Do you corner better right or left?

[Aufitt]

To the left,

My bike has a pretty ugly 25mm crabwalk which chops out the rh side front and lhs rear tyres quickly.
On the straights at over 160kph it starts to weave quite violently unless I keep it pinned and spread my weight low and long.

It tips into lefts like a demon, but into right handers the front just wants to disappear over my left shoulder.

[Rifleman]

Originally Posted by Aufitt

To the left,

My bike has a pretty ugly 25mm crabwalk which chops out the rh side front and lhs rear tyres quickly.
On the straights at over 160kph it starts to weave quite violently unless I keep it pinned and spread my weight low and long.

It tips into lefts like a demon, but into right handers the front just wants to disappear over my left shoulder.

Have you looked into the fork alignment? I was able to align my daughters simply by backing off the pinch bolts on the forks a bit and then sticking the front tier between my knees and aligning the bars with my hands.

they were far enough out that it crabbed pretty good, and now, not able to tell.

[b.miller123]

Always the right. Tried going lefty once and it just wasn't the same.

[Aufitt]

Originally Posted by Rifleman

Have you looked into the fork alignment? I was able to align my daughters simply by backing off the pinch bolts on the forks a bit and then sticking the front tier between my knees and aligning the bars with my hands.

they were far enough out that it crabbed pretty good, and now, not able to tell.

25mm is the best I can get without having the brake drag too much. I'll fix it one day if a period of a time allows between race meets.

Kinda used to it as was like that when I bought it.

[cadd]

Sorry to bring an old thread back up. But I also feel more comfortable on left corners as well. I don't like leaning the bike over much. I have a nice thick 3/4" - 1" of chicken strips on my rear tire. But on rare occasions when I judge a corner incorrectly and go in too hot (for my comfort), I feel a lot more comfortable leaning it deeper on left hand corners to tighten up the turn. While on right corners, I feel like I can't lean it any further for some reason. It is extremely frustrating.

I'm going to go through some video footage of right corners at different speeds and upload them. Please let me know what I'm doing wrong and how I can improve. Note: I do not hang off the bike. My butt stays centered on the seat. My legs are gripping the tank the entire time. I just move my upper body slightly in the direction of the turn.

Slow speeds, I feel ok comfortable. I don't know if my body positioning is correct though.

Link to original page on YouTube.


Here's one of a little higher speeds. But the corner isn't really too sharp. It's a freeway off ramp. There are signs of suggested speeds of 20mph. I feel ok with this one as well because the radius is pretty constant. But I would feel more comfortable if this were a left corner instead. Does my body positioning look ok in this one? This is how I naturally corner without consciously positioning my body in a certain position.

Link to original page on YouTube.



This last one I'm really really not happy about. I think I target fixated on the left guardrail. I didn't know how tight the turn was going to be. And I think I should've "flicked" it over quicker??? But I'm not comfortable doing that. And the throttle was garbage. I feel like I should've cracked open the throttle a tad earlier? I wasn't happy going wide on this turn.

Link to original page on YouTube.

[Aufitt]

Best thing to do is mount the camera on the tail behind you.

You will see what's going on.

[agentbad]

I feel better cornering right probably because my commute home has a really nice right hander after a hill. Rights do feel more natural to me for whatever reason.

[Alex]

/moved to riding skills

[Sirref]

Same comfort left and right on the 250, my comfort comes from the track/road conditions more than anything else.

Say you're on a track that has runs clockwise (primarily rights) and you have a good half the track of right handers before you get to a left hander. I'm gonna be pretty uncomfortable in that left because the left side of the tire has had a chance to cool down a bit

[akima]

Left.

Originally Posted by Kevin1956

For some reason, I'm just not as comfortable turning left. Maybe too much in city riding? Too many rides around the block? I don't get it.

You're not alone

Originally Posted by Whiskey

I've done that, 40mph crosswind on the M1 between Sheffield & Leeds, travelling in a straight line & hanging that far off the bike

It's when you pass lorries that things get really sketchy

["A"]

With traffic pattern that stay on the right side of the road, left turns will likely have larger turning circumference then right turns; therefore, left turns will always "feel smoother" for longer distance traveled through the turn.

Right turn will likely have tighter turning circumference, shorter distance traveled, require more bike/body lean, likely more "rider effort"; therefore, right turns will feel more "rushed" for less time spent to complete the turn.

If riding on the left side of the roads (England, Japan, etc..) opposite would apply.
On the track, you can take up the whole road surface.. left and right turn should "feel" equally.

[allanoue]

Originally Posted by "A"

With traffic pattern that stay on the right side of the road, left turns will likely have larger turning circumference then right turns; therefore, left turns will always "feel smoother" for longer distance traveled through the turn.

Right turn will likely have tighter turning circumference, shorter distance traveled, require more bike/body lean, likely more "rider effort"; therefore, right turns will feel more "rushed" for less time spent to complete the turn.

If riding on the left side of the roads (England, Japan, etc..) opposite would apply.
On the track, you can take up the whole road surface.. left and right turn should "feel" equally.

I feel the opposite. You need to be cognizant of where you are leaning with respect to oncoming traffic that is often crossing the line into you. Of course if you low side into a right turn you may slide into oncoming traffic but that does not worry me as much as people who do not know how to stay in there lane.

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by allanoue

I feel the opposite. You need to be cognizant of where you are leaning with respect to oncoming traffic that is often crossing the line into you. Of course if you low side into a right turn you may slide into oncoming traffic but that does not worry me as much as people who do not know how to stay in there lane.

I see this as an issue, I used to take my lefts on the street like I take my rights (same approach as a track when it comes to line just half the space available) but now take my lefts a bit wider after having to stand up a few times to avoid headbutting a truck

[VaFish]

Based on my experiences in class this past weekend, left turns are easier for myself and my 11 classmates. The Coaches even mentioned that left turns were easier.

[Jasonm163]

Originally Posted by nickjpass

This video of me riding will answer you.

Link to original page on YouTube.

STOP QUOTING BIG PHOTOS

Do you mind telling me what contributes to a crash like this and how to avoid it? I'm a brand new rider and only rode around parking lot so far but I need to know how to avoid stuff like that. Seems like a very average corner if I were to be driving around so I'll need to learn how to handle stuff like that.

["A"]

Originally Posted by Jasonm163

Do you mind telling me what contributes to a crash like this and how to avoid it? I'm a brand new rider and only rode around parking lot so far but I need to know how to avoid stuff like that. Seems like a very average corner if I were to be driving around so I'll need to learn how to handle stuff like that.

Cold tires, cold pavement.. without tires warmed up to operating temperature; best to be conservative in corners.
Seems to me a bit much speed in neighborhood riding when engine had only been started few seconds into video recording start, unsure if there was any riding time before the video recording.

[laurenator1]

I think right turns are easier for me, but left U-turns are more comfortable for me than right U-turns. If that makes sense.

[snot]

i am equal on right and left.

[nickjpass]

Originally Posted by "A"

Cold tires, cold pavement.. without tires warmed up to operating temperature; best to be conservative in corners.
Seems to me a bit much speed in neighborhood riding when engine had only been started few seconds into video recording start, unsure if there was any riding time before the video recording.

Engine was started already lol there was some riding before hand.

My tires were cold. Bad throttle control and bp. Dove into the corner and the rearset lifted my rear end.

[windingroads]

On the street, about equal ... on the tracks I used to ride, felt MUCH smoother turning right. Figured it was because there were more rights on that track, just got comfier with them

[nickjpass]

I recently had a track day where we ran the track backwards. This meant there were mainly right corners. Hated it! Haha