Some Cornering Advice Needed

[patw]

I was out last weekend and found a really great road, but I seem to be taking some (probably well deserved) crap for my handling on the corners. My question is, how could I improve the lines, and am I being too overly cautious in this one?

Keeping in mind, there's still tons of sand on the roads up here.

Link to original page on YouTube.

[adouglas]

Perhaps you could apex a little later. I didn't play it with sound (at work) so I don't know where you're applying power.

The later you apex, the sooner you can get on the power and the more settled the bike will be.

On the graphic below, it looks like you're taking the green line. Nothing wrong with it, but it's not the fastest way through the corner. Try for the light-blue line. The dark blue line is bad and is the primary cause of most of those YouTube crash videow.

Try looking through the corner and waiting until you can see down the road aways before turning in. You should get all your slowing and downshifting done BEFORE you initiate your turn-in. Then just roll on the throttle smoothly and power your way through.

This feels (and looks, from your point of view) odd until you get used to it. You feel like you're going way too slow at entry and it looks to you like you've missed the ideal point to turn in. Not so.

You can see how, if you're on the green line, you have to wait until you're past the apex to start accelerating. With the light-blue line, you can apply the power before the apex because you're already starting to stand the bike up.

[CC Cowboy]

Originally Posted by patw

I was out last weekend and found a really great road, but I seem to be taking some (probably well deserved) crap for my handling on the corners. My question is, how could I improve the lines, and am I being too overly cautious in this one?

Keeping in mind, there's still tons of sand on the roads up here.

Who is giving the crap? Why don't you follow them and see where they are in the corners. That road was nice but the corners didn't seem like they gave you any problems. The problems I saw were; no leaves on the trees (although I saw some cool hedges), no other bikes on the road, and it looked freakin cold.

My only advice would be to read a couple books on late apex, turning in later, I also would watch for vehicles coming over those hills on the wrong side of the road, and the washout in the intersections.

[patw]

Thanks for the advice, it's very helpful. I'll admit I was shooting exactly for that green line while cornering, but I can see the value in the late apex method.

It wasn't too cold that day, maybe 60F, and just before the camera was rolling I passed by a few guys on Ducati's sport bikes. They must have known the value of the road.