such an unconscious difference. First ride I was scraping pegs and using the edge of the tyre without even thinking.

[KTMsm]

RipTrip1 said:

Absolutely. I know it can be done, I just don't have the skills. Not that I would do knees out but this vid shows how effortless it can be:

https://youtu.be/vDGoBSSw3oQ

I'm actually learning a lot from his videos especially his one on U turns. I didn't even know you're supposed to shift your weight far on the opposite side of the turn before doing a U turn.

I think you're looking at the wrong videos ^^^ that's not how you ride a cruiser

This is how a good cruiser rides

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9MVY8swO5M

[KTMsm]

It's all about practise and I wonder whether you'd be better off buying a smaller & cheaper bike to practise on.

I'm practising wheelies and stoppies - I'm not doing it on my immaculate supermoto as I don't want to damage it, I'm doing it on my battered dirt bike

[Biker 1]

I would suggest an off road course such as Desert Rose: http://www.desertroseracing.com/ & perhaps the Ron Haslam offering: http://www.haslamraceschool.com/
I tend to get nervous about front end grip - when it goes its terrifying!!

[catso]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFzhc3i0PRY

[RipTrip1]

KTMsm said:

I think you're looking at the wrong videos ^^^ that's not how you ride a cruiser

This is how a good cruiser rides

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9MVY8swO5M

I don't want to ride like the vid I posted I'm just showing what is physically capable of such a machine, but no no cruiser rider goes around riding it like they're in MotoGP

[the cueball]

Are you counter steering the bike to get around the corner?

If not, I would start with that. It's the basics to get any bike to steer around a corner.

[ThreadKiller]

When racers race or quick riders do what they do, is “i might bin it here” in their minds when they tip the bike in to a turn? I’ve done numerous courses, track days, and dirt biking riding, and this thought is always too much in my mind. I try to push back on these negative thoughts as they slow me down and affect enjoyment.... but they are always there, usually too much in the front of mind. I think I may be just a wuss - Keep trying though.... next is knee down course end of June!

[Krikkit]

ThreadKiller said:

When racers race or quick riders do what they do, is “i might bin it here” in their minds when they tip the bike in to a turn? I’ve done numerous courses, track days, and dirt biking riding, and this thought is always too much in my mind. I try to push back on these negative thoughts as they slow me down and affect enjoyment.... but they are always there, usually too much in the front of mind. I think I may be just a wuss - Keep trying though.... next is knee down course end of June!

Yes, but in a different way - they practice getting to and over the limit, and what happens when you do. So they often know exactly where the limit is from how the bike behaves, but also what to do in that shadowy region where you're past the limit of grip but still recoverable.

[ThreadKiller]

For sure it’s not because i am pressing on too hard! And for sure I have lost confidence- don’t really know why (as I say, I have done more than a few race schools and Trackdays, and even did a bit of racing albeit over 20!years ago). Anyway keep trying.... and if I don’t get my knee down at knee down school... maybe it’s time to take off my helmet for the last time!

And my apologies to the OP for the thread hijack. This thread should be about helping him.

Edited by ThreadKiller on Friday 18th June 14:25